Clutch construction
AssigneeM-B-W Inc.
InventorThomas G. Artzberger
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A clutch construction for a reversible walk-behind soil compactor. The compactor includes a frame which carries a soil compacting plate and a drive mechanism, such as a gasoline engine is mounted on the frame and has a rotatable drive shaft. A pair of eccentrically weighted shafts are mounted for rotation on the frame and a belt drive connects each eccentric shaft with the drive shaft in a manner to rotate the eccentric shafts in opposite directions. Each belt drive is connected through a clutch to the drive shaft and the clutch is arranged such that each eccentric shaft is individually engaged with the drive shaft. Through manual operation of the clutch, the eccentric shafts are selectively rotated to thereby move the compactor in a forward or reverse direction over the soil to be compacted.
Claims7
A clutch construction, comprising a rotatably drive shaft, a first clutch member secured to said drive shaft, a second clutch member secured to said drive shaft and spaced a fixed axial distance from said first clutch member, a third clutch member disposed between said first and second clutch members and slidably mounted on said drive shaft, a first flexible drive member disposed between said first and third clutch members, a second flexible drive member disposed between said second and third clutch members, shift means operably connected to said third clutch member for shifting said third clutch member axially of said drive shaft between a first engaged position where said third clutch member effects a driving engagement between said first clutch member and said first flexible member to a second engaged position where said third clutch member effects a driving engagement between said second clutch member and said second flexible drive member, said first clutch member including a first clutch disc and a first cylindrical hub secured to said drive shaft, said second clutch member including a second clutch disc and a second cylindrical hub disposed concentrically outwardly of said first hub, said third clutch member comprising a third clutch disc and a third cylindrical hub disposed between said first and second hubs and having an elongated longitudinal slot therein, and locking means connecting said first hub and said second hub and extending through said slot whereby the engagement of said locking means with said slot permits said third clutch member to move axially relative to said shaft.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.