ACTUATING DEVICE FOR A MULTI-PLATE BRAKE, AND TRANSMISSION ARRANGEMENT COMPRISING THE ACTUATING DEVICE AND THE MULTI-PLATE BRAKE

Abstract

An actuating device with an actuating piston for transmitting an actuating force to a multi-plate device, with a housing section that receives the actuating piston for movement between an open and a closed position. The housing section has a pressure chamber, and the actuating piston delimits the pressure chamber such that, for an increase of a fluid pressure in the pressure chamber, the actuating piston moves from the open into the closed position. A spring resets the actuating piston, and the spring is supported via a first support surface on the actuating piston and a second support surface on the housing section. The first and the second support surface are arranged situated axially opposite one another and overlapping in a radial direction, such that the spring is supported simultaneously in one axial direction on the first support surface and in an axial opposite direction on the second support surface.

Claims

1. An actuating device for a multi-plate device, the actuating device comprising: an actuating piston for transmitting an actuating force to the multi-plate device; a housing section the actuating piston is received in the housing section so as to be axially displaceable between an open position and a closed position; the housing section has a pressure chamber that is fillable with a fluid, and the actuating piston delimits the pressure chamber such that, when a fluid pressure of the fluid in the pressure chamber increases, the actuating piston is transferred from the open position to the closed position; a spring for resetting the actuating piston from the closed position to the open position, wherein the spring is supported on the actuating piston via a first support surface and is supported on the housing section via a second support surface; and the first and the second support surface are arranged axially opposite one another so that the spring is supported equally in an axial direction on the first support surface and in an axially opposite direction on the second support surface.

2. The actuating device according to claim 1, wherein the actuating piston comprises an annular piston and the pressure chamber is an annular space, the actuating piston has an inner and an outer cylinder section and a radial section connecting the two cylinder sections, an annular intermediate space is formed between the two cylinder sections, the spring is received in the intermediate space, and the first support surface is formed by the radial section.

3. The actuating device according to claim 2, further comprising an inner and an outer seal that seal the actuating piston from the housing section, the inner and the outer seals are fixed to the housing section.

4. The actuating device according to claim 3, wherein the outer cylinder section forms an outer sealing surface for the outer seal and the inner cylinder section forms an inner sealing surface for the inner seal so that, when the actuating piston is displaced, the outer seal sealingly abuts the outer sealing surface and the inner seal sealingly abuts the inner sealing surface.

5. The actuating device according to claim 1, further comprising a support section for supporting the spring, the second support surface is formed by the support section, and the support section is arranged on the housing section so as to protrude radially.

6. The actuating device according to claim 5, the actuating piston comprises an annular piston and the pressure chamber is an annular space, the actuating piston has an inner and an outer cylinder section and a radial section connecting the two cylinder sections, an annular intermediate space is formed between the two cylinder sections, the spring is received in the intermediate space, and the first support surface is formed by the radial section, one of the inner and the outer cylinder sections is longer than the other cylinder section, the longer cylinder section is arranged so as to be radially spaced apart from the support section so that the longer cylinder section is freely displaceable relative to the support section for transmitting the actuating force to a multi-plate brake.

7. The actuating device according to claim 6, wherein the housing section has a cylindrical extension, the support section comprises a support ring, and the support ring is arranged coaxially on the cylindrical extension and is held in a captive manner by a securing clip.

8. A transmission arrangement, comprising: the actuating device according to claim 1; and a multi-plate brake having at least one inner multi-plate carrier and at least one outer multi-plate carrier, a plurality of inner plates is arranged on the inner multi-plate carrier and a plurality of outer plates is arranged on the outer multi-plate carrier, the inner and outer plates are arranged in an axially alternating manner, and the inner plates and the outer plates are configured to be acted upon by the actuating force via the actuating piston.

9. The transmission arrangement according to claim 8, further comprising a further multi-plate device and a further actuating device for actuating the further multi-plate device, wherein the actuating device and the further actuating device are fixed together on a housing of the transmission arrangement, and the housing comprises the housing section of the actuating device and a further housing section of the further actuating device.

10. The transmission arrangement according to claim 9, wherein the housing section has a cylindrical extension that forms an outer multi-plate carrier for the further multi-plate brake on a radial inside thereof and carries the support section of the actuating device on a radial outside thereof.

11. An actuating device for a multi-plate brake, the actuating device comprising: an actuating piston for transmitting an actuating force to the multi-plate brakes; a housing section; the actuating piston is received in the housing section so as to be axially displaceable between an open position and a closed position; the housing section has a pressure chamber that is fillable with a fluid, and the actuating piston delimits the pressure chamber such that, when a fluid pressure of the fluid in the pressure chamber increases, the actuating piston is transferred from the open position to the closed position; a spring for resetting the actuating piston from the closed position to the open position, wherein the spring is supported on the actuating piston via a first support surface and is supported on the housing section via a second support surface; the first and the second support surface are arranged axially opposite one another so that the spring is supported therebetween in an axial direction; and the second support surface is formed by a support ring that is removably attachable to the housing section.

12. The actuating device of claim 11, wherein the actuating piston comprises an annular piston and the pressure chamber is an annular space, the actuating piston has an inner and an outer cylinder section and a radial section connecting the two cylinder sections, an annular intermediate space is formed between the two cylinder sections, the spring is received in the intermediate space, and the first support surface is formed by the radial section.

13. The actuating device of claim 12, further comprising an inner and an outer seal that seal the actuating piston from the housing section, the inner and the outer seals are fixed to the housing section.

14. The actuating device of claim 13, wherein the outer cylinder section forms an outer sealing surface for the outer seal and the inner cylinder section forms an inner sealing surface for the inner seal so that, when the actuating piston is displaced, the outer seal sealingly abuts the outer sealing surface and the inner seal sealingly abuts the inner sealing surface.

15. The actuating device of claim 11, wherein the support ring protrudes radially from the housing section.

16. The actuating device according to claim 15, wherein the actuating piston comprises an annular piston and the pressure chamber is an annular space, the actuating piston has an inner and an outer cylinder section and a radial section connecting the two cylinder sections, an annular intermediate space is formed between the two cylinder sections, the spring is received in the intermediate space, and the first support surface is formed by the radial section, one of the inner and the outer cylinder sections is longer than the other cylinder section, the longer cylinder section is arranged so as to be radially spaced apart from the support ring so that the longer cylinder section is freely displaceable relative to the support ring for transmitting the actuating force to the multi-plate brake.

17. The actuating device of claim 11, wherein the housing section has a cylindrical extension, and the support ring is arranged coaxially on the cylindrical extension and is held thereto by a securing clip.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0037] Further features, advantages and effects of the disclosure are set out in the following description of the preferred exemplary embodiments of the disclosure. In the figures:

[0038] FIG. 1 shows a schematic, sectional view of a transmission arrangement as an exemplary embodiment; and

[0039] FIG. 2 shows a schematic sectional view of the actuating device of the transmission arrangement from FIG. 1 as a further exemplary embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0040] Parts that correspond to each other or are identical are marked with the same reference symbols in the figures.

[0041] FIG. 1 shows, in a schematic sectional illustration, a detailed view of a transmission arrangement 1 which, for example, is designed and/or suitable for a drive train of a vehicle. The transmission arrangement 1 is designed as what is termed a dual clutch transmission, wherein the transmission arrangement 1 for this purpose has a first and a second multi-plate device 20, 30, as a multi-plate device and a further multi-plate device, as well as having a first and a second actuating device 40, 50, as an actuating device and another actuator. The first actuating device 40 serves to transmit a first actuating force F1 to the first multi-plate device 20 and the second actuating device 50 serves to transmit a second actuating force F2 to the second multi-plate device 30.

[0042] The two multi-plate devices 20, 30 each have an outer multi-plate carrier 21, 31 and an inner multi-plate carrier 22, 32, wherein the two outer multi-plate carriers 21, 31 each have multiple outer plates 23, 33 and the two inner multi-plate carriers 22, 32 each have multiple inner plates 24, 34. The outer plates 23, 33 and the inner plates 24, 34 are each arranged alternately one behind the other in the axial direction with respect to a main axis of rotation H. For example, the inner plates 24, 34 are designed as friction plates and the outer plates 23, 33 as steel plates, wherein a frictional connection is formed when the respective actuating force F1, F2 is applied.

[0043] The transmission arrangement 1 has a housing 2 which is designed as a bell housing of the transmission arrangement 1. The two multi-plate devices 20, 30 are each designed as a multi-plate brake, wherein the two outer multi-plate carriers 21, 31 are fixed to the housing, in particular non-rotatably connected to the housing 2, in the transmission arrangement 1. The two inner multi-plate carriers 22, 32 are each connected to a shaft rotating about the main axis of rotation H, not shown, which can be braked by the respective associated multi-plate brake 20, 30 when the actuating device 40, 50 is actuated.

[0044] The housing 2 has a first housing section 3 belonging to the first actuating device 40 and a second housing section 4 belonging to the second actuating device 50, wherein the two housing sections 3, 4 are arranged on a common side of the housing 2. The two housing sections 3, 4 each have a cylindrical extension 5, 6 which extend in the axial direction with respect to the main axis of rotation H and/or are arranged concentrically to one another. The first multi-plate device 20 is arranged radially outside and the second multi-plate device 30 is arranged radially inside the housing 2, wherein the cylindrical extension 5 of the first housing section 3 extends coaxially between the two multi-plate devices 20, 30 with respect to the main axis H. In the exemplary embodiment shown, the outer multi-plate carrier 31 of the second multi-plate device 30 is formed by the cylindrical extension 5 of the first housing section 3, wherein the cylindrical extension 5 has a driving contour 7 for the outer plates 33 of the second multi-plate device 30 on the inner circumference thereof.

[0045] The two actuating devices 40, 50 each have an actuating piston 41, 51, a spring device 42, 52, a pressure chamber 43, 53, an inner sealing device 44, 54, and an outer sealing device 45, 55, as well as one support section 46, 56 each.

[0046] The two actuating pistons 41, 51 are each designed as an annular piston encircling the main axis of rotation H, wherein the two actuating pistons 41, 51 are arranged to be coaxial and/or concentric to one another with respect to the main axis of rotation. The first actuating piston 41 serves to transmit the first actuating force F1 to the first multi-plate device 20 and the second actuating piston 51 serves to transmit the second actuating force F2 to the second multi-plate device 30. For this purpose, the two actuating pistons 41, 51 are each mounted displaceably in the axial direction with respect to the main axis of rotation H between a closed position S and an open position 0 on the respective associated housing section 3, 4. The actuating force F1, F2 is transmitted in the closed position S so that the respectively associated multi-plate device 20, 30 is closed and a braking torque is generated. In the open position 0, the respective associated multi-plate device 20, 30 is open.

[0047] The two pressure chambers 43, 53 are each designed as an annular chamber encircling the main axis of rotation H, wherein the two pressure chambers 43, 53 are each delimited by the associated housing section 3, 4 and the associated actuating piston 41, 51. The two pressure chambers 43, 53 are each filled with a fluid, in particular a hydraulic fluid, wherein the respective actuating piston 41, 51 is transferred from the open position 0 to the closed position S when the fluid pressure in the pressure chambers 43, 53 increases. For example, the two pressure chambers 43, 53 are each fluidically connected via a hydraulic path to a master cylinder, not shown, wherein, when the master cylinder is actuated, a hydraulic column is displaced in the direction of the associated actuating device 40, 50, whereby the fluid pressure is increased.

[0048] To seal the pressure chambers 43, 53, the two actuating pistons 41, 51 each rest sealingly on the associated inner sealing device 44, 54 and on the associated outer sealing device 45, 55, wherein the sealing devices 44, 45; 54, 55 are each fixed to the associated housing section 3, 4. For this purpose, the first and second housing sections 3, 4 each have an inner seal receptacle 47, 57 for receiving the inner sealing device 44, 54 and an outer seal receptacle 48, 58 for receiving the outer sealing device 45, 55. The seal receptacles 47, 48; 57, 58 are each as annular grooves and the sealing devices 44, 45; 54, 55 each designed as groove sealing rings, wherein the groove sealing rings are received in a captively held manner in the respective associated annular groove.

[0049] The two support sections 46, 56 are each designed as a support ring, for example an annular support plate, wherein the two support sections 46, 56 are each arranged on an outer circumference of the associated cylindrical extension 5, 6 and captively held on this via a securing means 49, 59. The two support sections 46, 56 extend with respect to the main axis of rotation H, at least in sections, each within a radial plane, wherein the respective associated spring device 42, 52 is supported in an axial direction AR on the associated actuating piston 41, 51 and equally supported in an axial opposite direction GR on the associated support section 46, 56, in particular at the same height in the radial direction.

[0050] The spring devices 42, 52 each serve to reset the associated actuating piston 41, 51 from the closed position S to the open position 0, wherein the spring devices 42, 52 for this purpose apply a pressure force to the respective actuating piston 41, 51 in the axial direction AR. The spring devices 42, 52 comprise several compression springs, for example helical springs, which are arranged uniformly spaced apart from one another or distributed between the support section 46, 56 and the associated actuating piston 41, 51 in the direction of rotation about the main axis of rotation H.

[0051] FIG. 2 shows a detailed view of the first actuating device 40 from FIG. 1 as an exemplary embodiment. The actuating piston 41 has an inner and an outer cylinder section 8, 9 and a radial section 10, wherein the two cylinder sections 8, 9 are connected to one another via the radial section 10. For example, the actuating piston 41 is designed as a sheet metal ring piston, wherein the two cylinder sections 8, 9 and the radial section 10 are formed by reshaping. The two cylinder sections 8, 9 are arranged to be concentric to one another with respect to the main axis of rotation H, wherein an annular intermediate space 11, in particular surrounding the main axis of rotation H, is formed between the two cylinder sections 8, 9. The intermediate space 11 is delimited in the radial direction by the two cylinder sections 8, 9 and in the axial direction AR by the radial section 10 and in the axial opposite direction GR by the support section 46.

[0052] The spring device 42 is arranged within the intermediate space 11, wherein the spring device 42, in particular the compression springs, are axially aligned. To support the spring device 42 in the axial direction AR, the radial section 10 has a first support surface 12 and for support in the axial opposite direction GR, the support section 46 has a second support surface 13. The two support surfaces 12, 13 are each defined as a circular ring surface and are arranged to be axially opposite one another. The two support surfaces 12, 13 are arranged to be overlapping or congruent with one another in the radial direction with respect to the main axis of rotation H so that the spring device 42, in particular the compression springs, can be supported equally in the axial direction AR and in the axially opposite direction GR. A particularly compact design of the first actuating device 40 is thus implemented, wherein the arrangement of the spring device 42 radially inside the actuating piston 41 enables a significant saving of radial installation space.

[0053] To transmit the actuating force F1, the outer cylinder section 9 is designed to be longer in the axial opposite direction GR than the inner cylinder section 8, wherein the outer cylinder section 9 extends in the direction of the multi-plate brake 20 over the support section 46. The support section 13 is thus arranged radially inside the outer cylinder section 9 and, at least in the closed position S, rests against one of the outer plates 23 in the axial opposite direction GR. The inner cylinder section 8, on the other hand, extends between the support section 46 and the housing section 3, wherein the inner cylinder section 8 can be displaced to a limited extent between the support section 46 and the housing section 3.

[0054] The cylindrical extension 5 of the first housing section 3 is offset towards the pressure chamber 43 so that a shoulder 14 is formed. For example, the shoulder 14 is designed as an annular shoulder encircling the main axis of rotation H, wherein the support section 46 designed as a support ring rests against the shoulder 14 in the axial direction and is secured by the securing means 49 in the axial opposite direction GR. For example, the securing means 49 is designed as a securing ring, in particular a snap ring, and is fixed in a corresponding receptacle on the cylindrical 5.

[0055] When the actuating force F1 is transmitted, the actuating piston 41 is transferred from the open position 0 to the closed position S, whereby the outer plates 23 and the inner plates 24 are axially pressed together and the braking torque is transmitted to the inner multi-plate carrier 22. To open the multi-plate device 20, the fluid pressure in the pressure chamber 43 is reduced, wherein the actuating piston 41 is automatically pushed back into the open position by the spring device 42. During the axial displacement thereof, the actuating piston 41 runs against the outer sealing device 45 with an outer jacket surface of the outer cylinder section 9 and against the inner sealing device 44 with an inner jacket surface of the inner cylinder section 8. The outer cylinder section 9 forms an outer sealing surface 15 with the outer circumferential surface thereof, and the inner cylinder section 8 forms an inner sealing surface 16 with the inner circumferential surface thereof.

LIST OF REFERENCE SYMBOLS

[0056] 1 Transmission assembly [0057] 2 Housing [0058] 3 First housing section [0059] 4 Second housing section [0060] 5 First cylindrical extension [0061] 6 Second cylindrical extension [0062] 7 Driving contour [0063] 8 Inner cylinder section [0064] 9 Outer cylinder section [0065] 10 Radial portion [0066] 11 Intermediate space [0067] 12 First support surface [0068] 13 Second support surface [0069] 14 Shoulder [0070] 15 Outer sealing surface [0071] 16 Inner sealing surface [0072] 20 First multi-plate device [0073] 21 Outer multi-plate carrier [0074] 22 Inner multi-plate carrier [0075] 23 Outer plate [0076] 24 Inner plate [0077] 30 Second multi-plate device [0078] 31 Outer multi-plate carrier [0079] 32 Inner multi-plate carrier [0080] 33 Outer plate [0081] 34 Inner plate [0082] 40 First actuating device [0083] 41 Actuating piston [0084] 42 Spring device [0085] 43 Pressure chamber [0086] 44 Inner sealing device [0087] 45 Outer sealing device [0088] 46 Support section [0089] 47 Inner seal receptacle [0090] 48 Outer seal receptacle [0091] 49 Securing means [0092] 50 Second actuating device [0093] 51 Actuating piston [0094] 52 Spring device [0095] 53 Pressure chamber [0096] 54 Inner sealing device [0097] 55 Outer sealing device [0098] 56 Support section [0099] 57 Inner seal receptacle [0100] 58 Outer seal receptacle [0101] 59 Securing means [0102] H Main axis of rotation [0103] O Open position [0104] S Closed position [0105] AR Axial direction [0106] GR axial opposite direction [0107] F1 First actuating force [0108] F2 Second actuating force