Concentric Cylinder Shock Absorber Bypass for Cavitation Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional shock absorbers experience cavitation during full travel length without providing damping function, leading to inefficient vehicle ride and performance.
Innovation Solution
The concentric cylinder bypass damper design, which includes a fluid metering valve and floating piston, distributes damping fluid flow through bypass openings and a vented damping piston, reducing cavitation by accommodating fluid displacement into a reservoir chamber and gas chamber, thereby maintaining consistent damping characteristics across compression and rebound strokes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional shock absorbers use a restrictive orifice to inhibit damping fluid flow, then damping function is provided during compression and rebound strokes, but cavitation occurs during full travel length without providing damping function
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the fluid flow path by providing multiple bypass openings at different locations on the piston, allowing fluid to flow through different pathways during compression and rebound strokes. This segmentation prevents cavitation by ensuring continuous fluid flow while maintaining damping function throughout the full travel length of the shock absorber.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies local quality by creating different flow restrictions at different locations on the piston through multiple bypass openings with different sizes and positions. Each bypass opening provides a specific local flow characteristic, allowing the system to maintain damping function while preventing cavitation at critical locations during full travel length.
2Ease of operation
If shock absorbers provide damping during both compression and rebound strokes, then vehicle ride is improved, but fluid flow restriction causes cavitation during high-velocity impacts
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamics by allowing the effective flow restriction to change based on the direction of motion (compression vs. rebound). The multiple bypass openings are positioned and sized to provide different flow characteristics during compression and rebound strokes, enabling the system to adapt fluid flow resistance to the current operational phase while preventing cavitation during high-velocity impacts.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent utilizes periodic action by designing the bypass openings to work in sequence during the periodic compression and rebound cycles. As the piston moves back and forth, different bypass openings become active at different phases of the cycle, providing continuous damping function while preventing cavitation through coordinated periodic fluid flow management.
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
This design reduces cavitation and provides a softer vehicle ride by distributing damping fluid effectively, ensuring consistent damping performance and minimizing the likelihood of cavitation during high-velocity impacts.
Implementation Method 1
During some instances of operation, conventional shock absorbers, and therefore the vehicle rider, experience cavitation, during which the shaft of the shock absorber moves into the damping fluid chamber at its full travel length without providing any damping function
Implementation Method 2
The concentric cylinder bypass damper design, which includes a fluid metering valve and floating piston, distributes damping fluid flow through bypass openings and a vented damping piston, reducing cavitation by accommodating fluid displacement into a reservoir chamber and gas chamber
Implementation Method 3
accommodating the volume of oil or other damping fluid within the damping fluid chamber that is displaced by the movement of the shaft into the damping fluid chamber
Data Source
AI summary
A shock absorber including: a first cylinder having an interior, first and second ends and defining an axis, wherein the interior includes a damping fluid chamber and a damping piston movably mounted therein for movement between the first and second ends, wherein the damping piston is mounted on a first end of a shaft, wherein the first end of the shaft is movably retained within the interior of the first cylinder; first and second bypass openings configured for opening into the damping fluid chamber at first and second axially spaced-apart positions; a bypass channel fluidly coupling the first and second bypass openings; a fluid metering valve; and a floating piston dividing a portion of the shock absorber into a gas chamber and the reservoir chamber, wherein the fluid metering valve and the floating piston define the reservoir chamber there between.