Flywheel arrangement for an internal combustion engine

An internal combustion engine comprising:

• a crank shaft;
• a crank wheel operatively connected to the crank shaft and having a crank gear;
• a starter motor having an output shaft and a pinion gear on the output shaft, the pinion gear being engaged with the crank gear of the crank wheel;
• and
• a flywheel assembly including:
• a first flywheel body connected to the crankshaft;
• a second flywheel body that is rotatable relative to the first flywheel body and coupled thereto such that the second flywheel body is able to move through a limited angular distance relative to the first flywheel body;
• and
• an interlocking device including a locking arrangement having a lock part associated with one of the flywheel bodies, and a lock component associated with the other flywheel body and being selectively engageable with the lock part, the locking arrangement being adapted to produce an interlocking connection between the second flywheel body and the first flywheel body when there is no relative rotational motion between the flywheel assembly and the crank wheel and release the interlocking connection between the second flywheel body and the first flywheel body in response to relative rotational motion between the flywheel assembly and the crank wheel;
• wherein the crank wheel comprises one or more magnetic elements, and the locking arrangement includes at least one release part that is positioned at a side of the flywheel assembly facing the one or more magnetic elements of the crank wheel, and wherein the at least one release part includes an induction coil arranged to be energized once there is relative motion between the flywheel assembly and the crank wheel to induce electric power for the locking arrangement release function to electrically or electromagnetically urge the lock component to disengage from the complementary locking part.

An internal combustion engine comprising:

• a crank shaft;
• a crank wheel operatively connected to the crank shaft and having a crank gear;
• a starter motor having an output shaft and a pinion gear on the output shaft, the pinion gear being engaged with the crank gear of the crank wheel;
• and
• a flywheel assembly including:
• a first flywheel body connected to the crankshaft;
• a second flywheel body that is rotatable relative to the first flywheel body and coupled thereto such that the second flywheel body is able to move through a limited angular distance relative to the first flywheel body;
• and
• an interlocking device including a locking arrangement having a friction clutch arranged to selectively produce an interlocking connection between the second flywheel body and the first flywheel body, the locking arrangement being adapted to produce the interlocking connection when there is no relative rotational motion between the flywheel assembly and the crank wheel and release the interlocking connection in response to relative rotational motion between the flywheel assembly and the crank wheel;
• wherein the crank wheel comprises one or more magnetic elements, and the locking arrangement includes at least one release part that is positioned at a side of the flywheel assembly facing the one or more magnetic elements of the crank wheel, and wherein the at least one release part includes an induction coil arranged to be energized once there is relative motion between the flywheel assembly and the crank wheel to induce electric power for the locking arrangement to disengage the friction clutch and release the interlocking connection.