Patent ID: 7380804

Claim:
A vibration damping apparatus for steering systems, comprising: (a) an upper shaft coupled to a steering wheel; (b) a lower shaft coupled to a gear box; (c) a plurality of fluid-filled chambers provided between said upper and lower shafts; (d) a lower actuating member splined to the lower shaft, said lower actuating member comprising a male bladed part, positioned in the fluid-filled chamber and having at least one orifice; (e) an upper actuating member splined to the upper shaft, said upper actuating member comprising a female bladed part that couples with the male bladed part within the fluid-filled chamber; (f) a plurality of orifice control means which controls the opening and closing of each orifice; (g) a plurality of fluid-filled chamber support means which supports the fluid-filled chamber such that each fluid-filled chamber does not contact the upper and lower shafts; and (h) a controller operative to move the plurality of fluid-filled chamber support means, detect rotational displacement of the steering wheel, and control the plurality of orifice control means based on the rotational displacement of the steering wheel.