Slave cylinder with carrier plate, operating device and clutch system

Abstract

The invention relates to a slave cylinder (1) for a clutch actuating device of a motor vehicle, comprising a housing (2), a piston (4) received in the housing (2) so as to be movable along a longitudinal axis (3), an actuating bearing (5) coupled to the piston (4) in a non-movable manner, and a position display device (6) for detecting the position of the actuating bearing (5) and configured to move along the actuating bearing, comprising a sensor (7) and a positioning element (8) movable relative to the sensor (7), a retaining arm (9) connected to the positioning element (8), and a driver plate (10) connected to the retaining arm (9), the driver plate being non-movably connected to the actuating bearing (5). For axially fixing the driver plate (10), the retaining arm (9) has a fixing device (11), and the driver plate (10) has a height profile that changes in the circumferential direction. The invention also provides an actuating device having the slave cylinder (1) and a clutch system.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention relates to a slave cylinder for a clutch actuating device of a motor vehicle (e.g. a passenger car, a truck, a bus or another commercial vehicle), comprising a housing, a piston received in the housing so as to be movable along a longitudinal axis, an actuating bearing coupled to the piston in a non-movable manner, and a position display device, the position display device being designed to detect the position of the actuating bearing along a displacement movement of the actuating bearing, the position display device comprising a sensor and a position element / target movable relative to the sensor, a holding arm / target arm / target fixing connected to the position element, and a driver plate connected to the holding arm, the driver plate being non-movably connected to the actuating bearing. The invention also relates to an actuating device and a clutch system having such a slave cylinder. Background Art

[0002] In order to detect the position of the disengagement stroke of the clutch slave cylinder (CSC), it is known from the prior art to guide a target past the sensor. In this case, the target is attached to the CSC by means of a target holder. The attachment between the target and the CSC is realized by a target holder in the form of an arm, which in turn is connected to a driver disk, which is arranged at (below) a bearing and is connected to the bearing, which is an element of the slave cylinder. In this case, the target arm is driven by the driver disk, which guides the target past the sensor. In this way, the position of the driver disk and thus the entire clutch slave cylinder can be determined.

[0003] From the prior art, for example, a slave cylinder for a clutch actuation device of a motor vehicle is known, which has a housing, a piston accommodated in the housing so as to be displaceable along its longitudinal axis, an actuation bearing coupled to the piston in a non-displaceable manner, and a sensor device, which is designed to detect the position of the piston along the displacement path of the piston, wherein a transmitter of the sensor device detected by the sensor is coupled to the actuation bearing in a non-displaceable manner. It has proven to be particularly useful if the support that receives the transmitter directly forms a retaining region mounted on a bearing ring of the actuation bearing and the sensor is arranged at least partially at the same height as the transmitter in a radial direction relative to the longitudinal axis of the piston.

[0004] Furthermore, WO 203 / 017116 A1 discloses a hydraulic cylinder, in particular a hydraulic cylinder for a clutch operating device in a motor vehicle, comprising a housing, which is arranged concentrically around an axis and has an annular pressure space, in which a concentric piston is movably supported, the piston being connected to a release bearing. Here, a magnet that implements the axial movement of the piston is arranged on the release bearing, and a sensor fixed to the housing is opposite to the magnet, wherein a gap is formed between the magnet and the sensor. Here, the magnet is fixed to a magnet holder, which fits into a magnet holder receptacle of the release bearing. A gap is formed between the magnet holder and the magnet holder receptacle.

[0005] In addition, a piston-cylinder assembly is known from DE 10 2016 210 412 A1, in particular for a piston-cylinder assembly of a clutch actuating unit of a vehicle, the piston-cylinder assembly consisting of a concentric cylinder configured as a housing, in which a piston is supported axially movably, wherein the piston acts on a release bearing, which actuates the clutch. A target holding and driving element is arranged on the inner ring of the release bearing, the target holding and driving element carrying a sensor target holding portion. The sensor target fixed on the sensor target holding portion is in an operative connection with a sensor fixedly positioned on the housing. Here, when the release bearing is connected to the piston via the target holding and driving element (by arranging the target holding and driving element between the inner ring of the release bearing and the end side of the piston), the accuracy of the stroke measurement of the piston is improved.

[0006] The play between the target arm and the driver plate present in conventional slave cylinders has the result that position measurement with a small hysteresis is not possible or can be performed only with difficulty over a long period of use during which wear occurs between the target arm and the driver plate. Summary of the invention

[0007] The object of the present invention is therefore to solve or at least alleviate the problems of the prior art and in particular to minimize the play between the driver disk and the target arm which occurs due to wear in order to achieve position measurement with low hysteresis.

[0008] The task on which the present invention is based is solved in the following manner: the retaining arm for fixing the driving disc in the axial direction has a fixing device, for example in the form of a hole / groove, and the driving disc has a height profile that changes in the circumferential direction. The driving disc constructed in this way has the advantage that the gap between the driving disc and the retaining arm is reduced and thus also the hysteresis is reduced. Through the embodiment of the driving disc constructed in an automatically compensating manner according to the present invention, the accurate position measurement of the clutch slave cylinder at the sensor provided for this purpose is feasible.

[0009] Advantageous embodiments of the invention are part of the dependent claims and are explained in more detail below.

[0010] The slave cylinder can be designed in such a way that the driver disk tapers preferably continuously in its height profile from one circumferential end toward the opposite circumferential end.

[0011] In addition, the driver disc can have a conical profile in a top view. This conical profile is particularly suitable for ensuring a self-compensating driver disc with the advantages listed above.

[0012] In addition, it is conceivable that the driving disc has a ring shape. Such a driving disc is particularly easy to manufacture and can be simply used.

[0013] It is also conceivable that the holding arm has a fixing device in the form of a passage hole or a passage groove on its end region, which receives the driving disc. The passage hole is used to fix the driving disc in the axial direction and is designed so that it can receive the driving disc without clearance. However, if wear occurs between the driving disc and the holding arm (that is, for example, the passage hole increases), the driving disc automatically slides into a new position due to its shaping, so that there is no clearance between the driving disc and the passage hole of the holding arm.

[0014] In addition, it is conceivable to preload the driver disk relative to the holding arm. In the event of wear between the driver disk and the passage opening of the holding arm, such preloading supports the compensating slip of the driver disk.

[0015] It is also conceivable that the prestressing of the driver disk can be achieved by a spring. The prestressing of the driver disk by a spring is particularly simple and cost-effective.

[0016] It is also advantageous if the positioning element is designed as a magnet, since this allows for a particularly simple and safe interaction between target and sensor.

[0017] Furthermore, the object according to the invention is achieved by an actuating device for a clutch of a motor vehicle, which has a slave cylinder according to the invention and a master cylinder operatively connected to the slave cylinder in a fluidic manner.

[0018] Furthermore, the object of the present invention is achieved by a clutch system for a drive train of a motor vehicle, which has a clutch and an actuating device according to the present invention.

[0019] In other words, the present invention relates to an automatically compensating driving disk between a release bearing and a target fixture for improved position measurement of a slave cylinder at a sensor. The driving disk has a conical shape in the circumferential direction in the connection area and can be twisted by preload according to wear, so that gapless attachment can be achieved over the service life. Here, the spacing between the sensor and the target is not constant. The wear that occurs is averaged in two directions (on the driving disk and / or on the target fixture) by the conical curve. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0020] The invention will now be explained in more detail below with reference to the drawing, in which also a principle embodiment is shown.

[0021] It shows:

[0022] Figure 1 A longitudinal section through a slave cylinder according to the invention, in which the basic design of the slave cylinder and the arrangement of the sensor relative to the position element of the position display device are schematically illustrated,

[0023] Figure 2 A three-dimensional view of a carrier plate according to the present invention,

[0024] Figure 3 A front view of a carrier plate according to the present invention,

[0025] Figure 4 A side view of a carrier plate according to the present invention,

[0026] Figure 5 A front view of a carrier plate according to the invention, the carrier plate being arranged on a target arm, and

[0027] Figure 6 Side view of a driver disk according to the invention, which is arranged on a target arm.

[0028] The drawings are of a merely schematic nature and are only useful for the understanding of the invention. Identical elements are provided with the same reference numerals. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0029] exist Figure 1 The structure of the slave cylinder 1 according to the present invention is intuitively shown in FIG. Figure 1 The slave cylinder 1 shown in the figure is usually used in an actuating device for a clutch of a motor vehicle. The actuating device is installed in a clutch system of a drive train of a motor vehicle and there influences the clutch in a control manner. Therefore, the slave cylinder 1 is operatively connected to the master cylinder of the actuating device via a hydraulic section. The slave cylinder 1 is controlled according to the control command generated on the master cylinder to further influence the moving element of the clutch (such as a disc spring or a pressure tank) in a control manner.

[0030] The slave cylinder 1 is implemented as a hydraulic slave cylinder 1. In this case, the slave cylinder 1 is a central splitter, ie a so-called concentric slave cylinder 1 (CSC / Concentric Slave Cylinder).

[0031] Figure 1 The slave cylinder 1 is shown, which has a housing 2, a piston 4 received in the housing 2 so as to be movable along a longitudinal axis 3, an actuating bearing 5 coupled to the piston 4 in a non-movable manner, and a position display device 6, which is designed to detect the position of the actuating bearing 5 along the displacement movement of the actuating bearing. The position display device 6 has a sensor 7, a position element / target 8, and a holding arm / target holder / target arm 9 connected to a driver disk 10, which is non-movably connected to the actuating bearing 5. In order to receive the driver disk 10 on the target arm 9, the target arm 9 has a fixing device in the form of a channel groove 11, which is not shown here.

[0032] The slave cylinder 1 is generally annular in design and has a central passage opening 12. During operation, a shaft of a drive train (e.g. a transmission shaft of a transmission) protrudes through this passage opening 12 in a typical manner. The slave cylinder 1 therefore has an annular housing 2, which accommodates an annular piston 4 in a displaceable manner. The piston 4 forms a hydraulic pressure chamber 13 together with the housing 2. Depending on the pressure prevailing in the pressure chamber 13 during operation, the piston 4 can be moved along its longitudinal axis 3 in a separated position (in Figure 1 ) and an engaged position.

[0033] The piston 4 is guided in the housing 2 with its seal 14 over its entire displacement path in a movable manner so that the pressure chamber 13 is sealed relative to its environment. On the side facing away from the seal 14 in the axial direction, the piston 4 is coupled in a typical manner to the actuating bearing 5 which is designed as a rolling bearing (i.e., as a radial thrust ball bearing) in a non-movable manner. In particular, the piston 4 is coupled in a non-movable manner to the first bearing ring 15, which is implemented here as a bearing inner ring. The first bearing ring 15 of the actuating bearing 5 is supported in a rolling manner relative to the second bearing ring 16 (bearing outer ring) in a typical manner. The second bearing ring 16 is fixedly abutted against a clutch component of the clutch in a typical manner during operation.

[0034] In order to preload the actuating bearing 5 or the piston 4 in its moved out position, a preload spring 17 is inserted and tensioned in the axial direction between the housing 2 and the actuating bearing 5. The preload spring 17, which is designed as a helical compression spring, is simultaneously covered radially from the outside and axially between the actuating bearing 5 and the housing 2 by a bellows 18, which is variable in length in the axial direction.

[0035] As can be seen, a driving plate 10 is arranged on the operating bearing 5. The driving plate 10 is connected to a target arm 9, which has a target 8 at the end side, which is a magnet. The target 8 moves on a semicircular ring track and moves past the sensor 7, which records the magnet 8. Through the functional relationship between the driving plate 10, the target arm 9, the target 8 and the sensor 7, the target 8 can transmit the axial movement of the operating bearing 5 and thus the entire slave cylinder 1 to the sensor 7. Therefore, the sensor 7 can record the axial movement of the slave cylinder 1. In the position of the slave cylinder 1 that is not shown here, the slave cylinder 1 is in a separated position, and the sensor 7 records the separated position accordingly.

[0036] Figure 2 1 is a perspective view of a driver disk / driver ring / ring 10 according to the present invention. It can be seen that the driver disk 10 is implemented as a ring, the ring profile of which continuously narrows from the left to the right in the axial direction. As a result, the driver disk 10 is conically configured in the circumferential direction. This special configuration of the driver disk 10 causes: in the case of a gap between the target arm 9 and the driver disk 10, the driver disk 10 suppresses the gap due to its shape. In addition, in Figure 2 As can be seen in FIG, the ring 10 is designed in one piece and has two ends which are connected to one another at the seam 19 shown here. The seam 19 can be, for example, a weld seam, so that the ring ends are connected to one another in a materially bonded manner.

[0037] Figure 3 The driver disk 10 is shown from the front. That is, the driver disk 10 is shown so that the narrow cone part and therefore also the weld 19 are shown from the front, while the thicker part of the driver disk is further behind in the illustration. It is also possible that the weld 19 is not present in the area of ​​the smallest height on the axial extension of the driver disk 10, but that the weld can be constructed at every position of the driver ring 10.

[0038] Figure 4 1 is a side view of a sled disk 10 and shows a changed height profile of the sled disk 10. As can be seen, the sled disk has a first height H on the left side, which is significantly higher than a second height h of the sled disk on the right side of the diagram. As can be seen here, the two end faces of the sled disk 10 are continuously inclined from the left side to the right side.

[0039] Figure 5From the front, the saddle plate 10 is shown, which is received in the target arm 9. In addition, it can be seen that the annular saddle plate 10 is arranged in the channel groove 11 of the target arm 9. At the same time, it can be seen that the channel groove 11 is constructed in the region of the end side of the target arm 9. In the diagram selected here, there is no gap between the saddle plate 10 and the target arm 9. For the situation where wear occurs between the saddle plate and the channel groove 11, it can be imagined that the channel groove 11 becomes larger due to the permanent friction contact, which causes the saddle plate 10 to have a gap relative to the channel groove 11. In order to avoid this gap, the saddle plate 10 has its conical configuration. That is to say, the saddle plate 10 is automatically adjusted and rotated due to its structure so that the section with a thicker height profile than the previous section comes into the channel groove 11, so that there is no gap between the saddle plate 10 and the channel groove 11. However, it is also feasible that the saddle plate 10 is worn due to the wear at the saddle plate 10 and the channel groove 1. In this case, the driving disc 10 is adjusted so that it completely fills the channel groove 11 again. In addition, it can be provided that in order to make the driving disc 10 more quickly and more reliably reach a gap-free connection with the channel groove 11, the driving disc is preloaded relative to the target arm 9. This preload can be achieved by a spring, which is not shown here.

[0040] Figure 6 The illustration of the carrier disk 10 is shown from the side (see Figure 4 10 in the target arm 9 and a target arm 9 with a channel groove 11 in which the driver disk 10 is received. It is also clearly visible here that due to the conical shape of the driver disk 10 and due to the additional conical shape of the channel groove 11, there is no gap at all between the driver disk 10 and the target arm 9.

[0041] Reference numerals list

[0042] 1 Slave cylinder

[0043] 2 Housing

[0044] 3 Vertical axis

[0045] 4 Piston

[0046] 5. Manipulation bearing

[0047] 6 Position display device

[0048] 7 Sensors

[0049] 8 Positional elements

[0050] 9 Holding arm

[0051] 10 Portable disk

[0052] 11 Fixture / channel slot in target arm

[0053] 12 Access opening on the slave cylinder

[0054] 13 Pressure Space

[0055] 14 Sealing device

[0056] 15 First bearing ring (bearing inner ring)

[0057] 16 Second bearing ring (bearing outer ring)

[0058] 17 Preload spring

[0059] 18 Bellows

[0060] 19 Seam on the carrier plate.

Claims

1. A slave cylinder (1) for a clutch operating device of a motor vehicle, comprising a housing (2), a piston (4) received in the housing (2) so as to be movable along a longitudinal axis (3), an operating bearing (5) coupled to the piston (4) in a non-movable manner, and a position display device (6), the position display device being configured to detect the position of the operating bearing along a displacement movement of the operating bearing, the position display device comprising a sensor (7) and a positioning element (8) movable relative to the sensor (7), a retaining arm (9) connected to the positioning element (8), and a driving plate (10) connected to the retaining arm (9), the driving plate being non-movably connected to the operating bearing (5), characterized in that The retaining arm (9) has a fixing device (11) for fixing the driver disk (10) in the axial direction, and the driver disk (10) has a height profile that changes in the circumferential direction.

2. The slave cylinder (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that: The driver disk (10) tapers from one circumferential end of the driver disk to the opposite circumferential end in the height profile of the driver disk.

3. The slave cylinder (1) according to claim 1 or claim 2, characterized in that: The driver disk (10) has a conical contour in a side view.

4. The slave cylinder (1) according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The driver disk (10) has a ring shape.

5. The slave cylinder (1) according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The driver disk (10) is preloaded relative to the retaining arm (9).

6. The slave cylinder (1) according to claim 5, characterized in that: The prestressing of the driver disk (10) can be achieved by means of a spring.

7. The slave cylinder (1) according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The positioning element (8) is embodied as a magnet.

8. The slave cylinder (1) according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The driver disk (10) is received in a rotatable manner relative to the holding arm (9).

9. A clutch operating device for a motor vehicle, characterized in that: The actuating device comprises a slave cylinder (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 8 and a master cylinder operatively connected to the slave cylinder (1) in a fluidic manner.

10. A clutch system for a drive train of a motor vehicle, characterized in that: The clutch system comprises a clutch and an actuating device according to claim 9 .

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