Connectable or disconnectable viscous coupling

US5156247A · kind A · utility

Assignee

• Viscodrive GmbH · DE

Inventors

• Helmut Wiese · Neunkirchen, DE
• Paul-Erich Schonenbrucher · Much, DE

Key dates

• Filing date: Sep 19, 1990
• Grant date: Oct 20, 1992
• Expiry date: Sep 19, 2010

Classification

• Technology area (CPC F): Mechanical Engineering; Lighting; Heating
• CPC primary: F16D2027/002
• WIPO field: Mechanical elements
• WIPO sector: Mechanical engineering

Abstract

A viscous coupling for a motor vehicle which may be connected or disconnected under load and which, in a reliable and interference-free way and with a short delay time, selectively permits the transmission or interruption of the driving force relative to the wheels of the rear and/or front axle, including a locking ring which is axially movable between two switching positions and may be moved into one of the two switching positions against the returning force of a spring by a force-actuated setting member which includes a firmly connected annular tongue which consists of a low-remanence ferromagnetic material and which may be transferred in an annular gap selectively loaded with a magnetic flow and formed by a soft iron core, with the axial length of the annular gap being greater than or equal to the axial distance covered by the setting member between the two switching positions.