Patent ID: 7117890
Filing Date: 2006-10-10
Classification: B60G,Y10T

Abstract:
1. A vehicle leveling valve for selectively passing air from a high pressure source to an air bag, which includes a housing having a shuttle-confining passage with top and bottom housing passage walls, a shuttle lying in said housing passage, said shuttle including a shuttle frame slidable in left and right directions in said housing passage, and said shuttle including a valving member that slides in said left and right directions with said shuttle frame, said bottom housing wall forming a housing sealed-against surface with a first hole for connection to said high pressure air source and a second hole for connection to said air bag, said valving member having a seal surface that lies facewise against said housing sealed-against surface, said seal surface having a recess that opens only to said housing first hole in a left position of the shuttle, and that opens to both said first and second holes when said shuttle moves rightward to a second position, and said shuttle frame has a vertical bore and said valving member has an upstanding guiding part that is vertically slideably received in said shuttle frame vertical bore to allow said valving member to slide vertically in said shuttle frame; wherein: said vertical bore in said shuttle frame has a closed upper end, and including a seal that seals said guiding part to an upper portion of said valving member to prevent the outflow of pressured air from said bore upper portion, said valving member having a conduit that connects said recess to a location along said guiding part that lies above said seal, to apply pressured air to said vertical bore upper portion, to thereby press down said seal surface against said housing sealed-against surface by a force that is largely proportional to the air pressure from said high pressure source; said bottom housing wall forms a second hole for connection to a second air bag, said first and second holes having upper ends at said housing sealed-against surface that are both connected to said recess in said second position of said shuttle; said bottom housing sealed-against surface and said valving member seal surfaces are constructed so one of them forms a restricted passage that connects said upper ends of said first and second holes to flow air between said holes without said air flowing through said recess, said restricted passage allowing less than half the flow rate of air therethrough than occurs from said recess to said air bag holes when said shuttle is in said rightward position, for a given pressure difference.