Centrifugal clutch
AssigneeAndreas Stihl AG & Co. KG
InventorHans Nickel
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A centrifugal clutch is provided, especially for manually-guided, motor-driven implements such as chainsaws and the like. The clutch comprises centrifugal bodies, each of which is essentially comprised of a shoe that has the shape of a circular arc and has a support member. The shoes are held and guided by guides on a carrier member that is disposed on the drive side. On the output side, the clutch is essentially formed of a drum having a surface that axially and radially spans the centrifugal bodies. Disposed at each end of a centrifugal body is a projection and a complementary recess, which both extend approximately tangentially relative to the drum.
Claims13
A centrifugal clutch, comprising:
- a carrier member having an axis of rotation;
- centrifugal bodies, each of which is a shoe that has the shape of a circular arcwith two lateral ends, and, on a drive side of said centrifugal clutch, is movably held on said carrier member via a support member;
- a drum disposed on an output side of said centrifugal clutch coaxial to said axis of rotation of said carrier member, wherein said drum spans said shoes, and wherein during operation of said centrifugal clutch, under the effect of centrifugal force, said shoes are engageable against a surface of said drum counter to a restoring force;
- and
- lateral guide means for movably interconnecting said centrifugal bodies and comprising, at each of said lateral ends of said shoes, a respective tangentially extending recess and projection, wherein in an assembled state of said centrifugal clutch, each projection extends into a recess of an adjacent one of said centrifugal bodies, wherein said centrifugal bodies are movably supportable against one another in a radial direction by means of said projections and recesses, wherein said centrifugal bodies are movably supportable against one another in an axial direction by means of said projections and recesses, and wherein in a state of rest of said centrifugal clutch, said projections engage in said recesses with radial play and accompanied by the formation of an axial gap.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.