Gm Global Technolgoy Operations, Inc.

Dwayne P Joppeck

Boris Iosifovich Burgman

John William Kimes

Kevin A Shipley

A high torque capacity one-way clutch includes a first, inner annulus nested within a second, outer annulus. The inner annulus includes a plurality of transverse grooves on its outer surface as well as a centrally disposed circumferential groove. A like plurality of moveable struts having a central opening are received within respective grooves in the inner annulus and are retained there by a circumferential band passing through the openings in the struts and received in the circumferential groove. The outer annulus includes a plurality of transverse grooves on its inner surface and receives the inner annulus, struts and circumferential band. Upon relative rotation of the annuli in one direction, the struts engage the grooves and inhibit rotation between the annuli, thereby transmitting torque. Upon relative rotation in the opposite direction, the struts slide along the inner surface of the outer annulus without engaging and thus do not transmit torque.

High torque one way clutch

An automatic transmission has a park system with a shaft and a parking pawl. The shaft rotates in response to a gear shift lever, and a detent lever positions the parking pawl in response to rotation of the shaft. A detent spring assembly biases the detent lever and has a detent spring, cage, and roller assembly. The cage aligns the roller assembly, while the detent spring is connected to the cage at one end and has a flat reaction surface formed at a second end. A cage notch portion aligns the cage with the detent lever, and the roller assembly into a perpendicular orientation with detent lever teeth. The notch portion engages either a detent tooth or a stationary portion of an internal mode switch (IMS). A shaft inserts into a roller through a side hole in the cage to retain the roller assembly therewithin.

Self-aligning detent spring assembly

A selectable one-way clutch assembly for use in an automatic transmission comprises a strut plate rotatable about a central hub and having pockets and struts mounted therein for pivotable rotation. A selecting plate concentrically located about an activator hub has teeth extending axially inboard and configured to fit in the apertures in an activator plate. A turning device is selectively operable to activate one-way clutching mode by rotating the pin of a control plate to disengage selecting cams and displace selecting plate teeth inboard beyond the inboard face of the activator plate wherein the struts catch the teeth when the strut plate assembly is rotated in a clutching direction. The catching ends of the struts are cammed in the pockets by ramped camming ends of the teeth when the strut plate assembly is rotated in the opposing direction, thereby allowing freewheeling of the strut plate in the overrun direction.

Selectable one-way clutch assembly

A torque transmitting device has a plurality of friction discs alternately splined to a housing and a hub. A fluid operated piston is slidably disposed in the housing and is fluid actuated to enforce frictional engagement between the friction discs and establish a torque transmitting interface between the housing and the hub. A one-way device is disposed in the housing at a location axially spaced from the piston. The one-way device has one member splined to the housing and another member splined to the hub. A plurality of actuating elements are disposed between the one-way members to enforce axial separation thereof upon a speed differential between the one-way members in one direction. The axial separation causes engagement of the friction discs to halt the speed differential and provide a one-way torque transmitting apparatus independent of the piston.

Friction torque transmitter with a one-way actuator

A roller clutch improves control of the spring at the point where it attaches to the cage. No change is made to the spring, nor to the process by which it is installed to the cage. Instead, the cage cross bar over which the mounting fold of the spring is inserted is strategically thickened so as to spread the leaves of the spring mounting fold, and put it under a preload or tension. This serves to hold the rest of the spring more firmly in position.

Roller clutch with secure spring to cage mount

A segmented roller clutch cage is comprised of loose jointed modules that combine good clutch race conformance with easy assembly, as well as allowing for selective module disassembly axial parting motion. Each of a plurality of separately molded elements is joined to the next with identical male and female fasteners that fit together with a simple straight line push, along the cage axis. A slide and rail combination on one end of each module fits into matching grooves on the other end of each module. The grooves are created by undercut, radially opposed beam pairs, the radially outboard one of which is more flexible. A barb on the slide-rail unit is designed to snap or latch past the flexible beam. The slide and rail fit into the grooves with enough clearance to give freely expanding and contracting joints, so that between race conformance is very good. The joints may even be disassembled with a compound radial bending and axial parting motion.

Growing community of inventors

Saline, MI, United States of America

Dwayne P Joppeck