Clutch-brake unit

Claim 2

A clutch-brake unit comprising: a housing defining a central cavity between opposite longitudinally spaced end walls, one of said end walls having a plurality of circumferentially spaced, axially extending bores; a shaft extending coaxially through said opposite spaced end walls and comprising first and second coaxially arranged shaft sections; a series of radially disposed clutch plates mounted in said cavity for rotation with said first shaft section; a series of radially disposed brake plates spaced axially from said clutch plates and non-rotatably disposed in said cavity; a series of friction discs mounted on said second shaft section for rotation therewith and adapted for selective frictional engagement with said clutch and brake plates; clutch aNd brake actuating members located on axially opposite sides of said friction discs and movable axially of said shaft sections, with movement thereof in one direction serving simultaneously to frictionally engage said clutch plates with certain of said friction discs and to release the remaining friction discs from frictional engagement with said brake plates and with movement thereof in the other direction serving simultaneously to release said clutch plates from said frictional engagement with said certain friction discs and to frictionally engage said remaining friction discs with said brake plates; a non-rotatable piston member disposed in said housing coaxial of said shaft and movable between first and second positions for effecting axial movement of said actuating members; spring means located in said plurality of circumferentially spaced, axially extending bores for urging said piston member toward one of said positions; first pressure applying means including a pressurized fluid acting against one side of said piston member for urging said piston member toward the other of said positions against the bias of said spring means, and removable closure means also located in said plurality of circumferentially spaced, axially extending bores proximate one end of said spring means for providing access to said spring means to permit inspection and adjustment of said spring means without requiring entry into said cavity.

Claim 3

The clutch-brake unit as set forth in claim 1 wherein said non-rotatable piston is double sided and double acting, and wherein said unit further comprises second pressure applying means supplementing said spring means for urging said piston member toward said one position.

Claim 4

A clutch-brake unit as set forth in claim 1 which includes a plurality of rod members extending axially of said shaft and circumferentially spaced therearound, said rod members operatively connecting said clutch and brake actuating means for movement in response to movement of said piston member.

Claim 5

A clutch-brake unit comprising: a housing defining a central cavity between opposite longitudinally spaced end walls, one of said end walls having a plurality of circumferentially spaced, axially extending bores; drive shaft means comprising coaxially aligned input and output shaft sections rotatably mounted in said housing; said input shaft sections extending from one end of said housing and said output shaft section extending from the opposite end of said housing, common bearing means located in said cavity and rotatably connecting adjacent ends of said input and output shaft sections; a series of radially disposed clutch plates mounted in said cavity for rotation with said input shaft section; a series of radially disposed brake plates spaced axially from said clutch plates and non-rotatably disposed in said cavity; a series of friction discs mounted on said output shaft section for rotation therewith and adapted for selective frictional engagement with said clutch and brake plates; clutch and brake actuating means movable axially of said shaft sections, with movement thereof in one direction serving simultaneously to frictionally engage said clutch plates with certain of said friction discs and to release the remaining friction discs from frictional engagement with said brake plates and with movement thereof in the other direction serving simultaneously to release said clutch plates from said frictional engagement with said certain friction discs and to frictionally engage said remaining friction discs with said brake plates, a double sided, double acting non-rotatable piston member disposed in said housing and movable between first and second axial positions for effecting axial movement of said actuating means; first pressure applying means including a pressurized fluid acting against one side of said piston member for urging said member toward one of said axial positions; and second pressure applying means acting against the other side of said piston member for urging said member tOward the other of said axial positions; said second pressure applying means including a plurality of resilient spring elements disposed one in each of said plurality of circumferentially spaced, axially extending bores.

Claim 6

A clutch-brake unit comprising: a housing defining a central cavity between opposite longitudinally spaced end walls, one of said end walls having a plurality of circumferentially spaced, axially extending bores; drive shaft means comprising coaxially aligned input and output shaft sections rotatably mounted in said housing; said input shaft sections extending from one end of said housing and said output shaft section extending from the opposite end of said housing, common bearing means located in said cavity and rotatably connecting adjacent ends of said input and output shaft sections; a series of radially disposed clutch plates mounted in said cavity for rotation with said input shaft section; a series of radially disposed brake plates spaced axially from said clutch plates and non-rotatably disposed in said cavity; a series of friction discs mounted on said output shaft section for rotation therewith and adapted for selective frictional engagement with said clutch and brake plates; clutch and brake actuating means movable axially of said shaft sections, with movement thereof in one direction serving simultaneously to frictionally engage said clutch plates with certain of said friction discs and to release the remaining friction discs from frictional engagement with said brake plates and with movement thereof in the other direction serving simultaneously to release said clutch plates from said frictional engagement with said certain friction discs and to frictionally engage said remaining friction discs with said brake plates, a double sided, double acting non-rotatable piston member disposed in said housing and movable between first and second axial positions for effecting axial movement of said actuating means; first pressure applying means including a pressurized fluid acting against one side of said piston member for urging said member toward one of said axial positions; and second pressure applying means acting against the other side of said piston member for urging said member tOward the other of said axial positions; said second pressure applying means including a plurality of resilient spring elements disposed one in each of said plurality of circumferentially spaced, axially extending bores.

Claim 7

The clutch-brake unit as set forth in claim 4 wherein said housing is cooled by air circulating means driven by one of said first and second coaxially arranged shaft sections and wherein said air circulating means comprises a plurality of air circulating fan elements.

Claim 8

A clutch-brake unit comprising; a housing defining a central cavity between opposite exterior longitudinally spaced end walls, said housing including a plurality of circumferentially spaced axially extending bores; a shaft extending coaxially through said opposite spaced end walls and comprising first and second coaxially arranged shaft sections, one end of one of said coaxially arranged shaft sections disposed in part within a recessed area of the other of said shaft sections; anti-friction bearing means interposed between the inner periphery of said recessed area and the outer periphery of said one end of said shaft section for rotatably supporting said last mentioned section; a series of radially disposed clutch plates mounted in said cavity for rotation with one of said shaft sections; a series of radially disposed brake plates spaced axially from said clutch plates and non-rotatably disposed in said cavity; a series of friction discs mounted on the other of said shaft sections for rotation therewith and adapted for selective frictional engagement with said clutch and brake plates; clutch and brake actuating means movable axially of said shaft sections, with movement thereof in one direction serving simultaneously to frictionally engage said clutch plates with certain of said friction discs and to release the remaining friction discs from frictional engagement with said brake plates and with movement thereof in the other direction serving simultaneously to release said clutch plates from said frictional engagement with said certain friction discs and to frictionally engage said remaining friction discs with said brake plates; a double sided, double acting non-rotatable piston member disposed in said housing coaxially of said shaft sections, and movable between a first position for effecting operation of the brake and a second position for effecting operation of the clutch; spring means located in said axially extending bores for urging said piston member toward said first position; means for communicating a pressurized media into said housing adapted to act against one side of said piston member for biasing said piston member toward said first position, and means for communicating a pressurized media into said housing adapted to act against the opposite side of said piston member for biasing said piston member toward said second position.

Claim 9

A clutch-brake unit comprising; a housing defining a central cavity between opposite exterior longitudinally spaced end walls, said housing including a plurality of circumferentially spaced axially extending bores; a shaft extending coaxially through said opposite spaced end walls and comprising first and second coaxially arranged shaft sections, one end of one of said coaxially arranged shaft sections disposed in part within a recessed area of the other of said shaft sections; anti-friction bearing means interposed between the inner periphery of said recessed area and the outer periphery of said one end of said shaft section for rotatably supporting said last mentioned section; a series of radially disposed clutch plates mounted in said cavity for rotation with one of said shaft sections; a series of radially disposed brake plates spaced axially from said clutch plates and non-rotatably disposed in said cavity; a series of friction discs mounted on the other of said shaft sections for rotation therewith and adapted for selective frictional engagement with said clutch and brake plates; clutch and brake actuating means movable axially of said shaft sections, with movement thereof in one direction serving simultaneously to frictionally engage said clutch plates with certain of said friction discs and to release the remaining friction discs from frictional engagement with said brake plates and with movement thereof in the other direction serving simultaneously to release said clutch plates from said frictional engagement with said certain friction discs and to frictionally engage said remaining friction discs with said brake plates; a double sided, double acting non-rotatable piston member disposed in said housing coaxially of said shaft sections, and movable between a first position for effecting operation of the brake and a second position for effecting operation of the clutch; spring means located in said axially extending bores for urging said piston member toward said first position; means for communicating a pressurized media into said housing adapted to act against one side of said piston member for biasing said piston member toward said first position, and means for communicating a pressurized media into said housing adapted to act against the opposite side of said piston member for biasing said piston member toward said second position.

Claim 10

A clutch-brake unit as set forth in claim 6 wherein said axially extending bores are provided with removable closure means adapted to be easily removed from the exterior of said housing to provide access to said spring means and thereby permit convenient inspection of said spring means without requiring entry into said cavity.

Claim 11

A clutch-brake unit as set forth in claim 6 wherein said friction discs are arranged in first and second axially spaced groups, said first group of friction discs being selectively frictionally engageable with said clutch plates for drivingly connecting said first shaft section with said second shaft section and said second plurality of friction discs being selectively frictionally engageable with said brake plates to non-rotatably connect one of said shaft sections with said housing.

Claim 12

A clutch-break unit as set forth in claim 6 wherein said spring means comprises a plurality of helical spring elements disposed one within each of said circumferentially spaced, axially extending bores, said spring elements being disposed adjacent said piston member and bearIng against one side thereof for resiliently urging said piston member toward one of said positions.

Claim 13

A clutch-brake unit as set forth in claim 6 which includes a quantity of hydraulic fluid within said cavity, said fluid being operable to transmit torque between said shaft sections by means of the viscous shear of said fluid between said plates and said discs.

Claim 14

A clutch-break unit as set forth in claim 6 wherein said spring means comprises a plurality of helical coil springs operable in a failsafe capacity to urge said piston member toward said first position to effect engagement of said brake plates with said certain friction discs upon a preselected reduction of the fluid pressure acting against said piston member.

Claim 15

A clutch-brake unit as set forth in claim 6 which includes means on and rotatable with one of said shaft sections for circulating a heat transfer media.

Claim 16

A clutch-brake unit as set forth in claim 6 which includes additional bearing means located interiorly of said spaced end walls and operable to rotatably support said shaft sections.

Claim 17

A clutch-brake unit as set forth in claim 13 wherein said additional bearing means comprises first and second ball bearing assemblies disposed interiorly of said spaced end walls and operable to rotatably support said first and second shaft sections, respectively.

Claim 18

A clutch-brake unit as set forth in claim 6 which includes mounting means integrally formed on the lower side of said housing for operatively supporting said unit upon a suitable support surface.

Claim 19

A clutch-brake unit as set forth in claim 6 wherein said spring means comprises a plurality of helical spring elements disposed one within each of said circumferentially spaced, axially extending bores, said spring elements bearing against one side of said piston member and operable in a failsafe capacity to urge said piston member toward said first position to effect engagement of said brake plates with said certain friction discs upon a preselected reduction of the fluid pressure acting against said piston member, and which includes a quantity of hydraulic fluid within said cavity, said fluid being operable to transmit torque between said shaft sections by means of the viscous shear of said fluid between said plate and said discs.

Claim 20

A clutch-brake unit as set forth in claim 6 which includes means on and rotatable with one of said shaft sections for circulating a heat transfer media, which includes additional bearing means located interiorly of said spaced end walls, said additional bearing means comprising first and second ball bearing assemblies disposed interiorly of said spaced end walls and operable to rotatably support said first and second shaft sections, respectively, and which includes mounting means integrally formed on the lower side of said housing for operatively supporting said unit upon a suitable support surface.