Spring devices – Resilient shock or vibration absorber – Including energy absorbing means or feature
Reexamination Certificate
2001-12-05
2003-05-06
Schwartz, Christopher P. (Department: 3613)
Spring devices
Resilient shock or vibration absorber
Including energy absorbing means or feature
Reexamination Certificate
active
06557839
ABSTRACT:
INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE
The disclosure of Japanese Patent Application No. 2000-379161 filed on Dec. 13, 2000 including the specification, drawings and abstract is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a fluid-filled vibration damping device, which is adapted to provide vibration damping effect on the basis of flows of a non-compressible fluid filling a fluid chamber formed therein, and which is suitably used as an engine mount, a body mount and the like for an automotive vehicle.
2. Description of the Related Art
As one type of a vibration coupling or bushing interposed between two members of a vibration system, there is known a fluid-filled vibration damping device. A known example of such a fluid-filled vibration damping device is disclosed in JP-A-9-257090 and JP-A-10-38016, wherein the vibration damping device includes: a first mounting member connectable to one of the two member of the vibration system, and a second mounting member having a generally cup shape and connectable to the other member of the vibration system, said second mounting member being opposed at its open end portion to the first mounting member with an axial spacing therebetween; an elastic body interposed between and elastically connecting the first and second mounting members such that an opening of the second mounting member is fluid-tightly closed by the elastic body, to thereby partially define a pressure receiving chamber on one of opposite sides thereof, which is filled with a non-compressible fluid and located within an interior space of the second mounting member; an elastic rubber layer extending between the first and second mounting member and disposed outward of the elastic body with a spacing therebetween, so as to partially define an equilibrium chamber on the other side of the elastic body remote from the pressure receiving chamber, which is filled with the non-compressible fluid; and an orifice passage for fluid communication between the pressure receiving chamber and the equilibrium chamber.
Upon application of a vibrational load between the first and second mounting members in an axial direction of the vibration damping device in which the first and second mounting member are moved toward and away from each other, a pressure of the fluid in the pressure receiving chamber varies due to an elastic deformation of the elastic body, thus causing a fluid-pressure difference between the pressure receiving chamber and the equilibrium chamber whose volume is variable due to an elastic deformation of the elastic rubber layer. This fluid pressure difference between the pressure receiving chamber and the equilibrium chamber forces the fluid to flow through the orifice passage between the two chambers, so that the fluid-filled vibration damping device exhibits a desired vibration damping effect on the basis of resonance or flows of the fluid flowing through the orifice passage.
In the disclosed fluid-filled vibration damping device, moreover, the pressure receiving chamber is formed in a space interposed between the first and second mounting members, while the equilibrium chamber is disposed radially outwardly of the first mounting member. This arrangement makes it possible to decrease an axial distance between the first and second mounting member, thus effectively minimizing a size of the vibration damping device in its axial direction, while effectively locating an elastic center of the vibration damping device in a relatively lower side of the device. For these advantages, such a known fluid-filled vibration damping device has been employed as an engine mount of the vehicle or the like.
Since the fluid-filled vibration damping device exhibits the desired vibration damping effect on the basis of the resonance or flows of the fluid flowing thought the orifice passage, a vibration damping characteristics of the vibration damping device is effectively tuned by suitably adjusting a length and a cross-sectional area of the orifice passage.
However, the known fluid-filled vibration damping device disclosed in the above-indicated publications suffers from a low degree of freedom in designing the length and cross sectional area of the orifice passage and a resultant difficulty in changing its design. That is, the known fluid-filled vibration damping device suffers from inherent problem, i.e., a low degree of freedom in tuning its vibration damping characteristics.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore one object of this invention to provide a novel fluid-filled vibration damping device which is compact in size with a reduced axial distance between a first mounting member and a second mounting member, and which enables to increase a degree of freedom in tuning an orifice passage thereof with a simple structure.
It is another object of this invention to provide a method of producing with ease a fluid-filled vibration damping device which is compact in size with a reduced axial distance between the first mounting member and the second mounting member, and which ensures an increased degree of tuning of the orifice passage thereof.
The above and/or other objects of this invention may be attained according to at least one of the following modes of the invention. Each of these modes of the invention is numbered like the appended claims and depends from the other mode or modes, where appropriate, to indicate possible combinations of elements or technical features of the invention. It is to be understood that the principle of the invention is not limited to those modes of the invention and combinations of the technical features, but may otherwise be recognized based on the thought of the present invention disclosed in the whole specification and drawings or that may be recognized by those skilled in the art in the light of the disclosure in the whole specification and drawings.
(1) A fluid-filled vibration damping device comprising: (a) a first mounting member; (b) a second mounting member having a generally cup shape and being opposed at an open end portion to the first mounting member with a given spacing therebetween; (c) an elastic body interposed between and elastically connecting the first and second mounting members such that the open end portion of the second mounting member is fluid-tightly closed by the elastic body; (d) a pressure receiving chamber partially defined by the elastic body and formed within the second mounting member on one of opposite side of the elastic body, the pressure receiving chamber being filled with a non-compressible fluid; (e) an elastic rubber layer extending between the first and second mounting members and disposed outward of the elastic body with a spacing therebetween; (f) an equilibrium chamber partially defined by the elastic rubber layer and formed on an other one of the opposite sides of the elastic body, the equilibrium chamber being filled with the non-compressible fluid; (g) an outer circumferential metallic sleeve having a generally cylindrical shape and bonded to an outer circumferential surface of the elastic body upon vulcanizing a rubber material for forming the elastic body, the outer circumferential metallic sleeve including an outward flange portion integrally formed at one of axially opposite ends thereof located on a side of the open end portion of the second mounting member, so as to extend radially outwardly; (h) a cylindrical orifice member disposed radially outwardly on the outer circumferential metallic sleeve with one of axially opposite end faces thereof superposed on one of axially opposite surfaces of the outward flange portion of the outer circumferential metallic sleeve which is remote from the open end portion of the second mounting member, the orifice member together with the outer circumferential metallic sleeve being fitted into a cylindrical wall portion of the second mounting member so that the orifice member is interposed between the outer circumferential metallic sleeve and the cylindrical wall portion of the second mounting member to
Rossi & Associates
Schwartz Christopher P.
Tokai Rubber Industries Ltd.
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