Patent ID: 8801017

Claim:
A damper assembly for a vehicle suspension system, comprising: a primary damper; and a secondary damper coupled to the primary damper, comprising: a housing including a sidewall that partially surrounds the primary damper, the volume between the sidewall and the primary damper defining a damping chamber, wherein the sidewall defines a plurality of apertures including a first set of apertures and a second set of apertures; an annular piston positioned within the damping chamber and slidably coupled to the sidewall; a first conduit forming a first flow path between the first set of apertures and a second conduit forming a second flow path between the second set of apertures, wherein movement of the annular piston along the housing activates and deactivates the first flow path and the second flow path; and a first bidirectional flow valve positioned along the first flow path and a second bidirectional flow valve positioned along the second flow path, wherein the primary damper provides a base damping force and the secondary damper provides a supplemental damping force that varies based on the position and the travel direction of the annular piston along the housing.