Patent ID: 6247570
Filing Date: 2001-06-19
Classification: F16D

Abstract:
A centrifugal clutch comprising:(a) a rotatable drum having a circularly cylindrical inside surface;(b) a plurality of shoes, each shoe including a rigid metallic shoe member and a lining bonded thereto, the shoe having a leading contact extremity and a trailing contact extremity, an external engagement surface of the lining extending between the contact extremities for frictionally contacting the inside surface of the drum;(c) means for coupling each shoe to a rotatable hub for rotation therewith when the hub rotates concentrically with the drum;(d) means for permitting movement of each shoe radially inwardly and outwardly relative to the drum;(e) each shoe member having a radially inwardly projecting first lock portion and a radially outwardly projecting second lock portion circumferentially spaced from the first lock portion;(f) a plurality of compression springs, at least one of the compression springs being positioned for compression between the first and second lock portions of adjacent ones of the shoes for biasing the shoes in a direction radially inwardly from the inside surface of the drum; and(g) a plurality of stop pins interposed between the first and second lock portions of each adjacent pair of the shoe members and locking the shoe members from moving radially outwardly more than a predetermined distance relative to the inside surface of the drum for preventing contact between the shoe members and the drum resulting from wear of the linings, and for blocking the shoe members from moving radially outwardly into contact with the inside surface of the drum and for preventing separation of the shoes in the event of axial disengagement or structural failure of the drum during high-speed operation of the clutch.