Integrated and self-contained suspension assembly having an on-the-fly adjustable air spring

摘要

An integrated and self-contained suspension assembly having a gas spring integrated with a shock absorber (damper) is described. The rigid gas cylinder of the air spring is divided into a first gas chamber and a second gas chamber. A flow port connects the first and second gas chambers, and can be manually opened or closed by valve and a simple one-quarter turn rotation of an external knob to instantly switch the gas spring between two different spring rates. The different spring rates are functions of the separate or combined volumes of the two. gas chambers. The integrated suspension assembly is compactly packaged and self-contained, i.e., does not require any externalities, such as gas sources or electricity, to operate.

主权项

1. A suspension unit operable between a compressed position and an extended position, said suspension unit comprising:
a first chamber filled with gas; a second chamber filled with gas for biasing said suspension unit toward said extended position; an air cylinder partition that separates said first chamber and said second chamber; and a valve assembly, comprising:
a first valve member operable between:
an open position where said first valve member provides open fluid communication between said first chamber and said second chamber, anda closed position where said first valve member prevents gas flow from the second chamber to the first chamber; andan actuator for physically positioning said first valve member in said open or said closed position, said actuator comprises a cam shaft operable between a first position and a second position to maintain said first valve member in said open position when said cam shaft is in said first position and to allow said valve member to close when said cam shaft is in said second position; a compression chamber at least substantially filled with damping fluid; a rebound chamber at least substantially filled with said damping fluid; and a damping piston operable to dampen flow of said damping fluid between said compression chamber and said rebound chamber in response to movement of said suspension unit between said compressed position and said extended position.