Patents Assigned to ZF Sachs AG
  • Patent number: 7104376
    Abstract: The invention relates to a clutch arrangement, in particular for a motor vehicle, comprising a housing arrangement which is filled or can be filled with fluid, at least one first friction member which is coupled with the housing arrangement for commonly rotating, at least one second friction member which is coupled or can be coupled with a driven shaft for commonly rotating, a fluid supply area for introducing fluid into a delimited area of said housing arrangement, in which the first and second friction members operate, a fluid discharge area for evacuating the fluid from the delimited area, as well as an energy accumulator, by means of which the first and second friction members are prestressed in friction interaction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 6, 2002
    Date of Patent: September 12, 2006
    Assignee: ZF Sachs AG
    Inventor: Jörg Sudau
  • Patent number: 7097015
    Abstract: A suspension system for motor vehicles includes a piston-cylinder assembly having a working cylinder, a piston rod guidably inserted in a piston rod guide in the cylinder, and a damping piston having damping valves movably arranged in the working cylinder and connected to the piston rod. A shape-changing, enclosed envelope body is provided as an equalization space. A wall of the enclosed envelope is a gas-tight blocking layer. A connecting element connected to the enclosed envelope body is held in the piston rod guide, wherein the connecting element is non-detachably inserted into a drilled hole defined in the piston rod guide.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 6, 2004
    Date of Patent: August 29, 2006
    Assignee: ZF Sachs AG
    Inventor: Hubert Beck
  • Patent number: 7080722
    Abstract: A multiple clutch system, particularly a double clutch system, includes a housing arrangement connectable to a drive element and rotatable therewith about an axis of rotation. The clutch system include a first coupling area and a second coupling area. The first coupling area includes a first pressure plate for pressing a friction area of a first clutch disc against an abutment area, the first pressure plate being rotatable with the housing arrangement, and first actuator device for activating the first coupling area to execute controlling operations. The second coupling area includes a second pressing plate for pressing a friction area of a second clutch disc against an abutment area, the second pressure plate being rotatable with the housing arrangement, and a second actuator device for activating the second coupling area to execute controlling operations.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 27, 2002
    Date of Patent: July 25, 2006
    Assignee: ZF Sachs AG
    Inventors: Sebastian Vogt, Andreas Orlamünder
  • Patent number: 7077248
    Abstract: Suspension strut unit comprising a connector bearing for piston rod of the suspension strut unit, a spring plate for a vehicle spring, and a first has a bearing with a bearing input part on the spring plate side and a bearing output part on the connector bearing side, which bearing allows relative rotational movement between the vehicle spring and the connector bearing of the piston rod. After the piston rod has traveled inward a certain distance, the cylinder is supported against the connector bearing by way of a stop buffer. A second bearing allows relative rotational movement between the connector bearing and the cylinder when the stop buffer is active; the second bearing is located functionally between the stop buffer and the connector bearing, and a functional separation is present between the bearing input part for the spring plate and the second bearing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 24, 2004
    Date of Patent: July 18, 2006
    Assignee: ZF Sachs AG
    Inventors: Günther Handke, Manfred Schuler, Wolfgang Breun, Ali Dogan, Stephan Zuber
  • Patent number: 7077390
    Abstract: Spring strut comprising a cylinder, with respect to which the axial position of a spring collar can be adjusted, where the spring collar has a sleeve section, by which it is connected to the cylinder, where, on the cylinder side, a chamber is provided, which is at least partially filled with a curable material, where the sleeve section is in contact with the curable material, which, when in the solid state, transmits a supporting force from the cylinder to the spring collar, where the chamber has at least one isolating sleeve with a radial guide surface, by which the sleeve is in contact with the sleeve section of the spring collar.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 16, 2004
    Date of Patent: July 18, 2006
    Assignee: ZF Sachs AG
    Inventors: Alexander Miller, Manfred Schuler, Klaus Stretz
  • Patent number: 7073646
    Abstract: A torsional vibration damper on the bridging clutch of a hydrodynamic clutch arrangement has a first connecting device, which can be brought into working connection with the clutch housing and with a drive-side transmission element. The drive-side transmission element is connected via first energy-storage devices to an intermediate transmission element. The torsional vibration damper also has a second connecting device for establishing a working connection via second energy-storage devices between the intermediate transmission element and a takeoff-side transmission element, which is connected to a takeoff-side component of the hydrodynamic clutch arrangement. The intermediate transmission element accepts a mass element, located operatively between the two connecting devices.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 2, 2004
    Date of Patent: July 11, 2006
    Assignee: ZF Sachs AG
    Inventors: Christoph Sasse, Jörg Sudau, Ralf Rönnebeck, Jürgen Ackermann, Peter Frey, Erwin Wack, Frank Zerner
  • Patent number: 7063199
    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 on an actuation path 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: June 20, 2006
    Assignee: ZF Sachs AG
    Inventors: Reinhold Weidinger, Winfried Stürmer
  • Patent number: 7036802
    Abstract: A suspension strut includes an outer tube having a first filling opening and a second filling opening, an intermediate wall received in the outer tube and separating a high pressure chamber from a low pressure chamber, a working cylinder located concentrically inside the outer tube in the high pressure chamber, and a gas filled separating envelope located between the working cylinder and the outer tube for pressurizing damping medium in the high pressure chamber. An axially displaceable piston divides the working cylinder into a first working space and a second working space, the first working space being connected to the high pressure chamber. A hollow piston rod passing through the second working space transports damping medium from the low pressure chamber to the first working space.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 21, 2004
    Date of Patent: May 2, 2006
    Assignee: ZF Sachs AG
    Inventor: Hubert Beck
  • Patent number: 7032896
    Abstract: Piston-cylinder assembly, comprising a container tube, in which a piston rod is guided with freedom of axial movement, which rod is at least partially covered by a sheath tube with at least one elastic fold, where a resilient stop pad is provided concentrically to the piston rod, the end of which pad comes to rest against an end cap during the inward travel of the piston rod, which end cap rests against the container tube in the fully assembled piston rod assembly. The stop pad, the sheath tube, and the end cap form a preassembled unit which is independent of the piston rod assembly, the end cap being pressed onto the container tube by the resilient stop pad during the inward travel of the piston rod into the container tube.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 13, 2002
    Date of Patent: April 25, 2006
    Assignee: ZF Sachs AG
    Inventors: John Collis, Volker-Oliver Hupperich
  • Patent number: 7021448
    Abstract: A clutch disk for a friction clutch includes a friction lining carrier and at least one friction lining element, which is connected to the friction lining carrier for rotation in common with it, and which can shift in the circumferential direction relative to this carrier against the pretensioning effect of a restoring arrangement. The disk also includes a friction device, which generates a frictional force acting in opposition to the displacement of the friction lining element relative to the friction lining carrier.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 1, 2003
    Date of Patent: April 4, 2006
    Assignee: ZF Sachs AG
    Inventors: Matthias Diemer, Ingrid Hoffelner
  • Patent number: 7021443
    Abstract: A clutch system, especially for a motor vehicle, includes a housing that is or can be filled with a fluid, at least one first friction element that is linked with the housing to rotate with the same, and at least one second friction element that is or can be linked with a drive shaft to rotate with the same. The clutch system is radially mounted relative components of a drive system in at least two radial bearing zones that are spaced apart from each other in the direction of a rotational axis.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 6, 2002
    Date of Patent: April 4, 2006
    Assignee: ZF Sachs AG
    Inventor: Jörg Sudau
  • Patent number: 7021422
    Abstract: A clutch system includes a clutch arrangement between a drive unit and a transmission, a pump arrangement which supplies pressure medium to the clutch arrangement at a pressure and rate of flow, and an operating medium supply arrangement which supplies an operating medium to the clutch arrangement at a pressure which is less than the pressure of the pressure medium and a rate of flow which is greater than the rate of flow of the pressure medium. The operating medium supply arrangement includes a pressure receiving element which is movable in a housing and has at least one pressure receiving surface which is exposed to the pressure medium, and an interaction element which is coupled to move with the pressure receiving element and has at least one interaction surface which interacts with the operating medium to produce a flow of the operating medium.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 30, 2001
    Date of Patent: April 4, 2006
    Assignee: ZF Sachs AG
    Inventors: Thomas Busold, Wolfgang Grosspietsch, Olaf Moseler
  • Patent number: 7021434
    Abstract: Self-pumping hydropneumatic suspension strut with internal height control, in particular for motor vehicles with a work cylinder which is filled with oil and is under pressure by at least one gas cushion which is arranged in a high-pressure chamber and which acts as a spring, the work cylinder being divided into two work spaces by a work piston supported by a hollow piston rod, with a piston pump which is driven by the spring movements and conveys oil out of a low-pressure chamber into the work space connected to the high-pressure chamber and connects the work space connected to the high-pressure chamber to the low-pressure chamber by a regulating opening which is closable depending on the position of the work piston in the work cylinder, wherein a flow connection running through an intermediate wall and opening out below the surface of the oil is provided between the pump space and the low-pressure chamber, wherein the flow connection is arranged in the intermediate wall and has at least one bore hole in the
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 2, 2004
    Date of Patent: April 4, 2006
    Assignee: ZF Sachs AG
    Inventor: Hubert Beck
  • Patent number: 7017892
    Abstract: A suspension strut including a piston rod extending from a cylinder, a connection bearing for connecting the piston rod to a vehicle body, a spring loading the cylinder away from the connection bearing, and a spring plate supporting the spring axially with respect to the connection bearing. A first bearing enables relative rotational movement between the spring plate and the connection bearing, and a second bearing enables relative rotational movement between the connection bearing and a stop buffer arranged between the connection bearing and the cylinder.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 28, 2002
    Date of Patent: March 28, 2006
    Assignee: ZF Sachs AG
    Inventors: Gabriela Hurrlein, Manfred Schuler, Alexander Miller, Klaus Stretz, Michael Hurrlein
  • Patent number: 7017725
    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. 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 along a force transmission path between the supporting element and the pressing plate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 4, 2004
    Date of Patent: March 28, 2006
    Assignee: ZF Sachs AG
    Inventors: Reinhold Weidinger, Winfried Stürmer
  • Patent number: 7017719
    Abstract: A piston is guided with freedom of axial movement in a damping medium-filled pressure tube, the piston dividing the pressure tube into a working space on the piston rod side of the piston and a working space on the side away from the piston rod. The medium can flow in either direction through a fluid connection between the two working spaces of the pressure tube, in which connection an adjustable damping valve for the incoming flow is provided for when the piston rod is traveling inward. The outgoing flow side of the valve is connected at least to the working space on the piston rod side of the piston and a compensating space. The adjustable damping valve can be controlled by way of a sidestream inside the fluid connection between the working space on the side away from the piston rod and the working space on the piston rod side of the piston, the adjustable damping valve having a sidestream channel leading to the compensating space.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 22, 2003
    Date of Patent: March 28, 2006
    Assignee: ZF Sachs AG
    Inventor: Andreas Förster
  • Patent number: 7014025
    Abstract: A housing arrangement can be connected to a flywheel for rotation in common around an axis of rotation, and a pressure element is connected to the housing arrangement for rotation in common around the axis of rotation but is able to shift in the axial direction. A release spring arrangement includes at least one spring element which acts on the pressure element and is supported against the flywheel after the housing arrangement has been attached to the flywheel. Each spring element is held in place on the pressure element by means of a fastening element.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 26, 2004
    Date of Patent: March 21, 2006
    Assignee: ZF Sachs AG
    Inventors: Alfred Schauer, Bernd Kuhn, Thomas Schubert, Jürgen Pfeifer
  • Patent number: 7013206
    Abstract: One or several vibration dampers of a vehicle suspension have a damping force arrangement wherein a control signal is computed within the actuating range in accordance with a standard control method for adjusting the damper characteristic. The drive of a damper adjustable in accordance with this invention is so improved that body movements (notwithstanding a harder adjusted damping for critical driving situations) are substantially suppressed as early as possible. In specific driving situations, the adjusting range of the damper force is changed in that the upper limit of the adjusting range is raised or lowered and/or the lower limit of the adjusting range is raised or lowered. A soft damper setting takes place preferably in dependence upon signals which announce or display a change of the vehicle longitudinal deceleration or vehicle transverse acceleration.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 2, 2003
    Date of Patent: March 14, 2006
    Assignees: Continental Aktiengesellschaft, ZF Sachs AG
    Inventors: Alexander Stiller, Stefan Sommer, Jörg Grotendorst, Eberhard Hees, Thomas Kutsche, Wolfgang Schumacher, Christian Maurischat
  • Patent number: 7011196
    Abstract: A bridging clutch for a hydrodynamic torque converter which is designed with at least one friction area on a first converter component, which area can be shifted into working connection with at least one opposing friction area provided on a second converter component by means of an engaging movement or which can be separated from this second component by a disengaging movement in the direction opposite to the engaging movement. At least one of the two converter components acts as a friction lining carrier, which carries a friction lining in the friction area or in the opposing friction area, at least one opening being provided in the friction lining to allow the passage of transport medium, the inflow area of the opening being on the same radial side of the friction lining as its outflow area.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 2, 2004
    Date of Patent: March 14, 2006
    Assignee: ZF Sachs AG
    Inventor: Jörg Sudau
  • Patent number: 7007784
    Abstract: A clutch assembly includes a clutch cover which can be secured to a flywheel; an intermediate plate spaced from the flywheel; a pressure plate arranged between the clutch cover and the intermediate plate and secured to the clutch cover by resilient straps which urge the pressure plate from an engaged position to a disengaged position; a first friction disk arranged between the pressure plate and the intermediate plate; and a second friction disk arranged between the intermediate plate and the flywheel. Linkage urges the intermediate plate toward the pressure plate so that the second friction disk can be fully disengaged from the flywheel when the pressure plate is retracted during disengagement.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 18, 2005
    Date of Patent: March 7, 2006
    Assignee: ZF Sachs AG
    Inventors: Andrzej Szadkowski, Muneer Abusamra, Ronald B. Morford, Matthew Girlando