Multiple axle drive vehicle with overrunning roller clutch hubs

A multiple driven axle vehicle including a chassis an engine mounted to the chassis, a pair of front wheels and a pair of rear wheels, one of said pairs being steerable and each wheel of at least one of said pairs including a hub having a double acting overrunning clutch, and transmission means for transmitting rotational power from the engine to the wheels, the transmission means being geared to drive one pair of wheels sufficiently slower than the other pair of wheels so that the overrunning clutches of the slower turned wheels do not engage when the steerable wheels are turned as the vehicle is driven through a turn, each of the overrunning clutches including

• a generally cylindrical cam driven by the transmission means and having an outer surface and a longitudinal axis;
• a race coaxial of the cam and having an inner generally smoother cylindrical surface;
• a plurality of generally cylindrical, circumferentially spaced rollers interposed between the cam surface and the race surface, the rollers having longitudinal axes generally parallel to the cam axis;
• spring means for urging the rollers generally radially inwardly with respect to the cam axis;
• and
• a roller cage rotatable with respect to the cam and the race, the roller cage spacing the rollers circumferentially from one another and limiting circumferential movement of the rollers with respect to the cage while permitting radial movement thereof;
• the cam surface having a circumferential region associated with each roller, said cam surface being configured so that as the roller cage and rollers rotate in a given direction with respect to the cam, the rollers are urged radially outwardly from a free-wheeling position into a driving position wherein the rollers contact the race surface to operatively engage the cam with the race whenever the transmission means attempts to rotate faster than the wheel, at least one of the circumferential regions of the cam surface including ridge means tending to inhibit inertial movement of the associated roller from the free-wheeling position to the driving position as when the hub is suddenly braked;
• the overrunning clutch further including intermittent friction means operative between the roller cage and the vehicle chassis to intermittently exert a force tending to retard rotation of the cage with respect to the chassis.