Friction Vibration Damper With Balanced Resilient Contact Faces
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing vibration dampers and absorbers, particularly hydraulic ones, face challenges in providing a consistent damping response across varying conditions such as temperature, loading, and vibration frequency and amplitude, and are prone to catastrophic failures due to fluid loss in safety-critical applications.
Innovation Solution
A vibration damper and absorber design featuring a first member with a bearing region and a friction contact region, and a second member with axially projecting resilient members that engage the friction contact region, providing constant frictional resistance through oppositely disposed pairs of resilient members, which balances forces and maintains consistent damping/absorbing effect without increasing radial width.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If hydraulic dampers/absorbers are used to minimize vibration transmission, then damping effectiveness is improved, but the system becomes vulnerable to catastrophic failure due to fluid loss and requires complex design to handle varying conditions
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the hydraulic system with a purely mechanical friction-based damping system. The resilient members apply constant radial pressure to create friction contact with the friction contact region, eliminating hydraulic fluid and associated reliability issues while providing consistent damping across varying conditions
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the damping mechanism from hydraulic pressure-dependent to friction-based with constant radial pressure. The resilient members maintain constant pressure on the friction surfaces, making the damping force independent of temperature, loading, and vibration frequency variations that affect hydraulic systems
2Reliability
If friction contact is used to provide damping resistance, then consistent damping across varying conditions is achieved, but wear of contact surfaces may occur
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies protective hard coating to the friction contact surfaces before operation. This pre-applied protection layer reduces wear during service, extending the duration of action while maintaining the consistent friction-based damping characteristics
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses composite construction for the resilient members, combining elastomeric material with reinforcing fibers. This composite structure enhances durability and wear resistance while maintaining the elastic properties needed for consistent radial pressure application
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 ensures consistent and effective damping/absorbing performance across multiple vibrational inputs, reducing vibration transmission between machinery components while avoiding the risks associated with hydraulic fluid loss, by utilizing frictional contact and lubrication to maintain constant resistance and extend service life.
Implementation Method 1
a resilient member which projects from the body and which has a contact face which resiliently engages the friction contact region
Implementation Method 2
relative axial displacement between the first and second members is opposed by frictional contact between the contact face and the friction contact region
Data Source
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AI summary
A vibration damper and/or absorber including a first member having a bearing region and a friction contact region, and a second member including a body which is mounted on the bearing region for axial displacement with respect to the first member along an axis, the second member including a resilient member which extends axially from the body and which has a friction surface which resiliently engages the friction contact region of the first member, whereby relative linear displacement between the first and second members is opposed by frictional contact between the friction surface and the friction contact region, and whereby the friction contact region has a square cross section and friction surfaces constituting sides of the square.