192 clutches and power-stop control – Clutches – Operators
Reexamination Certificate
1999-03-15
2001-04-10
Lorence, Richard M. (Department: 3681)
192 clutches and power-stop control
Clutches
Operators
C192S090000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06213271
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a disengaging device having an energy store for use in clutches. The energy store can be in the form of a hydraulic system having a check valve.
2. The Prior Art
Disengaging devices are known in the prior art. For example, German Patent DE 38 06 642 AL shows a disengaging device that has an energy store that releases energy upon disengagement and stores energy upon re-engagement. The energy store comprises two springs (perpendicular to a disengaging piston) that interact with the disengaging piston via a rolling bearing serving as a force relay which is guided along an essentially conical path on the disengaging piston. Depending on the wear, the unit with the curved path can be moved along the disengaging piston, whereby clutch wear can be independently taken into consideration. The movement of this unit is proportional to the path of the disengaging piston. The problem with the prior art is that these disengaging devices are not compact and they do not permit optimum force ratios.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
One object of the invention is to offer a disengaging device for a clutch, that is compact and permits optimum force ratios.
Another object of the invention is to provide a disengaging device that is simple in design, inexpensive to manufacture, and easy to install.
The invention provides a disengaging device for a clutch with an energy store. This energy store releases energy upon disengagement to support the work to be done upon disengagement, and stores energy upon re-engagement. This device has a mechanism to increase the energy in the energy store which depends on the force arising in the disengaging device. In addition, in this disengaging device the energy store can be a hydraulic system to store energy.
Such a disengaging device can be constructed in a compact manner since a force injection system such as a hydraulic system can be designed to be space-saving.
The energy increase is proportional to the force arising in the disengaging device. This means that when more force arises, the energy store is also fed more energy. The arrangement is designed so that energy is fed to the energy store when the force arising in the disengaging device exceeds a corresponding value applied by the energy store.
This energy store is designed as a hydraulic system with a check valve. This hydraulic system can inject energy into the energy store via a corresponding piston. While this action occurs, the check valve prevents the energy from returning when the force arising in the disengaging device is reduced.
The disengaging device can be used in conjunction with a clutch that wears down. Therefore, the force required for disengaging rises due to wear and leads to a proportional increase in the operating pressure. The system causes a corresponding energy rise in the energy store in relation to the force arising in the disengaging device. This energy device comes from a mechanism designed to increase the energy in the energy store. Hence the force relief factor from the energy store remains constant over the life of the clutch.
If desired, this factor can be changeable. The release of force can also increase as the clutch wear increases so that the corresponding proportional rise in operating pressure can be countered. Thus, the required force to operate the clutch can remain nearly constant over the life of the clutch. Compensating springs can be used to implement this adjustment. For example, cup springs can be used as the compensation springs that exert greater force when there is less disengagement than when there is more disengagement. If such disc springs directly oppose the force arising in the disengaging device, they act with greater force when the clutch is new and oppose the system pressure with less force when the clutch is worn.
A force-diverting mechanism can be provided between the energy store and the force relay in a disengaging device. In this case, the energy store is coupled to the other disengaging device via a force relay guided along the curved path. The force relay can be a rolling bearing that rolls along the curved path. This allows the energy store to be very small, such as similar to a disengaging piston.
Such force diverting mechanism can be opposing guide curves that apply force in the desired direction to a unit such as a roller.
Of course, the a force-diverting system allows the energy store to be spatially independent of the direction in which the force is applied to the disengaging device.
The disengaging device can be made simply when a component of the energy store and a drive that moves in one direction are arranged so that the two directions that are essentially parallel. Such a compact arrangement allows particularly short paths for the energy increasing mechanism and for a force diversion system which may be necessary. Such short paths allow the unit volume to be small, and the force arising in the disengaging device is transmitted well.
If the force absorbing mechanism is a spring, it can be placed around the drive. This allows a comparatively large spring to be used with a corresponding ability to store energy. This spring can also be used as a disengaging device.
The directions can be defined by any desired coordinates in any desired coordinate system. In particular, these directions can be parallel in cylindrical coordinates or Cartesian coordinates, which means that the directions can be radial, axial or linear.
The cited features of the disengaging device are suitable for a linearly-driven disengaging piston or a similar drive. However, the features can be used for any kind of disengaging device. The term, disengaging device hence concerns any unit that is static or moves simultaneously in a disengaging process. For example, individual units or a group of units that can also participate in the disengaging process.
In a preferred embodiment, the disengaging device is only connected via one force-relaying element such as a hydraulic connection to the disengaging component. The force-relaying element guarantees a certain degree of independence from the disengaging component, such as a pressure plate of a clutch or cup springs and their operating pins that press the pressure plate.
In particular, the disengaging device can be directly connected to a clutch, actuating pedal, or lever. The force-relaying element then creates a corresponding force path from the disengaging device to the disengaging unit such as the clutch itself.
By spatially separating the disengaging device and the disengaging unit such as the clutch, the forces in the disengagement device can be largely independent of the forces arising in the clutch or disengaging unit. The energy store can be used independent of other possibly supplementary mechanism in the clutch to ease the required disengaging work. The disengaging device can be constructed compactly when it comprises at least one roller (guided via a guide surface and a bevel that interacts with the energy store) which interacts with the contour of the drive.
In one advantageous embodiment, the bevel and the contour are basically adjacent, yet run in the opposite direction. This makes it easy to coaxially align the disengaging drive and the energy store. With such an arrangement, the radii of the areas that contact the contour and the areas of the roller the that contact the bevel can be selected so that the roller can roll on both surfaces at approximately the same speed. This ensures a nearly slip-free diversion of force. In particular, when the bevel and the contour change their relative angle during disengaging, the roller can have at least two components that rotate in relation to each other, one of which lies on the bevel and the other on the contour. This allows any arising slip to be transferred to the roller. This slip can be countered with smaller radii and hence less force.
To reduce friction on the guide surface, the roller can have at least one guide body that is rotatably mounted on the roller and guided on the guide surface. Thi
Heidingsfeld Dietmar
Rohs Hans
Rohs Ulrich
Lorence Richard M.
Rohs-Voigt Patentverwertungs-gesellschaft mbH
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