Pawl and ratchet clutch with pawl holdback

A pawl and ratchet clutch assembly for use in transmitting rotational drive torque from a driving member to a driven member, said pawl and ratchet clutch assembly comprising ratchet means mounted to the drive member, a plurality of ferromagnetic pawls disposed circumferentially about said ratchet means and operable in engagement therewith to transmit the rotational drive torque from the driving member to the driven member, each of said pawls being pivotally supported for movement into and out of engagement with said ratchet means, spring means for biasing said pawls to pivot radially inwardly into engagement with said ratchet means, and holdback means operatively associated with said pawls for retarding said pawls from pivoting inwardly when said driven shaft is rotating at a speed above a desired reengagement speed, said holdback means comprising a plurality of magnets with at least one magnet being operatively associated with each of said pawls, each of said magnets disposed radially outwardly of its associated pawl whereby said ferromagnetic pawls are held by said magnets out of engagement with said ratchet means.