Patent ID: 7628238
Filing Date: 2009-12-08
Classification: F01N

Abstract:
1. An engine exhaust system for a vehicle, comprising: at least two flexible couplings having elastic characteristics, positioned at two different locations in the exhaust system, the at least two flexible coupling including an upstream flexible coupling and a downstream flexible coupling; an upstream component positioned further upstream of the upstream flexible coupling; a downstream component positioned further downstream of the downstream flexible coupling and mounted to a body of the vehicle; an intermediate component positioned between the upstream flexible coupling and the downstream flexible coupling and having mass, the intermediate component being coupled to the upstream component via the upstream flexible coupling and coupled to the downstream component via the downstream flexible coupling, the intermediate component being free of direct connections to the body of the vehicle between the upstream and downstream flexible couplings such that the intermediate component freely floats between the upstream and downstream flexible couplings with respect to the body of the vehicle, the intermediate component including a catalyst; and a dynamic damper formed between the upstream component and the downstream component by virtue of the elastic characteristics and the mass, with the elastic characteristics of the flexible couplings being selected to optimize the resonant frequency of the dynamic damper with respect to the mass of the intermediate component.