Patent ID: 8051962
Filing Date: 2011-11-08
Classification: B62K,F16F

Abstract:
1. A steering damper comprising: a housing having a fan-shaped inner space filled with working oil; a vane housed in the housing so as to freely oscillate within the fan-shaped inner space about a neutral position; a first oil chamber delimited by the vane; a second oil chamber delimited by the vane; a damping valve connecting the first oil chamber and the second oil chamber, the damping valve for imposing a drag on a flow of working oil between the first oil chamber and the second oil chamber; an oil passage connecting the first oil chamber and the second oil chamber; a pair of check valves disposed in the oil passage, the pair of check valves for allowing working oil to flow from the oil passage into the first oil chamber and the second oil chamber while preventing working oil from flowing from the first oil chamber and the second oil chamber into the oil passage; and a bypass passage connected to the oil passage between the pair of check valves and comprising a first branch opening onto the first oil chamber and on a first side of the vane when the vane is in the neutral position, and a second branch opening onto the second oil chamber and on a second side of the vane when the vane is in the neutral position, when the vane oscillates in a direction towards the neutral position to thereby cause one of the first oil chamber and the second oil chamber to shrink, the shrinking first or second oil chamber is connected to the oil passage through the bypass passage, and when the vane oscillates in a direction away from the neutral position to thereby cause one of the first oil chamber and the second oil chamber to shrink, the vane prevents the shrinking first or second oil chamber from connecting to the oil passage through the bypass passage.