Mixed-Material Clutch Pack for Torque and Response Balance
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Solution Overview
Problem
Vehicle clutch packs face challenges in maintaining consistent torque characteristics across varying temperatures and load demands due to differences in friction materials, with sintered clutch plates offering improved response time but lower torque and paper-resin plates providing higher torque but requiring more compression, which increases response time.
Innovation Solution
A clutch pack design incorporating a combination of sintered bronze or carbon friction materials and paper-resin materials, allowing for a tailored combination of torque capacity and response time by interspersing or grouping these materials, achieving a higher nominal coefficient of friction with lower compression force.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of time
If sintered clutch plates are used, then response time is improved, but torque capacity decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines sintered clutch plates and paper-resin clutch plates within the same clutch pack assembly. The sintered plates provide fast response time characteristics while the paper-resin plates contribute higher torque capacity, creating a hybrid system that merges the advantages of both material types to achieve balanced performance across different operating conditions.
Solution Approach 2:
Different regions of the clutch pack are assigned different friction material types based on their functional requirements. Sintered plates are positioned where rapid engagement is critical, while paper-resin plates are placed where torque transmission is prioritized, allowing each local region to optimize its performance characteristics for its specific role in the clutch assembly.
2Force
If paper-resin clutch plates are used, then torque capacity is improved, but response time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines sintered clutch plates and paper-resin clutch plates within the same clutch pack assembly. The sintered plates provide fast response time characteristics while the paper-resin plates contribute higher torque capacity, creating a hybrid system that merges the advantages of both material types to achieve balanced performance across different operating conditions.
Solution Approach 2:
Different regions of the clutch pack are assigned different friction material types based on their functional requirements. Sintered plates are positioned where rapid engagement is critical, while paper-resin plates are placed where torque transmission is prioritized, allowing each local region to optimize its performance characteristics for its specific role in the clutch assembly.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This design maintains higher torque values across the temperature range while minimizing response time, achieving a balance between torque capacity and response time by optimizing the coefficient of friction and compression force.
Implementation Method 1
a first friction material on a first plate of the plurality of clutch plates, and a second friction material on a second plate of the plurality of clutch plates
Data Source
AI summary
A number of variations may include a product including a single clutch pack having a plurality of clutch plates, and a first friction material on a first plate of the plurality of clutch plates, and a second friction material on a second plate of the plurality of plates, the first friction material being different than the second friction material, and constructed and arranged to provide a tailored combination of torque capacity and response time that would be produced by a clutch pack having solely the first friction material on plates thereof or the second friction material on plates thereof.