Clutch control bearings

Claim 2

A clutch control bearing adapted to be slidably mounted on a shaft and comprising; a hub plate; a thrust assembly comprising; a pair of annular members; the annular members providing a pair of rolling surfaces facing one another and forming raceways; and antifriction members disposed between the raceways; the thrust assembly being mounted for substantially free radial movement with respect to the shaft; and resilient means operatively positioned between and engaging the hub plate and the thrust assembly to bias the thrust assembly toward a radially central position and to yieldably permit the radial movement of the thrust assembly, to compensate for a clutch running eccentrically to the thrust assembly.

Claim 3

A bearing according to claim 1 wherein; the annular members are radially spaced; and the resilient means being positioned between the radially outermost annular member and the hub plate.

Claim 4

A bearing according to claim 1 wherein; the annular members are radially spaced; and the resilient means being positioned between the radially innermost annular member and the hub plate.

Claim 5

A bearing according to claim 2 wherein; the resilient means comprises an annular resilient member provided with radially projecting lugs.

Claim 6

A bearing according to claim 3 wherein: the resilient means comprises an annular resilient member provided with radially projecting lugs.

Claim 7

A bearing according to claim 2 wherein; the resilient means comprises a corrugated annular separator member. 7 A bearing according to claim 3 wherein: the resilient means comprises a corrugated annular separator member.

Claim 8

A bearing according to claim 2 wherein; the hub plate has a flange radially enclosing at least part of the outermost annular member; the flange being provided with a plurality of slots facing radially inwardly; the resilient means comprising resilient separator pads inserted into the slots and extending radially inwardly to contact the outermost annular member.

Claim 9

A bearing according to claim 1 and further including; a wobblE plate axially positioned between the thrust assembly and the hub plate; the wobble plate including; first diametrically opposed corrugations convex towards the thrust assembly, and second diametrically opposed corrugations convex towards the hub plate, the second corrugations being displaced from the first corrugations to permit the thrust assembly to tilt axially with respect to the shaft.

Claim 10

A bearing according to claim 9 wherein the first and second corrugations each comprise a pair of corrugations, each pair being displaced by 90*.

Claim 11

A clutch control bearing adapted to be slidably mounted on a shaft and comprising; a hub plate; a thrust assembly including: a pair of annular members; the annular members providing a pair of rolling surfaces facing one another and forming raceways; and antifriction members disposed between the raceways; and a wobble plate including: first diametrically opposed corrugations convex in one axial direction; and second diametrically opposed corrugations convex in the other axial direction and displaced 90* from the first corrugations; the wobble plate being positioned axially between the hub plate and the thrust assembly to permit the thrust assembly to tilt axially with respect to the shaft and the hub plate to compensate for irregularities between the clutch plate mechanism and the thrust assembly.

Claim 12

A clutch control bearing adapted to be slidably mounted on a shaft and comprising; a hub plate; a thrust assembly including: a pair of annular members; the annular members providing a pair of rolling surfaces facing one another and forming raceways; and antifriction members disposed between the raceways; and a wobble plate including: first diametrically opposed corrugations convex in one axial direction; and second diametrically opposed corrugations convex in the other axial direction and displaced 90* from the first corrugations; the wobble plate being positioned axially between the hub plate and the thrust assembly to permit the thrust assembly to tilt axially with respect to the shaft and the hub plate to compensate for irregularities between the clutch plate mechanism and the thrust assembly.