Front Fork Design Reducing Weight and Cost with Single Actuator
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Summary
Problems
Existing front fork designs require two actuators to adjust both expansion and contraction side damping forces, making it difficult to reduce weight and cost.
Innovation solutions
A front fork design that uses a single driving mechanism to adjust both expansion and contraction side damping forces through a flow rate control mechanism and a damper integrated into the fork main body, with a cylinder body, reservoir, rod body, and piston portion, allowing fluid flow control between chambers.
TRIZ Analysis
Specific contradictions:
General conflict description:
Principle concept:
If two actuators are provided to adjust both expansion and contraction side damping forces, then the damping force adjustment capability is improved, but the weight and cost of the front fork increase
Why choose this principle:
The patent combines the functions of two separate actuators into a single actuator located in the upper end portion of the vehicle body side tube. This single actuator controls both the expansion side damping force (via the first flow rate control mechanism) and the contraction side damping force (via the second flow rate control mechanism), thereby reducing the total number of actuators from two to one, which directly reduces weight and cost while maintaining full damping adjustment capability
Principle concept:
If two actuators are provided to adjust both expansion and contraction side damping forces, then the damping force adjustment capability is improved, but the weight and cost of the front fork increase
Why choose this principle:
The single actuator in the upper end portion serves multiple functions: it simultaneously controls the first flow rate control mechanism for expansion side damping adjustment and the second flow rate control mechanism for contraction side damping adjustment. This multi-functional design eliminates the need for separate actuators for each damping side, resolving the contradiction between adjustment capability and weight
Application Domain
Data Source
AI summary:
A front fork design that uses a single driving mechanism to adjust both expansion and contraction side damping forces through a flow rate control mechanism and a damper integrated into the fork main body, with a cylinder body, reservoir, rod body, and piston portion, allowing fluid flow control between chambers.
Abstract
A front fork includes a damper that generates a damping force, a cylinder body that houses the damper, a reservoir formed on an exterior of the cylinder body, a rod body that is inserted into the cylinder body to be capable of advancing and retreating, a piston portion that defines an upper chamber and a lower chamber within the cylinder body, a through hole allows a working fluid to flow from the cylinder body into the reservoir, a flow rate control mechanism that is disposed in the vehicle body side tube to face an upper end opening of the through hole, and applies a resistance to a flow of the working fluid flowing toward the reservoir from the rod body, and a driving mechanism that drives the flow rate control mechanism to adjust an expansion side damping force and a contraction side damping force generated by the damper.