Patents Represented by Attorney Ronald Breitkrenz
  • Patent number: 4762308
    Abstract: An air spring for motor vehicles to absorb road shocks includes first and second axially spaced end members with an intervening flexible sleeve forming a fluid pressure chamber therebetween. An improved two-way damping valve connects the pressure chamber to a fluid reservoir and provides damping for the air spring by restricting fluid flow in one direction, either into or out of the pressure chamber, without materially effecting the fluid flow in the opposite direction. The valve includes a flexible diaphragm formed of reinforced rubber having slots which provide one or more flaps. The diaphragm preferably is mounted on a rigid annular washer having a predetermined size center opening forming a damping orifice. The flaps are drawn automatically into the washer opening to restrict the fluid flow through the orifice when the fluid moves in one direction, with the flaps moving away from the orifice to permit free movement of the fluid therethrough when the fluid is moving in an opposite direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 30, 1987
    Date of Patent: August 9, 1988
    Assignee: The Firestone Tire & Rubber Company
    Inventor: Wayne H. Geno