Fluid Actuated Over-Center Clutch for a PTO
AssigneeTwin Disc, Incorporated
InventorDarrel A. Jones
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A hollow double-acting cylinder assembly may be mounted over a shaft and to a housing. A moveable piston of the cylinder assembly connects to a sliding sleeve of an over-center mechanism and the sliding sleeve with a thrust bearing allowing it to push and pull the sleeve mechanism with cylinder action. A toggle action of the over-center mechanism locks clutch without the need to sustain pressure on the cylinder after engagement/disengagement motion. As the clutch is typically engaged for sustained periods of time, this prevents constant hydraulic pressure applied to the over-center mechanism and significantly reduces wear. Hydraulic/pneumatic hoses may pass through the housing and connect to engage and disengage bores of the cylinder via remotely actuated control valve(s).
Claims20
A fluid actuated, over-center clutch for a power take off unit comprising:
- a stationary and hollow cylinder assembly with a movable piston in contact with a thrust bearing;
- a sliding sleeve in contact with the thrust bearing configured to push and pull the sliding sleeve along the cylinder;
- a shaft passing through the central axis of the hollow portion of the cylinder assembly;
- and
- a housing containing the cylinder assembly and the shaft;
- and
- wherein the sliding sleeve is selectively actuated such that a pressure is applied to the cylinder only during at least one of engagement and disengagement, and the pressure is not applied when the sliding sleeve is not in motion.
A retrofittable clutch for a power take off unit comprising:
- a hollow cylinder assembly;
- a sliding sleeve slidably attached to the cylinder assembly configured to selectively slide in opposing directions;
- a shaft passing through the central axis of the hollow cylinder assembly;
- and
- wherein a pressure is selectively applied to the cylinder assembly only during motion of the sliding sleeve, and wherein the pressure is not continuously applied when the sliding sleeve is in a stationary position.
A method of retrofitting an actuation system for an over-center clutch on a power take off unit comprising:
- providing a cylinder assembly;
- connecting a sliding sleeve to the cylinder assembly;
- attaching a thrust bearing in contact with the sliding sleeve configured to selectively apply a linear force to the sliding sleeve in opposing directions;
- passing a shaft passing through the central axis of the hollow portion of the cylinder assembly;
- containing the cylinder assembly and the shaft within a housing;
- selectively applying a pressure to the sliding sleeve creating a linear force on the thrust bearing to engage the over-center clutch;
- and
- not applying pressure when the sliding sleeve is in a stationary position.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.