The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Dec. 09, 2003
Filed:
Aug. 22, 2001
Darryl Sendrea, Brampton, CA;
Meritor Heavy Vehicle Technology, LLC, Troy, MI (US);
Abstract
An adjustable shock absorber is provided that includes a body having a fluid passageway with first and second passages in fluid communication with one another. A valve assembly is arranged between the passages and includes a plunger that is adjustable between a plurality of positions corresponding to a plurality of fluid flow positions. The valve assembly includes a metering valve having a orifice in a disc, and the plunger includes a needle with a portion disposed in said orifice to provide flow area. The flow area is changed when the plunger moves. The valve assembly also includes a blow-off valve in which the disc is biased to a closed position by a spring arranged between the plunger and the disc. Movement of the plunger changes the loading on the spring. An adjustment knob has a cammed surface that cooperates with the plunger so that as the adjustment knob is rotated the cammed surface moves the plunger. In this manner, the blow-off and metering valves may be adjusted simultaneously, or independently if the metering and blow-off valves are separated, to provide more desirable shock absorber adjustment. Moreover, adjustment of the shock absorber is not necessarily limited to a finite number of distinct positions.