Viscous Damper Assembly with Heat-Reshaped Tether Bulb
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing dampers, particularly in confined spaces like vehicle interiors, face challenges such as limited space, delayed damping initiation, noise, and variability in assembly that affect smooth operation and noise reduction.
Innovation Solution
A viscous damper assembly utilizing a tether made of heat-softenable material with reshaped bulbous ends and a constant force spring, which is connected to a rack gear and carriage, ensuring secure and efficient operation, reducing rattle and chatter, and accommodating both one-way and two-way dampers.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If pneumatic dampers are used, then damping force can be provided, but damping does not start smoothly and begins with delay
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the pneumatic chamber and gas compression mechanism from the damper system. Instead, it uses a purely mechanical spring-based constant force mechanism coupled with a rack and pinion system, eliminating the delay inherent in pneumatic response time while maintaining smooth damping initiation from the start of movement.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the pneumatic damping system with a mechanical constant force spring system. The constant force spring provides continuous mechanical force through a rack gear and pinion mechanism, substituting the pneumatic pressure-based system with a direct mechanical linkage that responds immediately and smoothly to movement initiation.
2Reliability
If dampers are made larger to provide sufficient damping force, then damping performance improves, but available space in confined areas is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent integrates the constant force spring, rack gear, pinion, and damper components into a compact nested arrangement. The spring is positioned to engage the rack gear, which drives the pinion that rotates the damper rotor, creating a space-efficient integrated mechanism that delivers sufficient damping force without increasing overall damper size.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses a constant force spring mechanism that maintains consistent damping force throughout the range of motion, allowing the damper to be smaller while still providing adequate damping performance. The mechanical advantage system dynamically adjusts forces to maintain effectiveness in a compact form factor.
3Ease of operation
If conventional tethers are used, then connection is provided, but assembly variation causes rattle and chatter
Solution Approach 1:
The patent specifies that the tether be made from a material with a modulus of rigidity between 500,000 psi and 2,000,000 psi and a cross-sectional area between 0.002 in² and 0.01 in². These controlled parameters ensure the tether has sufficient stiffness to eliminate rattle and chatter caused by assembly variations, while remaining flexible enough for installation.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent specifies the tether material should have particular mechanical properties (modulus of rigidity and cross-sectional area ranges) to optimize performance. This use of material property specifications ensures the tether can accommodate assembly variations without creating noise, effectively using material selection to solve the rattle and chatter problem.
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 solution provides a smooth, quiet, and efficient damping system that operates consistently across different assembly variations, maximizing usable space and reducing noise, while maintaining strong tether connections and efficient manufacturing.
Implementation Method 1
a rotor rotatable within a housing that contains a viscous damping fluid. Internal structures of the rotor and/or housing establish ports for relative movement of the damping fluid and rotor, thereby providing a desired degree of resistance or 'damping'.
Implementation Method 2
The tether is constructed of heat-softenable and re-formable material, and ends of the tether are reshaped into bulbous enlargements for connecting the tether within an assembly.
Data Source
AI summary
A tether for attachment to a damper device is formed to include a heated, reshaped enlarged bulbous end.