Motion-damping apparatus for a vehicle

A motion-damping apparatus is proposed which has a shock absorber disposed between a vehicle axle and a vehicle body. A piston that is supported on the vehicle body via a piston rod is movably supported in an inner jacket tube of the shock absorber. The piston divides work chambers filled with an electrorheological fluid as a damping fluid. The work chambers communicate with one another via an overflow cross section, the size of which is defined by a control slide the position of which is determined by an axially movable sheath. The sheath forms a first electrode, while the walls of an annular conduit receiving the sheath form a second electrode. The intensity of an electrostatic field that can be developed between the electrodes has an influence on the magnitude of the shear stress of the damping fluid flowing in the annular conduit and hence on the deflection of the sheath. In this way, the damping of the shock absorber can be adjusted via the electrostatic field present at the electrodes.