Patents Assigned to ZF Sachs AG
  • Patent number: 7866452
    Abstract: A vibration damper for vehicles comprises a work cylinder in which a piston is guided axially by a piston rod. The piston divides the work cylinder into two work spaces filled with damping fluid. A tension stop is provided between the piston and a piston rod guide, wherein a tension stop element including a flexible part and a reinforcing ring is arranged between a support fastened to the piston rod and the piston rod guide. The reinforcing ring limits the deformation of the flexible part of tension stop when subjected to force during operation so that permissible shearing stresses of the flexible part are not exceeded.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 4, 2004
    Date of Patent: January 11, 2011
    Assignee: ZF Sachs AG
    Inventors: Stefan Brehm, Manfred Heinisch, Michael Müller
  • Patent number: 7823709
    Abstract: A bellows for hydraulic, hydropneumatic, or pneumatic piston-cylinder units, especially for vibration dampers or MacPherson strut units for motor vehicles, is located between the end of a piston rod and a cylinder, and covers the part of the piston rod which projects out from the cylinder to provide protection against dirt and/or damage. An interior space of the bellows undergoes a change in volume as a result of the relative movement of the piston and cylinder. The end area of the piston rod distal from the cylinder includes at least one flow connection leading to the interior of the bellows. The flow connection allows an incoming and/or outgoing flow of air. The end area of the piston rod, i.e., the end which passes through a mounting bearing connecting the piston-cylinder unit to the body of the vehicle, is provided with a flow connection connecting the interior space of the bellows to the atmosphere.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 13, 2004
    Date of Patent: November 2, 2010
    Assignee: ZF Sachs AG
    Inventor: Hubert Beck
  • Patent number: 7472768
    Abstract: A drive system which has a drive unit with a drive shaft; a centrifugal mass arrangement, which is mounted on the drive shaft; and an electrical machine, comprising a stator arrangement and a rotor arrangement, where the rotor arrangement is mounted on the centrifugal mass arrangement, and where the stator arrangement and the rotor arrangement are adjacent to each other in the radial direction. So that optimum use can be made of the space available inside the drive unit, and so that the overall length of the drive unit required in the axial direction relative to the axis of rotation (A) can be kept as short as possible, the centrifugal mass arrangement has a contour such that, relative to the axis of rotation (A), a receiving space (71) is formed radially inside the electrical machine. The receiving space is bounded on at least one side by the centrifugal mass arrangement, and at least one additional component of the drive unit is installed in the receiving space.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 29, 2006
    Date of Patent: January 6, 2009
    Assignee: ZF Sachs AG
    Inventors: Armin Denner, Knut Welke, Klaus Steinel, Joachim Lindner, Frank Hirschmann
  • Patent number: 7306079
    Abstract: A suspension system for a motor vehicle body having a level regulating device for setting a predetermined height of the motor vehicle body includes an outer tube and at least one piston-cylinder assembly arranged in the outer tube and having a working cylinder, a piston rod and a damping piston having damping valves. The suspension system further includes an oil reservoir with inflow and outflow lines for conducting a flow of oil between the oil reservoir and the at least one piston-cylinder assembly. A pump including a pump piston and a drive is arranged for pumping oil through the inflow and outflow lines for setting the predetermined height of the motor vehicle body. To connect the pump, a base is sealingly arranged on the outer tube, wherein the pump is connectable to the base in at least two operative positions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 13, 2004
    Date of Patent: December 11, 2007
    Assignee: ZF Sachs AG
    Inventor: Hubert Beck
  • Patent number: 7235904
    Abstract: A device for coupling a housing arrangement of a clutch device, particularly a hydrodynamic clutch device, to a rotor arrangement of an electric machine, wherein the rotor arrangement can be connected to a drive shaft so as to be fixed with respect to rotation relative to it, this drive shaft being rotatable around an axis of rotation. The electric machine further has a stator arrangement which can be brought into electromagnetic interaction with the rotor arrangement and the drive shaft can be driven in rotation by the electric machine and/or electrical energy can be generated by rotation of the drive shaft. First teeth provided at the rotor arrangement and second teeth provided at the housing arrangement are in a rotational driving engagement with one another or can be brought into a rotational driving engagement with one another, and an axial securing arrangement holds the rotor arrangement in axial direction with respect to the housing arrangement.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 26, 2003
    Date of Patent: June 26, 2007
    Assignee: ZF Sachs AG
    Inventors: Horst Breier, Christoph Sasse, Jörg Sudau
  • Patent number: 7216750
    Abstract: A clutch arrangement for a motor vehicle has a clutch housing that is filled with pumped medium in the form of fluid, a first friction element being rotatable in common with the clutch housing. Further, a second friction element is provided which is rotatable in common with a driven member and which can be brought into an operative connection with the at least one first friction element for producing a frictional interaction. At least one first friction element and at least one second friction element are each provided with a support component that can be provided for receiving at least one friction lining. The support components have support component segments which are arranged successively in circumferential direction and which are provided at a circumference-side terminating edge, respectively, with fluid delivery surfaces for generating a fluid circulation and are constructed in the form of friction lining segments to produce the frictional interaction with friction linings.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 5, 2003
    Date of Patent: May 15, 2007
    Assignee: ZF Sachs AG
    Inventors: Jörg Sudau, Khalid Jafoui, Jürgen Ackermann
  • Patent number: 7182190
    Abstract: A piston rod and a piston are installed with freedom of axial movement in a cylinder filled with a working medium, the piston dividing the working space into a space on the piston-rod side of the piston and a space on the side of the piston facing away from the piston rod. A stop disk is mounted on the piston rod in addition to the piston rests against a retainer provided on the cylinder to limit the outward movement of the piston rod during a fire.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 8, 2004
    Date of Patent: February 27, 2007
    Assignee: ZF Sachs AG
    Inventors: Hassan Asadi, Peter Wirth, Gerald Fenn, Björn Neumann
  • Patent number: 7172057
    Abstract: Vibration damper comprising a piston rod, which is guided with freedom of axial movement in a damping medium-filled cylinder and which carries a piston, which divides the cylinder into two working spaces. At least one of the two working spaces has a flow connection leading to a housing, in which a separating element separates at least one chamber from one of the two working spaces, where the volume of the minimum of one chamber in the housing has a size which is variable within defined limits. The separating element executes relative motion with respect to the housing, and is located in a permanent position with respect to the piston rod, whereas the housing is movable with respect to the piston rod.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 17, 2003
    Date of Patent: February 6, 2007
    Assignee: ZF Sachs AG
    Inventors: Frank Gundermann, Joachim Kühnel, Christian Böhm, Heinz-Joachim Gilsdorf
  • Patent number: 7172060
    Abstract: A pressure plate assembly, comprising a housing; a pressure plate, which is installed in the housing and which is connected by a connecting arrangement to the housing so that it can rotate in common with the housing around an axis of rotation (A) and also move in the direction parallel to the axis of rotation (A); a force-exerting arrangement, which is supported against the housing and the pressure plate, by means of which arrangement force can be exerted on the pressure plate to produce an engaged state; and a wear take-up device with at least one adjusting element, which is under the pretensioning force of a pretensioning arrangement so that adjusting movements can be carried out, characterized in that a blocking arrangement is provided, which can act on the adjusting element, where, as a function of centrifugal force, the blocking arrangement either releases the adjusting element completely or to a limited, predetermined extent so that an adjusting process can be carried out or completely prevents any such
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 29, 2004
    Date of Patent: February 6, 2007
    Assignee: ZF Sachs AG
    Inventor: Reinhold Weidinger
  • Patent number: 7152400
    Abstract: A hydrodynamic torque converter which has at least a hydrodynamic circuit including at least one pump wheel and one turbine wheel, wherein each of these wheels is provided with an outer shell to accept a set of vanes which form flow chambers, the inner edges of the vanes away from the outer shell being connected to an inner shell, which acts as part of an internal torus. At least the vanes of the turbine wheel have connecting elements both on the inner edges and on the outer edges, which connecting elements pass through openings in the shells to fasten the vanes to the shells, being provided for this purpose with a predetermined minimum overhang with respect to the edge of the associated vane, this minimum overhang making it possible for the connecting elements to be plastically deformed in such a way that they can grip the rear surfaces of the shells, i.e., the surfaces facing away from the vanes, and thus fasten the vanes to the shells.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 8, 2005
    Date of Patent: December 26, 2006
    Assignee: ZF Sachs AG
    Inventors: Hermann Schleicher, Jürgen Ackermann
  • Patent number: 7147093
    Abstract: A centrifugal clutch includes a housing which is rotatable about an axis, the housing having a plurality of first supporting areas which each extend radially with respect to the axis; a pressing plate which is axially movable with respect to the housing and is coupled to the housing for rotation about the axis; and a supporting element which is axially movable with respect to the housing, the supporting element having a plurality of second supporting areas which each extend radially with respect to the axis, each second support area being separated from a respective first support area by an axial distance which decreases with radial distance from the axis.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 4, 2004
    Date of Patent: December 12, 2006
    Assignee: ZF Sachs AG
    Inventors: Reinhold Weidinger, Winfried Stürmer
  • Patent number: 7147095
    Abstract: A gearshift mechanism for a motor vehicle with hydraulically actuated multiple clutch, particularly a twin clutch, has a first gear input shaft to drive a first group of gears and a second gear input shaft to drive a second group of gears. The two gear input shafts are each assigned a clutch unit being coaxial to one another. A stationary housing accommodates the two clutch units. At its end face, the housing can be closed off by a housing cover that has a central opening through which a drive hub of a clutch cage is guided. The housing cover is provided with a bearing flange around the central opening, on the outside of which the clutch cage is supported. This advantageously supports the clutch on the housing and makes it possible to achieve a support effect for a dual mass flywheel or the crankshaft end of the internal combustion engine.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 26, 2003
    Date of Patent: December 12, 2006
    Assignees: Dr. Ing. h.c.F. Porsche Aktiengesellschaft, ZF Sachs AG
    Inventors: Dieter Kraxner, Klaus Tiede, Wolfgang Grosspietsch, Paul Kraus
  • Patent number: 7143886
    Abstract: An actuation force generating arrangement for a centrifugal clutch includes a housing, a supporting element, and a plurality of centrifugal members. The housing is rotatable about an axis, the housing having a plurality of first supporting areas which each extend radially with respect to the axis. The supporting element is axially movable with respect to the housing and has a plurality of second supporting areas which each extend radially with respect to the axis, each second support area being separated from a respective first support area by an axial distance which decreases with radial distance from the axis. Each of the first and second support areas has a first portion and a second portion which lies radially outside of the first portion, the first and second support areas being inclined with respect to each other at a relative inclination angle which is greater at the second portions than at the first portions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 4, 2004
    Date of Patent: December 5, 2006
    Assignee: ZF Sachs AG
    Inventors: Winfried Stürmer, Reinhold Weidinger
  • Patent number: 7140482
    Abstract: A centrifugal clutch includes a housing which is rotatable about an axis, the housing having a plurality of first supporting areas which each extend radially with respect to the axis; a pressing plate which is axially movable with respect to the housing and is coupled to the housing for rotation about the axis; and a supporting member which is axially movable with respect to the housing, the supporting member having a plurality of second supporting areas which each extend radially with respect to the axis, each second support area being separated from a respective first support area by an axial distance which decreases with radial distance from the axis. A plurality of centrifugal members are supported between respective pairs of first and second support areas, each the centrifugal member being radially displaceable by centrifugal force along the respective pair of support areas to exert force in a clutch engaging direction along a force transmission path between the supporting element and the pressing plate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 4, 2004
    Date of Patent: November 28, 2006
    Assignee: ZF Sachs AG
    Inventors: Reinhold Weidinger, Winfried Stürmer
  • Patent number: 7135794
    Abstract: Spring support having at least one axially moveable spring plate, an actuator with a rotor producing a rotational movement relative to its stator, which is converted into an axial movement of the spring plate, and a torsional locking element which prevents torsional movement of the spring plate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 13, 2003
    Date of Patent: November 14, 2006
    Assignee: ZF Sachs AG
    Inventor: Joachim Kühnel
  • Patent number: 7121552
    Abstract: A piston ring includes a lateral surface which covers a circumferential surface of a piston and support segments with retaining surfaces which engage with the top and bottom of the piston. A piston ring joint allows the piston ring to be elastically deformed in the radial direction and is provided with a tongue at one end of the lateral surface, which tongue engages in an opening in the other end of the lateral surface. The tongue is designed with retaining segments which extend in the circumferential direction and continue as extensions of the support segments. The retaining segments engage supportively with the top and bottom of the piston. The opening is provided with carrier segments at least in certain areas of the circumference of the piston ring extensions of the support segments and holding the ends of the piston ring in place axially with respect to the piston, the carrier segments being supported in the axial direction of the piston on the retaining segments.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 4, 2003
    Date of Patent: October 17, 2006
    Assignee: ZF Sachs AG
    Inventors: Hassan Asadi, Gerald Fenn
  • Patent number: 7118099
    Abstract: in particular for a motor vehicle, includes a high pressure chamber containing a gas cushion acting as a spring, and a working cylinder which is filled with damping medium under pressure of the gas cushion. A working piston carried by a hollow piston rod divides the working cylinder into two working spaces, wherein one of the working spaces is connected to the high pressure chamber to drive the piston under the pressure of the gas cushion, the piston having at least one non-return valve which permits flow from the one working space to the other working space.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 23, 2003
    Date of Patent: October 10, 2006
    Assignee: ZF Sachs AG
    Inventor: Hubert Beck
  • Patent number: 7114605
    Abstract: A multiple disk clutch device for arrangement in a drivetrain of a motor vehicle between a drive unit and a transmission, includes at least an inner and an outer disk clutch arrangement that are radially staggered and associated with a transmission input shaft of the transmission. Each of the plural clutch disk arrangements includes a set of disks, the set of disks have an outer disk associated with an outer disk carrier and an inner disk associated with an inner disk carrier. The outer disks are operable to mutually engage the inner disks in a driving arrangement. Each of the plural disk sets includes at least one disk having a lining and at least one disk being unlined where one of the inner and outer disks of the inner and the outer disk clutch arrangements of the plural disk clutch arrangements is the lined disk.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 8, 2001
    Date of Patent: October 3, 2006
    Assignee: ZF Sachs AG
    Inventors: Wolfgang Grosspietsch, Wolfgang Kundermann, Volker Stampf, Angelika Ebert, Wolfgang Reisser
  • Patent number: 7111711
    Abstract: Vibration damper, containing a damping medium-filled cylinder, in which a piston rod with a piston is installed with freedom of axial movement, where, as a function of the stroke of the piston, a bypass connects a working space on the piston rod side to a working space on the side away from the piston rod, the two spaces being separated from each other by the piston, where the piston has at least one through-channel for at least one flow direction, the outlet side this channel being at least partially covered by at least one valve disk, so that a surface is present on the valve disk upon which pressure can act in the opening direction of the disk, where, in addition to the said pressure-actuated surface, the valve disk also has a second pressure-actuated surface, which is separated from the first when the valve disk is closed and which can be put into action by the bypass, so that the effects of the two pressure-actuated surfaces are added to each other.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 17, 2004
    Date of Patent: September 26, 2006
    Assignee: ZF Sachs AG
    Inventor: Manfred Grundei
  • Patent number: 7107870
    Abstract: A motor vehicle includes a drive train having a drive unit, a gearbox having a first gearbox input shaft and a second gearbox input shaft, and a clutch having a first clutch device which is associated with the first gearbox input shaft, and a second clutch device which is associated with the second gearbox input shaft, for transferring torque between the drive unit and the gearbox. The first and second clutch devices are plate clutches to which an operating fluid, such as a cooling oil, is supplied to operate the same. The gearbox is associated with an actuator device and a control device for controlling the actuator device, the arrangement of which enables the gears associated with the first and second gearbox input shafts to be engaged and disengaged. The control device is designed such that at least one gear is automatically engaged by the actuator device, as a result of the clutch release of the vehicle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 1, 2005
    Date of Patent: September 19, 2006
    Assignee: ZF Sachs AG
    Inventors: Jochen Kuhstrebe, Olaf Moseler, Axel Rohm, Eduard Steiner, Rainer Reuthal, Hans-Jürgen Schneider, Wolfgang Kundermann, Jörg Sudau, Thomas John, Thomas Strasser