Abstract Clutch apparatus having a drum having an inner annular clutching face adapted to be secured to the crank shaft of an engine for rotation therewith. A hollow drive shaft centered within the drum carries a plurality of radially movable clutch shoes which are normally urged inwards to a disengaged position by means of an annular tension spring and are moved radially outwards against the tension spring by means by a linearly movable conical wedge which is grooved to accept round-ended stems extending from each of the clutch shoes and which is normally spring-urged into engagement with the shoe stems to move the shoes into clutching engagement with the drum against the action of the coil spring. The conical wedge is operatively connected to a piston which rides in the hollow drive shaft into which a pressurized fluid is injected to operate the piston and move the wedge out of engagement with the shoe stems to enable the tension spring to move the shoes radially inwards out of engagement with the clutch drum.
Inventors
👤 Paul Joszef Soter
Bibliographic Details
Application Number—
JurisdictionUS
Data Sourcegoogle_patents
Last Synchronized2026-11-07 15:25
CPC Classifications
F; F16; F16D; F16D43/00; F16D43/28; F16D43/284
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 3
Claim 1
Independent Claim
181 words
A friction clutch assembly comprising: a. a clutch drum having an interior cylindrical clutch face adapted to be secured to the crank shaft of an engine for rotation therewith, b. a drive shaft rotatable within the clutch drum, c. a plurality of radially movable clutch shoe carriers mounted on the drive shaft, each carrier having an inwardly extending radially aligned pintle, d. tension spring means interconnecting the clutch carriers for yieldably maintaining the carriers in a normal contracted position against the drive shaft, e. an axially movable cone-shaped wedge having grooves for slidably receiving inner ends of the pintles, f. a clutch shoe mounted on each carrier for limited radial movement relative thereto being adapted to frictionally engage the clutch face of the drum when the carriers are spread by the wedge, g. a compression spring between each shoe and its associated carrier urging each shoe to a normal extended position relative to its associated carrier being adapted to yield to enable radial movement of each shoe relative to its carrier when each shoe engages the clutching surface of the drum.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
181 words
A friction clutch assembly comprising: a. a clutch drum having an interior cylindrical clutch face adapted to be secured to the crank shaft of an engine for rotation therewith, b. a drive shaft rotatable within the clutch drum, c. a plurality of radially movable clutch shoe carriers mounted on the drive shaft, each carrier having an inwardly extending radially aligned pintle, d. tension spring means interconnecting the clutch carriers for yieldably maintaining the carriers in a normal contracted position against the drive shaft, e. an axially movable cone-shaped wedge having grooves for slidably receiving inner ends of the pintles, f. a clutch shoe mounted on each carrier for limited radial movement relative thereto being adapted to frictionally engage the clutch face of the drum when the carriers are spread by the wedge, g. a compression spring between each shoe and its associated carrier urging each shoe to a normal extended position relative to its associated carrier being adapted to yield to enable radial movement of each shoe relative to its carrier when each shoe engages the clutching surface of the drum.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
100 words
The clutch assembly as claimed in claim 1 in which the drive shaft has an axially extending chamber, a piston in the chamber having a piston rod connected to the wedge, a piston actuating compression spring in the chamber urging the piston in a direction to move the wedge into spreading engagement with the carrier pintles, means for directing a pressurized fluid into and out of the chamber for moving the piston against the piston actuating compression spring so as to move the wedge out of engagement with the carrier pintles and thereby disengage the clutch shoes from the drum.