Clutch assembly having mounting ring

A clutch assembly, comprising:

• a bowl-shaped cover having a concave face and an outer flange surrounding the concave face and a central axis;
• a mounting ring releasably connected to the concave face of the cover, said mounting ring including a fulcrum ridge centered about the central axis and a plurality of arms extending outwardly to a strap mount;
• a keeper releasably connected to the mounting ring, said keeper including a release fulcrum centered about the central axis opposing the fulcrum ridge of the mounting ring at a predetermined distance;
• a resilient diaphragm spring captured between the fulcrum ridge of the mounting ring and the release fulcrum of the keeper, said diaphragm spring having an annular spring body and a plurality of levers, each lever of said plurality of levers extending inwardly from the spring body to an inner end;
• a plurality of primary strap springs, each strap spring of said plurality of primary strap springs having a first end releasably connected to the strap mount of a corresponding arm of said plurality of arms and a second end opposite the first end;
• a primary annular pressure plate having a plurality of outwardly extending tabs, each tab of said plurality of tabs being releasably connected to the second end of a corresponding strap spring of said plurality of primary strap springs;
• a plurality of secondary strap springs, each strap spring of said plurality of secondary strap springs having a first end releasably connected to the first end of a corresponding strap spring of said plurality of primary strap springs and a second end opposite the first end;
• and
• a secondary annular pressure plate having a plurality of outwardly extending tabs, each tab of said plurality of tabs of said secondary annular pressure plate being releasably connected to the second end of a corresponding strap spring of said plurality of secondary strap springs;
• a flywheel releasably connected to the outer flange of the cover;
• a first friction disc positioned between said primary pressure plate and said secondary pressure plate, said primary friction disc including a first friction surface surrounding a first central hub facing the primary pressure plate and a second friction surface opposite the first friction surface of the first friction disc facing the secondary pressure plate, said primary pressure plate engaging the first friction surface of the first friction disc when axially moved to a first engaged position and the second friction surface of the first friction disc engaging the secondary pressure plate when axially moved past the first engaged position to a secondary engaged position;
• and
• a second friction disc positioned between said secondary pressure plate and the flywheel, said second friction disc including a first friction surface surrounding a second central hub facing the secondary pressure plate and a second friction surface opposite the first friction surface of the second friction disc facing the flywheel, said secondary pressure plate engaging the first friction surface of the second friction disc when axially moved to a third engaged position and said second friction surface of said second friction disc engaging the flywheel when axially moving to a fourth engaged position, in which contacting interfaces between the pressure plate and the first friction disc, between the first friction disc and the secondary pressure plate, between the secondary pressure plate and the second friction disc, and between the second friction disc and the flywheel are capable of transmitting torque between the cover and the first and second central hubs of the primary and second friction discs, respectively.

A clutch assembly, comprising:

• a cover having an outer flange surrounding a central axis adapted for connecting to a flywheel for turning about the central axis of the cover;
• a mounting ring releasably connected to the cover, said mounting ring including a plurality of arms extending outwardly to a strap mount;
• a plurality of resilient strap springs, each strap spring of said plurality of strap springs having a first end releasably connected to the strap mount of a corresponding arm of said plurality of arms and a second end opposite the first end;
• an annular pressure plate having a plurality of outwardly extending tabs, each tab of said plurality of tabs being releasably connected to the second end of a corresponding strap spring of said plurality of strap springs so the plurality of strap springs biases the pressure plate away from the flywheel when the cover flange is connected to the flywheel;
• a keeper releasably connected to the mounting ring;
• and
• a resilient diaphragm spring positioned between the cover and the keeper, said diaphragm spring having an annular spring body and a plurality of levers, each lever of said plurality of levers extending inwardly from the spring body to an inner end;
• wherein the diaphragm ring biases the annular pressure plate toward the flywheel when the cover is connected to the flywheel, thereby deforming each strap spring of said plurality of strap springs to a configuration in which the strap spring biases the annular pressure plate away from the flywheel when the cover is connected to the flywheel;
• and
• wherein the diaphragm ring is resiliently deformable by axially displacing the inner ends of the plurality of levers to a deformed position thereby rotating the spring body between the mounting ring and the keeper against the bias of the diaphragm ring and allowing each strap spring of said plurality of strap springs to move the pressure plate away from the flywheel when the cover is connected to the flywheel to disengage the flywheel.