# Patent

## Title
Vehicle with force-controlled shock absorber with regulating valve

## Abstract

The invention relates to a shock absorber with a housing, and an inner pipe arranged in the housing, a piston rod, a piston, and which piston divides the interior of the inner pipe into a lower chamber and an upper chamber, a first valve arrangement which is arranged on the piston, a second valve arrangement which is arranged at the upper end of the inner pipe, and a third valve arrangement which is arranged at the lower end of the inner pipe. The shock absorber is distinguished by the fact that at least one proportional flow-control valve is arranged between a first connecting element of the lower chamber of the inner pipe and a second connection element at the upper chamber of the inner pipe.

## Background
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application is a national stage application under 35 U.S.C. 371 and claims the benefit of PCT Application No. PCT/EP2014/070490 having an international filing date of 25 Sep. 2014, which designated the United States, which PCT application claimed the benefit of German Patent Application No. 10 2013 110 924.1 filed 1 Oct. 2013, the disclosures of each of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
FIELD
The invention relates to a shock absorber.
A shock absorber of this kind is shown by way of example in FIG. 1. This shock absorber according to the prior art comprises a housing having an inner pipe arranged thereon, a piston rod plunging into the inner pipe, a piston being arranged on the end of said piston rod that plunges into the inner pipe, which piston divides the inside of the inner pipe into a lower chamber and an upper chamber. In this case, a valve arrangement is arranged on the piston, by means of which a working medium received in the inner pipe can flow out of the lower chamber into the upper chamber and vice versa when the piston is moved in the inner pipe. A second valve arrangement is arranged at the upper end of the inner pipe, by means of which, when the piston is moved in the inner pipe, the working medium received in the inner pipe can flow out of the upper chamber only into the inside of the housing serving as a tank for the working medium. Lastly, the inner pipe has a third valve arrangement at its lower end, by means of which the working medium received in the inside of the housing serving as a tank can flow only into the lower chamber of the inner pipe when the piston is moved in the inner pipe.
BACKGROUND
Shock absorbers of this kind according to prior art are usually called twin-tube dampers. Twin-tube dampers of this kind are used as passive shock absorbers, both as non-adjustable shock absorbers and as adjustable shock absorbers.
In the case of a non-adjustable twin-tube damper, the properties of the damper or of the damping are clearly defined in such a way that the flow resistance of the working medium is set by the valve arrangements used in the damper.
Adjustable twin-tube dampers are used when the work to be achieved by the shock absorber is to be adapted to corresponding vehicle states of a vehicle, in which an adjustable twin-tube damper of this kind is fitted, or to the sprung masses of different sizes respectively. In the case of passive, hydraulically adjustable twin-tube dampers of this kind, this is achieved in that the flow resistance can be modified by means of a variable valve hole in the valve arrangement arranged on the piston between the upper and the lower chamber of the inner pipe of the damper.
A further feature of passive dampers that are operated in a non-adjustable manner is that the amount of oil exchanged during a defined working stroke is always the same. The flow resistance is dependent only on the speed of the piston inside the inner pipe.
In the case of adjustably operated passive dampers, when the stroke is likewise defined the same, the flow resistance is influenced by the change in the valve cross section of the valve arrangement in the piston, in addition to the speed of the piston. The amount of oil exchanged is likewise the same for a defined stroke.
The mode of operation of a twin-tube damper of this kind according to the prior art is briefly described below.
When the damper is retracted, the piston moves downwards in the inner pipe so that the lower chamber of the inner pipe decreases in volume, whilst the upper chamber of the inner pipe increases in volume. During this retraction of the damper, a certain amount of oil, serving here as the working medium, is channelled from the lower chamber into the upper chamber via the valve arrangement of the piston, a defined flow resistance thus being generated across the valve arrangement of the piston by means of the speed thereof. The amount of oil in the upper chamber of the inner pipe that is additionally displaced in the process by the plunging of the piston rod is channelled off into the housing serving as a tank for the working medium or oil respectively via the valve arrangement arranged at upper end of the inner pipe.
If the damper is now withdrawn, the piston moves upwards inside the inner pipe, reducing the volume of the upper chamber and increasing the volume of the lower chamber, the amount of oil or working medium respectively to be exchanged being channelled from the upper chamber into the inside of the housing serving as a tank for the working medium or into the oil sump there respectively via the valve arrangement at the upper end of the inner pipe. The difference in the amount oil or working medium respectively which is required due to the withdrawal of the piston rod is drawn from the inside of the housing serving as a tank for the working medium or from the oil sump there respectively via the valve arrangement arranged at the bottom of the inner pipe.
As just explained, the working medium or oil respectively moves in a circuit inside the damper.
Since a twin-tube damper of this kind must be appropriately preassembled according to its use (passive adjustable or passive non-adjustable), it is not possible to use a damper provided in one case for another intended use.
SUMMARY
The object of the invention is therefore that of providing a shock absorber of the type mentioned at the outset, by means of which different intended uses can be realised.
This object is achieved by a shock absorber having the features of claim 1. Advantageous embodiments of the shock absorber according to the invention can be found in the dependent claims.
In addition to the features in the preamble of claim 1, the shock absorber according to the invention also comprises the features that at least one proportional flow control valve is arranged between a first connection element of the lower chamber of the inner pipe (2) and a second connection element at the upper chamber of the inner pipe.
By means of the embodiment of the shock absorber according to the invention, it is now possible to operate the shock absorber according to the invention in a passive adjustable manner, an active adjustable manner, a semi-active adjustable manner and, by appropriately controlling the at least one proportional flow control valve, to adaptively operate for the control of the flow resistance of the working medium in the valve arrangement of the piston.
Shock absorbers of this kind according to the invention can be used not only in wheel suspensions and suspension struts in various vehicles, but rather can also be used to damp vibrations of seats, in particular of sprung vehicle seats and sprung cabs. In addition, a combination of damping a cab suspension and sprung vehicle seats, for example of a rail vehicle, is conceivable. Nor is the use of the shock absorber according to the invention restricted to uses of this kind, but rather can be used in all possible devices in which a corresponding damping of vibrations is desirable.
By means of the at least one proportional flow control valve, which is arranged between a pressure line connected at the lower connection element and a pressure line connected at the upper connection element, it is possible to continuously vary the flow speed in the pressure lines between the upper connection element and the proportional flow control valve and between the lower pressure line and the proportional flow control valve between the completely closed and completely open states of the proportional flow control valve.
Adjustable, continuous damping is thus possible, by means of which it is possible to select not only between hard and soft damping, but also between all damping values therebetween.
According to a first advantageous embodiment of the invention, the at least one proportional flow control valve is designed so as to be manually adjustable so that a user can adjust it to an appropriate value by hand. However, for an embodiment of this kind, a new value must always be adjusted by hand directly at the proportional flow control valve.
It is therefore expedient for the at least one proportional flow control valve to be designed to be adjustable in an automated manner, in particular by means of an electric motor. It is thus possible to carry out an adjustment in a comfortable manner, remote controlled if necessary, without the user needing to make adjustments directly at the proportional flow control valve.
It is made possible, in particular when using two proportional flow control valves, for the pressure stage (when retracting the piston into the shock absorber) and the tension stage (when withdrawing the piston from the shock absorber) to not only be synchronously adjustable but also separately adjustable.
According to another concept of the invention, a hydraulic pump drive is additionally provided for controlling the flow resistance of the working medium in the valve arrangement of the piston, which drive is arranged between a pressure line connected at the lower connection element and a pressure line connected at the upper connection element. By means of a hydraulic pump drive of this kind, when the piston is moved in the inner pipe in a defined manner, the exchanged amounts of working medium or oil respectively can be increased and/or reduced. As a result of this embodiment, it is possible to achieve level control of the shock absorber in addition to increasing or lowering the damping forces respectively. In particular, an embodiment of this kind can be used for a seat, in particular for a driver's seat of a rail vehicle, for correcting the seat height or alternatively for temporary levelling respectively.
Of course, it is also possible to provide a hydraulic pump drive in combination with a proportional flow control valve as a device for controlling the flow resistance of the working medium in the valve arrangement of the piston. The advantages and applications described above for the individual devices can thus be used in combination.
Furthermore, it has been found to be advantageous for the hydraulic pump drive to comprise a controllable pump and a motor for the pump.
Since, when operating a pump, it is also always necessary to take into account corresponding leakages, in particular when working at high pressures, a leakage pipe for the working medium is provided between the housing serving as a tank for the working medium and the hydraulic pump drive, in particular the controllable pump. A leakage pipe of this kind makes it possible for the working medium or oil respectively from the pump to be returned to the tank so that the working medium consumption or oil consumption respectively of the shock absorber according to the invention is reduced and pollution of the environment is prevented.
In addition, for pressure compensation, a feed line for the working medium can be provided between the housing serving as a tank for the working medium and the lower pressure line and/or the upper pressure line. In addition, said feed line can be separated from the lower pressure line and/or the upper pressure line by means of non-return valves.
According to another concept of the invention, it is provided for a rising pipe to be arranged at the upper end of the inner pipe, which rising pipe protrudes into the working medium or oil received in the housing or into the working medium sump or oil sump respectively and by means of which the working medium or oil respectively can be transferred out of the housing serving as a tank into the upper chamber of the inner pipe. Said rising pipe is used in particular to ensure that no cavitation occurs during external operation, in which the amount of working medium or amount of oil respectively can be exchanged between the lower chamber and the upper chamber by means of a hydraulic pump. As a result, the rising pipe ensures a closed oil circuit even when a hydraulic pump is connected to the connection elements of the upper and lower chambers.
Further aims, advantages, features and possible applications of the present invention can be found in the following description of embodiment examples with reference to the drawings. In this case, all of the features which are described and/or shown in the drawings, in isolation or in any reasonable combination, form the subject matter of the present invention, irrespective of how they are described in the claims and irrespective of the dependency references thereof.



BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
In the drawings:
FIG. 1: shows a shock absorber according to the prior art,
FIG. 2: shows a first embodiment example of a shock absorber according to the invention,
FIG. 3: shows a second embodiment example of a shock absorber according to the invention,
FIG. 4: shows a third embodiment example of a shock absorber according to the invention,
FIG. 5: shows a fourth embodiment example of a shock absorber according to the invention,
FIG. 6: shows a fifth embodiment example of a shock absorber according to the invention, and
FIG. 7: shows a vehicle seat equipped with a suspension, in which a shock absorber according to the invention is fitted.



DETAILED DESCRIPTION
FIG. 2 shows a first embodiment example of a shock absorber according to the invention. The shock absorber basically consists of a housing 1, which is tubular and in which an inner pipe 2 (not shown here) arranged inside the housing (1) is arranged so as to be stationary. In this case, the inside of the housing (1) is formed in principle like that of the prior art according to FIG. 1, or as in the representation in FIG. 5 respectively. A piston 5 can be moved backwards and forwards in the inner pipe 2 by means of a piston rod 6, the inner pipe 2 being separated by the piston 5 into an upper chamber 4 and a lower chamber 3. In this case, the inner pipe 2 is completely filled with a working medium, preferably with an oil. In this case, a first valve arrangement 9 is mounted in the piston 5. Said valve arrangement 9 is designed so that the oil can pass through it in both directions. Since additional oil is displaced when moving the piston 5 inside the inner pipe 2 from top to bottom by means of the piston rod 6, the oil must have the opportunity to escape out of the upper chamber 4. For this purpose, a second valve arrangement 8 is provided at the upper end of the inner pipe 2, by means of which valve arrangement oil can escape out of the upper chamber into the container 1 serving as a tank. In this case, the valve arrangement 8 is designed only to allow oil to pass in this direction. It is not possible for oil to pass from the container 1 into the upper chamber 4 of the inner pipe 2 via the valve arrangement 8. Since, when the piston 5 is moved inside the inner pipe 2 from bottom to top, the lower chamber 3 increases in volume whilst the upper chamber decreases in volume, a third valve arrangement 7 is provided at the lower end of the inner pipe 2. It is thus possible for oil to enter into the lower chamber 3 of the inner pipe 2 from the container 1 in which it is stored, whilst, due to the reduced volume of the upper chamber 4, oil found here reaches the container 1 via the valve arrangement 8.
In contrast to the housing from the prior art according to FIG. 1, this embodiment example comprises a connection element 12 on the upper chamber 4 of the inner pipe 2, and a connection element 13 on the lower chamber 3 of the inner pipe 2.
At the connection elements 12 and 13, a proportional flow control valve (22) is connected to the piston 5 as a device for controlling the flow resistance of the working medium or oil respectively in the valve arrangement 9. The proportional flow control valve (22) in this embodiment example is manually adjustable.
By means of a proportional flow control valve 22 of this kind, it is possible to control the flow resistance of the oil therein according to the flow strength. In this respect it is hereby possible to adjust the performance of the shock absorber and thus the damping according to the required loading conditions by means of said proportional flow control valve 22. A passive default setting of the shock absorber is provided here as a hard setting, the shock absorber achieving its highest performance in this flowless state. When the proportional flow control valve 22 is activated, the damping forces are reduced, since a certain amount of the oil exchange between the chamber 3 and the chamber 4 is diverted through the pressure lines 17 and 18 and the proportional flow control valve 22. The stronger the flow strength, the more oil can flow through the proportional flow control valve, so that the shock absorber is adjusted to be softer as the flow strength increases. The shock absorber can therefore be operated both semi-actively and passively.
FIG. 3 shows another embodiment example of a shock absorber according to the invention. In this case, two manually adjustable proportional flow control valves (22) are provided as a device for controlling the flow resistance of the working medium in the valve arrangement 9 of the piston 5, which valves are arranged between a pressure line 18 connected at the lower connection element 13 and a pressure line 17 connected at the upper connection element 14. These two proportional flow control valves (22) make it possible for the pressure stage (when retracting the piston into the shock absorber) and the tension stage (when withdrawing the piston from the shock absorber) to not only be synchronously adjustable but also separately adjustable. Although the two proportional flow control valves (22) are manually adjustable in this embodiment example, the same advantage of the possibility of synchronous or separate adjustment of the tension stage or pressure stage respectively can of course also be achieved using proportional flow control valves (22) that can be adjusted in an automated manner.
In the embodiment example according to FIG. 4, a proportional flow control valve (22) of this kind that can be adjusted in an automated manner, for example by means of an electric motor drive, is provided for controlling the flow resistance of the working medium in the valve arrangement 9 of the piston 5.
In the embodiment example according to FIG. 6, a hydraulic pump drive is provided, in addition to the adjustable proportional flow control valves (22), for controlling the flow resistance of the working medium in the valve arrangement 9 of the piston 5, which drive consists in the present case of a controllable pump 15 and a pump motor 16. In this case, the pump 15 is designed to be reversible so that it can pump oil out of the lower chamber 3 into the upper chamber 4 of the inner pipe 2 as well as in the opposite direction. By means of a pump 15 of this kind, for a defined stroke of the piston 5 inside the inner pipe 2, amounts of oil exchanged between the lower chamber 3 and the upper chamber 4 can be increased or reduced respectively. On the one hand, this causes the damping forces to be increased/reduced in response to the introduction of the oil; on the other hand, a seat height correction can take place in this embodiment example when a damper of this kind is used on a seat, or a temporary levelling of the shock absorber can be generally carried out respectively.
Since a certain leakage rate must also always be taken into account in pump systems, a leakage pipe 21 is provided in the embodiment example according to FIG. 4, by means of which oil escaping from the pump 15 is returned into the container 1 serving as a tank for the oil.
In addition, this embodiment example in FIG. 6 comprises a feed line 20, by means of which the pump 15 can be supplied with any necessary amounts of feed oil during operation. In this case said feed line 20 comprises connections to the pressure lines 17 and 18, said pressure lines being separated from one another by means of non-return valves 19.
In addition, all the embodiment examples in FIGS. 2 to 4 can, just like the embodiment examples in FIGS. 5 and 6, also comprise a rising pipe 14 arranged on the upper end of the inner pipe 2, which rising pipe protrudes through an oil sump level 11 into the oil sump 10 inside the container 1. Said rising line 14 is used to ensure that no cavitation occurs during external operation of the shock absorber, in which the amount of oil is exchanged between the lower chamber 3 and the upper chamber 4 by means of a hydraulic pump. Cavitation of this kind would be disadvantageous for the operation of the shock absorber. In addition, said rising pipe 14 ensures a closed oil circuit even during external operation.
A vehicle seat 30 is shown in FIG. 7, which has a suspension 32, the vibrations of which are damped by means of a shock absorber 31 according to the invention.
LIST OF REFERENCE NUMERALS


    1 Housing
    2 Inner pipe
    3 Chamber
    4 Chamber
    5 Piston
    6 Piston rod
    7 Valve arrangement
    8 Valve arrangement
    9 Valve arrangement
    10 Oil sump
    11 Oil sump level
    12 Connection element
    13 Connection element
    14 Rising pipe
    15 Pump
    16 Motor
    17 Pressure line
    18 Pressure line
    19 Non-return valve
    20 Feed line
    21 Leakage pipe
    22 Proportional flow control valve

## Claims

1. A shock absorber comprising:
a) a housing;
b) an inner pipe arranged in the housing;
c) a piston rod that plunges into the inner pipe;
d) a piston arranged on the end of the piston rod that plunges into the inner pipe, which piston divides the inside of the inner pipe into a lower chamber and an upper chamber;
e) a first valve arrangement arranged on the piston, by means of which a working medium received in the inner pipe can flow out of the lower chamber into the upper chamber and vice versa when the piston is moved in the inner pipe;
f) a second valve arrangement arranged at an upper end of the inner pipe, by means of which, when the piston is moved in the inner pipe, the working medium received in the inner pipe can flow out of the upper chamber only into the inside of the housing serving as a tank for the working medium;
g) a third valve arrangement arranged at a lower end of the inner pipe, by means of which the working medium received in the inside of the housing serving as a tank can flow out of the inside of the housing serving as a tank only into the lower chamber when the piston is moved in the inner pipe;
h) a first connection element of the lower chamber of the inner pipe that extends through the housing to at least one proportional flow control valve; and
i) a second connection element of the upper chamber of the inner pipe that extends through the housing to the at least one proportional flow control valve.

2. The shock absorber according to claim 1, wherein the at least one proportional flow control valve is designed to be adjustable in an automated manner, in particular by means of an electric motor.

3. The shock absorber according to claim 1, further comprising:
a hydraulic pump drive for controlling the flow resistance of the working medium in the first valve arrangement, said hydraulic pump drive being connected to a first pressure line that is connected to the first connection element and connected to a second pressure line that is connected to the second connection element.

4. The shock absorber according to claim 3, wherein the hydraulic pump drive comprises a controllable pump and a motor for the pump.

5. The shock absorber according to claim 3, wherein a leakage pipe for the working medium is connected to the housing serving as a tank for the working medium and connected to the hydraulic pump drive, in particular the controllable pump.

6. The shock absorber according to claim 1, wherein a feed line for the working medium is connected to the housing serving as a tank for the working medium and connected to at least one of the first pressure line and the second pressure line.

7. The shock absorber according to claim 6, further comprising:
a non-return valve is connected to the feed line and at least one of the first pressure line and the second pressure line.

8. The shock absorber according to claim 1, wherein a rising pipe is arranged at the upper end of the inner pipe, which rising pipe protrudes into the working medium received in the housing and by means of which working medium can be transferred from the housing serving as a tank into the upper chamber of the inner pipe.

9. A shock absorber comprising:
a housing configured to store a working medium;
an inner pipe arranged in the housing;
a piston rod extending into the inner pipe;
a piston positioned on the end of the piston rod, wherein the piston divides the inner pipe into a lower chamber and an upper chamber;
a valve positioned on the piston, wherein the valve is configured to allow the working medium to flow from the lower chamber to the upper chamber of the inner pipe and vice versa as the piston moves in the inner pipe;
at least one proportional flow control valve configured to control a flow resistance of the working medium, wherein a first connection element extends from the lower chamber of the inner pipe, through the housing, and to the at least one proportional flow control valve, and a second connection element extends from the upper chamber of the inner pipe, through the housing, and to the at least one proportional flow control valve; and
a hydraulic pump configured to control a pressure of the working medium, wherein a first pressure line extends from the hydraulic pump to the first connection element, and a second pressure line extends from the hydraulic pump to the second connection element.

10. The shock absorber of claim 9, further comprising:
a second valve positioned at an upper end of the inner pipe, wherein the second valve is configured to allow the working medium to flow only from the upper chamber of the inner pipe to the housing; and
a third valve positioned at a lower end of the inner pipe, wherein the third valve is configured to allow the working medium to flow only from the housing to the lower chamber of the inner pipe.