Patent ID: 7600601

Claim:
A vibration damper assembly for use on a drive shaft bearing in an automotive vehicle which employs a plurality of drive shafts being connected together for rotation about their respective axis adjacent to said bearing, wherein said drive shaft bearing supports said drive shafts on said vehicle and includes a bearing housing that is connectable to said vehicle, an immovable outer race element connected to said housing, an inner race element and a plurality of rotatable bearings captured between said inner and outer races, one of said drive shafts being mountable in said inner race, a cylindrical collar connected to said outer race and extending co-axially therefrom and spaced from contact with said shaft when mounted in said inner race, said vibration damper assembly comprising: a circular spring element mounted on said collar; and a mass element being suspended on said collar by said spring element to provide counteracting forces to vibrations induced by said mounted drive shaft while it is rotating within said inner race, wherein said spring element is adjustably tuned to provide said damper assembly with a predetermined resonant frequency of vibration characteristic and said assembly further includes a means for selectively presetting the compression forces on the spring element and thereby tuning said damper assembly.