Bridgestone/firestone, Inc.

Bfs Diversified Products, LLC

Mark D Hilburger

Daniel J Leonard

Mohamad Taghizadeh

David A Weitzenhof

Andreas Peickert

Todd M Ziems

David E Grass

Michael K Whitaker

Terry J Henderson

James M Wallin

An air spring has a pair of end members which are sealingly connected to ends of a flexible sleeve and form an internal fluid chamber. A rigid annular member is located within the fluid chamber and is spaced from one of the end members and clamps the sleeve against a rigid member located outside of the sleeve and fluid chamber. A vibration isolator, such as an annular elastomeric member, is located between the rigid outer member and the adjacent end member to support the sleeve and reduce its tension in order to isolate sleeve vibration from the end member.

Air spring with vibration isolation

An air spring has a pair of axially spaced end members and an intervening elastomeric flexible sleeve extending therebetween and forming a fluid pressure chamber. An annular clamp ring has at least one radially extending rib formed on an inner sealingly surface which radially align with at least one concave recess formed on a sealing surface of one of the end members. The end member also has at least one radially extending rib which aligns with at least one recess formed in the clamp ring sealing surface. The rib and recess formed on the clamp ring are longer and deeper than the ribs and recesses on the sealing surface of the end member to provide a more aggressive clamping action on the outer surface of the flexible sleeve than the clamping action on the inner surface or innerliner of the sleeve.

Air spring clamping assembly

An air spring has a pair of spaced end members for mounting the spring at spaced locations on a structure. A flexible sleeve of elastomeric material is sealingly engaged with the end members and forms a pressurized fluid chamber therebetween. A post is mounted on one of the end members and extends into the fluid chamber. A shock absorbing two-piece bumper includes a rigid base which is formed with an axial opening and is seated upon one of the end members with the post extending into the opening. An elastomeric member is mounted within the axial opening of the rigid base member and is snap-fitted onto the post. The upper end of the elastomeric member extends outwardly over the upper end of the base to engage the opposite end member upon the air spring failing or experiencing a large deflection. The two-piece bumper provides a high load carrying capability with low deflection and replaces the heretofore used single member elastomeric bumper.

Snap-on bumper for air spring

An air spring has a pair of spaced end members for mounting the spring at spaced locations on a structure. A flexible sleeve of elastomeric material is sealingly engaged with the end members and forms a pressurized fluid chamber therebetween. A post is mounted on one of the end members and extends into the fluid chamber. A shock absorbing bumper having an outer shell formed of a high strength first plastic material is mounted on the post. The shock absorbing bumper shell is formed with a plurality of internal compartments containing one or more blocks formed of a second plastic material. The second plastic material preferably is a thermoplastic and is stronger in compression than the first plastic material of the outer shell. The relatively stronger but stiffer blocks are surrounded by the relatively softer plastic material of the outer shell and provides a bumper having extremely high compressive strength and a high resistance to breakage or fracture.

Air spring bumper utilizing a combination of materials

An air spring has a pair of spaced end members for mounting the spring at spaced locations on a structure. A flexible sleeve of elastomeric material is sealingly engaged with the end members and forms a pressurized fluid chamber therebetween. A post is mounted on one of the end members and extends into the fluid chamber. A shock absorbing two-piece bumper includes a rigid metal base which is formed as an inverted cup-shaped member with a cylindrical sidewall. The base is secured to one of the end members with the post extending into an open end of the base member. An elastomeric member is snap-fitted into a hole formed in an end closure wall of the base member and engages the opposite end member upon the air spring failing or experiencing a large deflection. In an alternate embodiment, a plurality of flexible fingers are formed from the cylindrical sidewall of the base and are snap-fit to the post to mount the base member on the post and on the one end member of the air spring.

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Carmel, IN, United States of America

Mark D Hilburger