Shock Absorber Upper Mount With Variable Spring Rate Damper
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing automotive vehicle upper mount assemblies for shock absorbers lack the ability to effectively tune and improve the dampening and isolation of loads and vibrations transmitted from the coil spring and shock absorber to the vehicle body, limiting their performance.
Innovation Solution
The proposed upper mount assembly includes a top and bottom plate secured to the vehicle, an inner hub, and a damper with selectively varying grooves to adjust the spring rate, allowing for improved absorption of loads and vibrations through a damper supported between the plates, which cooperates with the shock absorber.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a conventional upper mount assembly with fixed structure is used, then the structure is simple and easy to manufacture, but the dampening and isolation performance cannot be tuned or optimized
Solution Approach 1:
The damper is designed with a variable spring rate achieved through circumferential grooves that create progressive engagement of damping elements. As the damper compresses, different portions of the grooves engage, providing progressively increasing damping force. This dynamic characteristic allows the system to adapt to varying load conditions, improving both vibration isolation and load handling without requiring multiple separate components.
Solution Approach 2:
The spring rate of the damper is made variable through the groove geometry design. The grooves are configured to engage damping elements at different compression stages, effectively changing the spring rate from soft at low compression to stiff at high compression. This parameter change allows a single component to provide optimized performance across multiple operating conditions.
2Reliability
If a damper with variable spring rate is introduced to improve vibration isolation, then the dampening performance is enhanced, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The damper incorporates a porous or cellular material structure within the grooves that provides progressive engagement. As compression increases, more of the porous structure is engaged, creating a natural progressive spring rate without requiring complex mechanical mechanisms. This approach enhances vibration isolation while keeping the structural complexity relatively low.
Solution Approach 2:
The circumferential grooves are designed with specific curvature profiles that control the engagement characteristics of the damping elements. The curved geometry of the grooves allows for smooth progressive engagement, providing reliable vibration isolation while maintaining a relatively simple overall damper structure compared to multi-component solutions.
3Strength
If the damper uses progressive engagement of damping elements, then the spring rate varies to improve load absorption, but the manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The groove geometry parameters (depth, width, spacing, curvature) are optimized to provide the desired progressive spring rate characteristics. By carefully controlling these parameters during manufacturing, the damper achieves superior load absorption capability. The groove patterns can be created using standard forming or machining processes, making the solution manufacturable despite the complex geometry requirements.
Solution Approach 2:
Different regions of the damper have locally optimized groove characteristics. The grooves are configured with varying depth, spacing, and curvature in different circumferential and axial positions to create the progressive engagement effect. This local quality approach allows the damper to provide enhanced load absorption at critical locations while maintaining manufacturability through focused geometric control rather than overall system complexity.
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 solution enables customizable damping capabilities, enhancing the isolation of vibrations and loads, thereby improving vehicle ride comfort and performance by allowing for tunable damping characteristics.
Implementation Method 1
The damper includes a plurality of spaced apart grooves formed therein for selectively varying the spring rate of the damper to absorb loads from the shock absorber
Implementation Method 2
A resilient bumper is seated between the central bore and shock absorber for isolating vibrations from the shock absorber from the bracket and vehicle body
Implementation Method 3
The damper includes a plurality of spaced apart grooves formed therein for selectively varying the spring rate of the damper to absorb loads from the shock absorber
Implementation Method 4
The damper includes a plurality of spaced apart grooves formed therein for selectively varying the spring rate of the damper to absorb loads from the shock absorber
Data Source
AI summary
An upper mount assembly for a shock absorber of an automotive vehicle. The upper mount assembly comprises a top plate and a bottom plate spaced from the top plate. The top and bottom plates are fixedly secured to the vehicle and operatively coupled to the shock absorber. An inner hub is seated between the top and bottom plate. A damper is supported by the inner hub between the top and bottom plate for cooperating with the shock absorber. The damper includes a plurality of spaced apart grooves formed therein for selectively varying the spring rate of the damper to absorb loads from the shock absorber.