FR2853122A1 - Clutch releaser for vehicles drive simulator, has cylindrical unit guiding clutch bearing, and guiding ring and control lever driving rod to move clutch fork and clutch bearing towards backward position - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a clutch restorer comprising, a clutch block (33) containing a clutch mechanism (38), a clutch stop (44) and a clutch fork (54) supported on pivot means (66, 68, 70, 72). The restorer, comprises clutch support support means (46) for guiding said clutch support (44); detection means (90) for detecting the position of said clutch stop (44); and, lockable displacement means (82, 73) of said pivoting means (66, 68, 70, 72) adapted to drive them in a retracted position allowing the displacement of said fork (54) and said clutch stop ( 44) to a remote position.

Description

Workplace restorer

  The present invention relates to a clutch restorer making it possible to simulate the forces and the stroke of the clutch mechanisms used in motor vehicles.

  One application of this clutch restorer is in particular that of driving simulators intended to reproduce as faithfully as possible the driving conditions of vehicles and for which it is necessary to measure and control the various operating parameters.

  Known devices making it possible to reproduce the driving conditions of a motor vehicle generally include a driving station equipped with all the usual controls of the vehicle and in particular of the clutch control. This clutch control 15 comprises a pedal system which is connected to a device making it possible to restore a determined force on the pedal as a function of its relative displacement.

  Document US Pat. No. 5,277,584 describes a driving position equipping a chassis mounted on means capable of vibrating to simulate a real driving situation, and the foot control means, in particular the clutch control, consist of pneumatic cylinders whose end of the cylinder rod is provided with a footrest to form the pedal. Thus, the pressure of the cylinders is managed by a computer as a function of the relative position of the rod in the body of the cylinder which is detected by means of position sensors.

  In this way, the force exerted on the clutch pedal is restored, in particular, as a function of its degree of depression by a determined air pressure of the jack which is established in relation to values presumed or measured on a vehicle. real.

  Clutch systems include separate mechanisms with different reaction forces that a pneumatic release mechanism can hardly restore.

  2 2853122 An object of the present invention is to provide a clutch restorer which allows not only more faithfully to restore the reaction forces on the bottom bracket system as a function of the stroke thereof, but also which is relatively compact. with regard to the aforementioned device, which requires an installation for managing the pressure of the pneumatic circuit.

  To this end, the present invention provides a clutch restorer comprising, a clutch block containing a clutch mechanism, a clutch stop intended to cooperate with said block and to be driven between a rest position and a active position in which it bears against said mechanism to disengage it. Said restorer comprises a clutch fork having a first end adapted to bear against said clutch stop, an intermediate part bearing on pivoting means and a second traction end making it possible to pivot said fork to drive said stop. clutch to said active position, and it comprises: - clutch stop support means making it possible to guide said clutch stop between said rest position and a retracted position released from said block; - detection means making it possible to detect the position of said clutch stop between said active position and said rest position; and, - lockable displacement means of said pivoting means adapted to drive them into a retracted position allowing the displacement of said fork and of said clutch stop towards said retracted position.

  Thus, a characteristic of the invention lies in the use of a true clutch mechanism contained in a clutch block and in which engages a clutch stop controlled by a mechanism similar to that of a motor vehicle, for which the clutch fork is capable of being moved from the position o 3 2853122 it pivots by virtue of the displacement of the pivoting means so as to allow the release of the clutch stop from said block. In this way, on the one hand the clutch restorer conforms to that of a real clutch and the bottom bracket mechanism to which it is connected provides the same 5 reaction forces depending on its stroke and on the other hand, thanks to with the displaceable pivoting means, the clutch block is retractable, which makes it possible to adapt any type of clutch mechanism to the restorer, whether that of a small car or that of a heavy vehicle.

  According to a particularly advantageous embodiment of the invention, the clutch restorer comprises a rod capable of sliding in a guide ring between a first working position in which said intermediate part is in abutment against the end of said rod, said fork being adapted to pivot around said end, and said retracted position allowing the displacement of said intermediate part and of said clutch fork to allow the displacement of said clutch stopper towards said withdrawn position.

  In this way, the rod whose axis of the guide ring is substantially situated in a plane defined by the pivoting of said clutch fork and which is oriented substantially perpendicular to said fork in abutment against said clutch stop in said rest position makes it possible to form an extremely rigid pivot point, having regard to the forces exerted on it, said pivot point being nevertheless retractable.

  Advantageously, said guide ring has two peripheral holes spaced apart from each other longitudinally along the axis of said guide ring in which said rod is adapted to slide and offset in rotation relative to the another around said guide ring, said two holes being interconnected by a light extending at the periphery of said ring and said rod is secured to a control lever passing through said light to form said displacement means lockable.

  Thus, when the control lever is rotated it bears against the edge of said lumen which ideally forms at least a portion of helix around the guide ring and it causes the longitudinal displacement of the rod and therefore the displacement from its end. Obviously, the propeller portion is of relatively short pitch, so that, when a force is exerted on the clutch fork, in particular to disengage, the control lever comes into abutment against the edge of the light without that it can be rotated despite the inclination of said edge relative to the direction of support of the lever.

  According to a particularly advantageous embodiment, said clutch stopper is mounted at the end of said clutch stopper support means which are movable in translation and said detection means, adapted to provide a signal representative of the amplitude of rotation of a shaft, are kinematically connected to said clutch stop support means by said shaft so that said detection means provide a signal representative of the amplitude of translation of said clutch stop, between said rest position and said active position.

  In this way, by virtue of the transformation of the translational movement of the clutch bearing support means into a rotational movement of said shaft, the displacement of which is measurable on a larger scale, as will be explained in more detail in the following the description, it is possible to determine with greater accuracy the position of the clutch bearing.

  Preferably, the clutch restorer comprises a flat rod, the first end of which is articulated around a fixed point, the intermediate part of which is secured to said clutch support means and the second end of which is mounted in a fork secured to said shaft , the driving in rotation of said rod 2853122 flattens by the movement of said support means being adapted to drive said shaft in rotation through said fork. In this way, the transformation of the translational movement into a rotary movement, sensitive to the detection means is carried out at an advantageous cost.

  In another particularly advantageous embodiment, said flat rod is connected to said clutch stop support means by elastically deformable means adapted to deform when said clutch stop support means are driven from said rest position towards said retracted position. Thus, the detection means, previously calibrated so that the rest position of said clutch stop corresponds to a determined value of signal from said detection means, retains this identification since when the stop support means are driven in the corresponding position in the retracted position of the clutch stop, the flat rod retains its position corresponding to the rest position while the elastically deformable means are deformed. In this way, when the clutch bearing returns to its rest position, the elastically deformable means return to their initial position while the flat rod is always in the position corresponding to said rest position which the detection means translate by said value. determined signal.

  Other particularities and advantages of the invention will emerge on reading the description given below of particular embodiments of the invention, given by way of indication but not limitation, with reference to the appended drawings in which: Figure 1 is a schematic front view in elevation of a clutch restorer according to the invention; - Figure 2 is a schematic top view in section along 11-Il 30 traced in Figure 1 of the clutch restorer, in a first position; 6 2853122 - Figure 3 is a schematic view of details in section along 111lii of Figure 1 - Figure 4 is a schematic top view in section along 11-It traced on Figure 1 of the clutch restorer, in a second position; - Figure 5 is a schematic top view in section along 11-It traced in Figure 1 of the clutch restorer, in a third position; and, Figure 6 is an exploded schematic perspective view of 10 details of Figure 1.

  In order to facilitate understanding of the detailed description of an embodiment of the invention and to describe the constituent elements of the clutch restorer, reference will firstly be made alternately to FIGS. 2 and 1.

  The restorer according to the invention and illustrated in Figure 2 comprises a frame 10 or base, provided with four elastically deformable studs bearing directly on the ground 12 or attached to the latter.

  These studs allow small displacements of the chassis 10 relative to the ground 12 capable of restoring part of the sensations that one experiences when pressing on a clutch pedal.

  The chassis 10 disposed horizontally on the ground 12 comprises a vertical frame 14, or lightened structure, extending between an upper end 11, which appears clearly in FIG. 1, and two lateral ends 13 and 15; the vertical frame 14 having a center 17.

  A support arm 16 extends between a first end 22 and a second end 28 by forming a cradle. It is mounted horizontally on the vertical frame 14, as shown in FIG. 1, so as to provide a space between the chassis and said support arm 16 and it is connected to it by four fixing points, two first fixing points 30 18, 20 at the first end 22 of the support arm 16 and two second attachment points 24, 26, at the second end 28 of the support arm 16.

  The support arm 16 is therefore disposed substantially parallel to the chassis 10 at a distance of between 5 and 20 cm, for example 10 cm, and its central part 30 which is substantially concave is located opposite the center 17 of the vertical frame 14. A space central 32 is thus defined between the support arm 16 and the vertical frame 14.

  This central space 32 will make it possible to house clutch means, a part of which consists of a clutch block 33 is removably mounted on the vertical frame 14 in order to simulate different types of clutch, from that of a truck to that of a private car, 1o for example, whose characteristics are totally different.

  The removable part of the clutch means comprises a plate 34 provided with a handle 36 which is illustrated in FIG. 1, making it possible to extract said removable part from the vertical frame 14, a clutch disc 37 and a clutch mechanism 38 integral with the plate 34.

  The plate 34 is adapted to be mounted by sliding on the vertical frame 14 in the direction F and it is held there in a fixed position, in an operating position, by means of the locking screws 40 and 42.

  In this operating position the clutch mechanism 38 and the clutch disc 36 are located opposite a clutch stop 44 with which they have a common axis of symmetry A. The clutch stop 44 is mounted at a first end 45 of clutch bearing support means 46 consisting of a cylindrical member 25 whose axis is also coincident with the axis of symmetry A of the clutch bearing 44 and which is slidably mounted in a spacer ring 48 which is itself inserted through a first bore 50 made in the support arm 16. The first bore 50 passes through the support arm 16 right through so that a second end 52 of the cylindrical member 46 can make projection of the convex part of the support arm 16.

  8 2853122 We find, in FIG. 6, in exploded form the clutch stop support means 46, the clutch stop 44 which is intended to be mounted at the first end 45 of the cylindrical member 46 as well as the spacer ring 48 which is intended to be inserted into the first bore 50.

  The cylindrical member 46 is adapted to slide in the spacer ring 48 along the axis of symmetry A, in particular to guide the clutch stop 44 between a first active position, which is illustrated in FIG. 4, where it is in support. against the clutch mechanism 38 and 1o therefore in a disengaged position and a second rest position where it is spaced from the clutch mechanism 38 and in a engaged position, as shown in FIG. 2.

  The clutch bearing 44 is driven from the rest position to the active position by means of a clutch fork 54 which extends between a first traction end 56 and a second end 58 forming a fork, facing the support arm 16 and which is pivotally mounted around an intermediate point 60 situated between the two ends 56 and 58 and integral with the support arm 16.

  As illustrated in FIG. 4, the clutch fork 54 is made up of two flat parts 59 and 61 arranged in the extension of one another and adapted to slide relative to each other by so as to be able to adjust the distance which separates the first traction end 56 situated on the end of one of the flat parts 61, from the intermediate point 60 situated on the other flat part 59. 25 Adjustable connecting means 62 make it possible to maintain the two flat parts 59, 61 in a fixed position relative to each other.

  By driving the first traction end 56 along arrow T, towards the second end 28 of the support arm 16 so as to pivot the clutch fork around the intermediate point 60, the second end 58 forming a fork comes to bear against a shoulder 64 of the clutch bearing 44 and drives it to the active position.

  9 2853122 Thus, it is possible to adjust the force to be exerted on the clutch stop 44 by adjusting the length of the lever arm formed by the two flat parts 59, 61.

  When the clutch bearing is in said rest position, as shown in FIG. 2 and a fortiori when it is in said active position illustrated in FIG. 4, it is at least partially engaged in the clutch mechanism. 38, inside said clutch block 33 which is of cylindrical symmetry, so that it is impossible to remove the removable part of the clutch forming means io of which the clutch mechanism 38 is part, because the plate is adapted to slide perpendicular to the common axis of symmetry A. To release the removable part, it is therefore necessary to move the clutch stop 44 away from the clutch mechanism 38. And to do this, in addition to the active and rest positions that can take the clutch stop 15, it is adapted to take a third position, moved away from the clutch mechanism 38 along the axis of symmetry A and opposite to the active position.

  For this purpose, on the one hand, the clutch bearing support means 46 are able to slide, from the rest position of the clutch bearing 44, in the direction opposite to the active position of the clutch bearing. 'clutch 44 along the axis of symmetry A and on the other hand, the second end 58 of the clutch fork 44 which, in said rest position forms a support for the clutch stop 44 and prevents it from coming in said third position, is adapted to be moved away from this position by displacement of the intermediate point 60 forming a pivot.

  Found in Figure 6, the intermediate point 60, around which the clutch fork 54 is adapted to pivot. It is formed by a stamped support 66 formed in the clutch fork 54, which is able to cooperate with a first end 68 of a rod 70. The rod 70 is surmounted by a thrust ring 72 adapted to be engaged in the support stamp 66 to form a ball joint.

  The rod 70 is slidably mounted in a guide ring 73 inserted in a second bore 74 which passes right through the support arm 16 substantially parallel to the first bore 50.

  Thus, by virtue of the sliding of the rod 70, the intermediate pivot point 5 is capable of being brought closer to the support arm 16 so that the second end 58 of the clutch fork 54 is also capable of being brought closer to the arm support 16 for authorizing the displacement of the clutch stop 44 in said third position, distant from the clutch mechanism 38.

  io In order to control the sliding of the rod 70 and its maintenance in the positions where said end 68 is separated from the support arm 16 and where it is brought closer to the support arm 16, the guide ring 73 has a substantially helical slot 78 having two ends forming first and second peripheral bores 79, 81 and i5 spaced from each other longitudinally along the axis of said guide ring 73 in which said rod 70 is adapted to slide and offset in rotation relative to one another to the other around said guide ring 73.

  The rod 70 is made integral with a control lever 82 adapted to pass through the helical lumen 78 to form said lockable displacement means.

  In addition, the support arm 16 has a clearance recess between the second bore 74 and the external surface of the support arm 16 formed so that the lumen 78 comes opposite the clearance recess 80. In this way, the lever control 82 is able to protrude from the support arm 16 when the guide ring 73 is mounted in the bore 74 and that the control lever 82 is connected to the rod 70 slidably mounted in the guide ring 73.

  Thus, when the control lever 82 is disposed in the first position 84 illustrated in FIG. 1, the body of the control lever 82 projects from the first bore 79 and the end 68 of the rod is distant from the support arm 16 in a working position. Such a configuration is illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 4, in which the clutch fork is in abutment against the thrust ring 72.

  As illustrated in FIG. 4, the clutch fork 54 is in abutment against the clutch stop 44 to disengage, and it is also in abutment against the end 68 of the rod 70. Thanks to the body of the lever control 82 which abuts against the edge of the bore 79 or against the edge of the helical opening 78, in the vicinity of the bore 79, the rod 70 is held in translation in the guide ring 73.

  On the other hand, when the control lever 82 is rotated to be carried in the position 86 illustrated in FIG. 1, the body of said control lever 82 is guided by the edge of the helical light 78 until the second hole 81 , thereby driving the rod 70 in translation in a position where its end 68 is brought closer to the support arm 16. Thus, in this configuration the fork 54 is capable of being brought closer to the support arm 16 to allow the displacement of the clutch bearing to the retracted position illustrated in Figure 5.

  As illustrated in this FIG. 5, the clutch stop 44 is released from the clutch block 33, so that the latter can be moved perpendicular to the axis A of the clutch stop support means 46 to be replaced by another block.

  Reference will be made to FIGS. 1, 3 and 6 to describe means for detecting the position of the clutch stop 44 between its active position and its rest position and the mode of cooperation of said detection means 25 with the stop of clutch when driven to its retracted position.

  In FIG. 1, the means for detecting the position of the clutch stop 44, comprise a digital encoder 90 capable of supplying a signal representative of the angular position of a shaft 92 mounted 30 to rotate in said digital encoder 90.

  The shaft 92, illustrated in Figure 3, has a fork 94 mounted at its end in which is engaged a stud 98 which is integral with one end 100 of a flat rod 102. This flat rod 102 is pivotally mounted around d 'a fixed point 104, relative to the support arm 16. In addition, the flat rod 102 has an intermediate part 106 connected to the end 52 of the cylindrical member 46 by a stirrup 108 and at equilibrium it is driven in a direction opposite to the clutch system 38 by means of elastic return means 109 mounted on the fork 94 which drives it in rotation in the trigonometric direction R. Furthermore, the cylindrical member has two oblong holes 110 110 112 diametrically opposite and extending longitudinally opposite one another and it includes inside a blind sleeve 113 slidably mounted in which is introduced a helical spring 114 intended to take support i in the bottom of the blind sleeve 113 and opposite to the bottom 116 of the cylindrical member 46 which is closed by a screw 118.

  It will be noted that the return force of the elastic means 109 is greater than the return force of the helical spring 114.

  Two diametrically opposite holes, 118, 120, formed in the blind sleeve 113 are intended to come respectively towards the oblong holes 110, 112 so as to receive together two guide pins 122, 124 respectively secured to the two branches of the stirrup 108.

  At equilibrium the helical spring 114 is partially compressed and the pins 122, 124 abut against the respective edges of the oblong holes furthest from the bottom 116 of the cylindrical member 46. Thus, it is understood that the cylindrical member 46 is adapted to be driven in translation relative to the stirrup 108, that the bottom 116 illustrated in FIG. 6 compresses the helical spring 114 until the blind sleeve 113 abuts against the bottom 116 and / or the pins 122, 124 come to bear as much as possible against the respective edges of the oblong holes 30 closest to the bottom 116 of the cylindrical member 46.

  - 2853122 As will be explained below, this device allows the relative displacement of the cylindrical member relative to the flat rod 102.

  Thus, when the clutch stop 44 is driven, from said rest position towards said active position by means of the fork 54, the cylindrical member 46 drives the stirrup 108 by means of the blind sleeve 113 which is locked in the bottom 116 of said cylindrical member 46, in the direction of the clutch system 38. In this way, the flat rod 102 is rotated about the axis 104 also in the direction of the clutch mechanism 38. And consequently, as illustrated in FIG. 3, the stud 98 drives the fork 94 in rotation and the shaft 92 of which it is integral in the direction R-1, opposite to the trigonometric direction. This position can be detected by the digital encoder 90.

  Conversely, when the clutch stop 44 returns to said rest position with the cylindrical member 46 on which it is mounted, the caliper 108 and the flat rod 102 of which it is integral, are rotated in one direction reverse thanks to the elastic means 109 which rotates the fork 94 in the trigonometric direction R. In addition, the helical spring 114 remains compressed between the blind sleeve 113 and the bottom 116 of the cylindrical member 46, since its return force is less than that of elastic means 109.

  The position of the shaft 92, corresponding to the rest position of the clutch bearing 44 is also detected by the digital encoder 25 90 which is adapted to provide another signal representative of this position.

  The digital encoder 90 has a sensitivity between 36/1000 and 36/10000 of angle, for example 6/1000 of angle, and it is adapted to supply signals representative of the position of the clutch bearing 44 between its position. of rest and its active position. In Example 30 shown in Figures 1 and 3, with a sensitivity of 6/1000 angle of the digital encoder 90, for an amplitude of displacement 0.012 m of the clutch bearing 44 and therefore of the cylindrical member 46 , said digital encoder 90 is capable of supplying 4500 signals representative of 4500 distinct positions of the clutch bearing 44.

  Furthermore, when the fork 54 is partially released by drawing back the end 68 of the rod 70 by means of the control lever 82 which is carried in position 86, the helical spring 114 can relax and the bottom 116 of the member cylindrical 46 move away from the blind sleeve 113 until the pins 122, 124 abut against the opposite end of the oblong holes which guide them. The clutch stop 44 is then driven towards the rest position while the flat rod 102 remains stationary; the digital encoder 90 supplying a signal which is representative of the rest position of the clutch bearing 44. This configuration is illustrated in FIG. 5.

  Thus, in this configuration, the clutch block 33 is capable of being removed in order to be replaced by another clutch block 15 since the clutch stop 44 is no longer engaged inside.

  When a new clutch block is introduced into the device, and the control lever is again driven into position 84, the clutch fork 54 drives the clutch stop 44 in said rest position, while the shaft 92 of the digital encoder 90 20 provides a signal representative of said rest position. Indeed, the drive of the clutch bearing 44 from said retracted position to the rest position has simply caused the displacement of the cylindrical member 46 relative to the blind sleeve 113 and the compression of the helical spring 114 without uncoupling of the digital encoder 90. In this way, no calibration of the digital encoder 90 is necessary, although a new clutch unit 33 has been replaced.

  Furthermore, the clutch restorer in accordance with the invention comprises means, not shown, for measuring the stroke of the crankset and the force applied thereto, making it possible to determine the position of the traction end 56 of the fork. clutch 54 and the forces exerted on it. In addition, it includes control means also not shown, constituted in particular by a 2853122 computer provided with comparison means and memory means, making it possible to compare the respective positions of the clutch stop 44 given by means of the digital encoder 90 and of the position of the pedal unit with respect to values recorded in the storage means or calculated by said computer.

  Thus, the clutch restorer according to the invention is adapted to be integrated into a driving simulator to perfectly reproduce the operating conditions of the clutch mechanism while occupying a relatively small space.

Claims (6)

  1. A clutch restorer comprising, a clutch block 5 (33) containing a clutch mechanism (38), a clutch stop (44) intended to cooperate with said block and to be driven between a rest position and an active position in which it bears against said clutch mechanism (38) to disengage it, a clutch fork (54) having a first end (58) adapted to bear against said clutch stop ( 44), an intermediate part (60) bearing on pivoting means (66, 68, 70, 72) and a second traction end (56) making it possible to pivot said fork (54) to drive said clutch bearing (44) towards said active position, characterized in that it comprises: - clutch bearing support means (46) making it possible to guide said clutch bearing (44) between said rest position and a retracted position released from said clutch block (33); - Detection means (90) for detecting the position of said clutch stop (44) between said active position and said rest position; and, - lockable displacement means (82, 73) of said pivoting means (66, 68, 70, 72) adapted to drive them in a retracted position allowing the displacement of said fork (54) and said clutch stop (44) towards said remote position.   2. clutch restorer according to claim 1, characterized in that it comprises a rod (70) capable of sliding in a guide ring (73) between a first working position in which said intermediate part (60) is resting against the end (68) of said rod, said fork (54) being adapted to pivot around said end (68), and said retracted position allowing movement of said intermediate part (60) and said fork d 'clutch (54) to allow movement of said clutch stop (54) to said retracted position.   3. clutch restorer according to claim 2, characterized in that said guide ring (73) has two peripheral holes (79, 81) spaced apart from each other longitudinally along the axis of said guide ring (73) in which said rod (70) is adapted to slide and offset in rotation relative to each other around said guide ring (73), said two peripheral bores (79, 81) being interconnected by a light (78) extending at the periphery 10 of said guide ring (73) and in that said rod (70) is integral with a control lever (82) passing through said light (78) to form said locking means of movement.   4. clutch restorer according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that said clutch stop (44) is mounted at the end of said clutch stop support means (46) which are movable in translation and in that said detection means (90), adapted to supply a signal representative of the amplitude of rotation of a shaft (92), are kinematically connected to said clutch bearing support means (46) by said shaft (92) so that said detection means (90) provide a signal representative of the amplitude of translation of said clutch stop (44), between said rest position and said active position.   5. clutch restorer according to claim 4, characterized in that it comprises a flat rod (102) whose first end 25 is articulated around a fixed point (104), the intermediate part (106) of which is integral of said clutch support means (46) and the second end of which (100) is mounted in a fork (94) integral with said shaft (92), the rotary drive of said flat rod (102) by the movement of said support means clutch (46) being adapted to drive said shaft (92) in rotation through said fork (94).   6. clutch restorer according to claim 5, characterized in that said flat rod (102) is connected to said clutch bearing support means (46) by elastically deformable means (108, 113, 114) adapted to deform when said clutch bearing support means (46) are driven from said rest position towards said retracted position.