Torque limiter

#This application claims priority to European Patent Application No. 20290014.8 filed Feb. 17, 2020, the entire contents of which is incorporated herein by reference.

#This disclosure relates to a torque limiter device, in particular a ‘declutchable torque limiter’ for selectively engaging and disengaging first and second shafts. Such a torque limiter device may be particular applicable, but is not limited to, aerospace applications.

#In many applications, including but not limited to aerospace applications, it is desirable to provide selective power transmission from a driving (or ‘input’) shaft to a driven (or ‘output’) shaft. For example, a motor may be arranged to drive the input shaft (i.e. to cause it to rotate around its major axis), where this rotation is to be transmitted to a further shaft—i.e. the output shaft—which does not itself have a direct connection to the motor. A clutch mechanism provides a means to selectively engage and disengage the shafts, i.e. to bring them into or out of physical communication respectively, in order to allow or prevent power transmission.

#Certain examples of the present disclosure will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

#FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a torque limiter device in the disengaged position in accordance with an example of the present disclosure;

#FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of torque limiter device of FIG. 1 in the engaged position;

#FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a torque limiter device 2 in the disengaged position in accordance with an example of the present disclosure. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a torque limiter device 2 of FIG. 1 in the engaged position. The clutch mechanism 2 is positioned within a housing 3 that does not itself rotate.

#The torque limiter device 2 of FIGS. 1 and 2 comprises an input shaft 4 and an output shaft 6. The input shaft 4 is a ‘driving’ shaft and is arranged to be connected to a motor (not shown) or some other suitable driving means that imparts an externally applied torque on the input shaft 4, thereby causing it to rotate about its major axis 8. It will be appreciated that the ‘major axis’ of a shaft is along the axial direction, with the shaft considered a cylinder.

#The output shaft 6 is a ‘driven’ shaft, and rotates about its major axis 10 in response to a torque transferred from the input shaft 4 when in the engaged position, as outlined in further detail below with reference to FIG. 2. The shafts 4, 6 are coaxial with one another, i.e. their axes 8, 10 coincide. In the disengaged position, there is a gap between the contact surfaces 12, 14 as shown in FIG. 1 such that no such torque is transferred, thereby preventing power transmission.