Patent ID: 6510929
Filing Date: 2003-01-28
Classification: F16F

Abstract:
A damper, comprising:a housing; a piston movably disposed within the housing, the piston dividing an interior of the housing into first and second cavities and having a passage defined in the piston to couple the first and second cavities, wherein the passage includes at least a disk shaped space within the piston defined by an entire region between two substantially parallel surfaces within a radial distance from an axis of the piston, a plurality of inlet flow ports coupling the first cavity to radially outer portions of the disk shaped space each through a substantially straight path, and a plurality of outlet flow ports each coupling the second cavity with a central portion of the disk shaped space; a magneto-rheological (MR) fluid contained within at least the first cavity and the disk shaped space such that the MR fluid completely fills the entire region between the two substantially parallel surfaces within the radial distance from the axis of the piston, motion of the piston being damped by a flow of MR fluid through the passage; a magnet disposed to produce a magnetic field within at least the disk shape space of the passage.