Prefilled hydraulic actuator apparatus with separate reservoir and quick-connect between them

A preassembled, prefilled hydraulic actuator apparatus for a motor vehicle clutch and adapted for connection to a non-integral fluid reservoir. The apparatus comprises a master cylinder having a supply inlet and a working pressure outlet, a slave cylinder having an inlet, a working pressure conduit interconnecting the outlet of the master cylinder and the inlet of the slave cylinder, and a low-pressure supply conduit for connection to a reservoir. In one embodiment, the supply conduit is connected at one end to the master cylinder inlet and the free end of the supply conduit is sealed by a bung partition, a piercing coupling is provided on the free end of the supply conduit, and the coupling is connected to an outlet fitting on a prefilled reservoir which may also serve as the hydraulic fluid source for the brake system of the vehicle. The coupling functions in the course of the connecting operation to pierce the bung partition sealing the free end of the supply conduit and to further pierce a bung partition in the outlet of the reservoir so that fluid communication is thereby established between the hydraulic actuating apparatus and the reservoir. Another embodiment is disclosed in which the supply conduit is connected at one end to the reservoir outlet with its other end sealed; another embodiment is disclosed in which two supply conduits are respectively connected to the reservoir outlet and the master cylinder inlet; and another embodiment is disclosed in which a quick-connect coupling replaces the piercing coupling.