Patents by Inventor Winfried Stürmer

Winfried Stürmer has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • 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: 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: 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: 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: 6502683
    Abstract: A driver disk for a clutch plate includes a facing carrier for holding friction facings. The facing carrier is designed in one piece with facing springs for axial suspension of the friction facings. The facing springs are constructed as pot-shaped protuberances and have a flat area provided for contacting the friction facings. Since the facing springs are made as one piece with the facing carrier, the driver disk has only a small number of structural component parts and can be produced very economically.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 8, 2000
    Date of Patent: January 7, 2003
    Assignee: Mannesmann Sachs AG
    Inventors: Winfried Stürmer, Norbert Lohaus
  • Patent number: 6234290
    Abstract: An actuating installation for a friction clutch arranged in the drive line between a drive unit and a transmission. The installation having an actuating arrangement for the actuation of the friction clutch and a clutch-pedal arrangement, which is connected to the actuating arrangement and has a clutch pedal, which, in a first operating state, is actuable according to a force-travel characteristic of a first type. The actuating installation has a signaling and/or protection device, which is in operative connection with or is operatively integrated in the clutch-pedal arrangement, so that, after the response of the signaling and/or protection device to a second operating state, the clutch pedal can be actuated only according to a force/travel characteristic of a second type, which differs significantly from the force/travel characteristic of the first type in order thus to indicate the second operating state.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 6, 1999
    Date of Patent: May 22, 2001
    Assignee: Mannesmann Sachs AG
    Inventors: Hans-Jürgen Drexl, Barbara Ester, Frank Hirschmann, Jürgen Liebler, Joachim Lindner, Thomas Otto, Jörg Pankoke, Winfried Stürmer
  • Patent number: 6186302
    Abstract: An adjustment ring of a motor-vehicle clutch is supported on bearing surfaces of supporting protrusions of a pressure plate by one of first and second supporting surfaces on the adjustment ring. The second supporting surface is axially closer to the pressure plate than the first supporting surface. The bearing surfaces and the first and second supporting surfaces are aligned parallel to the plane of rotation of the pressure plate. The first and second supporting surfaces are each connected via an oblique surface so that the adjustment ring is manually rotatable relative to the pressure plate between a first position where the first supporting surface bears on the bearing surface and a second position where the second supporting surface bears on the bearing surface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 12, 1999
    Date of Patent: February 13, 2001
    Assignee: Mannesmann Sachs AG
    Inventors: Hans-Jürgen Drexl, Reinhold Weidinger, Winfried Stürmer