Vehicle roll damping
First Claim
1. A roll damper apparatus for a motor vehicle having two wheels on opposite sides thereof, the apparatus comprising a first member defining a cavity and a second member located within said cavity to divide the cavity into two chambers, wherein at least one passage is defined between the chambers, the cavity contains fluid, and the first and second members are connected between said wheels such that roll of the vehicle will cause movement of the second member relative to the first, such movement being damped by the flow of fluid through said at least one passage, the second member having a central position corresponding to a level condition of the wheels, and said at least one passage being arranged to increase in effective cross sectional area as the second member moves to either side of the central position such that roll damping is at a relatively high level, for low roll angles to either side of the level condition of the wheel, and the roll damping decreases to a lower level for higher roll angles to either side of the level condition.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A hydraulic rotary roll damper for a motor vehicle is mounted concentrically about an anti-roll bar 4 and coupled to the ends of the anti-roll bar 4 by tubing 7, 8. The damper includes a stack of stator plates 18 mounted on a stator housing member 10 and rotor plates 19 mounted on a rotor housing member 11. The rotor plates 19 are each located within a recess of one of the stator plates 18, and side plates 18a between the stator plates 18 cooperate with the stator plates 18 so as to form a series of cavities 50 each divided into working chambers 52, 54 by one of the rotor plates 19. A varying width passage 25 or a valve 62 and piping 60 are provided to decrease the damping with increasing axle articulation.
-
Citations
21 Claims
- 1. A roll damper apparatus for a motor vehicle having two wheels on opposite sides thereof, the apparatus comprising a first member defining a cavity and a second member located within said cavity to divide the cavity into two chambers, wherein at least one passage is defined between the chambers, the cavity contains fluid, and the first and second members are connected between said wheels such that roll of the vehicle will cause movement of the second member relative to the first, such movement being damped by the flow of fluid through said at least one passage, the second member having a central position corresponding to a level condition of the wheels, and said at least one passage being arranged to increase in effective cross sectional area as the second member moves to either side of the central position such that roll damping is at a relatively high level, for low roll angles to either side of the level condition of the wheel, and the roll damping decreases to a lower level for higher roll angles to either side of the level condition.
- 9. A roll damper apparatus for a motor vehicle having two wheels on opposite sides thereof movable into and out of a level condition, the apparatus comprising a first member defining a cavity and a second member located within said cavity to divide the cavity into two chambers, wherein a passage is defined between the chambers, the cavity contains fluid, and the first and second members are connected between the wheels such that vehicle roll will cause movement of the second member relative to the first, such movement being damped by the flow of fluid through the passage, the second member having a central position corresponding to the level condition of the wheels, wherein the first member at least partly defines a bleed path arranged to allow bleeding of at least one of fluid and air out of the cavity during movement of the second member relative to the first member, the bleed path opening into the cavity at a point aligned with the central position of the second member.
- 13. A roll damper apparatus for a motor vehicle having two wheels on opposite sides thereof, the apparatus comprising a plurality of stator members each at least partly defining a respective cavity and a plurality of rotor members each located within a respective one of said cavities to divide it into a pair of chambers, wherein a passage is defined between each pair of chambers, the cavities contain fluid, and the rotor and stator members are connected to said wheels such that vehicle roll will cause movement of the rotors relative to the stators, such movement being damped by the flow of fluid through the passages, wherein the apparatus further comprises support members and a spring and the rotor and stator members comprise plates slidably mounted on the support members and clamped in position by means of the spring.
Specification