JPH031532B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a clutch for smoothly transmitting power from the driving side to the driven side at the time of starting or changing gears of a transmission device, and particularly relates to a clutch for use in automobile automatic transmissions. It concerns a centrifugal clutch.

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, the clutch is disengaged when stopped or at low speed, and as the rotation increases, the centrifugal force applied to the steel balls, clutch shoe, etc. causes the clutch to disengage.The centrifugal clutch has a simple structure and is easy to operate. , used in scooters, light motorcycles, etc. However, in such a conventional centrifugal clutch, there is a problem that the clutch starts to engage quite rapidly, resulting in a large impact and making it difficult to smoothly start or change gears.

The present invention was made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and its purpose is to provide a centrifugal clutch that can extremely smoothly perform starting and shifting using a transmission device.

[Means for solving problems]

The centrifugal clutch of the present invention, which has been made to solve the above problems, includes a support integrally fixed to a drive shaft, a clutch that is rotatable around a support shaft provided on the support, and a clutch as described above. It is supported and guided by a guide member fixed to rotate with the drive shaft, and is movable in the radial direction of the drive shaft, and when excited, it acts to pull the clutch inwardly and outwardly depending on the direction of the current. An electromagnet that exerts a repulsive action, a clutch drum that is rotatable together with a driven shaft on the same axis as the drive shaft and is disposed concentrically with the drive shaft around the clutch, and a clutch drum that is driven by the driven shaft. and an excitation circuit that excites the electromagnet with the output of a generator.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, one embodiment of the centrifugal clutch of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

In the illustrated embodiment, reference numeral 1 indicates a drive shaft, and reference numeral 2 indicates a driven shaft, and a pair of disc-shaped supports 3a and 3b are fixed to the drive shaft 1 at a constant interval in the axial direction. These supports 3a and 3b have support shafts 4a, 4a' and 4, respectively.
b, 4b' are provided, and support shafts 4a, 4b and 4
A straight line connecting a' and 4b' is parallel to the drive shaft 1. Clutches 6 and 7 are rotatably mounted on these support shafts 4a and 4b and 4a' and 4b', respectively.

On the other hand, a pair of guide members 8 and 9 are fixed to the drive shaft 1 symmetrically with respect to the drive shaft at a position corresponding to the center of the clutches 6 and 7 in the axial direction. and 9
Inside, a pair of electromagnets 12 and 13 with U-shaped cores 10 and 11 are provided, again symmetrically with respect to each other, each of these electromagnets 12 and 13 being supported and guided by a respective guide member 8 and 9. It is movable in the radial direction of the drive shaft 1.
The respective cores 10 and 11 of the electromagnets 12 and 13 are fixed near the free edges of the clutches 6 and 7 by fixing members 14 and 15, respectively, and these respective free edges and the electromagnets are connected to the respective cores 10 and 13. A radially inward force is constantly exerted by tension springs 16 and 17 stretched between the bottom of the drive shaft 11 and the drive shaft 1.

Further, a clutch drum 18 is disposed around the clutches 6 and 7 concentrically with the drive shaft 1. The gap between the liner on the inner surface of the clutch drum 18 and the liner on the outer surface of each of the clutches 6 and 7 is adjusted to be an appropriate gap when the drive shaft 1 is stopped. Furthermore, the clutch drum 18 is rotatable together with the driven shaft 2. The driven shaft 2 is equipped with a tachogenerator 19 that generates a voltage proportional to its rotational speed, and its output is connected to the coils of the electromagnets 12 and 13 via a known connection means (not shown) such as a slip ring. ing. The drive shaft 1 has a rotation speed sensor 2 that indicates its rotation speed.
0 is provided.

In this centrifugal clutch, when the drive shaft 1 begins to rotate in the direction of arrow A in FIG. Instead, the clutches 6, 17 try to rotate and extend outward, but while the rotational speed of the drive shaft 1 is low, the action of the tension springs 16, 17 is stronger than the centrifugal force, so the clutches 6,
7 does not contact the clutch drum 18. and,
As the rotation of the drive shaft 1 becomes faster, the centrifugal force overcomes the action of the springs 16, 17, so that the clutches 6, 7 begin to come into contact with the inner surface of the clutch drum 18. However, since a large load such as the weight of the vehicle is applied to the driven shaft 2, the clutches 6 and 7 rotate while sliding on the inner surface of the clutch drum 18. Therefore, when the rotation of the drive shaft 1 is further increased, the clutches 6 and 7 come into close contact with the drum 18, so the clutch drum 18 and the driven shaft 2 try to rotate rapidly, but when the driven shaft 2 starts to rotate, The output of the tachogenerator 19 is supplied to the electromagnets 12 and 13.
3 are supplied with electricity so that they attract each other, and a force acts on the clutches 6 and 7 in a direction that weakens their close contact with the clutch drum 18.

Since the output of the tachogenerator 19 increases with the rotational speed of the driven shaft 2, even if the centrifugal force increases as the rotational speed of the drive shaft 1 increases, the force pressing the clutch drum 18 of the clutches 6 and 7, that is, the force between them The degree of contact does not increase rapidly, and the power transmitted from the drive shaft 1 to the driven shaft 2 increases only very slowly. Therefore, starting is performed very smoothly.

When the car starts moving at a low speed in this way, inertia is applied to the driven shaft 2, so the load becomes lighter, and even if the driving force transmitted from the drive shaft 1 to the clutch 18 does not increase significantly, the driven shaft 2 As the rotation of the drive shaft 1 further increases due to acceleration, the driven shaft 2
speed is also increased. When the speeds of the drive shaft 1 and the driven shaft 2 become almost equal, the speed sensor 20 attached to the drive shaft 1 detects this, and automatically reduces the engine speed a little, allowing the drive shaft 1 and the driven shaft to The shaft 2 begins to rotate as a unit. In such a state, it is wasteful to keep the clutches 7 and 8 pulled inward by the electromagnets 12 and 13, and rather has a negative effect on power transmission.
The switch installed in the power supply circuit of speed sensor 2
0 automatically turns off and excitation of the electromagnets 12 and 13 is released.

In addition, in order to disengage the clutch during gear shifting, etc., the electromagnet 12,
13 is strongly excited, and a suction force greater than the centrifugal force of the clutches 6, 7 acts between them, forcibly separating the clutches 6, 7 from the clutch drum 18. After shifting, the drive shaft 1 and the driven shaft 2 are rotated as a unit in conjunction with pedal operation or automatically by the action of the speed sensor 20, and when this switch is turned off, the clutches 6 and 7 are rotated by centrifugal force. The clutch drum 18 is engaged, and power transmission from the drive shaft 1 to the driven shaft 2 is resumed. In addition, when it is desired to apply engine braking, the output of the tachogenerator 19 is connected to the electromagnet 12,
By supplying power so that the clutches 13 repel each other, the clutch is made difficult to disengage.

〔Effect of the invention〕

According to this invention, the structure is simple, and starting and shifting can be performed extremely smoothly without impact.
In addition, a clutch that can easily apply engine braking can be obtained.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1, 2, and 3 show an embodiment of the centrifugal clutch of the present invention, in which FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view, FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view with a partially exploded internal view,
FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view. 1... Drive shaft, 2... Driven shaft, 3a, 3b...
Support body, 4a, 4b, 4a', 4b'... Support shaft, 6,
7... Clutch, 8, 9... Guide member, 1
2, 13... Electromagnet, 18... Clutch drum,
19...Tachometer generator (generator), 20...
speed sensor.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A support integrally fixed to the drive shaft; A clutch provided on the support and rotatable around a support shaft; A guide member fixed to rotate together with the drive shaft. an electromagnet that is supported and guided by and movable in the radial direction of the drive shaft, and when excited, exerts an action of pulling the clutch inward and repelling it outward depending on the direction of the current; a clutch drum that is rotatable together with the driven shaft on the same axis as the clutch drum and is disposed concentrically with the drive shaft around the clutch; the electromagnet is excited by the output of a generator driven by the driven shaft; An automatic centrifugal clutch for an automobile, characterized in that it is equipped with an excitation circuit; 2. The vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the excitation circuit is provided with means for turning off the excitation circuit when the rotational speed of the driven shaft becomes equal to the rotational speed of the drive shaft. Automatic centrifugal clutch. 3. Claim 3, characterized in that the excitation circuit is provided with a clutch tripping circuit for connecting a battery in conjunction with a speed change operation and forcibly tripping the clutch by increasing the output of the electromagnet. The automatic centrifugal clutch for automobiles according to item 1.