Suspension damper with remotely-operable valve

1 . A vehicle damper comprising:

a cylinder and a piston disposed within said cylinder, said piston coupled to a rod, said piston separating a compression portion of said cylinder from a rebound portion of said cylinder, said piston disposed within said cylinder further including a passageway therethrough, said passageway limiting a flow rate of said working fluid through said piston disposed within said cylinder in at least one direction;

a working fluid within the cylinder;

a reservoir in fluid communication with the working fluid, the reservoir operable to receive working fluid from the cylinder in a compression stroke, said reservoir further comprising:

a floating piston disposed within said reservoir;

a volume of gas, said gas being compressible as said reservoir receives said working fluid due to movement of a damper rod into said cylinder;

a fluid portion of said reservoir, said floating piston movably separating said fluid portion of said reservoir from said volume of gas;

a reservoir valve assembly, including:

a remotely-operable valve, wherein said reservoir valve assembly has a first position, in which said remotely-operable valve is open, and wherein said reservoir valve assembly has a second position, in which said remotely-operable valve is closed;

a first fluid path extending between said cylinder and a first shim, said first shim configured to block fluid flow from said fluid portion of said reservoir into said first fluid path, said first shim further configured to restrict fluid flow from said first fluid path into said fluid portion of said reservoir;

a second fluid path, said second fluid path having a first portion extending between said first fluid path and said remotely-operable valve, said second fluid path having a second portion extending between said remotely-operable valve and said fluid portion of said reservoir, wherein said first portion of said second fluid path and said second portion of said second fluid path are in fluid communication when said remotely-operable valve is open, and wherein said first portion of said second fluid path and said second portion of said second fluid path are not in fluid communication when said remotely-operable valve is closed;

a third fluid path, said third fluid path extending between said fluid portion of said reservoir and a second shim, said second shim configured to block fluid flow from said first portion of said second fluid path into said fluid portion of said reservoir, said second shim further configured to restrict fluid flow from said fluid portion of said reservoir into said first portion of said second fluid path;

wherein during a compression stroke of said vehicle damper, and when said remotely-operable valve is open, said reservoir valve assembly permits said working fluid to flow from said cylinder to said fluid portion of said reservoir by permitting said working fluid to flow from said cylinder and said first fluid path, past said first shim, and into said fluid portion of said reservoir while simultaneously permitting said working fluid to flow along said first portion of said second fluid path, said second portion of said second fluid path and into said fluid portion of said reservoir;

wherein during said compression stroke of said vehicle damper, and when said remotely-operable valve is closed, said reservoir valve assembly permits said working fluid to flow from said cylinder to said fluid portion of said reservoir by permitting said working fluid to flow from said cylinder said along said first fluid path, past said first shim, and into said fluid portion of said reservoir while preventing said working fluid from flowing along said second portion of said second fluid path thereby preventing said working fluid from flowing into said fluid portion of said reservoir along said second portion of said second fluid path;

wherein during a rebound stroke of said vehicle damper, and when said remotely-operable valve is open, said reservoir valve assembly permits said working fluid to flow from said fluid portion of said reservoir to said cylinder by permitting said working fluid to flow along said third fluid path, past said second shim, into said first portion of said second fluid path, into said first fluid path, and to said cylinder, while simultaneously permitting said working fluid to flow from said fluid portion of said reservoir along said second portion of said second fluid path, along said first portion of said second fluid path, into said first fluid path and into said cylinder;

wherein during said rebound stroke of said vehicle damper, and when said remotely-operable valve is closed, said reservoir valve assembly permits said working fluid to flow from said fluid portion of said reservoir to said cylinder by permitting said working fluid to flow along said third fluid path, past said second shim, into said first portion of said second fluid path, into said first fluid path, and to said cylinder, while simultaneously preventing said working fluid from flowing from said fluid portion of said reservoir into said first portion of said second fluid path; and

said reservoir valve assembly of said vehicle damper enabling a user of said vehicle damper to control/change a rebound dampening rate for said vehicle damper during use of said vehicle damper, and wherein said rebound dampening rate can be selected to be different than a user selected compression dampening rate of said vehicle damper, and wherein said first fluid path, said first portion of said second fluid path, said second portion of said second fluid path, and said third fluid path each comprise a portion of a potential fluid path between said cylinder and said fluid portion of said reservoir; and

a bypass, wherein at least some of said working fluid is permitted to travel between said compression portion of said cylinder and said rebound portion of said cylinder without travelling through said piston disposed within said cylinder during either said compression stroke or said rebound stroke.

2 . The vehicle damper of claim 1 , wherein the remotely-operable valve is controlled from a location of an operator in a vehicle.

3 . The vehicle damper of claim 1 , wherein control of the remotely-operable valve is by a manually operable switch having at least two positions.

4 . The vehicle damper of claim 3 , wherein the manually operable switch is located in a passenger compartment of a vehicle.

5 . The vehicle damper of claim 1 , wherein control of the remotely-operable valve is by an electrically operated solenoid actuated by a manually operable switch.

6 . The vehicle damper of claim 1 , wherein control of the remotely-operable valve is hydraulic.

7 . The vehicle damper of claim 1 , wherein control of the remotely-operable valve is pneumatic.

8 . The vehicle damper of claim 1 , wherein the remotely-operable valve is operated automatically based upon one of a terrain or vehicle operation variable.

9 . The vehicle damper of claim 1 , further including a load transducer for sensing a piston rod force created by a damper piston rod.

10 . The vehicle damper of claim 1 , further comprising a transducer arranged to measure an angle associated with a steering wheel of a vehicle.

11 . The vehicle damper of claim 1 , wherein the remotely-operable valve is operated automatically based upon one or more driving conditions.

12 . The vehicle damper of claim 1 , wherein the remotely-operable valve is operated automatically based upon vehicle performance data.

13 . The vehicle damper of claim 1 , wherein the remotely-operable valve is operated automatically based upon component performance data.