A manual transmission for use in an automotive vehicle is generally connected to the engine through a friction clutch whose engagement and disengagement is determined by the manual movement of a clutch pedal, typically controlled by the vehicle driver with his/her foot. Frequent applying the clutch pedal in high density traffic or holding the clutch pedal down during long stops can be fatiguing to the driver.
Therefore, a clutch booster to reduce the effort required to operate such a clutch of a vehicle is desirable. With hydraulic assistance the disengagement of the vehicle's transmission can be easily accomplished.
A conventional clutch booster is generally designed to convert the stamp-down force on the clutch pedal of an automobile into a corresponding hydraulic pressure by way of a master cylinder incorporated in the hydraulic clutch system. With this construction, it is essentially required to adapt the master cylinder and the hydraulic piping therefor in the hydraulic clutch system, or to provide the clutch booster with a hydraulic cylinder, and the like, which would naturally make this system complicated substantially in its mechanical construction, and consequently, result in an economical disadvantage in its production cost.
Additionally, clutches generally have a plurality of plates with friction engaging surfaces that transmit torque when the clutch plates (discs) are compressed and interrupt torque transfer when pressure is released from the clutch plates. All clutches are subject to wear over time and require adjustment to provide a desired clutch engagement position for optimal performance.
Clutch boosters with the abilities of either automatically or manually adjusting clutches have been developed. However, automatically adjusting clutches require complicated mechanical linkages that add cost to the clutch assembly. Automatically adjusting clutches also require additional parts that add weight and may complicate clutch operation. Manually adjusted clutches may provide the optimal performance associated with a properly adjusted clutch but require periodic manual adjustments. In addition, it is difficult to determine the extent of clutch wear without disassembling the clutch with most clutch assemblies.
Improvements are made by measuring the amount of clutch wearing and providing such clutch boosters with an externally visible indication of clutch wearing. Further, when the amount of clutch wearing is greater than a predetermined value, the clutch boosters will a warning or alarm signal, indicating that the clutch plates need to be adjusted or replaced. However, such a clutch wearing measurement is not accurate and may not stand for the actually clutch wearing in a clutch system. On the other hand, maintaining and/or repairing the clutch system need specialists, and are very costly.
Therefore, a heretofore unaddressed need exists in the art to address the aforementioned deficiencies and inadequacies.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds