CA1147356A - Airsprings - Google Patents

Airsprings

Info

Publication number
CA1147356A
CA1147356A CA000382429A CA382429A CA1147356A CA 1147356 A CA1147356 A CA 1147356A CA 000382429 A CA000382429 A CA 000382429A CA 382429 A CA382429 A CA 382429A CA 1147356 A CA1147356 A CA 1147356A
Authority
CA
Canada
Prior art keywords
airspring
membrane
plug
sleeve
piston
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Expired
Application number
CA000382429A
Other languages
French (fr)
Inventor
Arthur B. Hirtreiter
Paul R. Brown
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co
Original Assignee
Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Priority claimed from US05/839,488 external-priority patent/US4174827A/en
Application filed by Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co filed Critical Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co
Priority to CA000382429A priority Critical patent/CA1147356A/en
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of CA1147356A publication Critical patent/CA1147356A/en
Expired legal-status Critical Current

Links

Landscapes

  • Diaphragms And Bellows (AREA)

Abstract

IMPROVEMENTS IN AIRSPRINGS

Abstract of the Disclosure A high ratio L/D sleeve type rolling lobe airspring is modified to provide column stabilization and correct a "weinering"
effect by reason of a collar mounted at the plug end of the air-spring sleeve. The collar prevents the inflated sleeve from rolling over a mounting ring that retains the sleeve on the plug. In another embodiment a rigid member is mounted inside of the airspring to limit the kink effect of the sleeve at a full jounce position such that upon being repressurized under restrained load the sleeve returns to an axially symmetric configuration.

Description

Background of the Invention This is a division of Serial Number 310,139 filed August 28, 1978.
This invention generally relates to sleeve type, rolling lobe airsprings as distinguished from bellows type airsprlngs and more particularly to a high ratio L/D sleeve type rolling lobe airspring that exhibits full recovery upon pressurization from a full jounce position and column stabi-lization under load in a pressurized condition.
; ~ A rolling lobe airspring is defined as a pneumatic -device that has a piston aktached to an inner bead at one end of an enclosed reversible flexible member and upon the appllcation of load forces to the device, the flexible mem-ber is caused to roll down over the piston. I~hile various types and configurations of rolling lobe airsprings are known and used in the art, the purpose of this invention -is to provide an economically produced sleeve type rolling lobe airspring that has a higher L/D ratio than heretofore produced and which is column stabilized against lateral de-flections that have tended to limit the working height and thus the L/D ratio of the flexible membrane that could be tolerated in some applications. ~-An aspect of thi~ invention is as follows:
A high ratio L/D rolling lobe airspring for mount-ing between two members capable of relative motion between them comprising in combination: a piston mounted to one of the members; a plug mounted to the o~her of the members;
- a tubular-walled sleeve-type flexible membrane of substan-tially constant diameter in its undeformed state mounted at one of its ends to the piston and at the opposite end to the plug by means of ring fittings to form an airtight chaTnber between them~ the mounting being such that the piston moves axially into the tubular membrane and the .

membrane walls form lobes éncasing the piston; means to pressurize the chamber; and means mounted within the chamber to limit the lateral de~lection of the membrane when in its full jounce position such that upon being inflated khe membrane returns to an axially symmetric con-~iguration.
Description o~ the Dr w__~s These advantages and other advantages and improve-ments in the art will be better understood from the : 10 ~ollowing description when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in the several figures of which like reference numerals identify like elements, and in which:

~1473S6 Figure 1 is an elevational view of a typical sleeve-type rolling lobe airspring showing i-t in an unpressurizedJ
unloaded and fully extended oQndition;
Figure 2 is an elevational view, partially in section, showing the airspring of Figure 1 in a pressurized, loaded, and wor~ing or design height condition;
: Figure 3 is an elevational view, partially in section, illustrating a lateral deflection or "weinering" effect experienced by an unmodified high-ratio LlD airspring of Figure 2;
Figure 4 is an elevational view of an unmodified sleeve type rolling lobe airspring showing it at full jounce and illustrating a la-teral kinking, and the problem exper-ienced upon re-pressurizing the spring;
.
Figure 5 is an elevational view, partially in section, ,. . of an improved high ratio L/D sleeve type rolling lobe air-spring mod1fied in accordance with the teaching of this in-vention;
Figure 6 is an elevational view, partially in section, of a further modified high ration L/D, sleeve type rolling lobe airspring; and Figure 7 is an eleva-tional view, partially in section, of another embodiment of a high ratio L/D, sleeve type rolling lobe airspring that is also modified 1n accordance with this invention.
Brief Descri~tion of the Inven-tion Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 shows an unmounted, unloaded and unpressurized rolling lobe t~pe airspring which cornprises a flexible membrane 10 in a substantially cylindrical 73S~

sleeve configura-tion, an end-plug 12 -that is mounted into one end of the sleeve at lOa, and a piston 14 that is mo~ted into -the other end of the sleeve a-t lOb. The sleeve ends lOa and lOb are re-tained on -the plug 12 and piston 14 respectively by swaged-on rings 16 that effect a sealed air-tight chamber bet~een the plug 12, piston 14 and sleeve lO.
The plug 12 is adapted for mounting by reason of bolt studs 18 and accepts air pressure 20 into the sleeve chamber by way of a hollow stud 18 or else by way o~ a separate fitting 22 connected through the plug. Alternate arrangements of mounting and connecting the air supply into the chamber may be made, as for example, the air supply may be connected through the piston. 0~ course, the manner of mounting will depend on the particular application.
:
It should be clearly apparent ~rom the drawing that the airspring of -this invention may be distinguished from other type airsprings by reason of its length i.e., a high L/D ratio where L is the overall length of the flexible - . . . . . .
member and D is its diameter. Further, the rolling lobe airspri-ng of this inven-tion may be distinguished by a substantially tubular or sleeve configured membrane as opposed to a bellows type membrarle. m e airspring may fur-ther be distinguished by the fac-t that the membra~e is a mandrel formed open-ended fle~lble sleeve whereas the other types are fully molded sections characterized by molded in beads at their open ends. ~hus, the sleeve type rolling lobe airspring may be distinguished from alliothers by its basic con~iguration, its manner o~ manufacture and its mode of operation.

73~6 ;
Turning now -to Figure 2, -the airspring of Figure 1 is shown in its mounted, loaded and pressurized working position. In this condition, the end plug 12 is mounted to an upper plate 24 while the piston 14 is moun-ted -to a lower pla-te 26, both plates capahle o~ relative motion between them, either along the airspring axis 28 or along an of~-axis arc 28' dependent,~o~ course, on the -type of installation. I-t should be understood that Figure 2 illus-trates an idealized working con~iguration ~or the airspring at its design height H wherein the design heigh-t is defined as that selected position o~ the spring which satisfies the spring travel requirements between full rebound and ~ull jounce an,d is usually speci~ied by a dimension H between - reference points on the upper and lower extreme parts of the spring as mounted and commonly identi~ied as a plate-to-plate dimension. In practice, high ratio L/D sleeve type rolling lobe airsprings have not been able to attain this ldealized configuration and the reasons for this wlll be more fully ; - ~appreciated as the description continues with reference to Figures 3 and 4.
Figure 3 illustrates a lateral deflectlon problem experienced by a high ratio L/D sleeve type rolling lobe airspring. Firstly, and because the flexible membrane is in a sleeve or substantially tubular configuration as opposed to a fully molded section, its diameter expands laterally upon being inflated to its working pressure. Secondly, and further because of its sleeve con~iguration, the ends are mounted to the plug 12 and piston 14 by way o~ swaged-on rings 16 as opposed to a bead type mounting characteristic . . , 73~,6 of the other types of airsprings. In this circumstance and because of the high ratio L/D of the cylindrical sleeve, the membrane -tends to deflect la-terally and roll upwardly such as at lOc while also rolling downwardly on the opposite side such as at lOd. The airspring thus exhibits an insta-bility called "weinering" which is detrimental in its intended applica-tion.
Flgure 4 illustrates a kinking effect experienced by high ratio L/D sleeve type alrsprings when unpressurized and in a full jounce position. In this unpressurized condition, the cylindrical sleeve membrane 10 tends to kink such as at lOe, and upon being repressurized, while restrained under load the kink becomes accentua-ted laterally as shown by 10' rather than recovering to its in-tended column configuration as illustrated by Figure 2.
- Figure 5 illustrates a high ratio L/D slee~e type rolling lobe airspring modified in accordance with this in-vention to correct the instabili-ty problem shown in Figure 3.
In the drawing, a collar 30 is mounted on the airspring at the end plug 12 such that upon mounting -the airspring to a member 24 the collar fills in the space created by the end plug to a thick~ess "h" at leas-t -that of the plug 12. The diameter "d" of the collar is at leas-t to the point o~ tan-gency "t" of the fle~ible membrane having an infla-ted diameter D t . Upon being loaded the membrane 10 maintains its column stability by reason of the collar preventing the membrane from rolling upwardly over the ring 16. As shown in the drawing, the collar 30 may be a separate item or in some applications it may be designed into the configuration of the mounting pla-te 24.

~L73~Ç;

In ei-ther case -the collar 30 must have -the minimum thickness 'lhlla~hd diame-ter lld'1 as herebefore sta-ted.
Figure 6 illustrates a further modification -that is made -to the airspring of Figure 2 to limi-t -the kink-ePfect at full jounce. In this circumstance, a -thin-walled tubular member 32 is positioned in the airspring chamber such that -the flexible membrane 10 is limited in its lateral excursion due to kink as illustrated by the dashed line showing 10". The member 32 is thin-walled to retain the re~uired spring rate by virture of a pre-es-tablished air volume within the chamber and its length "1" is established by -the minimum of the design height H selected for the particular airspring application. Of course, the tubular member 32 may as well be mounted at the top - of the airspring to the end plug 12 to obtain the same benefit as described w1th respect to its mounting to -the piston. Furthermore, ' it-is anticipated that the member 32 may be made of metal, plas-tic or any other material -that results in a rigid structure and may be mounted within the airspring chamber by any means so long as the configuration and type mounting results in a maintenance of the required spring rate established for the airspring. Upon repressurizing~ the airspring flexible membrane is restrained from excessive lateral movement and therefore full axial symmetry under load is accomplished.
Figure 7 illustrates an embodiment wherein the preselected spring rate of a high L/D ratio airspring is preser~ed by mounting a rod 34 within the airsprlng chamber such as to limit the lateral excursion of the membrane as at lOf. In this circumstance, when the airspring is not pressurized and may be in the dashed line ~735~

position indicated by 10", the limi-t provided by the rod 34 allows for full recovery of -the airspring upon its pressur-ization. Of course i-t will be recognized that the member 32 of Figure 6 or -the member 34 of Figure 7~may be of any rigid configura-tion so long as -the pre-es-tablished spring rate of the airspring is maintained.
While certain representative embodiments and details have been shown for the purpose of illustrating -the invention, it will be apparent to those s~illed in this art that various changes and modifica-tions may be made therein without departing from the spirit or scope of -the invention.

~ .

Claims (4)

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:
1. A high ratio L/D rolling lobe airspring for mounting between two members capable of relative motion between them comprising in combination:
a piston mounted to one of the members;
a plug mounted to the other of the members;
a tubular-walled sleeve-type flexible membrane of substantially constant diameter in its undeformed state mounted at one of its ends to the piston and at the opposite end to the plug by means of ring fittings to form an airtight chamber between them, the mounting being such that the piston moves axially into the tubular membrane and the membrane walls form lobes encasing the piston;
means to pressurize the chamber; and means mounted within the chamber to limit the lateral deflection of the membrane when in its full jounce position such that upon being inflated the mem-brane returns to an axially symmetric configuration.
2. The airspring as set forth in Claim 1 wherein the means mounted within the chamber comprises a cylin-drical member mounted to the piston, said cylindrical member being thin-walled to maintain the spring rate established for the airspring.
3. The airspring as set forth in Claim 1 wherein the means mounted within the chamber comprises a rod.
4. The airspring as set forth in Claim 2 also comprising a collar mounted at the end of the membrane having the plug, exteriorly of and axially aligned with the plug such as to limit any upward movement of the membrane upon being subjected to load forces to prevent the pressurized membrane from rolling over the ring fitting which retains the membrane to the plug.
CA000382429A 1977-10-04 1981-07-23 Airsprings Expired CA1147356A (en)

Priority Applications (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
CA000382429A CA1147356A (en) 1977-10-04 1981-07-23 Airsprings

Applications Claiming Priority (4)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US05/839,488 US4174827A (en) 1977-10-04 1977-10-04 Airsprings
US839,488 1977-10-04
CA310,139A CA1115298A (en) 1977-10-04 1978-08-28 Airsprings
CA000382429A CA1147356A (en) 1977-10-04 1981-07-23 Airsprings

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
CA1147356A true CA1147356A (en) 1983-05-31

Family

ID=27165825

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
CA000382429A Expired CA1147356A (en) 1977-10-04 1981-07-23 Airsprings

Country Status (1)

Country Link
CA (1) CA1147356A (en)

Similar Documents

Publication Publication Date Title
US5971117A (en) Piston-cylinder aggregate with displacement-dependent dampening force field
JP3101081B2 (en) Vibration damping device
US5366048A (en) Vibration damping device
US4690389A (en) Hydraulically damped mounting device
EP0386735B1 (en) Upper support for shock absorber in a suspension system
EP0658703B1 (en) Vibration damping device
US4174827A (en) Airsprings
CA2067473A1 (en) Composite elastomeric spring and mounting apparatus
DE60308369T2 (en) AIR SPRING WITH VIBRATION INSULATION
JPS6124844A (en) Pneumatic spring
CA1287648C (en) Airspring with internal restraint
US4988082A (en) Spliced air sleeve assembly for air spring damper
DE69824135T2 (en) Vibration-damping device with liquid chambers on opposite sides of a partition structure with movable rubber plate
US4844429A (en) Die spring construction
US6199837B1 (en) Thermoplastic elastomer air spring
EP1261813B2 (en) Air spring with two part housing
CA1147356A (en) Airsprings
DE3440681A1 (en) VIBRATION-ABSORBING FASTENING
CA1097380A (en) Air spring assembly
EP0129363B1 (en) Spring
US20030151177A1 (en) Double rolling-lobe spring arrangement
US20210332867A1 (en) Air suspension assembly and bellows for an air suspension assembly
CA1286698C (en) Die spring construction
US3929370A (en) Vehicle-supported structure stabilizer
JPH044332A (en) Air spring

Legal Events

Date Code Title Description
MKEX Expiry