A viscous damper

Abstract

The present invention relates to a viscous damper, which comprises: a cylinder barrel, within which a piston is provided; a piston rod, connecting the piston, with one end of the piston rod extending out of the cylinder barrel and provided with an ear plate for connecting to a main beam; a connection assembly for being hinged to a tower end support below it, which is fixed to a side of the cylinder barrel away from the ear plate; and a balance cylinder body for balancing the gravity of the cylinder barrel, which is fixed to a side of the connection assembly away from the cylinder barrel. The viscous damper related to the present invention greatly improves the unilateral wear condition of the dynamic seal between the piston rod and the cylinder barrel, can improve the overall service life of the viscous damper; and can effectively reduce the installation space of the viscous damper.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of vibration and seismic reduction of bridge structures, and particularly relates to a viscous damper. Background Art

[0002] With the booming development of the domestic bridge construction industry, bridge construction is also developing towards large spans, and the requirements for the seismic performance of bridges are becoming increasingly strict. The viscous damper can provide additional damping for the bridge structure, dissipate the vibration energy of the structure quickly and efficiently, and reduce the seismic response of the structure, becoming an important device for bridge structure vibration control.

[0003] In the related art, when installing a viscous damper on a bridge, generally one end of the viscous damper is installed on the main beam by means of hinge connection, and the other end is installed on the bridge tower or pier by means of hinge connection, and its installation length, that is, the center distance between the pin shafts at both ends of the viscous damper, is usually greater than 5 times the designed stroke of the damper, resulting in a large installation space requirement for the viscous damper. Moreover, due to the self-weight of the viscous damper, the dynamic seal between the cylinder barrel of the viscous damper and the piston rod inside the cylinder barrel is in a state of unilateral compression for a long time. During the actual bridge application of the viscous damper, the wear of the dynamic seal is aggravated, and its service life is far lower than the design expectation. Summary of the Invention

[0004] The purpose of the embodiments of the present invention is to provide a viscous damper to solve the problems in the related art that the installation space requirement for the viscous damper is large, and due to the self-weight of the viscous damper, the wear of the dynamic seal inside the viscous damper is aggravated, and its service life is far lower than the design expectation.

[0005] To achieve the above purpose, a viscous damper is provided, which includes: a cylinder barrel, a piston is arranged inside the cylinder barrel; a piston rod, connecting the piston, one end of the piston rod extends out of the cylinder barrel and is provided with an ear plate for connecting the main beam; a connection component for being hinged to the tower end support below it, which is fixed on the side of the cylinder barrel away from the ear plate; a balance cylinder for balancing the gravity of the cylinder barrel, which is fixed on the side of the connection component away from the cylinder barrel.

[0006] In some embodiments, a cavity is provided on the side of the balance cylinder close to the connection component. Along the extending direction of the piston rod, the length of the cavity is approximately twice the one-way designed maximum stroke of the piston rod; the piston rod passes through the connection component and enters the cavity.

[0007] In some embodiments, the weight of the free end of the balance cylinder is half of the total weight of the cylinder barrel and the damping liquid inside the cylinder barrel.

[0008] In some embodiments, a support frame fixed to the cylinder barrel by bolts; and a connecting frame sleeved outside the support frame, the connecting frame is used to be hinged to a tower end support below it, and the support frame is hinged to the connecting frame.

[0009] In some embodiments, first grooves are respectively provided on the upper and lower sides of the support frame, first spherical plain bearings are provided in the first grooves, and a first pin shaft sequentially passes through the connecting frame and the first spherical plain bearings to hinge the support frame and the connecting frame together, and the center lines of the upper and lower two first pin shafts are collinear.

[0010] In some embodiments, second grooves are respectively provided on the front and rear sides of the connecting frame, second spherical plain bearings are provided in the second grooves, and the connecting frame and the tower end support can be hinged together by a second pin shaft sequentially passing through the tower end support and the second spherical plain bearings, and the center lines of the front and rear two second pin shafts are collinear.

[0011] In some embodiments, the first pin shaft is a stepped pin shaft, and the first pin shaft is in a tight fit with both the connecting frame and the first spherical plain bearing; the second pin shaft is a stepped pin shaft, and the second pin shaft is in a tight fit with both the tower end support and the second spherical plain bearing.

[0012] In some embodiments, the ear plate has a through hole, a third spherical plain bearing is provided in the through hole, and the ear plate can be hinged to the beam end support on the main beam by a third pin shaft passing through the beam end support on the main beam and the third spherical plain bearing.

[0013] In some embodiments, a left end cover is provided at one end of the cylinder barrel close to the ear plate, and the left end cover is used to seal the left end of the cylinder barrel; a right end cover is provided between the cylinder barrel and the connecting component, and the right end cover and the connecting component are fixed to the cylinder barrel by bolts together.

[0014] In some embodiments, a dust cover is provided between the cylinder barrel and the ear plate, and the dust cover is sleeved outside the piston rod.

[0015] The beneficial effects brought by the technical solution provided by the present invention include:

[0016] An embodiment of the present invention provides a viscous damper. Since the connection assembly is fixed on the side of the cylinder barrel away from the ear plate, and the balance cylinder is fixed on the side of the connection assembly away from the cylinder barrel, the connection assembly can be hinged to the tower end support below it. Taking the tower end support as the fulcrum, the added balance cylinder can balance the gravity of the cylinder barrel, effectively preventing the weight of the cylinder barrel from being transmitted to the piston rod. The piston rod will not downwardly press the dynamic seal between it and the cylinder barrel, greatly improving the unilateral wear condition of the dynamic seal between the piston rod and the cylinder barrel. Therefore, the overall service life of the viscous damper can be improved. And because the connection assembly is arranged at the end of the cylinder barrel, the connection assembly can be hinged to the tower end support below it, and the ear plate at one end of the piston rod is connected to the main beam, making the distance between the ear plate and the connection assembly approximately 3 times the maximum one-way design stroke of the piston rod, effectively reducing the installation space of the viscous damper. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0017] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention, the following will briefly introduce the drawings required for the description of the embodiments. Obviously, the following drawings are only some embodiments of the present invention. For those of ordinary skill in the art, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative efforts.

[0018] Figure 1 It is a front view schematic diagram of a viscous damper provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

[0019] Figure 2 It is Figure 1 a sectional view taken along line A-A in

[0020] Figure 3 It is Figure 1 a sectional view taken along line B-B in

[0021] In the figure: 1, cylinder barrel; 11, left end cover; 12, right end cover; 2, piston; 3, piston rod; 4, ear plate; 41, through hole; 42, third spherical plain bearing; 43, third pin shaft; 5, connection assembly; 51, support frame; 511, first groove; 512, first spherical plain bearing; 513, first pin shaft; 514, first cover plate; 52, connection frame; 521, second groove; 522, second spherical plain bearing; 523, second pin shaft; 524, second cover plate; 6, balance cylinder; 61, cavity; 7, main beam; 71, beam end support; 8, bridge tower; 81, tower end support; 9, dust cover. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

[0022] To make the objectives, technical solutions, and advantages of the embodiments of the present invention clearer, the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present invention. Apparently, the described embodiments are some, but not all, of the embodiments of the present invention. All other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art based on the embodiments of the present invention without creative efforts shall fall within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0023] The embodiments of the present invention provide a viscous damper, which can solve the problems in the related art that the installation space requirement of the viscous damper is relatively large, and due to the self-weight of the viscous damper, the dynamic seal in the viscous damper wears more severely, and its service life is far lower than the design expectation.

[0024] See Figure 1 As shown, a viscous damper provided by an embodiment of the present invention includes: a cylinder barrel 1, in which a piston 2 is provided; a piston rod 3 connecting the piston 2, and an ear plate 4 for connecting to a main beam 7 is provided at one end of the piston rod 3; a connection assembly 5 hinged to a tower end support 81 below it, which is fixed to a side of the cylinder barrel 1 away from the ear plate 4; and a balance cylinder 6 for balancing the gravity of the cylinder barrel 1.

[0025] See Figure 1 As shown, in some embodiments, the main beam 7 may be provided with a beam end support 71 for fixing the viscous damper. The beam end support 71 may include two first fixing plates, and the bridge tower 8 at the bottom of the main beam 7 may also be provided with the tower end support 81 for fixing the viscous damper. The tower end support 81 may include two second fixing plates; taking the height direction of the main beam 7 as the up-down direction, the longitudinal direction of the main beam 7 as the left-right direction, and the width direction of the main beam 7 as the front-back direction.

[0026] See Figure 1 As shown, in some embodiments, the cylinder barrel 1 may be cylindrical, and damping fluids are respectively provided on opposite sides of the piston 2 in the cylinder barrel 1. A left end cover 11 for sealing the left end of the cylinder barrel 1 may be provided on the left end face of the cylinder barrel 1, and a right end cover 12 for sealing the right end of the cylinder barrel 1 may be provided on the right end face of the cylinder barrel 1. Both the left end cover 11 and the right end cover 12 may be fixed to the cylinder barrel 1 by bolts.

[0027] See Figure 1 and Figure 2As shown, in some alternative embodiments, the middle part of the piston rod 3 may be connected to the piston 2. The piston rod 3 can drive the piston 2 to slide within the cylinder barrel 1, generating a damping force simultaneously to achieve the normal vibration reduction and energy dissipation function of the viscous damper. And the left end of the piston rod 3 extends out of the cylinder barrel 1. The ear plate 4 can be threadedly connected to the left end of the piston rod 3. The ear plate 4 can be hinged to the beam end support 71. Specifically, the ear plate 4 can be clamped between two first fixing plates, and the ear plate 4 can be provided with a through hole 41 penetrating through the front and back. A third spherical plain bearing 42 can be provided within the through hole 41. The ear plate 4 can be hinged to the beam end support 71 by passing a third pin shaft 43 through the two first fixing plates and the third spherical plain bearing 42. Since the ear plate 4 is connected to the beam end support 71 by using the third spherical plain bearing 42, the piston rod 3 can rotate in the up and down direction around the symmetric center line of the third pin shaft 43, and the piston rod 3 can rotate in the front and back direction (i.e., the transverse direction) around the center of the third spherical plain bearing 42 to adapt to the relative displacement of the main beam 7 in different directions. A dust cover 9 can be provided between the left end cover 11 and the ear plate 4. The dust cover 9 can be sleeved outside the piston rod 3 for dust prevention. The piston rod 3 can extend rightward through the right end cover 12, and dynamic seals can be provided between the piston rod 3 and the left end cover 11 as well as between the piston rod 3 and the right end cover 12. The dynamic seals are used to prevent the damping liquid within the cylinder barrel 1 from leaking out through the gaps between the piston rod 3 and the left end cover 11 and between the piston rod 3 and the right end cover 12.

[0028] See Figure 1 and Figure 3 As shown, in some embodiments, the connection assembly 5 may include a support frame 51. The support frame 51 can be provided on the right side of the right end cover 12 and be in close contact with the right end cover 12. The support frame 51 and the right end cover 12 can be fixed to the cylinder barrel 1 by the same set of bolts. First grooves 511 can be respectively provided on the upper and lower sides of the support frame 51. The upper first groove 511 can be recessed downward from the upper surface of the support frame 51, and the lower first groove 511 can be recessed upward from the lower surface of the support frame 51. First spherical plain bearings 512 can be provided within both of the two first grooves 511. A central hole for the piston rod 3 to pass through can be provided at the center of the support frame 51.

[0029] See Figure 1 and Figure 3As shown, in some alternative embodiments, the connection component 5 may further include a connection frame 52 sleeved outside the support frame 51. First pin shaft 513 holes may be respectively provided on the upper and lower sides of the connection frame 52. By sequentially passing the first pin shaft 513 through the first pin shaft 513 holes and the first spherical plain bearing 512, the support frame 51 and the connection frame 52 can be hinged together. Moreover, the first pin shaft 513 is a stepped pin shaft, and the first pin shaft 513 is in a tight fit with both the first pin shaft 513 hole and the first spherical plain bearing 512. The symmetry center lines of the upper first pin shaft 513 and the lower first pin shaft 513 are located on the same vertical line, and on the same cross-section, the symmetry center line of the first pin shaft 513 and the radial center line of the piston rod 3 are located on the same straight line. By connecting the support frame 51 and the connection frame 52 through the upper and lower first spherical plain bearings 512, the support frame 51 can drive the cylinder barrel 1 to rotate forward and backward by a certain angle around the symmetry center line of the first pin shaft 513, making the lateral rotation of the cylinder barrel 1 more flexible. When a lateral relative displacement occurs between the tower end support 81 and the beam end support 71, the first spherical plain bearing 512 plays a role and drives the cylinder barrel 1 to adapt to the lateral deflection angle. At the same time, it is possible to avoid the phenomenon of the cylinder barrel 1 getting stuck in rotation caused by the non-concentricity of the two first pin shaft 513 holes on the same center line due to manufacturing errors. Moreover, a first cover plate 514 for fixing the first pin shaft 513 is provided on the outer end face of the first pin shaft 513.

[0030] See Figure 1 and Figure 3As shown, in some embodiments, second grooves 521 may be respectively provided on the front and rear sides of the connection frame 52. Second spherical plain bearings 522 may be provided in the second grooves 521. The second fixing plate may be provided with holes for second pin shafts 523 corresponding to the second grooves 521. By sequentially passing the second pin shafts 523 through the holes for the second pin shafts 523 and the second spherical plain bearings 522, the second fixing plate and the connection frame 52 can be hinged together. Moreover, the second pin shafts 523 are stepped pin shafts, and the second pin shafts 523 are in close fit with both the holes for the second pin shafts 523 and the second spherical plain bearings 522. The symmetry center lines of the second pin shafts 523 on the front side and the second pin shafts 523 on the rear side are located on the same vertical line. And on the same cross-section, the symmetry center line of the first pin shaft 513 and the radial center line of the piston rod 3 are located on the same straight line. By connecting the second fixing plate and the connection frame 52 through the two second spherical plain bearings 522 on the front and rear sides, the connection frame 52 can drive the support frame 51 to rotate up and down by a certain angle around the symmetry center line of the second pin shaft 523, making the vertical rotation of the cylinder barrel 1 more flexible. When a vertical relative displacement occurs between the tower end support 81 and the beam end support 71, the second spherical plain bearings 522 play a role and drive the cylinder barrel 1 to adapt to the vertical deflection angle. At the same time, it is possible to avoid the phenomenon that the cylinder barrel 1 gets stuck in rotation caused by the non-concentricity of the two holes for the second pin shafts 523 on the same center line due to manufacturing errors. And a second cover plate 524 for fixing the second pin shaft 523 is provided on the outer end surface of the second pin shaft 523. The first spherical plain bearing 512 may be of the same type as the second spherical plain bearing 522, and both are radial spherical plain bearings.

[0031] See Figure 1As shown, in some embodiments, the balance cylinder 6 can be welded to the right end face of the support frame 51. The balance cylinder 6 can be cylindrical, and the axis of the balance cylinder 6 can be collinear with the axis of the cylinder barrel 1. A longitudinally extending cavity 61 can be provided in the balance cylinder 6. The cavity 61 can extend rightward from the left end face of the balance cylinder 6. The medium in the cavity 61 is air. The diameter of the cavity 61 can be larger than the diameter of the piston rod 3, and the length of the cavity 61 in the axial direction of the piston rod 3 is approximately twice the maximum one-way design stroke of the piston rod 3. The piston rod 3 can pass through the support frame 51 and enter the cavity 61, enabling the piston rod 3 to reciprocate smoothly in the cavity 61, and also serving the purpose of protecting the piston rod 3 from external contamination and damage such as dust. The mass of the balance cylinder 6 can be mainly concentrated at its right end, and the weight of the right end of the balance cylinder 6 can be half of the total weight of the cylinder barrel 1 and the damping fluid inside the cylinder barrel 1. Since the left end of the support frame 51 is fixed to the cylinder barrel 1, the right end of the support frame 51 is fixed to the balance cylinder 6, and the support frame 51 is hinged to the tower end support 81 through the connecting frame 52, therefore, by adjusting the weight of the balance cylinder 6 located on the right side of the tower end support 81, with the tower end support 81 as the fulcrum, the weight of the balance cylinder 6 can be made approximately equal to the weight of the cylinder barrel 1. With the balancing effect of the balance cylinder 6, the weight of the cylinder barrel 1 can be effectively prevented from being transmitted to the piston rod 3, and the piston rod 3 will not downwardly press the dynamic seals between it and the left end cover 11 and the right end cover 12 on the cylinder barrel 1, greatly improving the unilateral wear condition of the dynamic seals between the piston rod 3 and the cylinder barrel 1. Therefore, the overall service life of the viscous damper can be improved.

[0032] The principle of a viscous damper provided by an embodiment of the present invention is as follows:

[0033] Since the connecting component 5 is fixed to the side of the cylinder barrel 1 away from the ear plate 4, and the balance cylinder body 6 is fixed to the side of the connecting component 5 away from the cylinder barrel 1, the connecting component 5 can be hinged to the tower end support 81 below it. Taking the tower end support 81 as the fulcrum, the added balance cylinder body 6 can balance the gravity of the cylinder barrel 1, effectively preventing the weight of the cylinder barrel 1 from being transmitted to the piston rod 3. The piston rod 3 will not squeeze the dynamic seal between it and the cylinder barrel 1 downward, greatly improving the unilateral wear condition of the dynamic seal between the piston rod 3 and the cylinder barrel 1. Therefore, the overall service life of the viscous damper can be increased, and the structure of the balance cylinder body 6 is simple. And because the connecting component 5 is arranged at the end of the cylinder barrel 1, the connecting component 5 can be hinged to the tower end support 81 below it, and the ear plate 4 at one end of the piston rod 3 is connected to the main beam 7, making the distance between the ear plate 4 and the connecting component 5 approximately 3 times the maximum one-way design stroke of the piston rod 3, effectively reducing the installation space of the viscous damper.

[0034] In the description of the present invention, it should be noted that the orientation or positional relationship indicated by terms such as "upper" and "lower" is based on the orientation or positional relationship shown in the drawings. It is only for the convenience of describing the present invention and simplifying the description, rather than indicating or implying that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, and therefore should not be construed as a limitation to the present invention. Unless otherwise clearly specified and defined, the terms "installed", "connected", and "connected" should be understood in a broad sense. For example, it can be a fixed connection, a detachable connection, or an integral connection; it can be a mechanical connection or an electrical connection; it can be directly connected, or indirectly connected through an intermediate medium, and it can be the communication inside two elements. For those of ordinary skill in the art, the specific meanings of the above terms in the present invention can be understood according to specific circumstances.

[0035] It should be noted that in the present invention, relational terms such as "first" and "second" are only used to distinguish one entity or operation from another entity or operation, and do not necessarily require or imply any actual relationship or order between these entities or operations. Moreover, the terms "include", "comprise" or any other variation thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, so that a process, method, article or device including a series of elements not only includes those elements, but also includes other elements not expressly listed, or also includes elements inherent to such process, method, article or device. Without further limitation, an element defined by the statement "including a..." does not exclude the existence of additional identical elements in the process, method, article or device including the element.

[0036] The above are only specific embodiments of the present invention, enabling those skilled in the art to understand or implement the present invention. Various modifications to these embodiments will be obvious to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein can be implemented in other embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of the present invention. Therefore, the present invention will not be limited to these embodiments shown herein, but rather will be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and novel features claimed herein.

Claims

1. A viscous damper, characterized in that, It includes: A cylinder barrel (1), in which a piston (2) is provided; A piston rod (3) connected to the piston (2), one end of the piston rod (3) extends out of the cylinder barrel (1) and is provided with an ear plate (4) for connecting to a main beam (7); A connection assembly (5) for being hinged to a tower end support (81) below it, which is fixed to a side of the cylinder barrel (1) away from the ear plate (4); A balance cylinder body (6) for balancing the gravity of the cylinder barrel (1), which is fixed to a side of the connection assembly (5) away from the cylinder barrel (1).

2. The viscous damper according to claim 1, characterized in that: A cavity (61) is provided on a side of the balance cylinder body (6) close to the connection assembly (5), along the extending direction of the piston rod (3), the length of the cavity (61) is twice the maximum one-way design stroke of the piston rod (3); The piston rod (3) passes through the connection assembly (5) and enters the cavity (61).

3. The viscous damper according to claim 2, characterized in that: The weight of the free end of the balance cylinder body (6) is half of the total weight of the cylinder barrel (1) and the damping liquid inside the cylinder barrel (1).

4. The viscous damper according to claim 1, wherein The connection assembly (5) includes: A support frame (51) fixed to the cylinder barrel (1) by bolts; and A connection frame (52) sleeved outside the support frame (51), the connection frame (52) is used for being hinged to a tower end support (81) below it, and the support frame (51) is hingedly connected to the connection frame (52).

5. The viscous damper according to claim 4, characterized in that: First grooves (511) are respectively provided on the upper and lower sides of the support frame (51), first spherical plain bearings (512) are provided in the first grooves (511), A first pin shaft (513) sequentially passes through the connection frame (52) and the first spherical plain bearing (512) to hinge the support frame (51) and the connection frame (52) together, and the center lines of the upper and lower two first pin shafts (513) are collinear.

6. The viscous damper according to claim 5, characterized in that: Second grooves (521) are respectively provided on the front and rear sides of the connection frame (52), second spherical plain bearings (522) are provided in the second grooves (521), By sequentially passing a second pin shaft (523) through the tower end support (81) and the second spherical plain bearing (522), the connection frame (52) and the tower end support (81) can be hinged together, and the center lines of the front and rear two second pin shafts (523) are collinear.

7. The viscous damper according to claim 6, characterized in that: The first pin shaft (513) is a stepped pin shaft, and the first pin shaft (513) is in close fit with both the connection frame (52) and the first spherical plain bearing (512); The second pin shaft (523) is a stepped pin shaft, and the second pin shaft (523) is in close fit with both the tower end support (81) and the second spherical plain bearing (522).

8. The viscous damper according to claim 1, characterized in that: The ear plate (4) has a through hole (41), and a third spherical plain bearing (42) is arranged in the through hole (41). The ear plate (4) can be hinged to the beam end support (71) by passing a third pin shaft (43) through the beam end support (71) on the main beam (7) and the third spherical plain bearing (42).

9. The viscous damper according to claim 1, characterized in that: A left end cover (11) is provided at one end of the cylinder barrel (1) close to the ear plate (4), and the left end cover (11) is used for sealing the left end of the cylinder barrel (1); A right end cover (12) is provided between the cylinder barrel (1) and the connecting assembly (5), and the right end cover (12) and the connecting assembly (5) are fixed to the cylinder barrel (1) together by bolts.

10. The viscous damper according to claim 1, characterized in that: A dust cover (9) is provided between the cylinder barrel (1) and the ear plate (4), and the dust cover (9) is sleeved outside the piston rod (3).

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