lDESCRIPTIONl<BR> BAMPMG ANB CUSBHON BEVUCE [Technical Field] The present invention relates to a damping device applicable to bumpers, dampers, supporters, or the like and a cushion device applicable to sofas, chairs, mattresses, or the like, more particularly, is essentially characterized in that an external force applied to an external tube of non-elastic material as well as elastic material is relieved by an internal tube, and is additionally characterized in that degree of damping and degree of cushion can be controlled by adjusting a facing volume of the internal tube for the external force.

[Background Art] It is well known that a damping device (or a shock absorber), which is installed at a position where an external force such as a repeated vibration force or a single impact force is exerted, has been used for the purpose of relieving the external force.

Although such a damping device is applied with various configurations and methods, judging from the latest configurations of the damping device using a fluid tube, a configuration comprising a single airtight air tube installed at a position where an external force is applied is noticed.

If an inside of such an airtight tube is sealed, when an external force is applied, the tube is compressed and deformed, so that its internal air tends to be discharged out as much as the deformed amount of the tube. However, if a sheath of the tube cannot restrain the discharge pressure, the tube will be broken. That is, since the airtight tube does not have any space to which the air filled in the tube separately escapes, the inside of the tube becomes into a high pressure state in a moment even if a small external force is applied. Thus, the possibility of its breakage must be always undertaken.

The cause thereof can be found in that the tube is sealed.

As methods for solving the problem, high-elastic material may be employed to form a sheath of the tube ; otherwise, a thick sheath of the tube may be formed of non-

elastic material. However, in the case of the former, its stability becomes low since the dependency for the elasticity of the sheath of the tube is high, while, in the case of the latter, it is difficult to achieve low shock-absorbing and restoring effects since the stiffness of the material is high. Thus, it is difficult to consider such methods preferable.

(Description of Drawings l Fig. 1 is a view showing the entire constitution of a first embodiment of a damping and cushion device according to the present invention; Fig. 2 is a sectional view showing a major portion of the device shown in Fig.

1 with an external force F applied; Fig. 3 is a sectional view showing a major portion of the device shown in Fig.

1 with a large external force F+F'applied; Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken along a line 1-1 of Fig. 1; Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken along a line 11-11 of Fig. 2; Fig. 6 is a view showing the entire constitution of a second embodiment of the damping and cushion device according to the present invention; and Fig. 7 is a view showing the relationship between a width of an annular groove and the external force F.

[Explanation of Reference Numerals for Major Portions Shown in Drawings] 10: external tube; 20: frame; 21and 210: spatial portion; 22 and 310: connecting port; 23 and 320: annular groove; 30: internal tube; 200: unit frame; and 300: coupler [Disclosure] [Technical Problem] A major object of the present invention is to provide a damping and cushion device which is enabled to obtain predetermined shock-absorbing, restoring, and cushion effects even if a sheath of an external tube is formed of non-elastic material as well as elastic material or a thick sheath of an external tube is not formed.

Further, another object of the present invention is to provide a damping and cushion device which is enabled to control degree of damping and degree of cushion

according to the change of a facing volume V of an internal tube for an external force.

In addition, a further object of the present invention is to provide a damping and cushion device which is enabled to control degree of damping and degree of cushion according to selection of any one of air, liquid, and gas as a fluid filled in the external tube that is directly subjected to an external force.

[Technical Solution ! The present invention is achieved by a damping and cushion device, comprising : a frame having an internal spatial portion which is selectively opened and closed by a switching valve, the frame being formed with at least one connecting port for connecting the spatial portion and its outside to be communicated with each other, at least one annular groove being formed circumferentially on a wall surface of the spatial portion to be communicated with the connecting port; at least one external tube connected to the connecting port of the frame to be communicated with each other; and an internal tube housed in the spatial portion of the frame, the internal tube functioning to seal the connecting port at a side of the spatial portion as the internal tube is filled with fluid through the switching valve.

Furthermore, the present invention is also achieved by a damping and cushion device, comprising: a plurality of unit frames having an internal spatial portion which is selectively opened and closed by a switching valve; at least one coupler for connecting the unit frames to be communicated with each other of the unit frames, the coupler being formed with a connecting port for connecting its inside and outside to be communicated with each other, an annular groove being formed circumferentially on an inner perimeter of the coupler to be communicated with the connecting port; at least one external tube connected to the connecting port of the coupler to be communicated with each other; and an internal tube housed in the unit frames and the coupler, the internal tube functioning to seal the connecting port at a side of the spatial portion as the internal tube is filled with fluid through the switching valve.

[Advantageous Effects] The present invention is constituted so that an injection hole of an external tube is temporarily opened by an external force, wherein an internal tube for shock-

absorbing and restoring is positioned in the side of the injection hole. Thus, shock- absorbing is possible with an impact maximumly relieved. Also, an annular groove causes an impact force to act maximumly on the whole of the outer perimeter of the internal tube, so that shock-absorbing and cushion efficiency can be improved.

In addition, if there are a plurality of the external tubes, since each of the external tubes is independent, even when any one of the external tubes is broken by the external force, only the broken external tube may be practically replaced by a new one.

Such a present invention may be applied to shock-absorbing and cushion means of bumpers, dampers, supporters, furniture, beds, or the like.

[Best Model Referring to Figs. 1 to 7 of the accompanying drawings, preferable embodiments of the present invention will be explained in detail.

Prior to the explanation, since a damping force or a shock-absorbing force is interpreted as the same meaning as a cushion force, a damping and cushion device of the present invention may be applied as shock-absorbing means (or a damping means) or cushion means according to appliances. For example, the damping and cushion device may be referred to as the damping means when the damping and cushion device is applied as bumpers, dampers, supporters, or the like, and referred to as the cushion means when applied to furniture or beds. Thus, it is set forth beforehand that using the term"damping force"or"shock-absorbing force"does not intend to exclude the cushion force in the details to be described below.

As shown in Fig. 1, the damping and cushion device of the first embodiment according to the present invention comprises an external tube 10 which is positioned in the direction in which an external force is generated, and includes a chamber C filled with fluid, a frame 20 which is connected to the external tube at the rear portion thereof to be communicated with the external tube, and an internal tube 30 which is housed in the frame with the internal tube filled with fluid, wherein the entrance and exit of the fluid is intermitted by a switching valve 60 provided at a side of the frame.

Also, a damper 40, which is installed on at least one side of the frame 20 and then elastically supports a side end of the internal tube 30, and a sheath 50, which if there are a plurality of the external tubes 10, covers all of the external tubes 10

inclusively, are further included.

At this time, the frame 20 in which the internal tube 30 is housed includes an internal spatial portion 21 that is a passage for the entrance and exit of the fluid, wherein the entrance and exit of the fluid into the spatial portion is intermitted by the switching valve 60. In addition, a connecting port 22, which connects the external tube 10 and the internal spatial portion to be communicated with each other, is formed in a wall surface of the internal spatial portion.

Furthermore, an annular groove 23, which is connected to the connecting port 22 to be communicated therewith, is formed circumferentially on the wall surface of the internal spatial portion 21. Since the annular groove is in contact with the internal tube 30 that is expanded, a damping force and cushion force of the external tube 10 can be controlled according to change of a width of the annular groove. The details therefor will be explained below.

A plurality of the external tubes 10 may be formed in line according to applicable purpose, and in such a case that there are a plurality of the external tubes as above, the numbers of the connecting ports 22 and the annular grooves 23 corresponding to the number of the external tubes should be also set up.

As shown in Fig. 6, a damping and cushion device of the second embodiment according to the present invention comprises a plurality of unit frames 200 which are formed with an internal spatial portion 210, wherein the entrance and exit of the fluid is intermitted by a switching valve 60, a coupler 300 which functions to connect a plurality of the unit frames to be communicated with each other of the unit frames, and an annular groove 320 is formed circumferentially on the inner perimeter of the coupler 300 and a connecting port 310 is formed in the annular groove 320 to be communicated with an external tube 10, which will be described below, the external tube 10 which has a chamber C the injection hole of which is connected to the connecting port 310 of the coupler to be communicated with each other, and an internal tube 30 which is housed in the unit frames 200 and the coupler 300 with the internal tube filled with fluid, wherein the entrance and exit of the fluid is intermitted by the switching valve 60.

Also, a damper 40, which is installed on at least one side of the unit frames 200 and then elastically supports both ends of the internal tube 30, and a sheath 50, which if there are a plurality of the external tubes 10, covers all of the external tubes 10

inclusively, are further included.

In the present embodiment, there may be naturally provided a plurality of the external tubes 10 and a plurality of the couplers 300 according to the applicable purpose.

The operation of the damping and cushion device of the present invention as constituted above will be explained as follows.

Prior to the explanation, regardless of the structural differences between the first embodiment and the second embodiment, since they are nearly similar in operation, the operation will be explained on the basis of only the first embodiment.

With the external tube 10 and the internal tube 30 not filled with fluid, if the fluid is injected into the internal spatial portion 21 of the frame through the switching valve 60 provided at a side of the frame 20, the external tube 10 is filled through each of the connecting ports 22 or the single connecting port with the injected fluid.

At this time, since the external tube 10 and the internal spatial portion 21 are in communication with each other through the connecting port 22, if there are a plurality of the external tubes 10, collective injection and then rapid injection of the fluid may become possible.

If an appropriate amount of the fluid is injected into the external tube 10, the switching valve 60 is closed to a side of the external tube 10, so that the entrance and exit of the fluid is intermitted. Then, as the switching valve 60 is opened to a side of the internal tube 30 and the fluid is injected into the internal tube therethrough, the internal tube is expanded, so that the connecting port 22 at a side of the internal spatial portion 21 becomes into the sealed state by the internal tube as shown in Fig. 1. At this time, it can be understood that the internal pressure of the internal tube 30 should be greater than that of the external tube 10 in order to maintain the sealed state.

Thus, with the external tube 10 and the internal tube 30 filled with the fluid, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, if an external force F is applied to the external tube, the external tube is compressed and deformed in proportion to the magnitude of the external force, and at the same time, the fluid as much as the compressed amount of the external tube is discharged through the connecting port 22 and the annular groove 23 to the internal spatial portion 21 of the frame 20.

The discharged fluid compresses the internal tube 30 that blocks the annular

groove 23. At this time, if the external force F is smaller than the internal pressure of the internal tube 30, as shown in Fig. 2, only the compressive deformation at a portion of the internal tube near the annular groove makes the operation of shock-absorbing and cushion possible. If an external force F+F'> which is larger than the internal pressure of the internal tube 30, is applied, as shown in Fig. 3, the portion of the internal tube near the annular groove is excessively compressed and deformed, so that the side end of the internal tube is expanded outward. However, since the side end of the internal tube 30 is elastically supported by the damper 40, the damper 40 substitutes for the internal tube that no more provides the operation of shock-absorbing and cushion.

In the meantime, since the annular groove 23 is formed circumferentially along the wall surface of the spatial portion 21 of the frame 20, as shown in Fig. 5, a shock- absorbing force is circumferentially applied onto the outer perimeter of the internal tube 30, so that the stable shock-absorbing force can be secured. According to the appliances, it is necessary to control the shock-absorbing force and the cushion force.

In such a case, if controlling a width b of the annular groove 23, the hardness of the shock-absorbing force and the cushion force may be controlled.

That is, explaining those in detail with Fig. 7, because of the shock-absorbing force and the cushion force F = A x P, F is in proportion to the area A. Thus, if a facing volume of the internal tube 30 for F is enlarged (that is, the width b of the annular groove becomes wide), the gradient of the shock-absorbing force and the cushion force becomes small, whereas if the facing area of the internal tube 30 for F becomes small (that is, the width b of the annular groove becomes narrow), the gradient of the shock-absorbing force and the cushion force enlarges.

Taking that into consideration, when applying the present damping and cushion device to appliances that need a large force (that is, a large shock-absorbing force), such as bumpers or shock-absorbing supporters of athletic equipments or the like, the width b of the annular groove 23 should be small, while when applying the present damping and cushion device to appliances that need a relatively small force (that is, a small shock-absorbing force), such as a mattress, chair, sofa, or the like, the degree of cushion can be lowered by enlarging the width b of the annular groove 23. Therefore, by controlling the width of the annular groove and a diameter and a length of the

internal tube appropriately, the shock-absorbing force and the degree of cushion can be controlled according to the appliances.

Furthermore, the shock-absorbing force and the degree of cushion can be controlled according to the kind of the fluid filled in the external tube 10.

That is, when using liquid as the fluid, since the liquid is incompressible fluid, and thus when the external force is applied, the external force is directly transferred to the internal tube 30 without compression, the shock-absorbing force and the degree of cushion is low, while when using gas as the fluid, since the gas is compressible fluid, and thus when the external force is applied, the external force is transferred to the internal tube 30 after compression by the external force, the shock-absorbing and cushion force is large.

Therefore, if the fluid is replaced with another appropriately according to the appliances of the present invention, the shock-absorbing force and the degree of cushion corresponding thereto can be obtained.

Then, if the external force is removed, the internal tube 30 expanded is restored by its own internal pressure by itself. Thus, the fluid discharged from the external tube 10 is returned and injected into the external tube 10 again, so that the external tube 10 contracted is restored to its original state.