Patent ID: 8857580

Claim:
A vehicle suspension damper comprising: a cylinder and a piston assembly comprising a piston and piston rod; working fluid within said cylinder; a passageway through said piston allowing and limiting a flow rate of the working fluid through the piston in at least one direction; a bypass having a fluid pathway between the first and second sides of the piston; and a single, remotely controllable, valve for limiting the flow of fluid through the bypass, wherein the valve is remotely controlled in response to piston rod speed and piston rod position to selectively limit fluid flow through the bypass, the valve including a closing member and a seat, the closing member including a moveable piston, a seating member selectively positionable with respect to the moveable piston, and a biasing element interposed between the moveable piston and the seating member to bias the seating member in a direction away from the moveable piston, wherein fluid force on the moveable piston member associated with the controlling of the valve in response to the piston speed and position positions the moveable piston member relative to the seat such that in a first position, the force of the biasing element between the piston member and the seating member and fluid pressure on the piston member and seating member are the only forces defining the position of the piston member relative to the valve seat, and a second position wherein fluid pressure on the moveable piston member, in addition to the force of the biasing element and fluid pressure on the seating member, define the position of the seating member relative to the seat.