Clutch plate for road vehicle transmission - has curved radial slots defining strips joining rim to centre to damp torsional vibration on abrupt engagement

摘要

The clutch plate has a centre plate (24) riveted to the hub (12) whilst its outer edge is riveted to a thinner plate forming the friction surface. In the space between the inner (44) and outer rivets (26) a large number of equally spaced curved slots are cut, so that the rim of the plate is joined to the centre by curved strips (32). These curved strips cause the torsional stiffness of the clutch plate to increase with increasing torque. This characteristics damps out any torsional vibration created by abrupt engagement of the clutch.