Apparatus for damping courses of motion

DETAILED DESCRIPTION It is accordingly the object of the invention, on the one hand to drastically simplify the design of a damper system, but on the other hand to embody this damper system such that although active energy is not supplied, as actually required for certain conditions, it is nevertheless possible to attain a mode of operation which simultaneously and substantially integrates the properties of passive and active damping systems and thus assures optimal functioning under all conditions.
This object is attained by means of the characteristics revealed hereinafter, with the advantage that on the one hand, the damping forces can be variably adjusted, but may on the other hand, in a desired fashion, also be asymmetrically dimensioned such that the damping concept according to the invention behaves like an active damper, or at least highly approximately like an active damper.
That is, damping forces with a predetermined algebraic sign (+ or -) will not be generated whenever an active damping force having the opposite algebraic sign should be required, because of prevailing operating conditions and on the basis of detected sensor signals.
The damping system according to the invention is designed such that in this case the damper force becomes zero, or virtually zero.
The supply of energy from outside that is required relates solely to the slight control energies required, for instance in order to specify certain valve positions.
The invention will be better understood and further objects and advantages thereof will become more apparent from the ensuing detailed description of a preferred embodiment taken in conjunction with the drawings.