Inertia Valve Vehicle Suspension Assembly
A damper including an inertia valve movable between an open position and a closed position to selectively alter the compression damping rate of the shock absorber is disclosed. In these embodiments, the damper has at least one chamber that at least partially surrounds two other chambers.
1 . A damping mechanism, comprising:
a first chamber;
a piston rod; the piston rod movable within the first chamber;
a second chamber;
a third chamber; the third chamber at least partially surrounding the first and second chambers; the third chamber being in fluid communication with both the first and second chambers such that a compression flow travels from the second chamber to the third chamber and a rebound flow travels from the third chamber to the first chamber;
a hollow shaft having an inner diameter and an outer diameter and fluidically connecting the first and second chambers by at least one passage defined by the inner diameter of the hollow shaft;
an inertia mass movable along the outer diameter of the hollow shaft and having:
a first position at least partially preventing fluid flow through the at least one passage, wherein fluid bypasses flowing through the hollow shaft to flow from the first chamber to the third chamber as the piston rod moves further into the first chamber; and
a second position at least partially allowing fluid flow through the at least one passage, wherein fluid flows through the hollow shaft as the fluid flows from the first chamber to the third chamber as the piston rod moves further into the first chamber.
2 . The damping mechanism of claim 1 , wherein the second chamber comprises a blowoff chamber.