A new Project Titan patent was published this week describing a next-gen Suspension System with a Vibration Absorber & more

This week the US Patent & Trademark Office published a patent application from Apple that describing a news suspension system feature called a 'Vibration Absorber' to provide a future vehicle with a smoother ride. Our report also links to four other patent applications relating to cardiac monitoring, techniques for Improving In-Room Person Detection, advances in LIDAR and more.

Vibration Absorber

Apple's latest Project Titan patent covers a tuned mass damper that could be used to reduce unwanted vibration effects, such as wheel hop, which may be transmitted to a vehicle body. The tuned mass damper includes a damper mass coupled to a wheel assembly. The damper mass is smaller than the mass of a primary mass, such as the vehicle body, and oscillates to counter vibrations experienced by the wheel assembly. The oscillations of the damper mass result in a reduction of unwanted vibration effects.

The tuned mass damper systems, included as part of a vehicle suspension system, include a damper mass that is coupled to an unsprung mass of the vehicle, such as a suspension knuckle (e.g., a hub retainer or wheel support) or vehicle wheel assembly.

The damper mass of the tuned mass damper system is shaped such that a frontal force applied to the vehicle body, such as a side overlap impact, is transferred from the vehicle body to the damper mass by one or more engagement portions.

The damper mass receives the transmitted force on one or more curved surfaces such that the damper mass and the attached wheel assembly rotate away from a longitudinal axis of the vehicle body. Throughout this disclosure, the same or similar reference numbers refer to the same or similar components.

Apple's patent FIG. 3 below is a schematic side view illustration of a wheel assembly for a vehicle; FIG. 6 is a schematic cross-sectional illustration of the wheel assembly of FIG. 3 in response to a force applied to the vehicle.

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