Air-cooled CVT clutch assembly
OwnerRobby Gordoninventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An apparatus and methods are provided for an air-cooled CVT clutch. The air-cooled CVT clutch includes a first cooling fan coupled with a primary clutch and a second cooling fan coupled with a secondary clutch. An outboard housing mates with an inboard housing to enclose the primary clutch and the secondary clutch. The first cooling fan is coupled to a moveable sheave comprising the primary clutch and configured to draw a cooling airstream through an air duct disposed in the outboard housing. The second cooling fan is coupled to a moveable sheave comprising the secondary clutch and configured to draw the cooling airstream from the primary clutch to the secondary clutch. The first cooling fan pushes the cooling airstream to the secondary clutch when the second clutch is not rotating.
Claims10
An air-cooled CVT clutch, comprising:
- a primary clutch of centrifugal type configured to mount to an output end of an engine crankshaft, the primary clutch comprises a stationary sheave and a moveable sheave, wherein the moveable sheave is configured to move towards the stationary sheave to engage a V-belt, resulting in rotation of the V-belt;
- a first cooling fan coupled to the moveable sheave of the primary clutch;
- a second cooling fan coupled with a secondary clutch;
- and
- an outboard housing for enclosing the primary clutch and the secondary clutch, the outboard housing includes a primary clutch chamber configured to encase the primary clutch and a secondary clutch chamber configured to encase the secondary clutch, wherein the primary clutch chamber comprises an air duct configured to allow a cooling airstream to be drawn into the primary clutch chamber by the first cooling fan, wherein an air passage extends along a bottom of the outboard housing from the primary clutch chamber to the second clutch chamber, wherein the air passage is configured to allow the cooling airstream to be pushed through into the secondary clutch chamber by the first cooling fan when the primary clutch is idling and the secondary clutch is not rotating, wherein the second fan is configured to cause the cooling airstream to be drawn onto the secondary clutch.
A method for an air-cooled CVT clutch, comprising:
- coupling a first cooling fan to a moveable sheave of a primary clutch, wherein the primary clutch is of centrifugal type and configured to mount to an output end of an engine crankshaft, the primary clutch comprises a stationary sheave and the moveable sheave, wherein the moveable sheave is configured to move towards the stationary sheave to engage a V-belt, resulting in rotation of the V-belt;
- coupling a second cooling fan to a secondary clutch;
- and
- enclosing the primary clutch and the secondary clutch by way of an outboard housing, wherein the outboard housing includes a primary clutch chamber configured to encase the primary clutch and a secondary clutch chamber configured to encase the secondary clutch, wherein the primary clutch chamber comprises an air duct configured to allow a cooling airstream to be drawn into the primary clutch chamber by the first cooling fan, wherein an air passage extends along a bottom of the outboard housing from the primary clutch chamber to the second clutch chamber, wherein the air passage is configured to allow the cooling airstream to be pushed through into the secondary clutch chamber by the first cooling fan when the primary clutch is idling and the secondary clutch is not rotating, wherein the second fan is configured to cause the cooling airstream to be drawn onto the secondary clutch.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.