JP3455625B2 - Clutch cover assembly - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a clutch cover assembly, and more particularly to a clutch cover assembly that uses a diaphragm spring to urge a pressure plate.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A clutch cover assembly is generally mounted on the flywheel of an engine and used to transmit the driving force of the engine to the transmission side. Such a clutch cover assembly includes a clutch cover fixed to a flywheel, a pressure plate for holding a friction member of a clutch disc between the flywheel, and a pressure plate for pressing the pressure plate toward the flywheel. It is mainly composed of an elastic member.

A diaphragm spring is generally used as the elastic member. The diaphragm spring includes a disc elastic portion and a plurality of lever portions that extend radially inward from the inner peripheral edge of the disc elastic portion. As described above, the diaphragm spring has a function of urging the pressure plate and also has a lever function of releasing the urging of the pressure plate. This diaphragm spring produces a release load characteristic as shown in FIG. 5, for example. As is clear from the figure, the release load increases at a constant rate as the release stroke increases, but after the stroke amount exceeds a certain point, it gradually decreases, and then gradually increases. .

In order to improve the release characteristic having such a load change, there is known a clutch cover assembly in which a cone spring is further arranged between the clutch cover and the annular disc portion of the diaphragm spring. The cone spring is compressed between the annular disc portion of the diaphragm spring and the clutch cover. In this case, the biasing force of the diaphragm spring and the cone spring is released during the release operation. The release load generated at this time is a combination of the release load of the diaphragm spring and the load of the cone spring. At this time, for example, a portion having a small release load of the diaphragm spring is combined with a portion having a large load of the cone spring to adjust the load characteristics, and a flat release load characteristic with a small change in the load can be obtained. This allows
The operation feeling during the release operation is improved.

[0005]

In the above-mentioned conventional clutch cover assembly, it is necessary to center and rotate the cone spring. Therefore, conventionally, a member such as a support ring is provided on the clutch cover side to lock the cone spring. Since it is necessary to use a special member such as a support ring as described above, the number of parts increases.

An object of the present invention is to reduce the number of parts in a clutch cover assembly that uses a cone spring to flatten the release load.

[0007]

A clutch cover assembly according to a first aspect of the present invention is for pressing or releasing a friction member connected to an output side member against an input side rotating body. It includes a pressure plate, a diaphragm spring, a locking member, and a cone spring. The clutch cover is fixed to the input side rotating body. The pressure plate is arranged in the clutch cover. The diaphragm spring has a first annular elastic portion and a plurality of lever portions. The outer periphery of the first annular elastic portion is supported by the clutch cover, and the inner periphery urges the pressure plate toward the output member. The plurality of lever portions extend radially inward from the inner peripheral portion of the first annular elastic portion. Holes are formed on the outer peripheral side between the lever portions. The locking member is fixed to the surface of the pressure plate on the side opposite to the output side member side, engages with the hole of the diaphragm spring in a relatively non-rotatable manner, and the tip projects to the opposite side. The cone spring has an outer peripheral portion supported by the clutch cover, and an inner peripheral portion biases the inner peripheral portion of the first annular elastic portion toward the pressure plate. The engaging portion is formed on the inner peripheral edge of the second annular elastic portion and engages with the tip of the locking member.

In this clutch cover assembly, the diaphragm spring and the cone spring press the pressure plate, and the urging force of the diaphragm spring and the elastic member is released during the release operation. The release load generated at this time is a combination of the loads of the diaphragm spring and the cone spring. In this case, for example, a portion of the diaphragm spring with a small release load is combined with a portion of the cone spring with a large release load to adjust the load characteristics, and a flat release load characteristic with a small load change can be obtained. As a result, the operation feeling during the release operation is improved.

Further, in the cone spring, the engaging portion is engaged with a locking member for restricting relative rotation between the diaphragm spring and the pressure plate. As described above, since the rotation of the cone spring is stopped without using a special member, the number of parts can be reduced as compared with the conventional case. In the clutch cover assembly according to the second aspect, the engagement portion is a pair of claw portions that abut on both ends in the circumferential direction of the tip of the locking member. With such a simple structure, the cone spring is prevented from rotating.

[0010]

1 shows a pull-type clutch cover assembly 1 as an embodiment of the present invention. In this clutch cover assembly 1, the friction facing of a clutch disc assembly (not shown) is applied to the engine side (lower side in FIG. 1).
Is a device for pressing and releasing the flywheel.

This clutch cover assembly 1 includes a clutch cover 5 fixed to a flywheel on the engine side,
Pressure plate 6 arranged in the clutch cover 5
And a diaphragm spring 7 for pressing the pressure plate 6 toward the flywheel side, and a cone spring 8 arranged between the clutch cover 5 and the diaphragm spring 7.

The pressure plate 6 is a generally annular member and is attached to the clutch cover 5 via a strap plate (not shown). As a result, the pressure plate 6 cannot move relative to the clutch cover 5 and can move in the axial direction. The pressure plate 6 is biased upward in FIG. 1 by the biasing force from the strap plate. The pressure plate 6 has a pressing surface (not shown) on the flywheel side (lower side in FIG. 1). This pressing surface is a surface for sandwiching the friction facing of the clutch disc assembly with the flywheel. An annular protrusion 6a is formed on the side surface of the pressure plate 6 opposite to the pressing surface. Further, six pins 10 are fixed to the inner peripheral side of the annular protruding portion 6a at equal intervals in the circumferential direction.

The diaphragm spring 7 is a flat disc-shaped member and is arranged concentrically with the clutch cover 5. The diaphragm spring 7 has an annular elastic portion 7a.
And a plurality of lever portions 7b extending inward in the radial direction from the annular elastic portion 7a. Annular elastic part 7a
The outer peripheral end of the clutch cover 5 via the wiring 9.
Supported by. The inner peripheral end of the annular elastic portion 7a contacts the annular protruding portion 6b of the pressure plate 6 and biases the pressure plate 6 toward the flywheel. An oval hole 7c is formed between the outer peripheral bases of the levers 7b. The pin 10 fixed to the pressure plate 6 penetrates through the oval hole 7c. The diaphragm spring 7 rotates integrally with the pressure plate 6 via the pin 10. The inner peripheral end of the lever portion 7b is fixed to a release device (not shown).

The cone spring 8 is the clutch cover 5.
The outer peripheral portion is supported by the bottom portion of the clutch cover 5, and the inner peripheral portion urges the inner peripheral portion of the annular elastic portion 7a toward the pressure plate 6 side. As shown in FIG.
On the inner peripheral portion of the cone spring 8, a pair of claw portions 11 are formed at six locations at equal intervals in the circumferential direction. The tip of the claw portion 11 extends obliquely toward the transmission side (the upper side in FIG. 1) and sandwiches the pin 10 from both sides in the circumferential direction.

Next, the operation will be described. In this embodiment, the inner peripheral portion of the cone spring 8 presses the pressure plate 6 together with the diaphragm spring 7 toward the flywheel. The set load acting on the pressure plate 6 is a combined pressing load obtained by combining the pressing loads of the cone spring 8 and the diaphragm spring 7. Two
Since the types of pressing loads are combined, the overall pressing load is increased, and by combining the characteristics of both, good pressing load characteristics with a long wear allowance and a small load change can be obtained.

When the operator depresses the clutch pedal, a release device (not shown) pulls out the tip of the lever portion 7b of the diaphragm spring 7 to the transmission side. As a result, cone spring 8 and diaphragm spring 7
The pressing load on the pressure plate 6 due to and is released. As a result, the pressure plate 6 is separated from the friction facing by the bias of the strap plate (not shown), and the clutch is released.

The release characteristics of the clutch cover assembly 1 will be described with reference to FIG. B is a release load characteristic when the diaphragm spring 7 is used alone.
C is a release load characteristic when the cone spring 8 is used alone. A is the overall release load characteristic obtained by combining the release load characteristics of the diaphragm spring 7 and the cone spring 8. In the combined release load characteristic A, since the large load portion in the release load characteristic of the cone spring 8 is combined with the insufficient load portion of the release load characteristic B of the diaphragm spring 7, the release stroke exceeds a certain amount. Gives a flat characteristic. As a result, the operator can obtain stable clutch operability.

In the cone spring 8, the claw 11 has a pin 10
Is engaged with the pressure plate 6 so that it cannot rotate relative to the pressure plate 6. Therefore, members such as a conventional support ring are unnecessary. The claw portion 11 has a simple structure and does not affect the load characteristics and strength of the main body of the cone spring 8. The shape of the claw portion 11 is not limited to that in the above embodiment.

[0019]

In the clutch cover assembly according to the present invention, it is necessary to use a special member to prevent the cone spring from rotating by engaging the engaging portion of the cone spring with the engaging portion fixed to the pressure plate. Disappears.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic vertical cross-sectional partial view of a clutch cover assembly as an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a cone spring.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line III-III of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a release load characteristic diagram of a clutch cover assembly.

FIG. 5 is a conventional release load characteristic diagram.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Clutch cover assembly 5 Clutch cover 6 Pressure plate 7 diaphragm spring 8 cone spring 10 pin 11 nails

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (56) References Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-231440 (JP, A) Actual Development No. 7-23826 (JP, U) (58) Fields investigated (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) F16D 11/00-23/14

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A clutch cover assembly for pressing and releasing a friction member connected to an output side member against an input side rotating body, the clutch cover being fixed to the input side rotating body, and the clutch. A pressure plate disposed inside the cover, and an outer peripheral portion supported by the clutch cover and an inner peripheral portion biasing the pressure plate toward the output side member .
A diaphragm spring having an annular elastic portion and a plurality of lever portions extending radially inward from an inner peripheral portion of the first annular elastic portion, and a hole being formed on an outer peripheral side between the lever portions, A locking member that is fixed to the surface of the pressure plate opposite to the output member side, engages with the hole of the diaphragm spring in a relatively non-rotatable manner, and has a tip protruding to the opposite side, and an outer peripheral portion of the clutch cover. wherein said peripheral portion is supported within
A second annular elastic portion for urging the inner periphery of the first annular elastic portion to said pressure plate side, an engaging portion engaged with the tip of the formed on the inner periphery of said second annular resilient portion the locking member A clutch cover assembly including: a cone spring having: 2. The clutch cover assembly according to claim 1, wherein the engagement portion is a pair of claw portions that abut on both ends in the circumferential direction of the tip of the locking member.