Abstract
A distributor includes two distributor disks, which are driven rotatably by a drive train, to be attached to a power take-off shaft of a traction unit or of a tractor. The drive train includes a central input shaft driving a cross shaft to drive distributor disks via a central gear. The distributor disks can be rotated at different speeds with a reducing gear with variable output speed, arranged downstream of the central gear. The reducing gear is configured as a mechanical coaxial transmission with an input shaft connected to the cross shaft and an output shaft arranged coaxially to the cross shaft. A speed reduction ratio is changed by an adjusting element between a normal position, with an input speed of the input shaft corresponding to the output speed of the output shaft, and a speed reduction position with the input speed not equal to the output speed.
Claims
1. A distributor comprising: a drive train; at least two distributor disks rotatably driven by the drive train wherein the drive train is connectable to a power take-off shaft of a traction unit or of a tractor, and the drive train comprises: a central input shaft a central gear; at least one cross shaft to drive a respective one of the distributor disks, at least one reducing gear of variable output speed, arranged downstream of the central gear for rotation of one of the distributor disks at a speed different from that of another of the distributor disks, wherein the reducing gear comprises an adjusting element to change output speed and is configured as a mechanical coaxial transmission with an input shaft connected to the cross shaft and with a driven shaft is arranged coaxially to the cross shaft, wherein the coaxial transmission is configured as a friction clutch transmission that is adjustable by means of the adjusting element essentially continuously between a plurality of speed reduction positions, wherein a speed reduction ratio of the friction clutch transmission can be changed by means of the adjusting element between a normal position, in which the input speed of the input shaft corresponds essentially to the driven shaft, and reduction positions, in which the input speed of the input shaft is not equal to the output speed of the driven shaft.
2. A distributor in accordance with claim 1, wherein coaxial transmission is arranged in a housing accommodating the cross shaft or is integrated in such a housing, wherein the adjusting element passes through the housing.
3. A distributor in accordance with claim 2, wherein the adjusting element passes through the housing.
4. A distributor in accordance with claim 1, wherein the friction clutch transmission has a plurality of speed reduction positions with different output speeds.
5. (canceled)
6. A distributor in accordance with claim 4, wherein a speed sensor is arranged: on an output side of the friction clutch transmission; or on the an input side of the friction clutch transmission; or on an input side of the friction clutch transmission and on the an output side of the friction clutch transmission; and further comprising a control/regulating unit further connected to the speed sensors whereby an output speed can be controlled or regulated or controlled and regulated according to a set point.
7-8. (canceled)
9. A distributor in accordance with claim 1, wherein both the input shaft of the friction clutch transmission and the driven shaft thereof have each at least one plate, which can be brought into contact with one another in a non-positive connection.
10. A distributor in accordance with claim 9, wherein both the input shaft of the friction clutch transmission and the driven shaft thereof have each a plurality of plates.
11. A distributor in accordance with claim 9, wherein the plates of the input shaft and of the driven shaft can be pressed with variable pressure towards one another by means of a pressing ring displaceable in the axial direction in order to change the slip occurring during the operation between the at least one plate of the input shaft and the at least one plate of the driven shaft and consequently the output speed.
12. (canceled)
13. A distributor in accordance with claim 11, wherein the adjusting element of the friction clutch transmission comprises an actuator adjusting element wherein the actuator-type adjusting element of the friction clutch transmission has a hydraulic, pneumatic or hydropneumatic piston-and-cylinder unit.
14. (canceled)
15. A distributor in accordance with claim 13, wherein a cylinder of the piston-and-cylinder unit of the actuator adjusting element is in connection with an annular space arranged in a housing of the friction clutch transmission, which annular space adjoins the pressing ring in the axial direction and is used to displace same axially as a function of the pressure prevailing in the annular space.
16. A distributor in accordance with claim 9, wherein the plates of the input shaft and of the driven shaft are mechanically: prestressed toward one another in order to bring them into contact with one another in a non-positive connection; or prestressed away from one another in order to bring them out of contact from one another, wherein the plates of the input shaft and of the driven shaft are stressable away from one another by means of the adjusting element against the mechanical prestress to increase the slip, or are prestressable towards one another by means of the adjusting element against the mechanical prestress to reduce the slip.
17. A distributor in accordance with claim 16, wherein the plates of the input shaft and of the driven shaft are prestressed.
18. A distributor in accordance with claim 1, wherein a slip-free contact is formed between the input shaft of the friction clutch transmission and the driven shaft thereof during the normal operation, so that the input speed corresponds to the output speed.
19. A distributor in accordance with claim 14, wherein the actuator adjusting element further comprises: a hydraulic, electrical or electromagnetic adjusting element or a piezo motor, which is in mechanical connection with a piston of the hydraulic, pneumatic or hydropneumatic piston-and-cylinder unit in order to actuate the piston thereof; or a controllable and/or regulatable pump, which is in fluidic connection with a cylinder of the hydraulic, pneumatic or hydropneumatic piston-and-cylinder unit, in order to actuate the piston thereof.
20. A distributor in accordance with claim 1, wherein the friction clutch transmission further has a pump configured in the form of a vane-type rotary pump or centrifugal pump with a delivery-side port in operative connection with a fluid duct which opens at the plates of the input shaft and of the driven shaft which plates can be brought into contact with one another in a non-positive connection.
21. (canceled)
22. A distributor in accordance with claim 20, wherein the pump has an unpowered configuration wherein a pump wheel of the pump is connected non-rotatably to the input shaft.
23. (canceled)
24. A distributor in accordance with claim 20, wherein the pump can be attached to an end face of the friction clutch transmission.
Description
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0047] In the drawings:
[0048] FIG. 1 is a highly schematic lateral view of the terminal section of a drive train of a distributor configured in the form of a twin disk fertilizer spreader including distributor disks thereof when viewed from the rear;
[0049] FIG. 2 is a schematic detail view of an embodiment of the reducing gear with variable output speed of the right distributor disk in FIG. 1, which is configured as a mechanical coaxial transmission in the form of a friction clutch transmission and has an actuator-type adjusting element with a hydraulic piston-and-cylinder unit;
[0050] FIG. 3 is a schematic sectional view of the friction clutch transmission according to FIG. 2 along the section plane III-III, wherein the friction clutch transmission is in a position of maximum slip, in which an output speed is (markedly) lower than an input speed;
[0051] FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the friction clutch transmission, which view corresponds to FIG. 3, wherein the friction clutch transmission is in a position of minimum slip, in which its output speed corresponds to the input speed;
[0052] FIG. 5 is a schematic sectional view of the friction clutch transmission according to FIGS. 2 through 4 along the section line IV-IV in FIG. 2;
[0053] FIG. 6 is a schematic sectional view of the friction clutch transmission according to FIGS. 2 through 5 along the section plane V-V of FIG. 2;
[0054] FIG. 7 is a schematic sectional view of the friction clutch transmission according to FIGS. 2 through 6 along a section plane rotated by 90? about the central axis relative to the section plane III-III of FIG. 2 and in a position corresponding to FIG. 3; and
[0055] FIG. 8 is a simplified circuit diagram view of an adjusting element of the friction clutch transmission, which adjusting element is modified compared to the embodiment according to FIGS. 2 through 7.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0056] Referring to the drawings, the terminal or output-side section of the drive train of the distributor disks 1, 2 of a distributor in the form of a twin disk fertilizer spreader, which is not shown in more detail, which section is shown in FIG. 1, has the two distributor disks 1, 2, which are arranged in laterally spaced locations from one another and which are equipped each with throwing blades 3. The distributor disks 1, 2 are driven with opposite directions of rotation, and they rotate in this case opposite the direction of travel from the inside to the outside. Each distributor disk 1, 2 is seated non-rotatably and especially replaceably on an approximately vertical carrier shaft 4, which is mounted in a housing 5. A hub 6 arranged at the free end of each carrier shaft 4 is provided for fastening the throwing disks 4.
[0057] The distributor disks 1, 2 are located under a respective outlet (not shown) of a dispensing element, likewise not shown, which is, in turn, arranged under a discharge opening of a material container (likewise not shown in the drawing), which is carried together with the housing 5 by a frame. The latter has a usual coupling device (not shown), by means of which it can be received, in turn, by the three-point hitch of a tractor. The material being stored in the material container is fed via the outlets of the controllable and/or regulatable dispensing elements to the distributor disks 1, 2 in settable quantities. An agitator (likewise not shown), which has one agitating element or a plurality of agitating elements arranged above each discharge opening of the material container, runs in the material container.
[0058] The distributor disks 1, 2 are usually driven by the power take-off shaft, not shown, of the tractor, which power take-off shaft is connected to the drive train of the distributor disks 1, 2 of the distributor. The drive train comprises for this, for example, a universal-joint shaft (not shown), which is provided with a suitable coupling device at its free end and which is joined by a central input shaft 7 with a non-rotatable connection. The central input shaft 7 opens at its end facing away from the universal-joint shaft into a central gear 8 mounted in the housing 5 in the form of a bevel or miter gear, one (conical) gear 9 of which is seated on the input shaft 7 and another (conical) gear 10 of which is seated on a cross shaft 11, which is mounted in the housing 5. A bevel or miter gear 12, via which the carrier shaft 4 of the left distributor disk 1 shown in FIG. 1, which carrier shaft is likewise mounted in the housing 5, is driven, is arranged at the end of the cross shaft 11, which end is the left-hand end in FIG. 1.
[0059] The carrier shaft 4 of the distributor disk 2, which is the right-hand distributor disk in FIG. 1, is likewise mounted in the housing 5 and is in rotary connection via another bevel or miter gear 13, which corresponds, e.g., to the bevel or miter gear 12, with a shaft section 11a, which is likewise mounted in the housing 5, and which is likewise arranged coaxially to the cross shaft 11. The output speed of the power take-off shaft of tractors is usually in the range of about 540 rpm in practice. The central gear 8 and/or the bevel or miter gear 12, which is the left-hand bevel or miter gear in FIG. 1, then ensure, for example, a transmission in the direction of a speed that is higher, e.g., up to 2:1 higher.
[0060] While the distributor disk 1, which is the left-hand distributor disk in FIG. 1, is consequently always driven via the gear 8 and the bevel or miter gear 12 at the same transmission ratio in relation to the input shaft 7, the speed of the distributor disk 2, which is the right-hand distributor disk in FIG. 1, can be changed in a variable manner, and it can be rotated in this case between a speed that corresponds to the distributor disk that is the left-hand distributor disk in FIG. 1 and a speed that can be reduced compared to that in a variable manner, in order to ensure, for example, spreading along edges or border spreading or also spreading in wedges. A reducing gear 100 with variable output speed, which is arranged downstream of the central gear 8 or, more precisely, between the section of the cross shaft 11 located downstream of the central gear 8 and the shaft section 11a, which extends coaxially hereto and which opens into the bevel or miter gear 13 of the distributor disk 2, which is the right-hand distributor disk in FIG. 2, is provided for this purpose in the housing 5, in which the cross shaft 11 is mounted and which receives, further, both the central gear 8 and the two bevel or miter gears 12, 13. As will be explained below in detail with reference to FIGS. 2 through 7, the reducing gear 100 is a coaxial transmission with simply mechanical torque transmission, whose output speed can be varied by means of an actuator-type adjusting element 200, 400 practically continuously between a normal position, in which the input speed of the cross shaft 11 corresponds to the output speed of the shaft section 11a, and a more or less random speed reduction position, in which the input speed of the cross shaft 11 is not equal tohere: greaterthan the output speed of the shaft section 11a. The reducing gear 100 configured as a mechanical coaxial transmission is accommodated in the housing 5 protected from dirt and moisture or may also be integrated in same.
[0061] As can be seen especially in FIGS. 3, 4 and 7, which are longitudinal sections through the reducing gear 100 shown as a whole in FIG. 2 along two section planes arranged at an angle of 90?, the reducing gear 100 configured as a mechanical coaxial transmission comprises an input shaft 101, which is connected to the end of the cross shaft 11, which end is the right-hand end in FIG. 1 and faces away from the central gear 8, and a driven shaft 102, which is arranged coaxially hereto and which is connected to the end of the shaft section 11a, which end is the left-hand end in FIG. 1 and faces away from the right-hand bevel or miter gear 13. Speed sensors, not shown in the drawings, may be provided at the driven shaft 102 (or also at the shaft section 11a or at the carrier shaft 4 of the distributor disk 1, which is the right-hand distributor disk in FIG. 1), as well as preferably also at the input shaft 101 (or also at the cross shaft 11 or at the carrier shaft 4 of the distributor disk 2, which is the left-hand distributor disk in FIG. 1), in order to visualize the speed of the distributor disk 2, which is the right-hand distributor disk in FIG. 1, as well as preferably also the speed of the distributor disk 1, which is the left-hand distributor disk in FIG. 1 and is preset by the power take-off shaft of the tractor, on a suitable display device, wherein the speed sensor(s) may be in functional connection especially with a control and/or regulating unit, by means of which the variable (output) speed of the distributor disk, which is the right-hand distributor disk in FIG. 1, can be controlled and/or regulated according to a desired set point by the control and/or regulating unit being also in functional connection with the actuator-type adjusting element 200 of the reducing gear 100 in order to control and/or regulate the speed reduction ratio thereof in a corresponding manner.
[0062] As it will appear, furthermore, especially from FIGS. 2 through 7, the reducing gear 100 configured as a mechanical coaxial transmission in the exemplary embodiment shown in the drawings is a friction clutch transmission, in which the section of the driven shaft 102 facing the input shaft 101 is configured as a hollow shaft and it circumferentially surrounds the circumference of the section of the input shaft 101, which section faces the driven shaft 102, at a radially spaced location therefrom. A plurality of approximately ring-shaped plates 103 of an inner plate pack, which extend radially outwardly from the input shaft 101, are arranged on the outer circumference of the section of the input shaft 101, which section faces the driven shaft 102. A plurality of likewise approximately ring-shaped plates 104 of an outer plate pack, which extend radially inwardly from the driven shaft 102, are arranged in a similar manner on the inner circumference of thehollowsection of the driven shaft 102, which said section faces the input shaft 101, wherein the plates 103 of the input shaft 101 mesh between the plates 104 of the driven shaft 102 (and vice versa), so that the plates 103 of the input shaft 101 are arrangedwhen viewed in the axial directionalternatingly with the plates 104 of the driven shaft 102. As will be explained in more detail below, the plates 103 of the input shaft 101 can be brought into contact in a non-positive manner with the plates 104 of the driven shaft 102 along their surfaces, which are arranged parallel and extend in the radial direction, in a non-positive or frictionally engaged manner, so that the plates 104 of the driven shaft 102 are either carried entirely by the plates 103 of the input shaft 101 (normal position of the reducing gear 100; the output speed corresponds to the input speed) or a variable slip develops depending on the axial pressure of the plates 103, 104 against one another (different speed reduction positions of the reducing gear 100; the output speed is lower than the input speed).
[0063] For the purpose of generating this variable axial pressure to stress the plates 103 of the input shaft 101 against the plates 104 of the driven shaft 102, the input shaft 101, which is otherwise mounted rotatably but in an axially fixed manner in this exemplary embodiment by means of suitable rolling bearings 105, 106, for example, ball bearings, in a stationary gearbox 107, on the one hand, and in the interior of the section of the driven shaft 102, which is configured as a hollow shaft and faces it, on the other hand, is provided in the area of its free end facing the driven shaft 102 with a pressure disk 108, which is seated in an axially fixed manner on the input shaft 101 and extends away from same to the outside in the radial direction (cf. especially FIGS. 3, 4 and 7). Further, a pressing ring 109, which is axially displaceable in relation to the input shaft 101 and which surrounds the outer circumference of the input shaft 101 and is arranged at a greater distance from the free end thereof facing the driven shaft 102 than the pressure disk 108, is provided at an axial distance from the pressure disk 108. The plates 103 of the input shaft and the plates 104 of the driven shaft 102, which can be brought into contact with it in a non-positive or frictionally engaged manner, are arranged here, likewise when viewed in the axial direction, between the (axially fixed) pressure disk 108 and the (axially displaceable) pressing ring 109. The pressing ring 109 is mechanically prestressed against the pressure disk 108 in the axial direction in this exemplary embodiment, for example, by means of a likewise approximately ring-shaped pressing element 110, which is in axial supporting contact with the pressing ring 109 by means of a thrust bearing 111, so that the plates 103, 104, located between the pressure disk 106 and the pressing ring 109 in the axial direction, are prestressed towards one another in order to prestress them towards one another in the direction of the normal position of the reducing gear, in which the input speed of the reducing gear corresponds to the output speed, in such a way that they are brought into contact with one another in a non-positive or frictionally engaged manner. The mechanical prestressing in the direction of the normal position is brought about in this case by means of spring force, and, for example, a plurality of, here, e.g., five coil springs 112 may be provided here, which are shown graphically exclusively in the longitudinal sections shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, and are supported in axial blind holes in the interior of the gearbox 107, on the one hand, and on the side of the pressing element 110, which side is the side opposite the pressing ring 109, on the other hand. The axial blind holes provided with the coil springs 112 are preferably arranged distributed equidistantly around the circumference of the input shaft 101 in order to ensure a uniform axial prestressing of the pressing element 110 and hence of the pressing ring 109 against the plates 103, 104, which are, in turn, pressed against the pressure disk 108 and are compressed between the pressing ring 109 and the pressure disk 108.
[0064] As is seen especially in FIGS. 3 through 6, the actuator-type adjusting element 200 of the mechanical coaxial transmission 100 configured as a friction clutch transmission has in this exemplary embodiment a piston-and-cylinder unit, whose cylinder 201 is mounted in an adjusting element housing 202 fixed on the gearbox 107 and can be filled by means of a closable inlet 203 (see FIGS. 5 and 6) with a suitable pressurized fluid, for example, hydraulic oil. The piston 204 guided axially displaceably in the cylinder 201 is prestressed in this case in its position according to FIG. 4, in which it is pulled out of the cylinder and in which consequently a minimum hydraulic pressure prevails in the interior of the cylinder 201, for example, by means of a coil spring 205 acting between a circumferential shoulder of the piston 204, which shoulder is arranged in the interior of the cylinder 201, and an inner circumferential projection of the cylinder 201. At its end face located opposite the coil spring 205, which end face is arranged outside the cylinder 201 and is the upper end face in FIGS. 3 through 6, the piston 204 of the piston-and-cylinder unit of the actuator-type adjusting element 200 is in connection with an, e.g., hydraulic, electrical or electromagnetic adjusting cylinder, not shown in the drawings, by means of which the piston 204 can be pushed into the cylinder 201 against the spring force in a controllable and/or regulatable manner (FIG. 3), in order to increase the hydraulic pressure in the interior of the cylinder 201 or to reduce it when the piston 204 is pushed out of the cylinder 201 by means of the adjusting cylinder (FIG. 4).
[0065] The cylinder 201 of the piston-and-cylinder unit of the actuator-type adjusting element 200 opens at its end, which faces away from the piston rod of the piston 204, on which piston rod the adjusting cylinder (not shown) acts, into an annular space 113 formed in the interior of the gearbox 107. Said annular space is located, when viewed in the axial direction, between the pressing element 110 of the pressing ring 109 and the gearbox 107 receiving same and is used to axially displace the pressing element 110 together with the pressing ring 109 as a function of the pressure prevailing in the annular space 113, which is sealed for this purpose in a compression-proof manner against both the pressing element 110 and the gearbox 107 by means of suitable axial face seals.
[0066] Consequently, if the hydraulic pressure is increased in the annular space 113 configured as a pressure chamber (the piston 204 of the piston-and-cylinder unit of the actuator-type adjusting element is transferred by means of the adjusting cylinder, not shown, from its extended position according to FIG. 4 into its position withdrawn into the cylinder 101 according to FIG. 3), the pressing element 110 and the pressing ring 109 are displaced against the mechanical prestress brought about by the coil springs 112 away from the plates 103, 104 of the input shaft 101 and of the driven shaft 102, i.e., to the left from the position shown in FIG. 4, which is the right-hand position, corresponding to FIG. 3, whereupon a slip develops between the plates 103, 104, which slip depends on the respective axial position of the pressing ring 109, and the output speed is reduced relative to the input speed. In the situation shown in FIG. 3, the pressing element strikes the inner wall of the gearbox 107, which inner wall is provided with the springs 112, which leads to a maximum pressure release on the plates 103, 104, and consequently to a maximum slip between same and hence to a maximum speed reduction of the gear 100.
[0067] If, by contrast, the hydraulic pressure is reduced in the annular space 113 configured as a pressure chamber (the piston 204 of the piston-and-cylinder unit of the actuator-type adjusting element is transferred by means of the adjusting cylinder, not shown, from its pushed-in position according to FIG. 3 into its position according to FIG. 4, in which it is extended from the cylinder, the pressing element 110 and the pressing ring 109 are displaced based on the mechanical prestress brought about by the coil springs 112 towards the plates 103, 104 of the input shaft 101 and of the driven shaft 102, i.e., to the right from the (stop) position, which is the left-hand position in FIG. 3, and into the normal position of the gear 100 shown in FIG. 4, whereupon the slip between the plates 103, 104, which depends on the particular axial position of the pressing ring 109, decreases and the output speed is increased. In the normal position of the reducing gear 100 shown in FIG. 4, the annular space 113 then has a minimum volume, which may otherwise also be practically equal to zero, so that the pressing element 110 strikes the adjusting element housing 202 (not shown) on the right. As a consequence of the axial prestress on the plates 103, 104 towards one another, no slip can consequently occur any longer, so that the output speed corresponds to the input speed. Consequently, if the pressure on the piston-and-cylinder unit 201, 204 of the actuator-type adjusting element 200 is released, the reducing gear 100 is in the normal position, without supply of energy being necessary. Any desired intermediate positions, which lead to different slips of the plates 103, 104 and consequently to different speed reduction ratios of the reducing gear 100, are, of course, possible between the end positions of the piston 204 of the piston-and-cylinder unit of the adjusting element 200, which are shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, on the one hand, and the unit formed from the pressing element 110 and the pressing ring 109, on the other hand.
[0068] It is also possible that the speed sensors interact with position transducers (not shown), which are arranged on a respective cross shaft 11, 11a or on a respective carrier shaft 4 carrying a respective distributor disk 1, 2, so that, for example, when the speed sensor(s) has/have detected an unfavorable relative position of one distributor disk relative to the other distributor disk 1, 2 (e.g., fertilizer collisions of the spreading fans thrown off by the distributor disks 1, 2 occur as a consequence of a certain relative arrangement of the throwing blades 3 of the distributor disks 1, 2), the hydraulic pressure is briefly changed, i.e., increased or decreased, in the annular space 113 configured as a pressure chamber, as a result of which the speed of one distributor disk 2 changes briefly and the relative position of the throwing blade 3 thereof will change relative to that of the other distributor disk 1.
[0069] To ensure a very low-friction and consequently wear-insensitive operation of the reducing gear 100 as well as satisfactory energy dissipation of the power loss usually generated as heat in case of the (random) speed reduction positions, in which a slip occurs between the plates 103, 104 of the input shaft 101 and of the driven shaft 102, the coaxial reducing gear 100 configured as a friction clutch transmission is further equipped with a pump 300, which may be configured in this case as a centrifugal pump or especially as a vane-type rotary pump and has a pump wheel 301 rotating coaxially with the input shaft 101 and with the driven shaft 102 (cf. FIG. 2 as well as especially FIGS. 3, 4 and 7). The pump wheel 301 is mounted rotatably in a pump housing 302, which is fixed on the input-side end face of the gearbox 107 and closes the latter on the input side. The pump housing 302 is, in turn closed on its side facing away from the gearbox 107 (left-hand side in FIGS. 3, 4 and 7) by means of a housing cover 303, which is screwed, e.g., to the pump housing 302. The pump wheel 301 has an unpowered configuration and is only carried by the input shaft 101, which has for this purpose, for example, an outer profile (not shown in the drawings), which meshes with an inner profile of the pump wheel 301 (likewise not shown in the drawings) non-rotatably but axial displaceably in order to make it possible to remove the pump 300 from the gearbox 107 in a simple manner. Any other non-rotatable connections are, of course, also possible, as an alternative, between the pump wheel 301 and the input shaft 101, such as the shaft-hub connections, feather key connections known from the state of the art, and the like.
[0070] As is seen especially in FIG. 7, a delivery-side port 304 of the pump 300, arranged in the area of the outer circumference of the pump wheel 301 facing the gearbox 107, is in connection with a fluid duct, which opens at the plates 103, 104 of the input shaft 101 and of the driven shaft 102, which plates can be brought into contact in a non-positive manner. The fluid duct comprises in this exemplary embodiment a connection piece 305, which can be plugged in a pressure-sealed manner into the delivery-side port 304 of the pump, on the one hand, and into a fluid port 114 of the gearbox 107, on the other hand, and which extends in the axial direction of the input shaft 101, but eccentrically thereto, and can consequently be arranged in a simple manner between the ports 304, 114 when the pump housing 302 is placed on the gearbox 107. The fluid port 114 of the gearbox 107 opens into a connection duct 115, which passes radially through the gearbox 107 and which is in connection with a radial branch canal 117 of the input shaft 101. The radial branch canal 117 of the input shaft 101 opens, in turn, into an axial duct 118, which preferably extends coaxially to the axis of rotation of the input shaft 101 and which is in connection with one or preferably with a plurality of, e.g., four radial ducts 119 at its end facing the plates 103, 104. The radial ducts 119 open at their (outer) ends facing away from the axial duct 118 to the outer circumference of the input shaft 101, which outer circumference is provided with the plates 103, and they preferably branch into a plurality of outlets 120 arranged next to each other in the axial direction in order to distribute the fluid delivered by means of the pump 300, which fluid may be, for example, oil, directly into the intermediate spaces between respective adjacent plates 103 of the input shaft 101, with which the plates 104 of the driven shaft 102 mesh from the outside. The fluid pumped in this manner between the plates 103, 104 of the input shaft 101 and of the driven shaft 102 can leave the plate packs, for example, by means of an annular gap, which is formed between the gearbox 107 and the hollow end of the driven shaft 102, which end faces the input shaft 101, after which it can again be drawn in, e.g., via a suction-side port 306 of the pump 300 (cf. FIGS. 3, 4 and 7), which port passes axially through the cover 303 of the pump housing 302 in this exemplary embodiment and leads to the suction side of the pump wheel 301. As can be seen in FIG. 2, a pipe elbow, which leads radially downward and outward in order to draw in oil from the oil sludge at the bottom reliably and to feed it again to the plate packs via the fluid duct 305, 115, 116, 117, 118, 119, 120, may advantageously be connected to the suction-side port 306 of the pump 300. This reliably leads to continuous lubrication of the plate packs during the operation, and, in particular, heat generated in case of slip as a consequence of friction can also be reliably dissipated.
[0071] FIG. 8 shows an alternative embodiment of an adjusting element 400 in the form of a schematic diagram to the actuator-type adjusting element 200 of the friction clutch transmission 100 according to FIGS. 2 through 7. The adjusting element 400 has, in turn, a, e.g., hydraulic piston-and-cylinder unit, whose cylinder 401 receives a hydraulic fluid and is in fluidic connection with the annular space 113 (cf. FIGS. 3 through 7) of the friction clutch transmission 100 via a hydraulic line 402 in order to change the speed reduction ratio of said friction clutch transmission, indicated by the arrow 403, in a corresponding manner, as this happens in the embodiment according to FIGS. 2 through 7, which was explained above. Contrary to this, the piston 404 of the piston-and-cylinder unit cannot, however, be actuated by means of an (electrical) adjusting cylinder, but by means of a controllable and/or regulatable pump 405, which is in fluidic connection with the cylinder 401 of the piston-and-cylinder unit, specifically on the side of the piston 404 located opposite the pressure line 402, in order to displace the piston 404 relative to the cylinder 401 and to change in the process the pressure in the annular space 113 of friction clutch transmission 100 (cf. FIGS. 2 through 7) via the pressure line 402 (cf. FIGS. 2 through 7), so that the plates 103, 104 are compressed or decompressed as a consequence of the axial displacement of the pressing ring 109 and of the pressing element 110 and the speed reduction ratio is varied based on the different slip of the plates 103, 104. The pump 405 is supplied from a fluid reservoir 107, for example, via the intermediary of a filter 106. In addition, a pressure sensor is provided in this case, which is configured, for example, in the manner of a diaphragm valve or a measuring diaphragm 108, and which is in functional connection, just like the pump 405, with a control and/or regulating unit 500 in order to control and/or to regulate the speed reduction ratio of the gear 100 according to a desired set point. The control and/or regulating unit 500 may further be connected, as was mentioned above, to one or more speed sensor(s) (not shown) for detecting the output speed of the gear 100 and also be used to control and/or to regulate the other set parameters of the distributor, such as the feed point, the dose and the like.
[0072] Further, it is also possible, in principle, that the pump 405 communicates directly with the annular space 113 of the friction clutch transmission 100 (cf. FIGS. 2 through 7) via the pressure line 402, so that the piston-and-cylinder unit 401, 404 is unnecessary. Moreover, any other adjusting elements are conceivable for the friction clutch transmission 100.
[0073] While specific embodiments of the invention have been shown and described in detail to illustrate the application of the principles of the invention, it will be understood that the invention may be embodied otherwise without departing from such principles.
