MULTI-ROW CAM-ACTUATED CENTRIFUGAL CLUTCH

摘要

A centrifugal clutch (10, 10', 10 '') for motorcycles employs a cam-actuating mechanism having multiple rows of centrifugal force-responsive cam members (38, 39, 40) of a selected density and size to force a series of clutch plates (32, 34) into clutching engagement over the shortest possible distance and least possible speed of rotation while assuring ease of positive engagement of the clutch plates in response to slight increases in speed of rotation. The cam-actuating mechanism can be employed with a manual override mechanism (77) to manually control locking and release of the clutch members as well as utilizing a torque limiter (65, 66) to absorb shock loads without unduly increasing the size of the clutch so that it will readily fit into the space occupied by existing or standard clutch mechanisms.