Actuating Device Lever Radial Support Sliding Sleeve

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing actuating devices for friction clutches require significant design effort and additional components to effectively couple a drive shaft of a motor vehicle engine to a transmission input shaft, often necessitating a separate guide sleeve for radial support and displacement.

Innovation Solution

An actuating device with a pivotable lever that supports and guides a sliding sleeve, eliminating the need for a separate guide sleeve by integrating radial support and guidance, allowing the lever to convert pivoting movement into axial displacement while compensating for tilting and radial offsets, thus reducing the number of components and design complexity.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If a separate guide sleeve is used to radially support the sliding sleeve, then the sliding sleeve can be properly guided and supported, but the device complexity and number of components increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveguidance and support of sliding sleeveVSAvoidnumber of components
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent merges the guidance and support functions into the lever itself. The lever is designed with a guide surface that radially supports the sliding sleeve while the lever pivots. This eliminates the need for a separate guide sleeve, reducing component count while maintaining proper guidance and support of the sliding sleeve throughout its displacement path.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #5Merging (Combining)

Solution Approach 2:

The lever performs multiple functions: it transmits actuating force to the sliding sleeve, guides the sliding sleeve radially, and provides support during pivoting motion. By making the lever multi-functional, the patent eliminates the need for dedicated guide sleeves or support structures, thereby reducing device complexity while maintaining reliability.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

2Device complexity

If the lever is designed to also guide the sliding sleeve radially, then the number of components is reduced, but the lever must accommodate additional functional requirements

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvenumber of componentsVSAvoiddesign effort for lever
Core Design Contradiction:
Device complexityVSEase of manufacture

Solution Approach 1:

The lever is designed with an integrated guide surface that combines the actuating function with the radial guidance function. This merging of functions reduces the total number of components while the guide surface geometry is optimized to accommodate the pivoting motion and provide proper radial support throughout the sliding sleeve's displacement path.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #5Merging (Combining)

Solution Approach 2:

The lever's guide surface is designed to dynamically adapt to the pivoting motion. As the lever rotates through its arc, the guide surface maintains proper radial alignment with the sliding sleeve, accommodating the changing geometry of motion without requiring additional adjustment mechanisms or complex assembly procedures.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #15Dynamics

Data Source

PatentEP3071852B1Actuating device for actuating a frictional clutch
Publication Date: 2018.07.18 SCHAEFFLER TECHNOLOGIES AG & CO KG
  • EP3071852B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP3071852B1 patent drawingFigure 2~3

AI summary

The invention relates to an actuating device for actuating a frictional clutch, in particular for coupling a drive shaft of a motor vehicle engine to at least one transmission input shaft of a motor vehicle transmission, having an axially relocatable sliding sleeve for relocating a pressing plate of the frictional clutch and a swiveling lever engaging on the sliding sleeve to relocate the sliding sleeve, wherein the sliding sleeve is supported on the lever in the radial direction over the relocation path between two end positions of the lever. By means of the support function for the sliding sleeve provided by the lever, a relocating of the sliding sleeve at a suitable alignment for actuating the frictional clutch can be achieved without significant additional design effort, such that actuating of the frictional clutch is enabled by means of minor design effort.