U.S. patent application number 09/413619 was filed with the patent office on 2002-02-07 for hydraulically damping rubber support.
This patent application is currently assigned to Peter Maier. Invention is credited to MAIER, PETER.
Application Number | 20020014730 09/413619 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 7883563 |
Filed Date | 2002-02-07 |
United States Patent
Application |
20020014730 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
MAIER, PETER |
February 7, 2002 |
HYDRAULICALLY DAMPING RUBBER SUPPORT
Abstract
A hydraulically damping rubber support comprises an outer
tubular part, an inner tubular part arranged within the latter at a
distance therefrom, and a first rubber part inserted between them
with at least one chamber filled with damping medium. A further
tubular component is arranged within the inner tubular part and a
second rubber part is arranged between the inner part and the
further tubular component.
Inventors: |
MAIER, PETER; (OEVERICH,
DE) |
Correspondence
Address: |
THOMAS C PONTANI ESQ
COHEN PONTANI LIEBERMAN & PAVANE
551 FIFTH AVENUE
SUITE 1210
NEW YORK
NY
10176
|
Assignee: |
Peter Maier
|
Family ID: |
7883563 |
Appl. No.: |
09/413619 |
Filed: |
October 6, 1999 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
267/140.12 |
Current CPC
Class: |
F16F 13/1418 20130101;
F16F 13/1409 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
267/140.12 |
International
Class: |
F16M 009/00; F16F
009/00 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Oct 6, 1998 |
DE |
19845979.3 |
Claims
I claim:
1. A hydraulically damping rubber support, comprising: an inner
tubular part; an outer part arranged over said inner tubular part
at a radial distance therefrom; a first rubber part having a
chamber filled with a damping medium inserted between said inner
part and said outer part and forming a first rubber support; a
further tubular component arranged within said inner tubular part;
a second rubber part inserted between said inner tubular part and
said further tubular part and forming a second rubber support.
2. The rubber support of claim 1, wherein said one of said first
and second rubber supports comprises a stop for limiting a
deflection of said one of said first and second rubber support.
3. The rubber support of claim 2, wherein said stop acts in one of
a radial and an axial direction.
4. The rubber support of claim 1, wherein said second rubber
support comprises a chamber filled with a damping medium.
5. The rubber support of claim 1, wherein said chamber of said
first rubber part comprises two chambers connected via a
fluid-medium connection.
6. The rubber support of claim 4, wherein said chamber of said
second rubber part comprises two chambers connected via a fluid
medium connection.
7. The rubber support of claim 1, wherein said first rubber support
comprises a first spring rate and said second rubber support
comprises a second spring rate and said first spring rate is
different from said second spring rate.
8. The rubber support of claim 3, wherein said stop comprises a
rigid stop.
9. The rubber support of claim 3, wherein said stop comprises a
flexible stop.
10. The rubber support of claim 1, wherein said second rubber part
is connected in series with said first rubber part.
11. The rubber support of claim 1, wherein said second rubber part
is connected parallel to said first rubber part.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] The invention relates to a hydraulically damping rubber
support comprising an inner part, an outer part which is arranged
concentrically or eccentrically to the latter at a distance
therefrom, and a rubber part arranged between the inner part and
the outer part and having at least one chamber filled with damping
medium.
[0003] 2. Description of the Related Art
[0004] Prior art rubber supports in which a rubber part is inserted
between an inner part and an outer tube arranged at a distance
therefrom are disclosed, for example, in German reference DE 196 40
531 A1 with at least one chamber filled with damping medium being
arranged in this rubber part. Rubber supports of this kind are used
in motor vehicle suspensions where they are intended to damp or
decouple noise so that high-frequency vibrations excited by the
vehicle's engine are not transmitted to the vehicle suspension.
These rubber supports have a low spring rate. Moreover,
applications of rubber supports are also known in which the
flexible rubber part has a high spring rate to ensure sufficient
damping during vehicle braking maneuver. However, the known rubber
supports can only be used to solve one of the above-mentioned
problems at a time.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0005] It is the object of the invention to provide a hydraulically
damping rubber support which satisfactorily decouples noise and
simultaneously has a high spring rate to ensure sufficient damping
during vehicle braking maneuvers.
[0006] To achieve this object, the rubber support according to the
invention includes first and second tubular component with each of
the first and second tubular components having a flexible rubber
part, forming inner and outer parts which are connected in parallel
or in series.
[0007] The advantage with this inventive embodiment is that two
very different tasks are virtually divided between two distinct
rubber supports and that a single overall support is created by
nesting the two supports. In this arrangement, the two supports may
be connected in parallel or in series, so that after an appropriate
deflection of the soft support, the hard support is then subjected
to loading.
[0008] According to another embodiment example, at least one of the
first and second rubber supports is provided with an internal or
external stop. The advantages here are that the progression of the
brake characteristic may be varied by hard or soft stops in the
hard support and that the point at which the hard support comes
into action may be determined by the hard or soft stops in the soft
support.
[0009] In a further embodiment, stop may act in either the radial
or the axial direction.
[0010] To obtain another damping option in the second support, the
further support comprises a chamber filled with damping medium.
[0011] Damping or restriction or the provision of a bypass between
two chambers filled with damping medium is provided by connecting
at least two chambers filled with damping medium via at least one
fluid-medium connection.
[0012] To match different operating ranges by the first and second
rubber supports, provision is made for the rubber support and the
further support to be designed with different spring rates.
[0013] Further possible variations in the support characteristics
may be achieved if rigid and/or flexible stops are provided as
stops.
[0014] The various features of novelty which characterize the
invention are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed
to and forming a part of the disclosure. For a better understanding
of the invention, its operating advantages, and specific objects
attained by its use, reference should be had to the drawing and
descriptive matter in which there are illustrated and described
preferred embodiments of the invention.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0015] In the drawings, wherein like reference characters denote
similar elements throughout the several views:
[0016] FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a rubber support
according to an embodiment of the present invention;
[0017] FIG. 2 is a partial section front view of the rubber support
of FIG. 1;
[0018] FIG. 3 is a graph depicting a damping-force characteristic
of the rubber support of FIG. 1; and
[0019] FIG. 4 is a partial longitudinal sectional view of another
embodiment of the rubber support according to the invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENTLY PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0020] A hydraulically damping rubber support 20 according to an
embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIG. 1. The
hydraulically damping rubber support 20 comprises an inner tubular
part 1 and an outer tubular part 2, which is arranged
concentrically to the inner part 1 at a distance therefrom. A first
rubber part 5 of a first rubber support C1 is inserted between the
inner tubular part 1 and the outer tubular part 2 and comprises
chambers 8 filled with a damping medium. These chambers 8 are
hydraulically connected to one another via flow connections 9b and
the first rubber part 5 is firmly connected both to the inner
tubular part 1 and to the outer tubular part 2. By way of example,
the connection of the first rubber part 5 with the inner tubular
part 1 may be made by vulcanization of the first rubber part 5 and
the connection of the first rubber part 5 to the outer tubular part
2 may be made by a rigid connection using metal rings 22.
[0021] A further tubular component 3 is arranged concentrically
within the inner tubular part 1. A second rubber part 4 of a second
rubber support C2 is arranged between the inner tubular part 1 and
the further tubular component and forms another support. The second
rubber part 4, the inner tubular part 1 and the further tubular
component 3 define additional chambers 7 filled with damping
medium. These additional chambers 7 may also be connected to one
another in a restricted or unrestricted manner by a flow connection
9a. When the force acting on the rubber support 20 acts along a
radial direction, the first rubber part 5 and second rubber part 4
are connected in series relative to the direction of the force.
When the force acting on the rubber support acts along a
longitudinal direction, the first rubber part 5 and second rubber
part 4 are connected in parallel relative to the direction of the
force.
[0022] The second rubber part 4 has a different Shore hardness that
the first rubber part 5, each of which is matched to a respective
operating condition. These first and second rubber parts 5, 4 may
thus be used for damping in a very wide variety of operating
ranges. Regarding noise, a good decoupling should be provided and
this requires a low spring rate. Regarding vehicle braking
operation, the other rubber part should have a high spring rate to
give appropriate damping. Therefore, one of the first and second
rubber parts 5, 4 has a low spring rate while the other of the
first and second rubber parts 5, 4 has a high spring rate.
[0023] The hydraulically damping rubber support 20 includes a stop
6a which rests against the inner circumference of the outer tubular
part 2 during radial loading. Assuming that the first rubber part 5
has a low spring rate, the second support becomes active only when
the stop 6a is resting against the inner wall of the outer tubular
part 2. The second rubber part 4 is now loaded at the high spring
rate and damps vibrations from different operating ranges.
[0024] The damping-medium-filled chamber 7 of the second rubber
support 4 also includes a stop 6b so that the inner wall of the
inner tubular part 1 rests against the stop 6b at the appropriate
loading.
[0025] FIG. 2 provides a front view of the rubber support 20 of
FIG. 1. The chambers 7 and 8 can be seen with flow connections 9a
and 9b. The inner tubular part 1, the outer tubular part 2 and the
tubular component 3 are provided with first and second rubber parts
5, 4 inserted between them.
[0026] FIG. 3 is a graphic depiction of the radial deflection on
the horizontal axis and the force on the vertical axis. Range A is
assigned to the hydraulically damping of the first rubber support
C1 while range B is assigned to the hydraulically damping of the
second rubber support C2 which becomes active when the stop 6a
strikes the outer tubular part 2.
[0027] FIG. 4 shows another embodiment of a rubber support 20', in
which a first support C1' is arranged on the inside and a second
support C2' is arranged on the outside. In the embodiment, the
inner support comprises the first rubber part 5 with the low spring
rate. The arrangement of the chambers 7 and 8 filled with damping
medium is thus reversed accordingly.
[0028] The invention is not limited by the embodiments described
above which are presented as examples only but can be modified in
various ways within the scope of protection defined by the appended
patent claims.
* * * * *