Stabilus Gmbh

Stefan Volpel

Helmut Morgen

Klaus-Dieter Jobelius

Heinrich Spurzem

Errick G Morris

Wolfgang Zankl

A piston-cylinder unit includes a cylinder having an axis and an inner surface and a piston assembly attached to a piston rod and received in the cylinder for axial movement. The piston assembly includes a piston body, which has a plurality of radially resiliently deformable wall portions at its perimeter, the wall portions being spaced apart circumferentially from each other. Each wall portion has opposite ends that are joined integrally with the piston body and is defined by an opening in the body. Each wall portion engages the inner surface of the cylinder and deforms resiliently radially with respect to the axis of the cylinder to compensate for tolerance variations in the inner surface of the cylinder. The piston assembly may include a piston ring, which is received on the piston body with centering surfaces to restrict its radial movement and which functions to block and unblock a fluid bypass between sections of the cylinder on opposite sides of the piston assembly.

Piston cylinder unit with a piston having tolerance compensation

Fluid strut which consists of a cylinder, the interior of which contains a charge under pressure, and a piston rod connected to a piston located in this interior. On the end of the cylinder where the piston rod exits, there are a gasket and a guide for the piston rod, while a valve device which acts when there is a thermal overload on the fluid strut opens the interior to the atmosphere, whereby the valve device has at least one passage channel which can connect the atmosphere to the interior, whereby the fluid strut is connected by means of connecting parts to a base body and to a pivoting body which can move with respect to the base body, whereby in a first series connection between the base body by means of a first connecting part and the fluid strut, or a second series connection between the pivoting body by means of a second connecting part and the fluid strut, there is an element which melts in the event of a fire, and releases at least one end of the fluid strut from one of the series connections, as a result of which the fluid strut assumes a first emergency operating extended position, from which, in the event of the further addition of heat, the fluid strut moves into a second emergency operating extended position, in which the gasket to the piston rod is bridged.

Fluid strut for a motor vehicle

According to an illustrative example of the invention, a gas spring is provided with an emergency exit permitting escape of pressurized gas in the event the gas pressure exceeds a predetermined level or in the event of a dangerously high temperature. The emergency exit includes one or more fluid passages connecting the interior of the gas spring to atmosphere and a cooperating seal member for maintaining the fluid passage or passages closed under normal operating conditions. Upon the occurrence of unduly high pressures or temperatures, a destructible or deformable support for the seal or a fluid passage-bearing member permits relative movement of the seal and the cooperating fluid passage so as to open the fluid passage. As an intermediate step of pressure relief, the structure for mounting the gas spring in its environment of use, e.g. a motor vehicle, may be designed to fail under emergency conditions, e.g., fire, thereby permitting a full extension of the piston rod.

Cylinder piston device

According to an illustrative example of the invention, a gas spring is provided with an emergency exit permitting escape of pressurized gas in case of said pressurized gas exceeding a predetermined pressure. The emergency exit is provided by a radial bore through the cylinder. This radial bore is covered under normal conditions by a piston rod seal. This piston rod seal is axially displaceable by said pressurized gas at said predetermined pressure such that the radial bore is opened for escape of pressurized gas.

A telescopic spring unit with two telescopic parts capable of being shifted, one in relation to the other, along a telescopic axis, which telescopic spring unit, when in its lengthened state, is lockable by means of a locking unit that is arranged on one of the telescopic parts and is pivotable around a tilting joint into a stop position. First and second pivoting elements are provided on the two telescopic parts, respectively, for pivotally connecting the spring unit to an articulated structural assembly. The pivoting elements of the telescopic part connected to the locking unit is attached to the locking unit, and the tilting joint and the pivoting elements are coordinated with one another in a manner such that, in the lengthened state of the telescopic spring unit, a force that acts on the telescopic spring unit through the two pivoting points in the compressive direction exerts a tilting moment on the locking unit which biases the locking unit around the tilting joint towards the stop position.

Telescopic spring unit

According to an illustrative example of the invention, a gas spring comprises a cylinder, a piston rod extending through one end of the cylinder and a piston connected with the piston rod within the cylinder. A pressurized gas is contained within the cylinder. A container surrounds the cylinder. An annular space is defined between the cylinder and the container. The cylinder is subdivided by the piston rod into two working chambers. The annular space is subdivided by a separating ring into two axially adjacent sections. Radial bores through the cylinder extend between the working chambers and the two sections of the annular space. Each of the two sections of the annular space defines together with allocated radial bores flow paths adapted to interconnect the working chambers across the piston, such that in respective axially adjacent movement ranges of the piston, the working chambers are interconnected with each other, and in an intermediate standstill range between said axially adjacent movement ranges, the flow connection between the two working chambers is interrupted.

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Koblenz, Germany

Stefan Volpel