Motorcycle including centrifugal clutch
AssigneeYamaha Hatsudoki Kabushiki Kaisha
InventorsToshinori Inomori, Yousuke Ishida
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A centrifugal clutch for an engine includes a pressure plate that presses a friction plate into a clutch plate is provided. The clutch may include a plurality of roller weights that move on respective cam surfaces in a radially outward direction relative to the pressure plate in accordance with the magnitude of a centrifugal force generated by rotation of a drive side rotating body. The pressure plate presses the friction plate into the clutch plate with a force corresponding to the amount of movement. An elastic member is operatively coupled to the pressure plate to cause the friction and clutch plates to stay in pressed contact even when the engine is in a stopped state.
Claims15
A centrifugal clutch, comprising:
- a drive side rotating body having a first plate and an axis of rotation;
- a driven side rotating body arranged coaxially with the drive side rotating body and having a second plate opposite to the first plate in a predetermined direction along the axis of rotation, the driven side rotating body receiving torque from the drive side rotating body causing it to rotate when the clutch is engaged;
- a pressure plate supported on the drive side rotating body so as to be movable in an axial direction with respect to the drive side rotating body and so as to rotate together with the drive side rotating body, the pressure plate pressing the first plate into the second plate by moving in the predetermined direction, the pressure plate pressing the first plate into the second plate with sufficient force to transmit a portion of the torque of the drive side rotating body from the first plate to the driven side rotating body via the second plate when the engine is in a stopped state;
- and
- a centrifugal weight that moves outward in a radial direction of the pressure plate according to a centrifugal force generated during rotation of the drive side rotating body, the centrifugal weight increasing the force by which the pressure plate presses the first plate into the second plate as it moves outward in the radial direction.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.