Method for the quiet and reliable actuation of a claw clutch, and claw clutch arrangement

A method to actuate a claw clutch to positively connecting a first rotatable component to a second rotatable component, wherein a clutch body, which is arranged on the first rotatable component for conjoint rotation therewith, has a first tooth system, and a sliding sleeve, which is arranged on the second rotatable component in a manner which allows conjoint rotation and axial movement, has a second tooth system, comprising:

• a) moving the sliding sleeve of the second rotatable component axially for positive connection to the clutch body of the first rotatable component by a shift fork by an actuator system, wherein the shift fork pivots about a pivot point in response to a linear movement by the actuator;
• b) loading a spring element outside the second rotatable component equipped with the sliding sleeve by the actuator system via the shift fork when a tooth-on-tooth position of the sliding sleeve relative to the clutch body of the first rotatable component occurs;
• c) loading the spring element up to a loading travel of the spring element, which is sufficient to allow reliable engagement of the second tooth system of the sliding sleeve into the first tooth system of the clutch body after the tooth-on-tooth position has been released;
• and
• d) relaxation of the spring element to actuate the sliding sleeve when the tooth-on-tooth position has been released by relative rotation between the first and second movable components of the claw clutch.