Fichtel & Sachs Ag

Chrysler Corporation

Mannesmann Sachs Ag

Sachs Automotive of America

Heiko Schulz-Andres

Reinhold Weidinger

Achim Link

Joseph L Bair

Peter Doll

Gerda Rudolph

Michael Weiss

Klaus Elsner

Rainer Wiedmann

Gunther Esly

Ralf Nenninger

Edwin Murray

Michael Grosse-Erdmann

Joachim Lindner

Hilmar Gobel

Richard G Reed, Jr

Lutz Leimbach

Wolfgang Baier

Reinhard Deppert

Klaus Gorzitzke

Reiner Voss

David G Buckingham

Erwin Bair

Alfred Eusemann

Andreas Krause

Thomas Stretz

Barrie G Craft

Jens Schneider

Andreas Gebauer

George Traub

Markus Wirbel

Michael B Grosse Erdmann

Hans Jurgen Drexl

Edwin R Murray

George S Traub

Michael Weib

Reinhart Deppert

A friction clutch with a flywheel and a clutch housing has the flywheel and clutch housing connected to one another by means of a preferably cylindrical wall located in the radially outer portion of the clutch housing. The cylindrical wall can extend in a ring-shaped manner around the axis of rotation of the flywheel. The clutch housing encloses a clutch plate with friction linings in the radially outer area, and an application plate or pressure plate can be pressed toward the clutch plate by means of an application spring. The friction linings can be guided or extended radially outwardly up to directly next to the cylindrical wall, to make possible, with a specified friction surface, a minimum ratio of outside diameter to inside diameter on the friction linings. The friction linings can be connected to the clutch disc without the interposition of a lining spring system.

Friction clutch for a motor vehicle

An actuator for automated operation of a friction clutch includes a drive that is connected with an input part of a gearing and an output part of the gearing that is movable into operative connection via a transmission member with a disengagement bearing of the friction clutch. The transmission element has a pitch region rotatable for driving an engagement element into force-applying contact with a disengagement bearing for displacing the disengaging bearing and thereby disengaging the clutch.

Friction clutch having an actuator for automated operation

The present invention generally relates to the attachment of a centrifugal mass or a modular clutch to the output end of a crankshaft of an internal combustion engine. For this purpose, axially-oriented gear teeth can be introduced in both parts, e.g. a serration, and there can be a central screw element which can extend into a threaded portion in the crankshaft. The present invention teaches that an axially-oriented spring bias can be applied to both parts to create a reliable connection between the parts of the gear teeth.

Arrangement for the attachment of a flywheel to a crankshaft

A friction clutch has an inertia mass attachable to a drive, a housing that serves to accommodate a pressure spring as well as a pressure plate, and a ring that encompasses the rotational axis of the inertia mass and housing and acts, in connection with a signal receiver, as a pulse generator. This ring, because it is not very thick in the radial direction, can be deformed by even small radial forces, so that its inner diameter can be adapted by enlargement or shrinking to the outer diameter of a component intended for its accommodation, such as an inertia mass or housing, in order to establish a friction locking connection between the ring and the outer diameter of the component.

Friction clutch with a pulse generator

A friction clutch for a motor vehicle in which a friction lining ring can be clamped directly between the centrifugal mass and the pressure plate. In addition, a radially inward extension of the friction lining rang is riveted directly to a carrier which is fastened non-rotationally on a hub, possibly with the interposition of a torsional damping device.

This invention relates to a friction clutch with a membrane spring in a pulled or pushed clutch design, in which there is a second membrane spring/plate spring which provides assistance to the release force and which, when the friction clutch is engaged, generates little or no release force, and generates an increasing release force as the release travel increases.

Friction clutch with auxiliary spring to assist the release force

The invention relates to a transmission device which is located between the crankshaft of an engine and a clutch and is designed with a flexible plate in contact with the crankshaft, and which can be connected to the flexible plate by means of connecting elements which are engaged from the crankshaft side via the flexible plate in a fastening element of the clutch and have a retaining part for the flexible plate, so that the installation of the fastening element and the flexible plate can be performed as quickly as possible and without causing any damage. For this purpose, the connecting elements with their retaining parts for the installation of the flexible plate project from the fastening element by a distance which exceeds the thickness of the flexible plate. The flexible plate is provided with through holes for the connecting elements, adjacent to each of which there is a corresponding guide slot running in the direction of movement relative to the installation motion of the fastening element relative to the flexible plate, whereby the width of the guide slot perpendicular to its longitudinal direction is approximately equal to the cross section of the connecting means which the latter have in the area where they pass through the flexible plate.

Transmission device for a motor vehicle

A friction clutch/flywheel assembly includes a flywheel with a predetermined diametral area designed to hold a preferably cylindrical wall of a basin-shaped clutch housing, so that the clutch housing does not rotate and is also secured against axial movement with respect to the flywheel. The assembly is designed so that there is a clamping device allocated to at least one of the flywheel or the clutch housing, which clamping device is designed to be located in the contact area between the cylindrical wall of the clutch housing and the predetermined diametral area of the flywheel. By means of this clamping device, the flywheel and clutch housing can be held in a non-positive connection with one another.

Friction clutch with a flywheel

A motor vehicle friction clutch with an automatic adjustment for wear of the friction linings, whereby distributed over the circumference of the pressure plate there are several clearance sensors which act on the thrust plate with the interposition of an adjustment device. Each clearance sensor is thereby mounted in a hole in the thrust plate, so that it can move axially against the force of an adapter sleeve.

Friction clutch for a motor vehicle transmission and a friction clutch

A system of fastening a flywheel on an output end of a crankshaft of an internal combustion engine, the flywheel being combined into a single component with a clutch plate unit and a clutch disc. The fastening can be achieved with essentially axial joint surfaces on the output end on one hand, and on the flywheel on the other hand, wherein the joint surfaces are designed as tapered or cylindrical surfaces which are self-locking in the axial direction.

Transmission having a clutch with an arrangement for fastening the

A manual transmission modular clutch assembly has a flywheel, pressure plate and interposed clutch plate mounted in a cover that is adapted to be connected to an engine crankshaft and wherein separate spring-torque straps connect the pressure plate and the flywheel to the cover for rotation therewith. At assembly the flywheel is positioned against the force of its spring-torque straps by travel limit pins that are retained on the cover, press fitted in the flywheel and contact with the pressure plate when in its clutch engaging position. A diaphragm spring normally clamps the pressure plate, clutch plate and flywheel together and is adapted to be connected to a clutch pedal to release the clutch. As wear occurs, the pressure plate is allowed to move further in the direction of the flywheel and forces the flywheel travel limit pins to move in their press fit by the same amount. This relocates the limit pins relative to the cover by the same amount so that when the clutch is released the flywheel is allowed to be moved by its spring-torque straps toward the pressure plate by a corresponding amount. A pair of rings having opposing contacting ramps are interposed between the cover and flywheel and are spring biased to expand apart by ramp action during clutch release and provide a wedge that holds the flywheel against the force of the diaphragm spring during clutch engagement following movement of the flywheel to adjust for wear. The flywheel travel limit pins also provide for setting the clutch apply load to a desired value at clutch assembly and this is maintained by the wear adjustment.

Motor vehicle manual transmission modular clutch assembly

A pressure plate arrangement (1) for a friction clutch of a motor vehicle is proposed, wherein an adjustment device (19), which automatically compensates for the wear of the friction linings (21), is disposed in the support path between a diaphragm spring (13) and a pressure plate (11), stressed against a flywheel (1) by the diaphragm spring (13) via friction linings (21) of a clutch disk (23). The adjustment device (19) has a pressure path compensating member (31), for example in the form of a radially resilient cone-shaped ring, which automatically compensates for possible play between the diaphragm spring (13) and the pressure plate (11). Distributed in the circumferential direction, a plurality of play transfer devices (37) is axially movably guided and arrested (for example by self-locking). The play transfer devices (37) rest against the flywheel (1) of the clutch housing (9) fixedly connected therewith and have levers (43) which limit the maximal wear compensation path of the compensating member (31). In this manner a wear compensation, which is independent of possible wear compensation mechanism of a hydraulic clutch disengagement system, takes place within the clutch. In addition, the diaphragm spring (13) of the proposed pressure plate arrangement retains its original position in relation to the flywheel (1) or the clutch housing (9), regardless of a possible wear compensation.

Pressure plate arrangement for a motor vehicle friction clutch

Growing community of inventors

Poppenhausen, Germany

Heiko Schulz-Andres