CLUTCH SYSTEM AND METHOD

• US 20090236196A1
• Filed: 05/15/2009
• Published: 09/24/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 10/21/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Kit Masters Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Kit Masters Incorporated
• Inventors: Swanson, Craig M., Jagger, Thomas M., Pieper, George S.
• Granted Patent: US 9,086,102 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 192/85.200
• CPC Class Codes: F16D 2300/12 Mounting or assembling
• CPC Class Codes: F16D 25/0635 with flat friction surfaces, e.g. discs
• CPC Class Codes: F16D 25/0638 with more than two discs, e.g. multiple lamellae
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 192/01 Removable members
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 29/49815 Disassembling

Abstract

A clutch system may include in certain embodiments a clutch body attached to a drive member such as a drive pulley, wherein the clutch body may be removed from the drive member without disassembling the clutch body. In various embodiments, the clutch body may include two clutch plates which enclose a spring-loaded pneumatic reciprocating assembly that in operation causes the plates to selectively separate and engage one another. In certain embodiments, the clutch body may be readily attached to a associated drive pulley in a single step by installation of a single set of fasteners.

Claims

1. A fan clutch device to be removably mounted to a drive member, the fan clutch device comprising:

a hub portion that, when the fan clutch device is mounted to a drive member, is selectively movable relative to the drive member, the hub portion having a first spring-engaging surface; and

a piston portion adjustable in an axial direction relative to the drive member when the fan clutch device is mounted to a drive member, the piston portion being adjustable between first and second positions, the piston portion having a second spring-engaging surface that opposes the first spring-engaging surface; and

a single spring device abutting against the first spring-engaging surface of the hub portion and the second spring-engaging surface of the piston portion to urge the piston portion toward one of the first position and the second position, wherein the single spring device is coaxially arranged with at least one of the hub portion and the piston portion, the single spring device biasing the piston portion toward the drive member when the fan clutch device is mounted to a drive member.

2. The device of claim 1, wherein, when the fan clutch device is mounted to the drive member, the fan clutch device is removable from the drive member without disassembly of the hub portion from the piston portion.

3. The device of claim 1, wherein the fan clutch device has a self-contained construction such that the hub portion, the piston portion, and the single spring device remain assembled together without a separate clamp device when the fan clutch device is separated from the drive member.

4. The device of claim 1, wherein when the fan clutch device is mounted to a drive member, the hub portion is selectively movable in a rotational direction relative to the drive member and substantially stationary in an axial direction relative to the drive member.

5. The device of claim 1, wherein the piston portion is selectively movable in the axial direction relative to the hub portion and is substantially rotationally stationary relative to the hub portion.

6. The device of claim 1, further comprising a fluid-receiving space located within the clutch device.

7. The device of claim 6, wherein a single sealed leak path borders a periphery of the fluid-receiving space to seal the fluid-receiving space from ambient air.

8. The device of claim 7, further comprising a seal member disposed in the sealed leak path along the periphery of the fluid-receiving space between the piston portion and the hub portion, the seal member being non-rotational relative to the piston portion and the hub portion.

9. The device of claim 1, wherein the piston portion selectively couples with the drive member when the fan clutch device is mounted to a drive member, and the piston portion include one or more connectors that receive an output device to be selectively rotated.