摘要 |
<p>A vehicle engine 2 has its flywheel 3 disengageable from the crankshaft by means of a clutch 4. The flywheel is also connectable to the transmission 10 and thus the driving wheels 13 and 14 by the normal clutch 7. When stationary in traffic, the driver can stop the engine 2 after disengaging the clutch 4 by releasing the accelerator pedal 20, leaving the flywheel 3 running. When the driver depresses the pedal 20 to move off, the clutch 4 is re-engaged by a control 18 and the angular momentum of the flywheel restarts the engine. The flywheel speed is maintained above the minimum required for engine restarting either by briefly restarting the engine in response to a signal from a probe 19 monitoring the flywheel speed or by operating a starter motor 15 (which may be replaced by a motor 26 of which the flywheel is the rotor). <IMAGE></p> |