Patent ID: 8147363

Claim:
A conical disk pair assembly with an integrated torque sensor for .a belt-driven conical pulley transmission, said assembly comprising: a shaft with a fixed disk having a first conical surface and rigidly connected to the shaft; an axially movable disk carried on the shaft, and having a second conical surface facing the first conical surface; a support ring non-rotatably and axially fixedly supported on the shaft on the side of the axially movable disk facing away from the second conical surface, wherein the support ring includes first ramp surfaces facing the axially movable disk; a rotatable sensing piston axially movable along the shaft and located on the shaft between the support ring and the axially movable disk, the sensing piston having second ramp surfaces facing the first ramp surfaces, and wherein a drive torque acting in a circumferential direction is applied to the sensing piston; and a sensing chamber positioned between the sensing piston and the axially movable disk and supplied with hydraulic fluid under pressure through a hydraulic fluid supply line within the shaft, the supply line within the shaft having a discharge opening at the shaft outer surface whose effective cross section is changeable as a function of the position along the shaft of the sensing piston; wherein the first and second ramp surfaces are spaced from each other by rolling elements, and wherein a relative rotation between the first and second ramp surfaces causes the sensing piston to move axially relative to the shaft; a guide ring rigidly connected to the axially movable disk and having guide surfaces associated with the ramp surfaces for radially supporting the rolling elements; wherein the support ring and the guide ring are non-rotatably connected with each other and the guide ring is axially movable relative to the support ring.