VEHICLE CLUTCHES

摘要

A vehicle clutch system in which a driven plate (13) is clamped between a pressure plate (15) and a flywheel (14) by a diaphragm spring (16). The clutch is released by depression of a clutch operating pedal (11) which is connected with the diaphragm spring (16) by an operating mechanism (24, 25, 26, 27, 30). The diaphragm spring (16) has a substantially flat spring clamp load characteristic such that the spring clamp load remains substantially constant throughout the operating life of the clutch. The clutch pedal (11) has an assistor spring means (30) which determines the resistance to depression of the pedal during release of the clutch, and the operating characteristics of the operating mechanism and /or the spring characteristics of the pedal assistor spring means ensure that the resistance to the depression of the pedal (11) increases up to a maximum resistance at or around the disengagement point of the clutch and thereafter reduces. A master cylinder (40, 50) is also disclosed which includes internal return and assistor spring means (46, 47; 56, 57) which act on a piston (42, 52) of the cylinder to provide assistance for the operation of an associated clutch pedal (11).