Abstract:
A torsional vibration damper includes a one-piece integral hub and annular inertia mass assembly. Between the hub and the inertia mass are intermediate rings connected integrally with the mass and the hub connected integral spokes. Elastomeric members are compression fitted within spaces formed between the hub and the mass.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Torsional vibration dampers are employed extensively in internal combustion engines to reduce torsional vibrations delivered to rotatable shafts. The torsional vibrations may be of considerable amplitude, and, if not abated, can potentially damage gears or similar structures attached to the rotatable shaft and cause fatigue failure of the rotatable shaft. 
     Torsional vibration dampers convert the kinetic vibrational energy by dissipating it to thermal energy as a result of damping. The absorption of the vibrational energy lowers the strength requirements of the rotatable shaft and thereby lowers the required weight of the shaft. The torsional vibration damper also has a direct effect on inhibiting vibration of nearby components of the internal combustion engine that would be affected by the vibration. 
     The simplest insertion style torsional vibration damper has three components, a hub that allows the damper to be rigidly connected to the source of the vibration, an inertia ring, and an elastomeric strip in the same shape as the ring. The elastomeric strip provides the spring dashpot system for the damper. The hub and the inertia ring are manufactured individually and machined before the elastomer is inserted by force into the gap that is present between the hub and the inertia ring. The elastomer is compressed and exerts a pressure between the metallic surfaces of the ring and hub, holding the assembly in place. There are several design problems with these dampers. 
     The bore of the hub and grooves in the ring have to meet very tight tolerances with respect to each other radially and axially. That sometimes forces the parts to be machined after assembly. With two separate parts, there can be two separate machining steps. The elastomer assembly process contributes to wavy rubber and, hence, product scrap. Further, the hub of the damper adds parasitic inertia to the system. 
     For any mechanical system, the torsional natural frequency depends upon the inertia, torsional stiffness and damping of the system. In the traditional torsional vibration damper, the inertia is provided by the inertia ring, while the damping and torsional stiffness are provided by the elastomer strip. This otherwise implies that the hub is, in fact, a rigid attachment that does not provide any significant help to the damping system except to provide a rigid means of connection to the rotating component of the vehicle. Thus, the damping, by definition, is caused by energy dissipation in the form of heat due to frictional and/or other causes. In the standard torsional vibration damper, the shearing of the elastomer between the hub outer diameter and the ring inner diameter causes the relative motion of the elastomer and, therefore, promotes damping. This inherently causes a strain buildup in the elastomer. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention is premised on the realization that a torsional vibration damper suitable for automotive applications, as well as others, can be formed with an integral hub/inertia mass structure. The inner hub is connected to the inertia ring by a series of spokes which, in turn, lead to intermediate rings connected, in turn, to the inertia ring by outer spokes. This provides generally arcuate regions between the hub and the intermediate ring or rings, as well as between the rings and the inertia ring. The spokes and rings are designed to flex and/or deform in use. At least some of the arcuate openings are filled with elastomeric members that provide the dashpot. The dashpots are forced into these arcuate openings and held in position by pressure that they exert on the metallic surfaces. The bending of the spokes and rings deforms the arcuate spaces and the elastomeric inserts thereby absorb and/or dampen vibration. 
     This design allows the inertia ring grooves and the hub bore, and the washer face to be machined in a single operation, thereby eliminating the run-out issues seen in the assembly of traditional torsional vibration dampers. 
     The objects and advantages of the present invention will be further appreciated in light of the following detailed description and drawings in which: 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING 
         FIG. 1  is an isometric view of a torsional vibration damper made according to the present invention; 
         FIG. 1A  is an exploded view of the vibration damper shown in  FIG.1 ; 
         FIG. 2  is an isometric view of an alternate embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 3  is an isometric view of a second alternate embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 4  is an isometric view of a third alternate embodiment of the present invention; and 
         FIG. 5  is an isometric view of a fourth alternate embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     As shown in  FIG. 1 , the present invention is a damper  10  that includes a hub  12  and an outer annular inertia mass  14  formed integrally with the hub. Between the outer peripheral surface  16  of hub  12  and the inertia mass  14  are a first inner ring  18  and a second intermediate ring  20 . The first inner ring  18  is connected to the outer surface  16  of hub  12  by first innermost spokes  24  which extend from the inner surface  22  of ring  18  to the outer surface  16  of hub  12 . Extended between the outer surface  26  of ring  18  and the inner surface  28  of ring  20 , are a second set of intermediate spokes  30 , which connect the inner ring  18  to the intermediate ring  20 . Finally, extended between the outer surface  32  of ring  20  to the inner surface  34  of inertia mass  14 , are a third set of outer spokes  36 . Preferably, the hub  12 , inertia mass  14 , as well as rings  18  and  20  and spokes  24 ,  30  and  36 , are all integrally formed. 
     This structure defines innermost arcuate spaces  38  between the hub  12  and the first inner ring  18  and spokes  24 . Intermediate arcuate spaces  40  are then formed between rings  18  and  20  and spokes  30 , and outermost arcuate spaces  42  are formed between the ring  20  and inertia mass  14  bordered by the third spokes  36 . Arcuate spaces  40 , in turn, are filled by first and second elastomeric members or dashpots  44  and  46  respectively. 
     The damper  10  is designed to absorb vibration in a defined frequency ranges within permitted space limitations. Thus, the thickness of the overall damper  10 , the total mass of the inertia mass  14 , as well as its total inertia, and the thickness of the spokes and inner and outer rings, can all be varied in order to achieve desired dampening. 
     In a typical automotive application, the diameter  48  of damper  10  can be anywhere from about 100 mm to about 200 mm. The general inertia requirements may vary widely and can be anywhere from about 5000 kg·mm 2  to about 30,000 kg·mm 2 . Typical torsional damper vibration widths  49  are usually from about 20 mm to about 60 mm. 
     The design limitations of the spokes and rings will vary also, depending upon the particular material used to form the damper. The damper can be formed from any metal used for torsional vibration dampers. These include steel, ductile iron, grey iron and aluminum, as well as composites. Again the physical characteristics of the material will affect the design of the damper  10 . 
     The damper, including the hub, inner ring, intermediate ring, inertia ring, and spokes, are all integrally formed. These can be formed in a variety of different manners. It can be extruded, cast and subsequently machined, shell molded, or completely machined. 
     When casting the damper, it is important to maintain the tight casting tolerances in the metallic surfaces that constitute the torsional spring. If the metallic thickness varies, then so will the frequency from part to part. 
     Once the damper is initially formed, the inertia ring grooves and hub bore (not shown), and washer face can all be machined in a single operation. 
     The dashpots  44  and  46  can be formed by extrusion or injection molding. These are formed from an elastomeric material having a damping coefficient designed to meet end use requirements. Suitable elastomeric materials include chlorobutyl, bromobutyl, nitrile rubber, butyl rubber, and EPDM, we well as others. Preferably, the damping coefficient of the rubber member should be about 7% to about 25%. Once the damper is formed and machined, the elastomeric members are compression fitted into the desired arcuate spaces. As shown in  FIGS. 1 and 1A , the elastomeric members  44  and  46  are compression fitted into the intermediate arcuate spaces  40 . Generally, these will be under about 30% percentage compression. Again this can be modified depending upon design limitation. 
     The damper  10  can be modified in a variety of different manners, again designed to achieve end use requirements. 
     A first alternate embodiment of the present invention is shown in  FIG. 2 . In this embodiment, the damper  50  includes an inner hub  52 , an outer inertia mass  54 , and an inner ring  56 , and an intermediate ring  58 . The hub  52  is connected to the inner ring  56  by three spokes  60 . Likewise, the inner ring  56  is connected to the intermediate ring  58  with three spokes  62 , and the outer ring is connected to the inertia mass  54  by three spokes  64 . Three arcuate elastomeric members or dashpots  66  are located between the three spokes  62  between the inner ring and the outer ring. This effectively stiffens the torsional spring and restrains the motion of the absorption or dashpot system, reduces the strain on the elastomer, but correspondently reduces the damping of the system. 
       FIG. 3  shows a second alternate embodiment in which the damper  70  includes an inertia mass  72 , an inner hub  74  and an intermediate ring  76 . Instead of an inner ring, as shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , the damper  70  has a rectangular member  78  which surrounds the hub  74  and is connected to the hub by spokes  80 . the ring  76 , in turn, is attached to the inertia mass  72  by spokes  82 . Elastomeric members or dashpots  84  are located between the rectangular member  78  and the ring  76 . This change in geometry can be made to accommodate enlarged elastomeric members or dashpots, and to provide necessary stiffness. There are basically unlimited methods of adjusting the spring geometry by varying the geometries of the various portions. 
     A third option is shown in  FIG. 4 . The damper  90  again includes an inertia mass  92  and a hub  94 . There is a single intermediate ring  96  between the hub  94  and the inertia mass  92 . A first set of spokes  98  extend between the hub and the intermediate ring  96  and a second series of spokes  100  extend between the intermediate ring  96  and the inertia mass  92 . As shown, the spokes  98  are wider than spokes  100  to increase stiffness. Again, elastomeric members  102  are located in the arcuate space between the hub  94  and the intermediate ring  96 . 
       FIG. 5  shows an additional embodiment. The damper  120  again has an outer inertia mass  122  and an inner hub  124 . First and second rings  126  and  128  are positioned between the hub  124  and the inertia mass  122 . In this embodiment the hub is connected to the first ring  126  by a set of four spokes  130 . The ring  128 , in turn, is connected to the inertia mass  122  by a set of two spokes  132 . Dashpots  134  are then located in the arcuate spaces between rings  126  and  128 . 
     Further, the dashpot number and location can be changed to obtain the required amount of damping. For example, in any of these embodiments, any arcuate space can be filled with an elastomeric member or dashpot to increase damping. Further, alternate materials can be used instead of the elastomers, such as thermoplastic elastomers, foams or silicone derivatives to provide required damping. 
     Thus, the damper of the present invention can be modified in a wide variety of ways to achieve end use requirements. Further, the slip torque of all of the designs is extremely high, since the only mode of failure would be failure of the metallic spokes. Elastomer fatigue should not be an issue with the present invention because the elastomer is not in shear in the traditional sense, but goes through more of a compression state of stress. Further, the elastomeric members may only need to be compressed less than 30%. The manufacture of the damper is simplified, and, therefore, costs reduced because the entire metallic portion of the damper can be machined in a single chuck operation, which should promote axial and radial run out. Finally, the damper can be more compact because everything beyond the outer periphery of the hub acts as part of the spring system for the damper, whereas in a traditional torsional vibration damper, anything inside the elastomeric member did not contribute to the damping and was basically parasitic mass. 
     This has been a description of the present invention along with the preferred method of practicing the present invention. However, the invention itself should only be defined by the appended claims.