TOOTHED CLUTCH RING AND METHOD OF FORMING THE TEETH

摘要

This invention relates to a clutch tooth design which provides increased load carrying ability by having substantial face to face contact of the teeth during a partial engagement of the clutch teeth. The teeth of the clutch are machined to a profile form which is of exponential shape. Mating contact areas lie in a mid-pitch plane perpendicular to the axis of rotation of the clutch. The mutual tangent between two contacting teeth lies in a truly helicoid surface. The essential line contacts resulting from machining are converted by a coining process to areas large enough to carry the service loads. As a result the tooth form developed actually improves with continued use.