Lawn mower including planetary clutch/brake

A lawn mower comprising a blade housing, wheel means for supporting said blade housing for movement along the ground, a rotary cutting blade supported in said housing, a prime mover carried by said blade housing, said prime mover including a rotatably driven input shaft, an output shaft drivingly connected to said cutter blade for rotatably driving said cutter blade, and means for alternately drivingly connecting said input shaft to said output shaft and braking said output shaft, said means for alternately drivingly connecting and braking comprising a planetary gear train connected to said output shaft and including a ring gear mounted for rotation relative to said input shaft, and means for alternately braking rotation of said ring gear and said output shaft.

A combined clutch and brake comprising a rotatably driven input shaft, an output shaft adapted to be rotatably driven, and means for alternately drivingly connecting said input shaft to said output shaft and braking said output shaft, said means for alternately drivingly connecting and braking comprising a planetary gear train connected to said output shaft and including a ring gear mounted for rotation relative to said input shaft, and means for alternately braking rotation of said ring gear and said output shaft.

A combined clutch and brake comprising a rotatably driven input shaft, said input shaft having a longitudinal axis, an output shaft adapted to be rotatably driven, and means for alternately drivingly connecting said input shaft to said output shaft and braking said output shaft, said means for alternately drivingly connecting and braking including a sun gear driven by said input shaft, a first planetary gear in enmeshing relation with said sun gear and supported for rotation around said input shaft and for rotation about an axis parallel to said longitudinal axis, a ring gear surrounding said sun gear and said first planetary gear and in enmeshing relation with said first planetary gear, a second planetary gear drivingly connected to said first planetary gear, and rotationally driven by said first planetary gear, a second sun gear connected to said output shaft for driving said output shaft, said second sun gear being in enmeshing relation with said second planetary gear, and means for alternately braking rotation of said ring gear and said output shaft.