AN IMPROVED FRICTION CLUTCH
Year: 1884

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION
I WALTER BAGSHAW of the firm of J. Bagshaw and Sons of Victoria Foundry,
Batley in the County of York Engineers Millwrights and Ironfounders do hereby
declare the nature of said Invention for "AN IMPROVED FRICTION CLUTCH" to be
as follows:-
My Invention relates to friction clutches which are combined with the bosses of
pulleys or wheels or with couplings and act by the friction ring or clutch proper
being expanded or moved outwards against the interior surface of the boss of the
wheel or pulley or the coupling. In these clutches as hitherto constructed the
friction ring or clutch proper has been brought into operation by means of a wedge
carried by a piece sliding on the shaft the said wedge acting upon levers which in
their turn act upon the friction ring or clutch proper to expand it and make the
necessary frictional contact to bind the shaft and pulley or wheel or the coupling
together. This arrangement has the defect that at high speeds the friction ring or
clutch proper is liable to expand by centrifugal force and so automatically to come
into action when not required. This Invention has for its object to remedy this
defect and at the same time to provide a clutch simple in construction and effective
in action.
According to the said Invention the levers hereinbefore mentioned are dispensed
with and the opposite ends of the friction ring or clutch proper are provided with
screw nuts in which respectively take the ends of a screw pin or rod threaded at
one end with a right hand screw which takes into the nut at one end of the friction
ring and threaded at the other end with a left hand screw which takes into the
nut at the opposite end of the friction ring. To this screw is affixed an arm which
is connected to the sliding piece on the shaft. By moving the said sliding piece in
one or the other direction the screw rod is turned in one or the other direction and
is so caused to either force the ends of the friction ring apart to put the necessary
friction on the wheel pulley or coupling to bind it to the shaft or to pull the ends
of the friction ring together to take off the clutch or separate the wheel pulley or
coupling and the shaft. A direct and firm connection between the parts is by this
construction maintained at all times whether the clutch be on or off and so all
liability to the clutch being accidentally put on by centrifugal force is obviated and
moreover there are no dangerous projections from the exterior and the arms of a
pulley or wheel can be placed in the centre of the ring or shell.

page_text: I, WALTER BAGSHAW, of the firm of J. Bagshaw and Sons of Victoria Foundry
Batley in the County of York Engineers Millwrights and Ironfounders do hereby
declare the nature of my invention for AN IMPROVED FRICTION CLUTCH'
" and in
what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement:—
My Invention relates to friction clutches which are combined with pulleys or
wheels, or with couplings, and act by the friction ring or clutch proper being
expanded or moved outwards against the interior surface of the boss of, or a ring
in or on the wheel or pulley or against the coupling. In these clutches as hitherto
constructed the friction ring or clutch proper has been brought into operation by
means of a wedge carried by a piece sliding on the shaft the said wedge acting
upon levers which in their turn act upon the friction ring or clutch proper to
expand it and make the necessary frictional contact to bind the shaft and pulley or
wheel or the coupling together. This arrangement has the defect that at high
speeds the friction ring or clutch proper is liable to expand by centrifugal force and
so automatically to come into action when not required―This Invention has for its
object to remedy this defect and at the same time to provide a clutch simple in
construction and effective in action-I will describe my Invention with reference
to the accompanying drawings of which Figure 1 is a side elevation partly in
section, Figure 2 is a section at right angles thereto and Figure 3 is a plan of a
part of the interior of a coupling for two shafts constructed according to the said
İnvention-The levers herein before mentioned are dispensed with and the opposite
ends of the friction ring or clutch proper A. are provided with screw nuts bb in
which respectively take the ends of a screw pin or rod c threaded at one end with
a right hand screw which takes into the nut b at one end of the friction ring A
and threaded at the other end with a left hand screw which takes into the nut bat
the opposite end of the friction ring A-To this screw is affixed an arm D which is
connected to the sliding piece E on the shaft F by rods or connecting pieces d
Although figures 1. 2 and 3 shew a coupling for connecting two lengths of
shafting FF together it will be readily understood that the same arrangement
may be employed to act as a clutch for engaging or disengaging a pulley or wheel
mounted on a shaft. Figure 4 shews the application to a pulley-By moving the
said sliding piece E in one or the other direction the screw rod c is turned in one
or the other direction and is so caused to either force the ends of the friction ring A
apart to put the necessary friction on the wheel pulley or coupling to bind the
pulley or wheel to the shaft or the part of a coupling on one shaft to the other
part of the coupling on the other shaft or to pull the ends of the friction ring
together to take off the clutch or separate the wheel pulley from the shaft or the parts
of the coupling from each other. A direct and firm connection between the parts is
by the construction maintained at all times whether the clutch be on or off and so
all liability to the clutch being accidentally put on by centrifugal force is obviated
and moreover there are no dangerous projections from the exterior and the arms of
a pulley or wheel can be placed in the centre of the ring or shell as illustrated by
figure 4. It will be evident that a single screw and a screw nut at one end only
of the friction ring can be employed according to this Invention although the
arrangement illustrated is preferable.

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
Invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what
I claim is-
The arrangement and combination of parts constituting the friction clutch
substantially as hereinbefore described and illustrated in the accompanying
drawings.
J. HENRY JOHNSON,
Agent for the said Walter Bagshaw.