Patent ID: 7828129

Claim:
A magnetorheological clutch, comprising: a stationary part; a primary part having primary lamination bands and a secondary part having secondary lamination bands wherein at least one of the primary part and the secondary part coaxially rotates relative to the respective other part, with a working space containing a magnetorheological fluid being formed in which primary lamination bands and secondary lamination bands alternate sequentially in the radial direction, and with a regulatable magnetic field acting on the magnetorheological fluid, a number of magnetic coils each having a first yoke and a substantially radial winding axis are arranged in the working space and distributed over a first yoke ring periphery, with adjacent magnetic coils being oppositely poled; and an outer second yoke and an inner second yoke bounding the working space outwardly and inwardly radially outside and radially inside the first yokes, with the magnetic field lines entering radially into the second yokes and emerging out of them again radially in the opposite direction, wherein the first yokes have cylindrical end faces out of or into which magnetic field lines substantially emerge or enter in a radial direction, with an axis of curvature of the cylindrical end faces being co-axially aligned with an axis of rotation of the clutch, the primary lamination bands and the secondary lamination bands being closed cylindrical jackets, the primary lamination bands and the secondary lamination bands being arranged radially outside and radially inside the first yokes, and wherein the outer second yoke has an inner cylindrical surface parallel and coaxial to the lamination bands and the inner second yoke has an outer cylindrical surface parallel and coaxial to the lamination bands.