Roller clutch assembly

A driveline assembly comprising:

• a first axle half-shaft and a second axle half-shaft;
• an axle housing;
• a differential housing rotatably mounted within said axle housing;
• a least two spider gears rotatable about a first axis and mounted to said differential housing for rotation therewith;
• a first side gear being fixedly coupled to said first axle half-shaft, and a second side gear being fixedly coupled to said second axle half-shaft;
• a clutch assembly coupled to said differential housing and one of said axle half-shafts, said clutch assembly including an outer race having a cylindrical inner surface and being rotatable about an axis and a case end enclosing a first end of said outer race;
• an inner race having a cammed outer surface coaxial with said cylindrical inner surface and defining a gap therebetween, said inner race being rotatable about said axis with allowable rotational movement relative to said outer race;
• a plurality of ramp surfaces formed at spaced apart locations on said cammed outer surface, said ramp surfaces defining a plurality of cammed surfaces on said outer surface;
• a plurality of rollers positioned between said outer race and said inner race with each of said rollers being located in a midpoint of the cammed surfaces, said rollers having a diameter less than said gap between said cylindrical inner surface and the midpoint of said cammed outer surface;
• a retainer interconnecting all of said rollers and causing said rollers to circumferentially move in unison with one another, said retainer being rotatable about said axis with limited relative rotation with respect to said inner race, said retainer including a retainer tab extending axially toward an axial inner surface of said case end, a distal end of said retainer tab being adjacent said inner surface of said case end;
• a first biasing element supported on said retainer to radially bias said retainer so as to hold each of said rollers onto the midpoints of the cammed surfaces;
• an actuation disk having an outer diameter, an inner diameter and a thickness, disposed between said retainer and said inner surface of said case end including a notch located radially about said outer diameter of said actuation disk, said notch adapted to engage said retainer tab thereby preventing rotational motion of the actuation disk relative to the retainer and allowing axial motion of the actuation disk relative to the retainer;
• a second biasing element disposed between said actuation disk and said inner surface of said case end to bias said actuation disk away from said case end and toward said retainer;
• and an actuator to selectively overcome said second biasing element to force said actuation disk into contact with said case end, wherein rotation of said outer race and case end with respect to said inner race is frictionally transferred to said actuation disk and said retainer, thereby moving said rollers along said ramp surfaces to a position where said rollers engage and wedge between said inner and outer races to prevent relative rotation between said inner and outer races, thereby locking both of said axle half-shafts together rotationally and transferring torque through said differential housing to both of said axles half-shafts;
• said actuation disk and said case end each including a first portion adapted to provide axial surface to surface contact between said actuation disk and said case end when said actuation disk is forced toward said case end and a second portion adapted to provide surface to surface contact only after said actuation disk deflects under the force of said actuator.