Hydraulic pressure cylinder with combined boot and spring

摘要

A slave cylinder particularly suited for use in a hydraulic clutch release system for a motor vehicle. The cylinder includes a spring boot which serves as both a dust boot and a preload spring device. In one embodiment of the invention, the cylinder is an external slave cylinder and the spring boot extends from a rear end of the cylinder body to a rear end of the pushrod and acts to apply a preload force through the pushrod and through the release lever to the release bearing while simultaneously precluding the entry of dust and other contaminants into the interface between the piston and the cylinder bore. In another embodiment of the invention, the slave cylinder is a concentric slave cylinder and the spring boot is positioned in surrounding relation to the main body of the cylinder housing with the front end of the spring boot bearing against a flange portion of the housing and the rear end of the spring boot bearing against the non-rotating race of the release bearing so that the spring boot exerts the desired preload directly on the release bearing and simultaneously precludes the entry of contaminants into the interface between the housing and the annular piston. The front and rear ends of the boot define annular toothed configurations for respective mating coaction with annular toothed configurations on the flange portion of the housing and on the non-rotating race of the bearing whereby to preclude rotation of the non-rotating race induced by rotation of the rotating race.