Clutch with centrifugally actuated springs

摘要

A clutch assembly for controlling the transfer of rotation from a rotatable driving member to a rotatably mounted driven member comprises a spider driven within a drum having an interior wall surrounding the spider. The spider has outwardly radiating arms which receive clutch shoes between alternate pairs of adjacently disposed arms. The clutch shoes are equipped with outrigger means providing anchors for the ends of springs which interconnect circumferentially adjacent clutch shoes. The outrigger means support the ends of the springs circumferentially outwardly from the clutch shoes in a position which enables centrifugal forces to bow the springs outwardly and thus change the direction of force exerted by the springs on the clutch shoes.