Abstract: An air spring includes a composite bumper, a composite piston, a flexible bellow and an upper end cap member. The composite piston has a first end which includes a plurality of rigid portions and a plurality of adjacently positioned cantilever snap joints for receiving and securing the composite bumper. The composite bumper includes an inner wall having a surface shape for securely engaging the plurality of rigid portions and the plurality of cantilever snap joints. The first end of the composite piston further includes a piston housing surface upon which an outer surface of the composite bumper nests against. The flexible bellow is sealingly attached to the composite piston and the upper end cap member. The flexible bellow, the upper end cap member, and the composite piston together form a fluid tight chamber, and the composite bumper is contained within the fluid tight chamber.

Abstract: An air spring includes a composite bumper, a composite piston, a flexible bellow and an upper end cap member. The composite piston has a first end which includes a plurality of rigid portions and a plurality of adjacently positioned cantilever snap joints for receiving and securing the composite bumper. The composite bumper includes an inner wall having a surface shape for securely engaging the plurality of rigid portions and the plurality of cantilever snap joints. The first end of the composite piston further includes a piston housing surface upon which an outer surface of the composite bumper nests against. The flexible bellow is sealingly attached to the composite piston and the upper end cap member. The flexible bellow, the upper end cap member, and the composite piston together form a fluid tight chamber, and the composite bumper is contained within the fluid tight chamber.

Abstract: An air spring piston for a heavy-duty vehicle includes a top portion and a bottom portion. The top portion includes a bumper and a connecting means for an air spring bellows. The bottom portion is mounted on a structure of the vehicle. The top portion and bottom portion are connected to each other to form a piston chamber and include a bearing means for reacting bumper forces from the bumper to the bottom portion and to the structure of the vehicle on which the bottom portion is mounted. The piston chamber is in fluid communication with a bellows chamber of the air spring via an opening, wherein the geometry of the opening is such that during dynamic spring movements, the pressure in the piston chamber and the pressure in the bellows chamber are not equalized.