Patent ID: 7604542

Claim:
A torsional vibration damper for transmitting torque between a drive and a takeoff, said torsional vibration damper comprising: a drive-side transmission element connectable to the drive and rotatable about an axis of rotation; a takeoff-side transmission element connectable to the takeoff and rotatable about the axis of rotation; a damping device installed between said drive-side transmission element and said takeoff-side transmission element, wherein said takeoff-side transmission element is rotationally deflectable relative to said drive-side transmission element against an urgency of said damping device, said damping device comprising a gas spring system transmitting torque between said drive-side transmission element and said takeoff-side transmission element, said gas spring system having a reservoir containing gaseous medium, wherein a characteristic of said gas spring system being changeable in response to a pressure in said reservoir; and a pressure circuit connected to said reservoir of said gas spring system, said pressure circuit being actuatable to adjust a pressure in said reservoir such that said characteristic of said gas spring system is adaptable to a torque applied to said torsional vibration damper, said pressure circuit comprising a plurality of pressure circuit components and at least one pressure transfer point communicating the gaseous medium under pressure between two of said pressure circuit components which are moveable relative to each other, wherein said pressure circuit comprises a first feed line, at least a portion of the takeoff, a second feed line connected to said reservoir, a first pressure transfer point providing a first connection between said first feed line and said at least a portion of said takeoff, and a second pressure transfer point providing a second connection between said at least a portion of said takeoff and said second feed line.