GB520406A - Improvements in or relating to clutches - Google Patents

Abstract

520,406. Friction clutches; flexible couplings. BORG-WARNER CORPORATION. Oct. 21, 1938, Nos. 30495, and 30496. Convention dates, Nov. 8, 1937, and Feb. 18, 1938. [Class 80 (ii)] A driven clutch plate comprises a disc having portions arranged to cushion the engagement by a torsion action and portions arranged to cushion the engagement by a bending action. As shown in Figs. 1, 3 and 4, the outer region of the disc 2 is of spoke formation, each spoke comprising a neck 12 terminating in a head which consists of a central portion 13 which, in the disengaged condition of the clutch, is inclined to the plane of the disc as shown in Fig. 4, and end wings 14 and 15 which are bent relative to the portion 13 so as to be parallel to the plane of the disc. Facings 21 and 23 are riveted to the wings 15 and 14 respectively. As the clutch is being engaged, each spoke is first subjected to a twisting action about its radial centre line until the extreme edges of the wings 14 and 15 contact with the facings 21 and 23 respectively. Thereafter, the wings 14 and 15 tend to straighten while the twisting action continues. As a result, the deflection-load curve is relatively flat during the initial stage but steepens as the bending action commences. Apertures 50 and 51 may be formed in the heads. As shown in Fig. 16, the rivets may be located on the bend lines and the wings 14 and 15 may extend to a desired extent back towards the opposite facings, so that bending occurs at an earlier stage. Thus, the wings may extend into contact with the opposite facings, so that bending occurs at once, and they may even be pre-loaded. As shown in Fig. 9, each spoke has a neck 32 terminating in a head 33 formed with one wing 34 only. The spokes are twisted alternately in opposite directions, so that the wings of adjacent spokes are disposed on opposite sides of the disc, the facings 37 and 39 being riveted each to one of the sets of wings. The edge of each head 33 remote from its wing lies substantially in the plane of the disc. As shown in Fig. 11, alternate spokes 62 lie in the plane of the disc, one facing 60 being riveted thereto, while the other spokes 64 are all inclined in the same direction and have each a single wing to which the other facing 61 is riveted, the edge of each spoke 64 remote from its wing being in contact with the facing 60. The disc 2 is connected to a hub 1, Figs. 1 and 3, splined on a driven shaft, by a vibrationdamping arrangement comprising coil spring 3 located in aligned openings in the disc 2, in a flange 4 of the hub, and in a washer 5 secured to the disc 2 by rivets 6 which pass through clearance notches 7 in the flange 4. Rivets 8, each with a spring washer 9 at one end, pass through the members 2 and 5 and through clearance slots in the flange 4, friction washers 10 being arranged between the disc 2 and the flange 4 and between the washer 5 and the flange 4, so as to provide a frictional damping effect.