GB531214A - Improvements in clutches - Google Patents

Abstract

531,214. Friction clutches. VAUXHALL MOTORS, Ltd. (General Motors Corporation). July 14, 1939, No. 20526. [Class 80 (ii)] In a friction clutch, which is closed by the action of a Belleville spring, the closing is opposed by torsionally stressed spring wires, which ensure smoothness in operation and help to position the closing-spring. The Belleville spring 37 forces a pressure-plate 31 to clamp the driven member 27 against a flywheel 17. A cover 21, fixed to the flywheel, has a rib 41, which takes the reaction of the spring when it is acting on the pressure-plate. The clutch can be released by means of a throw-out lever 51 acting on the spring. A shoulder 39 on the pressure-plate serves to centre the spring. Spring wires 53, having bent ends, each have one end 55 inserted in a hole in the pressureplate, and in the other end, after passing through a hole in the shoulder 39, is inserted in a hole in the cover 21. The wires are twisted during insertion, and act to force the pressureplate away from the flywheel, and to keep the Belleville spring supported on the shoulder 39.