KR20090081812A - Damping Force Variable Damper - Google Patents

Abstract

Here, a damping force variable damper is disclosed. The damping force variable damper may include a damper body filled with a working fluid for generating damping force, a damping force variable valve connected to a high pressure side and a low pressure side of the damper body through an inlet and an outlet, and installed at the inlet side. It includes a filter to block the foreign matter in the working fluid flowing into the damping force variable valve.

Description

Damping force variable damper {VARIABLE DAMPING FORCE TYPE DAMPER}

The present invention relates to a damping force variable damper using a damping force variable valve, and more particularly, to a damping force variable damper in which a damping force variable valve is protected from foreign matter.

Generally, a vehicle includes a damper (or shock absorber) for absorbing and mitigating shock or vibration transmitted from a road surface or part of the vehicle while driving. The damping force of the damper affects not only the riding comfort but also the steering stability of the vehicle. For example, the low damping force of the damper increases ride comfort but decreases steering stability of the vehicle. For this reason, it is necessary to increase the damping force in turning, acceleration, braking or high-speed driving of the vehicle, thereby increasing the steering stability of the vehicle by suppressing the change in attitude of the vehicle body.

Recently, a damping force variable damper has been developed to further include a damping force variable valve for adjusting damping force characteristics. The damping force variable valve is configured to adjust the damping force of the damper by changing the flow path in itself through which the working fluid flows in accordance with the electrical signal, thereby increasing or decreasing the resistance to the working fluid. The damping force variable damper is classified into an internal type and an external type according to the installation position of the damping force variable valve, and is classified into a reverse type and a normal type according to a control method.

The damping force variable valve is composed of complex and fine parts such as a plurality of valve seats or spools constituting fine size orifices or flow paths. Therefore, the damping force variable valve may be greatly degraded in performance due to foreign substances introduced into the damping force variable valve. In particular, during damper operation, foreign matters that accumulate and enter the damping force variable valve together with the working fluid become a problem, which causes the damping force failure and decreases the reliability of the damping force variable damper due to the increase in the damping force distribution. This will damage the components in the damping force variable valve, which will shorten its life.

Therefore, the technical problem of the present invention, the damping force of the structure that can block the foreign matter in the working fluid at the inlet side of the damping force variable valve in which the working fluid flows, to suppress the poor damping force, increase in the damping force distribution and deterioration of life by the foreign matter It is to provide a variable damper.

According to an aspect of the present invention, a damper main body filled with a working fluid for generating a damping force, a damping force variable valve connected to the high pressure side and the low pressure side of the damper body through inlets and outlets, and installed on the inlet side, A damping force variable damper is provided that includes a filter to block foreign substances in the working fluid flowing into the damping force variable valve.

In the context of the present invention, the term 'damper body' means a portion, usually referred to as a damper or shock absorber, comprising a working fluid, in particular a tube filled with oil and a piston moving in accordance with the vehicle movement within the tube. The term 'damper' is intended to include both the damper body and the damping force variable valve defined above.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the inlet is formed by a protruding port, and the filter includes a net body and a filter housing inserted into the port while supporting the net body, wherein the filter housing is And a seat portion seated at the end of the port. At this time, the mesh is preferably made of plastic or stainless material.

According to the present invention, since the filter provided at the inlet side of the damper body blocks foreign substances in the working fluid flowing into the damping force variable valve from the high pressure side of the damper body, the damping force distribution and damping force defect of the damper caused by the foreign substances are suppressed, and the damping force is suppressed. It prevents the decrease of life due to damage of internal parts of the variable valve. The reduction of damping force distribution increases the damping force stability and reliability of the damper, and the reduction of the damping force defect increases the productivity and production efficiency of the damping variable variable damper.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The following embodiments are provided as examples to ensure that the spirit of the present invention can be fully conveyed to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described below and may be embodied in other forms. And, in the drawings, the width, length, thickness, etc. of the components may be exaggerated for convenience. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout.

1 is a half sectional view showing a damping force variable damper according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, the damping force variable damper of the present embodiment includes a damper body 10 and a damping force variable valve 20. As described in detail below, the damping force variable valve 20 has an inlet and an outlet connected to the high pressure side and the low pressure side of the damper main body 10, respectively, to operate the working fluid from the high pressure side of the damper main body 10 through the inlet. It is supplied, and the working fluid is sent to the low pressure side of the damper main body 10 through the outlet. Damping force variable valve 20, by changing the flow path inside the valve based on the electrical signal to change the resistance to the working fluid entered therein, whereby the damping force of the damping force variable damper can be variably adjusted.

The damper body 10 includes an inner tube 11 and an outer tube 12 outside thereof, a piston valve 13 accommodated in the inner tube 11, and a piston rod 14 having one end connected to the piston valve 13. ). The piston rod 14 is slidably supported by the rod guide 15 provided on the upper end of the inner tube 11 and the outer tube 12.

The interior of the inner tube 11 is separated into the upper rebound chamber C1 and the lower compression chamber C2 by the piston valve 13. As is well known, the piston valve 13 has a structure that selectively permits the working fluid flow from the rebound chamber C1 to the compression chamber C2 and the reverse direction in accordance with its up and down motion. It is. At this time, the working fluid flows between the compression chamber C2 and the rebound chamber C1 and generates a predetermined damping force by the flow path resistance.

In order to compensate for the volume change of the compression chamber (C2), a reservoir chamber (C3) is provided between the inner tube 11 and the outer tube 12 is partially filled with oil as a working fluid. When there is a volume change in the compression chamber C2 and a pressure change due to the movement of the piston valve 13, the working fluid in the reservoir chamber C3 is supplied into the compression chamber C2, or the compression chamber ( The working fluid is recovered from the C2) to the reservoir chamber C3. In addition, a body valve 16 is fixedly installed between the reservoir chamber C3 and the compression chamber C2, in particular, at the lower end of the inner tube 11 and the outer tube 12, and the body valve 16 is also provided. Means for generating a flow path resistance to the flow of the working fluid. Therefore, a predetermined damping force is also generated by the working fluid flow between the reservoir chamber C3 and the compression chamber C2.

In addition, between the inner tube 11 and the outer tube 12, an intermediate tube 17 defining a high pressure chamber C4 together with the inner tube 11 is provided, and the high pressure chamber C4 is an inner tube. For example, formed in 12 is through an aperture (not shown), through the interior of the inner tube 12, ie with the rebound chamber C1 and / or the compression chamber C2.

As mentioned above, the inlet and outlet of the damping force variable valve 20 are connected to the high pressure side and the low pressure side of the damper body 10. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing a portion “A” of FIG. 1. Hereinafter, referring to FIG. 2, a connection configuration between the damping force variable valve 20 and the damper main body 10 will be described in more detail.

Referring to FIG. 2, the inlet of the damping force variable valve 20 is defined by the protruding port 211, and the protruding port 211 passes through the side surface of the outer tube 12 and the intermediate tube 17. By passing through, the damping force variable valve 20 is connected to the high pressure side of the damper body 10, that is, the high pressure chamber C4 and the rebound chamber C1 and / or the compression chamber C2 connected thereto. In addition, the outlet 212 of the damping force variable valve 20 is connected to the reservoir chamber C3 on the low pressure side.

The damping force variable valve 20 includes a housing 21 and a solenoid portion 22 and a valve portion 24 positioned in the housing 21. As is known, the solenoid portion 22 is configured to advance or retract the actuating rod 222 in a solenoid manner, the valve portion 24 having a spool 242, the spool 242 of which is The moving rod 222 is advanced or retracted to change the resistance of the flow path and the working fluid through which the working fluid flows from the valve unit 24, thereby variably adjusting the damping force of the damper. Since the configuration of the damping force variable valve 20 as described above is conventionally known by Korean Patent Registration No. 0583875, 0776569, 0757810, etc. by the present applicant, a detailed description thereof is omitted, and the above documents are referred to. Is incorporated herein by reference.

According to the present invention, the damping force variable damper includes a filter 30 for filtering foreign matter in the working fluid flowing into the damping force variable valve 20 from the high pressure side of the damper body 10. The filter 30 is installed in the protruding port 211, which is the inlet of the damping force variable valve 20, and thus, assuming that the filtering performance of the filter 30 is perfect, any foreign matter into the damping force variable valve 20 is obtained. No inflow is allowed.

In this embodiment, the filter 30 includes a mesh 32 and a filter housing 34 outside the mesh for supporting the mesh 32. The mesh 30 is made of a net structure having a size of about 100 mesh, it is preferably a plastic or metal material that can withstand high pressure and is a semi-permanent material, more preferably made of stainless steel material. In addition, the filter housing 34 is substantially cylindrical, and has a ring-shaped seat portion 342 at its end.

In the present embodiment, the filter housing 34 is inserted into and supported in the protruding port 211 which is the inlet of the damping force variable valve 20 in the circumferential direction, and in its inserted state, its seat portion ( 342 is seated at the end of the protruding port 211. While the working fluid flows into the damping force variable valve 20 at a high pressure, there is no working fluid flow in the reverse direction, so that the seat portion 342 of the filter housing provided in the filter 30 is connected to the protruding port 211. Simply hanging over the end does not cause unwanted separation of the filter 30.

Since the filter 30 blocks foreign matters at the inlet side of the damping force variable valve 20, there is substantially no foreign material inflow into the damping force variable valve 20, and foreign matters existing in the damping force variable valve 20 are Since it flows into the damper body 10 through the outlet 212, the cleanliness of the damping force variable valve 20 may be improved over time.

The present invention is not limited by the above embodiments, and the damping force variable dampers having various structures in which a filter as described above is installed at the inlet side of the damping force variable valve are within the scope of the present invention. For example, a damping force variable valve having two inlets, for example, as disclosed in Korean Patent No. 057810, may be used in the present invention so as to communicate with each of the compression chamber and the rebound chamber. As disclosed in Korean Patent No. 0507756, a damping force variable valve using a magnetorheological fluid (or a magnetic variable fluid) can be used in the present invention.

1 is a half sectional view showing a damping force variable damper according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a portion “A” of FIG. 1.

<Code Description of Main Parts of Drawing>

10: damper main body 11: inner tube

12: outer tube 17: intermediate tube

20: damping force variable valve 21: housing

22: solenoid portion 24: valve portion

212: protruding port 30: filter

32: mesh 34: filter housing

342: sheet portion

Claims (3)

A damper body filled with a working fluid for generating damping force; A damping force variable valve connected to the high pressure side and the low pressure side of the damper body through an inlet and an outlet; A filter installed at the inlet side to block foreign substances in the working fluid flowing into the damping force variable valve; Damping force variable damper including. The method of claim 1, wherein the inlet is formed by a protruding port, wherein the filter has a mesh and a filter housing inserted into the port while supporting the mesh, wherein the filter housing is at the end of the port. Damping force variable damper, characterized in that it comprises a seat portion seated. The damping force variable damper according to claim 2, wherein the mesh is made of plastic or stainless steel.

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