Magneto-Rheological Torsional Vibration Damper

The present invention relates to viscous torsional damping of rotating shafts, and in particular controlling viscous damping of rotating shafts using a magneto-rheological fluid within a damper housing which also contains an inertia ring.

Torsional fluid dampers using an inertia ring located within an annular housing and having a viscous shear fluid deployed between the inertia ring and the housing are known such as describing U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,514,136, 3,462,136, 3,603,172, 3,552,230 and 2,724,983.

It is also known to adjust viscous shear forces between a relatively rotating inertia ring and a housing by changing the gap through which a viscous shear fluid acts. This is disclosed for example in U.S. Pat. No. 5,542,507.

Magneto-rheological fluids are fluids which can have their shear or viscosity influenced by exerting an electromagnetic field through the fluid. Such fluids are disclosed for example in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,452,957; 5,398,917; and 5,277,281. The term rheological fluid is defined as any fluid which exhibits a significant change in its ability to flow, or shear, upon the application of an appropriate energy field, such as electric or magnetic fields. A magneto-rheological fluid is responsive to the presence of a magnetic field for changing its ability to shear or flow. Magneto-rheological fluids ("MR" fluids) are known which are composed of magnetizable particles such as carbonyliron contained in a fluid such as silicone oil, which align under a magnetic field and reduce the ability of the magneto-rheological fluid to shear or flow. The reduction in ability to flow is proportional, over a range, to the strength of the applied magnetic field. An electro-rheological fluid is responsive to electric fields.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a viscous damping device wherein the internal torsional stiffness and viscous damping can be adjustably maintained. It is an object of the present invention to provide a viscous damping device which can be adjusted to control the damper tuning frequency during operation. It is an object of the present invention to provide a viscous damping device which when mounted on a rotating shaft, can be adjusted during operation to increase or reduce the damping effect of the device.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a damping device which can be adjustably controlled to provide an effective vibration damping device for any operating speed of an engine drive shaft of an internal combustion engine mounted thereto. It is an object of the present invention to provide a viscous damping device which conserves energy.

The objects are inventively achieved with a magneto-rheological fluid viscous damper having an annular chamber containing an inertia ring, and between the inertia ring and an inside wall of the annular chamber is disposed a rheological fluid such as a magneto-rheological fluid, and surrounding the annular chamber holding the magneto-rheological fluid is an outer annular chamber holding a plurality of coils wound effectively around the annular chamber. A mechanism for charging said coils with an adjustable current is provided to vary a magnetic field within said housing. Alternatively, an electro-rheological fluid can be used and the electric field within the housing can be controlled.

The object is further achieved with at least two slip rings applied externally of the outer housing and which are electrically connected to opposite electric ends of the coil, and at least two wiper contacts, each wiper contact conducting electric current through the slip rings and into the coil. The wiper contacts are electrically connected to a power source.

The object is further achieved in that a controller communicates to the power source to adjust the current applied to the coil. The object is further achieved in that a vibration sensor can be applied to the shaft which is being damped, or to other structure related thereto needing to be vibration controlled, the sensor feeding a signal back to the controller for controlling the damping of the absorber, or controlling the tuning frequency of the absorber, to maintain vibration at target limits.

The electric current from a DC power supply is fed to the coils continuously during engine operation and adjusted continuously to vary the electrical current and therefore the magnetic field during engine operation to minimize torsional vibration. The torsional vibration is thus minimized by manipulating the torsional stiffness and damping of the vibration damper by varying the shear resistance of the magneto-rheological fluid.

The controller manipulates the input current to the coils using a suitable control algorithm. This can be accomplished by continuously monitoring the amplitude of torsional vibration at the engine flywheel location or some other suitable location along the engine crankshaft, or on stationary adjacent structure such as a bearing housing, and adjusting the input current to the coils accordingly.

As an alternate embodiment a two piece inertia ring can be provided having a cavity formed between the pieces for holding a coil. Slip rings within the annular chamber transfer electric power from the annular chamber to the inertia ring coil. An external pair of slip rings transfer power from a D.C. source to the annular chamber.

FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view through a diameter of a damper arrangement according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic sectional view through a diameter of an alternate damper arrangement according to the present invention; and

FIG. 3 is an enlarged partial schematic view of a portion of FIG. 2.

FIG. 1 illustrates a torsional vibration damper 10 which includes a supporting disc shaped body 12 having a plurality of bolt holes 14 in a bolting pattern for bolting to a flywheel or flange 18 connected to a crankshaft 20. The crankshaft 20 can be associated with an internal combustion engine for example. The damper 10 further includes an annular C-shape housing portion 24 closed by an annular cover plate 26 to form a rectangular chamber 30. Within the annular chamber 30 is captured an inertia ring 32.

Located between the inertia ring 32 and an inside surface 34 of the annular chamber 30 is a gap 36 which is filled with a magneto-rheological fluid such as RHEOACTIVE MR fluid #137A or equivalent or similar magnetic particle based fluids with varying viscosities as required by the application. A screwed plug 40 covers an aperture 42 used for filling the chamber 30 with the magneto-rheological fluid 41. In addition to the gap 36 a reservoir 46 is provided for holding additional fluid. Surrounding the C-shaped channel 24 is a further C-shaped channel 48 which is also closed by the cover 26, defining a second rectangular annular chamber 50. Within this second annular chamber 50 are located plural windings of a coil 54 having one electrical end connected by a lead 56 to a slip ring 58, and a respective other electrical end of the coil 54 connected by a lead 60 to a second slip ring 62. The leads are shown schematically penetrating the cover 26, appropriate sealed openings for the penetration would be provided. The coil 54 can be a wound wire coil wrapped circumferentially around a wall 59 dividing the chamber 30,50. The slip rings 58, 62 are annular in shape and can be mounted for example on the cover plate 26, or on an outside of an inside annular wall 63 of the annular chamber 30 (as shown for example in FIG.2), or elsewhere. The slip rings 58, 62 have a central axis 70 which is collinear with an axis of the shaft 20 and collinear with an axis of the damper 10. A first wiper contact 72 is connected to the first slip ring 58 and a second wiper contact 74 is connected to the second slip ring 62.

The wiper contact 72, 74 are connected by wiring to a source of DC current 76 which in turn is signal connected to a controller 80, the operation of which will be described below.

A vibration sensor 86 is connected to structure for which vibration is required to be controlled or monitored. For example, a vibration sensor 86 can be mechanically coupled to the flywheel 18 or the shaft 20 which is being vibration controlled. Alternatively, the sensor 86 can be connected to stationary structure such as a bearing housing 87 (shown dashed). The sensor 86 communicates by a lead 88 to the controller 80.

The controller 80, by appropriate electronic algorithm increases or decreases the DC current from the source 76 to the coil 54 to change the viscosity or shear force of the magneto-rheological fluid within the damper 10 depending on the amplitude of the vibration sensed by the sensor 86. Thus a vibration control of the shaft 20 can be accomplished in efficient and effective manner using feedback from the vibration sensor 86 and controlling the damping of the damper to change the tuning frequency of the damper 10.

If an electro-rheological fluid ("ER-fluid") is being used, plate electrodes contain the fluid and a high voltage source creates a controllable electric field between the plate electrodes.

FIGS. 2 and 3 illustrate an alternate embodiment of the torsional damper 100 which includes a C-shaped annular chamber 110 connected at its center to (or formed with) an annular disk 112, and closed by an annular cover plate 114. The cover plate provides a fill opening 116 for filling the chamber 110 with magneto-rheological fluid 118. Within the chamber 110 is a two piece inertia ring 122 having a left piece 124 and a right piece 126 as viewed in FIG. 2. The pieces 124 and 126 have correspondingly stepped inner and outer circumferential areas 125, 127 which mate together.

The pieces 124, 126 can be fixed together by welding or fasteners or can be held together functionally by the housing 110 and cover plate via plastic bearings 180, 182, 184.

The two pieces 124, 126 have formed into their respective mating surfaces 124a, 126a an annular cavity 128 which holds an induction coil 130. The coil 130 in this embodiment spins with the inertia ring 122. Two leads 134, 136 penetrate through a bore in the inertia ring 122, through a bore 137 in the left piece 124 for example, to connect to slip rings 140, 142 mounted exposed on an inside circumference of the left piece 124 for example.

As shown enlarged in FIG. 3, electrical contacts 146, 148 are spring loaded into contact with the slip rings 140, 142 respectively, by one or more springs 150 backed by at least one screwed electrical fitting 152 through a wall 160 of the chamber 110. External leads 162, 164 connect the electrical contacts 146, 148 to slip rings 166, 168 mounted onto the shaft 20 being vibration controlled. Wiper contacts 170, 172 connect the slip rings 166, 168 via a cable 174 to the source of DC power 76. The controller 80 and vibration sensor 86 can function identically as described in FIG. 1.

FIG. 2 presents a more compact design eliminating the external chamber 50 of FIG. 1.

Although the present invention has been described with reference to a specific embodiment, those of skill in the art will recognize that changes may be made thereto without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.