Patent ID: 7140480

Claim:
In a centrifugal clutch having a transmission shaft, a hub coupled to said shaft, a rotatable driven member in outer spaced concentric relation to said shaft, clutch members mounted for relative axial displacement into and out of engagement with one another between said hub and said shaft, and a pressure plate axially displaceable between a cover and an endmost of said clutch members including means biasing said pressure plate in an axial direction away from said clutch members, the improvement comprising: at least one row of cam members interposed between said cover and said pressure plate wherein said cam members are movable radially outwardly under centrifugal force to cause said pressure plate to move in a direction causing said clutch members to move into clutching engagement with one another; an elongated control rod extending centrally of said housing and being axially slidable with respect to said housing; first means between one end of said control rod and said pressure plate being movable in response to axial movement of said control rod to displace said pressure plate in an axial direction independently of said biasing means; and second means for selectively advancing and retracting said control rod whereby to disengage said clutch members independently of said cam members.