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US 5,291,978 AGranted
One way clutch having outer and inner retainers each made of plastics
AssigneeKoyo Seiko Co., Ltd.
InventorTetsuaki Numata
Life of this patent
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Abstract
In a one-way clutch, an outer retainer is made of a plastic while an inner retainer is made of a fiber-reinforced plastic. Thus, this one-way clutch is lightweight and can be produced at a low cost. The fiber-reinforced plastic of the inner retainer has a greater strength than the plastic of the outer retainer so that inner portions of sprags that serve as center portions about which the sprags swing can be retained by the inner retainer more securely than can the outer portions of the sprags be retained by the outer retainer.
Claims5
A one-way clutch comprising:
- a plurality of sprags spaced at specified intervals in a circumferential direction of the one-way clutch;
- an annular inner retainer of fiber-reinforced plastic retaining radially inner portions of the sprags;
- an annular outer retainer of plastic retaining radially outer portions of the sprags;
- and a spring urging the sprags in one circumferential direction of the one-way clutch,
- the fiber-reinforced plastic of the inner retainer having a greater strength than the plastic of the outer retainer.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.