Patent ID: 8322369

Claim:
In combination with a hydraulic shock absorber having two compartments, a flow-control valve comprising: a housing having a flow inlet connected to one of the compartments and a flow outlet connected to the other of the compartments; a guide fixed in the housing and having a tubular end centered on an axis, into which the flow inlet opens, and formed with a radially throughgoing heart-shaped valve opening having a point and a pair of edges flaring symmetrically away from the point to a wide opposite end; a slide axially shiftable in the housing and having a shaft and a sleeve extending axially from the shaft and snugly surrounding and slidable on the guide end, the slide being axially shiftable between positions with the sleeve completely blocking, partially blocking, and completely unblocking the valve opening; an electromagnetic linear actuator in the housing for axially shifting the slide; a support ring fixed to the actuator and to the guide, forming with the guide end an inner annular chamber into which the valve opening opens, forming with the housing an outer annular chamber into which the outlet port opens, and formed between the chambers with a radially throughgoing port radially aligned with the valve opening, the support ring being fixed without play on complementary faces of the guide and having a cylindrical extension on its end facing away from where it is anchored that surrounds the shaft and extending up to the linear actuator; and a bearing ring on the cylindrical extension and surrounding the shaft with play to permit axial movement of the slide.