Inertia brake

An inertia brake assembly for slowing rotation of a shaft that extends between a vehicle transmission and a clutch having a release member, the inertia brake assembly comprising:

• a first reaction member;
• a second reaction member attached to and moveably separated from the first reaction member by a resilient strap, the second reaction member positioned to be selectively engaged by the release member to move the second reaction member toward the first reaction member;
• and
• a rotor rotatably driven by and slideably disposed on the shaft, the rotor retained between the first and second reaction members by the resilient strap, whereby the resilient strap separates the first and second reaction members to allow the rotor to rotate freely and is resiliently compressible to allow the first and second reaction members to selectively and frictionally engage the rotor.

A vehicle powertrain system comprising:

• a clutch having a clutch housing;
• a transmission having a transmission housing;
• a shaft for transmitting rotational power between the clutch and the transmission;
• an inertia brake assembly including a first reaction member, a second reaction member attached to and moveably separated from the first reaction member by a resilient strap, and a rotor rotatably driven by and slideably disposed on the shaft, the rotor retained between the first and second reaction members by the resilient strap, whereby the resilient strap separates the first and second reaction members to allow the rotor to rotate freely and is resiliently compressible to allow the first and second reaction members to selectively and frictionally engage the rotor;
• a release member slideably disposed over or about the shaft, the release member adapted to compress the brake assembly against at least one of the clutch housing and the transmission housing, causing the first and second reaction members to frictionally engage the rotor.