Clutch device

A clutch device comprising:

• a housing;
• a prime mover provided in the housing and configured to operate by energization and output a torque;
• a speed reducer configured to decelerate the speed and output the torque of the prime mover;
• a rolling body cam including a drive cam that includes a drive cam main body and a plurality of drive cam grooves formed in one end surface of the drive cam main body and configured to rotate relative to the housing when the torque output from the speed reducer is input, a driven cam that includes a driven cam main body and a plurality of driven cam grooves formed in one end surface of the driven cam main body and configured to move relative to the housing in an axial direction when the drive cam rotates relative to the housing, and a rolling body provided to roll between the drive cam grooves and the driven cam grooves;
• a clutch provided between a first transmission portion and a second transmission portion that are provided rotatably relative to the housing, the clutch configured to permit torque transmission between the first transmission portion and the second transmission portion when in an engaged state and to block the torque transmission between the first transmission portion and the second transmission portion when in a non-engaged state;
• a state changing unit configured to receive a force in the axial direction from the driven cam and change a state of the clutch to the engaged state or the non-engaged state according to a relative position of the driven cam in the axial direction with respect to the housing;
• and
• a control unit configured to control the energization to the prime mover and control an operation of the prime mover, wherein
• the drive cam groove includes:
• a first drive cam groove that extends from a drive cam specific position, which is a specific position in a circumferential direction of the drive cam main body, to one side in the circumferential direction of the drive cam main body, and is formed with a groove bottom inclined with respect to the one end surface of the drive cam main body such that a depth becomes shallower at a constant rate from the drive cam specific position toward the one side in the circumferential direction of the drive cam main body;
• and
• a second drive cam groove that extends from the drive cam specific position to an other side in the circumferential direction of the drive cam main body, is provided with a groove bottom inclined with respect to the one end surface of the drive cam main body such that a depth becomes shallower at a constant rate from the drive cam specific position toward the other side in the circumferential direction of the drive cam main body, and in which an inclination angle of the groove bottom with respect to the one end surface of the drive cam main body is larger than an inclination angle of the groove bottom of the first drive cam groove,
• the driven cam groove includes:
• a first driven cam groove that extends from a driven cam specific position, which is a specific position in a circumferential direction of the driven cam main body, to one side in the circumferential direction of the driven cam main body, and is formed with a groove bottom inclined with respect to the one end surface of the driven cam main body such that a depth becomes shallower at a constant rate from the driven cam specific position toward the one side in the circumferential direction of the driven cam main body;
• and
• a second driven cam groove that extends from the driven cam specific position to an other side in the circumferential direction of the driven cam main body, is provided with a groove bottom inclined with respect to the one end surface of the driven cam main body such that a depth becomes shallower at a constant rate from the driven cam specific position toward the other side in the circumferential direction of the driven cam main body, and in which an inclination angle of the groove bottom of the second driven cam groove with respect to the one end surface of the driven cam main body is larger than an inclination angle of the groove bottom of the first driven cam groove, and
• the control unit is configured to control the operation of the prime mover such that the rolling body rolls in the first drive cam groove and the first driven cam groove during normal operation,
• a plane parallel to the one end surface of the drive cam main body and passing through a driven cam specific point, which is a point on the groove bottom of the drive cam groove at the drive cam specific position, is a drive cam specific virtual plane,
• a distance between the drive cam specific virtual plane and a second end portion of the groove bottom of the second drive cam groove on a side opposite to the drive cam specific point is set to be less than a distance between the drive cam specific virtual plane and a first end portion of the groove bottom of the first drive cam groove on a side opposite to the drive cam specific point, and wherein the second end portion of the groove bottom of the second drive cam groove is a second end limit to which the rolling body is configured to roll on the second drive cam groove and the first end portion of the groove bottom of the first drive cam groove is a first end limit to which the rolling body is configured to roll on the first drive cam groove such that the rolling body protrudes less from the drive cam specific virtual plane in the second end portion of the groove bottom of the second drive cam groove than in the first end portion of the groove bottom of the first drive cam groove, and
• a plane parallel to the one end surface of the driven cam main body and passing through a driven cam specific point, which is a point on the groove bottom of the driven cam groove at the driven cam specific position, is a driven cam specific virtual plane,
• a distance between the driven cam specific virtual plane and a second end portion of the groove bottom of the second driven cam groove on a side opposite to the driven cam specific point is set to be less than a distance between the driven cam specific virtual plane and a first end portion of the groove bottom of the first driven cam groove on a side opposite to the driven cam specific point, and wherein the second end portion of the groove bottom of the second driven cam groove is a second end limit to which the rolling body is configured to roll on the second driven cam groove and the first end portion of the groove bottom of the first driven cam groove is a first end limit to which the rolling body is configured to roll on the first driven cam groove such that the rolling body protrudes less from the driven cam specific virtual plane in the second end portion of the groove bottom of the second driven cam groove than in the first end portion of the groove bottom of the first driven cam groove.