SHOCK ABSORBER WITH VARIABLE BYPASS DAMPING

摘要

A dampener for a shock absorber of a vehicle, such as bicycle, is mounted within a telescoping front fork including a stanchion tube (616) and a coaxial slide tube (618). The dampener includes an internally received hydraulic fluid sleeve (640) that defines a hydraulic chamber in which a piston assembly (656) is disposed. Movement of the piston assembly (670) through hydraulic fluid within the hydraulic chamber is selectively adjusted by metering the flow of bypass hydraulic fluid to the back side of the piston assembly by adjusting a fluid bypass assembly disposed longitudinally within the stanchion tube. The responsive valve assembly includes outlet and inlet ports, and biased bypass valves that move between open and closed positions in response to sensed velocity and/or displacement of the piston assembly, thereby adjusting the damping of the shock absorber.