US 4,483,430 AGranted

Clutch drive

AssigneeThe Bendix Corporation

InventorsRichard W. Carmichael, James P. Koenig, Kevin K. Johnson

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Abstract

A clutch drive (10) includes a spindle (16) mounting a driving member (94) and a driven member (118) for rotation about the spindle (16). The driving member (94) includes a pressure plate (96) which moves axially along the spindle to engage and disengage from the driven member (118). The pressure plate (96) is mounted on circumferentially spaced pins (102) which are slidably received in apertures (106) in the pressure plate (96). Circumferentially spaced springs (112) yieldably urge the pressure plate (96) into driving engagement with the driven member (118). A fluid pressure responsive piston (52) is connected to the pressure plate (96) by a bearing (68) and urges the pressure plate (96) away from the driven member (118). A spring (76) wraps around the spindle (16) and includes tabs (78, 80) engaging a fixed portion of the spindle and a collar (86) fixed to the bearing (68) to prevent rotation of the inner race (66) of the bearing (68) while collapsing to accommodate axial movement of the pressure plate (96).

Claims12

Dependent claims

Clutch drive comprising a spindle having an axis, a driving member and a driven member mounted for rotation about the axis of said spindle, pressure responsive means for effecting engagement and disengagement of the driving and driven members to effect a driving connection between the driving and driven members when said members are engaged and to break said driving connection when the members are disengaged, one of said members including a portion movable parallel to the axis of said spindle toward and away from engagement with the other member, and resilient means yieldably urging said parallel movable portion into driving engagement with said other member, said one member including support mechanism for slidably supporting said parallel movable portion, characterized in that said parallel movable portion includes bearing means for providing a rotating connection between said parallel movable portion and said pressure responsive means, said bearing means being held away from the pressure responsive means to define a gap therebetween by the support provided the parallel movable portion by said support mechanism, and means connecting said bearing means for movement with the pressure responsive means.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.