Patent ID: 8910963

Claim:
A suspension fork for a bicycle, comprising: a head tube, at least one tube system connected to said head tube and including an inner tube and an outer tube movably disposed relative to one another, and a wheel receiving space adjacent said tube system; a damper device disposed within said tube system, said damper device having a damper chamber and a movable piston connected to a piston rod and disposed to partition said damper chamber to form a first chamber and a second chamber; wherein said first chamber and said second chamber are fluidically connected to one another via a return duct, an adjustable throttle valve, and a transfer duct; said damper device containing a magneto-rheological fluid forming a damping medium thereof and having at least one field generating device disposed to generate a magnetic field in a damping duct formed in said adjustable throttle valve; a one-way circuit for said damping medium, said one-way circuit having first and second one-way valves configured to cause said damping medium to flow in a same direction of circulation when said piston rod plunges into said damper chamber and when said piston rod retracts out of said damper chamber; wherein said first one-way valve is disposed at said piston, allowing a flow of said damping medium from said second chamber into said first chamber; and wherein said second one-way valve is disposed at said transfer duct, allowing a flow of said damping medium from said transfer duct into said second chamber, enabling both a plunging of said piston rod into said damper chamber and a retraction of said piston rod out of said damper chamber to be selectively controlled by way of said adjustable throttle valve.