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).
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Patent number: 7147093Abstract: 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: GrantFiled: June 4, 2004Date of Patent: December 12, 2006Assignee: ZF Sachs AGInventors: Reinhold Weidinger, Winfried Stürmer
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Patent number: 7143886Abstract: 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: GrantFiled: June 4, 2004Date of Patent: December 5, 2006Assignee: ZF Sachs AGInventors: Winfried Stürmer, Reinhold Weidinger
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Patent number: 7140482Abstract: 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: GrantFiled: June 4, 2004Date of Patent: November 28, 2006Assignee: ZF Sachs AGInventors: Reinhold Weidinger, Winfried Stürmer
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Patent number: 7063199Abstract: 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: GrantFiled: June 4, 2004Date of Patent: June 20, 2006Assignee: ZF Sachs AGInventors: Reinhold Weidinger, Winfried Stürmer
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Patent number: 7017725Abstract: 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: GrantFiled: June 4, 2004Date of Patent: March 28, 2006Assignee: ZF Sachs AGInventors: Reinhold Weidinger, Winfried Stürmer
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Patent number: 6502683Abstract: 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: GrantFiled: December 8, 2000Date of Patent: January 7, 2003Assignee: Mannesmann Sachs AGInventors: Winfried Stürmer, Norbert Lohaus
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Patent number: 6234290Abstract: 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: GrantFiled: August 6, 1999Date of Patent: May 22, 2001Assignee: Mannesmann Sachs AGInventors: Hans-Jürgen Drexl, Barbara Ester, Frank Hirschmann, Jürgen Liebler, Joachim Lindner, Thomas Otto, Jörg Pankoke, Winfried Stürmer
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Patent number: 6186302Abstract: 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: GrantFiled: July 12, 1999Date of Patent: February 13, 2001Assignee: Mannesmann Sachs AGInventors: Hans-Jürgen Drexl, Reinhold Weidinger, Winfried Stürmer