STARTING AND STOPPING DEVICE FOR AN INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE

摘要

A starting and stopping device for an internal combustion engine includes an energy storing device including at least one elastic member. The elastic member is loaded in response to rotation of a main shaft, and the main shaft rotates in an unloading direction in response to unloading of the elastic member. A locking mechanism selectively prevents the elastic member from unloading from a loaded state by preventing the shaft from rotating in the unloading direction. A clutch mechanism is operatively disposed between the main shaft and the locking mechanism to permit rotation of the shaft in the unloading direction when a preselected torsional threshold between the shaft and the locking mechanism is reached.