One way drive device

A one-way drive device, comprising:

• (a) a drive member mounted for clockwise and counterclockwise rotation about a given axis and including a planar drive face normal to said given axis, said drive member being adapted for connection with a source of power for rotating said planar drive face either clockwise or counterclockwise about said given axis;
• (b) a driven member mounted for at least counterclockwise rotation about said given axis and including a planar driven face which is positioned in close proximity to and in confronting relationship with said drive face;
• and
• (c) a coupling arrangement including a first series of drive pockets having drive shoulders in said drive member, a second series of driven pockets having driven shoulders in said driven faces and a plurality of cooperating pawls having opposing shoulder engaging edges carried by one of said faces for causing said drive member to rotate said driven member in the counterclockwise direction about said given axis when said drive member is rotated counterclockwise by said source of power and for allowing said drive member to rotate freely about said axis in the clockwise direction without rotating said driven member when said drive member is rotated clockwise by said source of power, said first and second series of pockets and said pawls being configured such that when said drive member is caused to rotate counterclockwise, the opposing shoulder engaging edges of one and only one of said pawls respectively engage the drive and driven shoulders of an adjacent pair of drive and drive pockets in a way which places a compressive load across that pawl between its engaging edges.

A one-way drive device, comprising:

• (a) a drive member mounted for clockwise and counterclockwise rotation about a given axis and including a planar drive face normal to said given axis, said drive member being adapted for connection with a source of power for rotating said planar drive face either clockwise of counterclockwise about said given axis;
• (b) a driven member mounted for at least counterclockwise rotation about said given axis and including a planar driven face which is positioned in close proximity to and in confronting relationship with said drive face;
• and
• (c) a coupling arrangement including said drive and driven faces and coupling means between said faces for causing said drive member to rotate said driven member in the counterclockwise direction about said given axis when said drive member is rotated counterclockwise by said source of power and for allowing said drive member to rotate freely about said axis in the clockwise direction without rotating said driven member when said drive member is rotated clockwise by said source of power, said drive and driven faces and said coupling means being configured such that when said drive member is caused to rotate counterclockwise, said coupling means engages said drive and driven faces in a way which places a compressive load across the coupling means between said drive and driven members, said coupling means including a pawl having opposing edges that are caused to engage the drive and driven faces of said drive and driven members in a compressive load bearing way as the latter rotate counterclockwise, and wherein said pawl is wider than it is thick and each of said opposing edges is a generally rectangular, parallel, flat surface defined by the thickness and length of the pawl.