Bicycle Air Spring With Progressive Sealing to Limit Load Spikes
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional bicycle air springs have an ideal load v. displacement curve for mountain bike suspension systems, and they experience spikes in load due to the adiabatic effect at high velocities.
Innovation Solution
An improved air spring design featuring a first body with a first piston that slides within it, a second piston in a fixed position, and a cup that allows gas to flow between different areas, increasing the spring rate at a higher rate as the pistons move from an intermediate to a compressed position.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Weight of moving object
If a conventional air spring is used in mountain bike suspension, then the suspension system is lightweight, but the load-displacement curve is not ideal and experiences spikes at high velocities due to the adiabatic effect
Solution Approach 1:
The air spring is divided into multiple chambers (first chamber and second chamber) separated by a partition with a flow restrictor. This segmentation allows different zones of the air spring to have different pressures, enabling the system to maintain ideal spring characteristics across various compression levels and velocities without the harmful spikes caused by the adiabatic effect.
Solution Approach 2:
A flow restrictor is introduced as an intermediary element between the first and second chambers. This flow restrictor controls the air flow between chambers, allowing the system to manage pressure distribution and eliminate load spikes while maintaining the lightweight advantage of air springs over conventional metal coil springs.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If compression damping is increased to improve bump absorption, then pedaling efficiency decreases due to increased energy dissipation
Solution Approach 1:
The air spring system dynamically adjusts its characteristics through the interaction between the two chambers and the flow restrictor. This dynamic behavior allows the suspension to provide appropriate bump absorption while minimizing energy dissipation, thereby maintaining pedaling efficiency across different riding conditions.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the pressure parameters between the two chambers to optimize performance. By controlling the pressure differential across the flow restrictor, the air spring can provide varying levels of support and damping that improve bump absorption without excessively increasing energy dissipation that would harm pedaling efficiency.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The improved air spring provides enhanced performance by maintaining a consistent spring rate and reducing the likelihood of spikes in load, thereby improving the overall handling and comfort of mountain bikes.
Implementation Method 1
a conventional air spring may experience spikes in the load v. displacement curve when the air spring experiences high velocities due to the adiabatic effect
Data Source
AI summary
An air spring includes a first body; a first piston sealed against a first wall of the first body; a cup having a second wall; and a second piston, wherein the cup and the second piston are configured such that: in an extended position, the second piston does not seal against the second wall, in an intermediate position, the second piston seals against the second wall, and as the first piston moves from the intermediate position to a compressed position, a spring rate of the air spring will increase at a higher rate than if the second piston were not sealed against the second wall.