Patent Issued for Damper Frame (USPTO 10,370,848)

2019 AUG 21 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- Columbia Insurance Company (Omaha, Nebraska, United States) has been issued patent number 10,370,848, according to news reporting originating out of Alexandria, Virginia, by NewsRx editors.

The patent’s inventor is Karns, Jesse (Mission Viejo, CA).

This patent was filed on June 15, 2017 and was published online on August 19, 2019.

From the background information supplied by the inventors, news correspondents obtained the following quote: “In the construction of buildings, structural damage often provides energy dissipation over the course of a seismic event. Using structural damage to dissipate energy allows structures to be economically constructed. Dampers can be used to provide energy dissipation to structures, allowing structures to survive seismic events with little to no structural damage. The addition of viscous damping to wood framed structures can significantly increase seismic resistance and reduce building lateral displacements, thereby reducing damage to the structure. Although damping can be an effective method to reduce damage to a structure, viscous dampers have seen relatively little use in certain types of structures. Stiff low-rise structures, such as light-framed wood residential structures, have not been good candidates for damping because the effectiveness of the dampers is reduced due to the low displacement input into the dampers. At the point sufficient displacement and velocity is input into the damper, the structural damage due to that displacement is already significant. In addition, space for placement of dampers in light-framed wood residential structures is limited, as there is a growing demand for numerous windows and open floor plans. Placement of dampers in a horizontal position provides good displacement and energy dissipation, but takes up significant space. To use narrower frames, dampers are often positioned diagonally in a damper frame. The diagonal orientation of dampers in the frames results in a reduction of displacement to the dampers when compared to the displacement of the building because the damper is not aligned with the horizontal shifting associated with the seismic activity, thereby making the dampers less effective and less economical. In addition to reducing the displacement, the diagonal configuration amplifies the force in the damper, resulting in a need for a larger more costly damper.”

Supplementing the background information on this patent, NewsRx reporters also obtained the inventor’s summary information for this patent: “One aspect of the invention is a damper frame including a structural frame and a damper assembly secured to the structural frame. The damper assembly includes a damper support secured to the structural frame. A damper is secured to the damper support adjacent a first end of the damper. A diagonal link is secured to the structural frame. A lever is secured to the damper support and the damper adjacent a second end of the damper opposite the first end of the damper. The lever is connected to the diagonal link so displacement of the diagonal link relative to the damper support is amplified and transferred to the second end of the damper by the lever. The damper support includes a laterally-extending cantilevered portion and the damper is secured to the damper support at the cantilevered portion.

“Another aspect of the invention is a damper assembly for dissipating seismic energy in a structural frame. The damper assembly includes a damper support and a damper secured to the damper support adjacent a first end of the damper. A lever is secured to the damper support and the damper adjacent a second end of the damper opposite the first end of the damper. A diagonal link is connected to the lever so displacement of the diagonal link relative to the damper support is amplified and transferred to the second end of the damper by the lever. The damper support comprises a laterally-extending cantilevered portion and the damper is secured to the damper support at the cantilevered portion.

“Other objects and features will be in part apparent and in part pointed out hereinafter.”

The claims supplied by the inventors are:

“What is claimed is:

“1. A damper frame comprising: a structural frame; and a damper assembly secured to the structural frame, the damper assembly comprising: a damper support secured to the structural frame; a damper secured to the damper support adjacent a first end of the damper; a diagonal link secured to the structural frame; and a lever secured to the damper support and the damper adjacent a second end of the damper opposite the first end of the damper, the lever being connected to the diagonal link so displacement of the diagonal link relative to the damper support is amplified and transferred to the second end of the damper by the lever, wherein the damper support comprises a laterally-extending cantilevered portion and the damper is secured to the damper support at the cantilevered portion.

“2. The damper frame of claim 1 wherein the damper has a substantially vertical orientation within the structural frame.

“3. The damper frame of claim 1, wherein the lever is pivotally secured to the damper support at a first location, pivotally secured to the diagonal link at a second location spaced a first distance from the first location, and pivotally secured to the damper at a third location spaced a second distance from the first location, the ratio of the second distance to the first distance being at least about 3.

“4. The damper frame of claim 3 wherein the ratio of the second distance to the first distance is at least about 4.

“5. The damper frame of claim 1, wherein the damper has a line of action and a line extending between the location where the lever is connected to the damper support and the location where the lever is connected to the damper is substantially perpendicular to the line of action of the damper.

“6. The damper frame of claim 1, wherein the first end of the damper is spaced vertically from the second end of the damper by a distance that is greater than a lateral distance between the first and second ends of the damper.

“7. A damper assembly for dissipating seismic energy in a structural frame, the damper assembly comprising: a damper support; a damper secured to the damper support adjacent a first end of the damper; a lever secured to the damper support and the damper adjacent a second end of the damper opposite the first end of the damper; and a diagonal link connected to the lever so displacement of the diagonal link relative to the damper support is amplified and transferred to the second end of the damper by the lever, wherein the damper support comprises a laterally-extending cantilevered portion and the damper is secured to the damper support at the cantilevered portion; wherein the lever is pivotally secured to the damper support at a first location, pivotally secured to the diagonal link at a second location spaced a first distance from the first location, and pivotally secured to the damper at a third location spaced a second distance from the first location, the ratio of the second distance to the first distance being at least about 3.

“8. The damper assembly of claim 7 wherein the ratio of the second distance to the first distance is at least about 4.

“9. The damper assembly of claim 7, wherein the damper has a line of action and a line extending between the location where the lever is connected to the damper support and the location where the lever is connected to the damper is substantially perpendicular to the line of action of the damper.

“10. The damper assembly of claim 7 wherein the first end of the damper is spaced vertically from the second end of the damper by a distance that is greater than a lateral distance between the first and second ends of the damper.

“11. A damper frame comprising: a generally rectangular structural frame includes a vertical left structural member, a vertical right structural member, a horizontal top structural member extending between the left and right structural members, and a horizontal bottom structural member spaced from the horizontal top structural member and extending between the left and right structural members; and a damper assembly secured to the structural frame, the damper assembly comprising: a damper support secured to the structural frame; a damper secured to the damper support adjacent a first end of the damper; a diagonal link secured to the structural frame; and a lever secured to the damper support and the damper adjacent a second end of the damper opposite the first end of the damper, the lever being connected to the diagonal link so displacement of the diagonal link relative to the damper support is amplified and transferred to the second end of the damper by the lever, wherein the damper support comprises a laterally-extending cantilevered portion and the damper is secured to the damper support at the cantilevered portion.

“12. The damper frame of claim 11, wherein the diagonal link is connected to the structural frame in a manner such that movement of the top structural member relative to the bottom structural member during a seismic event causes displacement of the diagonal link relative to the damper support.

“13. The damper frame of claim 12, wherein the damper is adjacent one of the vertical structural members.

“14. The damper frame of claim 11, wherein the diagonal link is pivotably secured to the structural frame.

“15. The damper frame of claim 14, wherein the diagonal link is secured to the structural frame adjacent to the connection between one of the vertical structural members and one of the horizontal structural members.

“16. The damper frame of claim 15, wherein an end of the diagonal link is pivotably secured to one of the vertical structural members and one of the horizontal structural members at the connection between said one vertical structural member and said one horizontal structural member.

“17. The damper frame of claim 16, wherein the diagonal link extends across the structural from the end pivotably secured to one of the vertical structural members and one of the horizontal structural members toward the connection between the other vertical structural member and other horizontal structural member.”

For the URL and additional information on this patent, see: Karns, Jesse. Damper Frame. U.S. Patent Number 10,370,848, filed June 15, 2017, and published online on August 19, 2019. Patent URL: http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=10,370,848.PN.&OS=PN/10,370,848RS=PN/10,370,848

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