Patent ID: 7063199

Claim:
A centrifugal clutch, comprising: a housing which is rotatable about an axis, said housing having a plurality of first supporting areas which each extend radially with respect to said axis; a pressing plate which is axially movable with respect to said housing and is coupled to said housing for rotation about said axis; a supporting element which is axially movable on an actuation path with respect to said housing, said supporting element having a plurality of second supporting areas which each extend radially with respect to said axis, each said second support area being separated from a respective said first support area by an axial distance which decreases with radial distance from the axis; a plurality of centrifugal members supported between respective pairs of first and second support areas, each said centrifugal member being radially displaceable by centrifugal force along the respective pair of support areas to exert force in a clutch engaging direction along a force transmission path between said supporting element and said pressing plate; and an actuation force transmission arrangement in the force transmission path between the supporting element and the pressing plate, the actuation force transmission arrangement exerting an actuation force on the supporting element in a clutch releasing direction, the actuation force increasing as the supporting element moves axially in the clutch engaging direction, the actuation force having a gradient, with respect to the actuation path, which decreases in the clutch engaging direction.