VALVE APPARATUS OF SHOCK ABSORBER
A valve apparatus for a shock absorber includes a piston valve having rebound and compression passages, a sliding valve movably coupled to a piston rod to block and open the rebound passages, and at least one valve disc provided at a lower side of the sliding valve and separated a predetermined distance from a washer by a retainer. The valve disc can be bent while resiliently supporting an outer periphery of the sliding valve. The valve disc has an increased size, so that easy control of a damping force at low speed and a gradual increase of the damping force even at high speed can be obtained by the shock absorber having a decreased size.
1 . A valve apparatus of a shock absorber provided to a piston rod of the shock absorber to generate a damping force by controlling a fluid flow between a rebound chamber and a compression chamber, the valve apparatus comprising:
a piston valve having rebound passages and compression passages allowing a fluid flow between the rebound chamber and the compression chamber;
a sliding valve movably coupled to the piston rod under the piston valve and configured to block the rebound passages; and
at least one valve disc positioned adjacent a lower side of the sliding valve and separated a predetermined distance from a washer by a retainer, the washer being coupled to a lower side of the retainer, the valve disc being capable of bending while resiliently supporting an outer periphery of the sliding valve.
2 . The valve apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the sliding valve includes an upper side having at least one slit allowing the fluid flow between the rebound passages and the compression chamber.
3 . The valve apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a slit disc disposed adjacent the upper side of the sliding valve and having a slit formed on a circumference of the slit disc to allow the fluid flow between the rebound passages and the compression chamber.
4 . The valve apparatus according to claim 1 wherein a lower side of the sliding valve extends beyond the piston valve and is formed at an end thereof with a stepped portion having a gradually increasing outer diameter.
5 . The valve apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a guide bush interposed between the sliding valve and the piston rod to guide upward and downward movement of the sliding valve.