Patent ID: RE44609

Claim:
A shock absorber assembly including: a motion damping means that is filled with a fluid in operation and has a pair of relatively moveable parts and valve means permitting flow of said fluid between said parts, said parts comprising a first part and a second part in which the first part is receivable whereby the parts are arranged for relative retracting and extending movement during which fluid is forced through said valve means at respective predetermined controlled flow rates so as to dampen said movement; wherein said relatively moveable parts contain respective primary chambers for said fluid and said first part is substantially smaller in cross-section cross section than said second part to define an intermediate chamber about the first part within the second part; and wherein there is the first part further included includes lateral port means communicating said intermediate chamber and said primary chamber of the first part; and wherein said flows at respective predetermined controlled flow rates are limited to respective flows (i) through a piston directly from the primary chamber of the first second part to the primary intermediate chamber of the second part and (ii) via from said intermediate chamber and through the lateral port means of the first part into the primary chamber of the first part, then through the piston from the primary chamber of the second first part to the primary chamber of the first second part; characterized in that said and wherein the valve means includes peripheral compression ports and a central at least one rebound port radially separated inwardly from the peripheral compression ports such that the differences in flow rates of said compression and rebound ports provides differential fluid flow rates for the compression and rebound stroke said relative retracting and extending movements of the first and second parts of said assembly.