Knitted elastomeric vibratory damping apparatus

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10072720-B2
Application number	US-201414574631-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 18, 2014
Priority date	Dec 18, 2014
Publication date	Sep 11, 2018
Grant date	Sep 11, 2018

Abstract

A flexible vibratory damping apparatus is defined by a sheet-like component that is formed from threads made from at least one elastomeric material and formed into a knitted configuration. The knitted configuration is defined by a plurality of adjacent loops wherein the sheet-like component can be wrapped about a structural component under load or otherwise attached thereto. Under an applied load, the adjacent loops act independently in terms of resonance wherein the size of the adjacent loops, the density of the formed mesh and the properties of the elastomeric material used can be suitably varied as needed in order to adjust or tune the damping characteristics of the apparatus. In at least one version, a constraining layer can also be applied onto at least a portion of the apparatus.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A flexible vibratory apparatus for damping a structure or structural component, the apparatus comprising:
a knitted mesh made from cords or threads of an elastomeric material, the knitted mesh having a plurality of adjacent elastomeric loops,
the knitted mesh being porous to dissipate heat from one side of the knitted mesh to an opposite side of the knitted mesh,
wherein the knitted mesh is configured to be wrapped or otherwise supported onto the structure or structural component in which each of the plurality of loops resonates independently when subjected to a vibratory load applied to the structure or structural component, thereby enabling the knitted mesh to attenuate vibrations collectively and achieve resonance at more than one input frequency of the vibratory load.

2. The flexible vibratory apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising a rigid or semi-rigid outer layer disposed in relation to a portion of an exterior surface of the knitted mesh.

3. The flexible vibratory apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein the outer layer forms a constrained boundary.

4. The flexible vibratory apparatus according to claim 3 , in which the outer layer is adhesively attached to the exterior surface of the knitted mesh.

5. The flexible vibratory apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the knitted mesh is compressible.

6. The flexible vibratory apparatus according to claim 5 , wherein the knitted mesh is compressible in a direction of the loops.

7. The flexible vibratory apparatus according to claim 5 , wherein the knitted mesh is compressible in a direction that is transverse to the loops.

8. The flexible vibratory apparatus according to claim 1 , in which the knitted mesh includes a first knitted portion having a plurality of adjacent loops defined by a first size and a second knitted portion having a plurality of loops defined by a second size that is different than the first size.

9. The flexible vibratory apparatus according to claim 1 , in which portions of the knitted mesh are defined by at least one of different elastomeric cord or thread diameters, loop diameters or mesh densities in order to selectively vary damping characteristics of the apparatus.

10. The flexible vibratory apparatus of claim 1 , in which the knitted mesh is formed as a tubular sleeve that is placed in overlaying relation onto the structural component.

11. A method of manufacturing and using a flexible vibratory damping apparatus, the method comprising:
providing at least one elastomeric material;
creating a knitted arrangement of the elastomeric material from cords or threads thereof as a sheet, the knitted arrangement including a plurality of adjacent loops to produce a porous knitted mesh from a first side of the knitted mesh to a second side of the knitted mesh; and
hanging or wrapping the knitted arrangement in relation to a structural component wherein each of the loops of the knitted arrangement resonates independently when subjected to a vibratory load applied to the structural component and enables the sheet collectively to resonate at various input frequencies to attenuate vibrations, and in which the damping apparatus is porous to dissipate heat emitted from the structural component.

12. The method according to claim 11 , further comprising the step of providing a rigid or semi-rigid outer layer about the exterior of the knitted arrangement.

13. The method according to claim 12 , wherein the semi-rigid or rigid outer layer forms a constrained boundary.

14. The method according to claim 13 , wherein the outer layer is adhesively attached to the exterior of the knitted arrangement.

15. The method according to claim 11 , wherein the knitted arrangement is compressible in a direction that is transverse to the loops.

16. The method according to claim 11 , further comprising the additional step of varying at least one of the loop size or elastomeric thread or cord diameter of the porous knitted mesh in order to selectively tune damping characteristics of the arrangement in relation to the structural component.

17. The method according to claim 11 , including the additional step of providing a first knitted portion having a first mesh size and a second knitted portion having a second mesh size that is different from the first mesh size in order to vary damping characteristics of the apparatus.

18. The method of claim 11 , further comprising forming the sheet into a tubular sleeve and placing the tubular sleeve over the structural component.

19. A damping apparatus comprising:
a flexible sheet of elastomeric material configured to be disposed directly over a vibration prone structure, the flexible sheet including a knitted arrangement of elastomeric threads or cords forming a plurality of loops, each loop having a characteristic geometric shape in which each loop resonates independently when a vibratory load is applied to the vibration prone structure in which the sheet collectively produces a resonant response to attenuate vibrations acting on the vibration prone structure, and wherein the knitted arrangement produces a porous structure configured to dissipate heat from one side of the knitted arrangement to an opposite side thereof.

20. The apparatus of claim 19 , wherein the plurality of loops include a characteristic geometric shape and geometric material including at least one from the group consisting of length, thickness, and density.

21. The apparatus of claim 19 , further comprising an overwrap to apply a load operative to press the loops together to vary the resonance characteristics of the apparatus.

22. The apparatus of claim 19 , wherein the flexible sheet of elastomeric material defines a first knitted portion and a second knitted portion, the first knitted portion having a first mesh size and the second knitted portion having a second mesh size that is different from the first mesh size.

23. The apparatus of claim 19 , in which the flexible sheet is formed into a tubular sleeve configured to be placed directly over the vibration prone structure.

24. An apparatus for attenuating the vibrations of a vibration prone structure, comprising:
a knitted weave of elastomeric threads forming a plurality of loops resonating independently relative to one another at a variety of frequencies such that vibrations are attenuated at different frequencies and in which the knitted weave is porous to dissipate heat from one side of the knitted weave to the other side of the knitted weave.

25. The apparatus of claim 24 , further comprising a rigid or semi-rigid outer layer disposed over a portion of the knitted weave.

26. The apparatus of claim 25 , wherein the outer layer forms a constrained boundary.

27. The apparatus of claim 25 , wherein the rigid or semi-rigid outer layer further comprises an overwrap operative to compress the loops to vary the resonance characteristics of the damping apparatus.

28. The apparatus of claim 24 , wherein the plurality of loops include a characteristic geometric shape and geometric material including one from the group consisting of length, thickness, and density.

29. The apparatus of claim 24 , wherein the knitted weave is compressible.

Assignees

• Itt Mfg Enterprises Llc

Inventors

• Ott Mark J

Classifications

• F16F7/108 Primary

  on plastics springs · CPC title

• D04B1/22

  specially adapted for knitting goods of particular configuration · CPC title

• F16F1/362 Primary

  made of steel wool, compressed hair, {woven or non-woven textile, or like materials} · CPC title

• D04B1/18

  elastic threads · CPC title