Joe
I think James means a centripital/cetrafugal clutch as used in chainsaws,
ride-on lawn mowers and motor scooters. It is similar to a drum brake with
friction shoes inside a drum. The driven shaft has the shoes, which spin
out as the rotational speed increases and grip the drum.
Apart from the additional weight, cost and point of failure, it seems like
a good idea for heavy traffic. However, with a open clutch in the drive
train, the park brake would have to be good and reliable.
Just think, with the standard clutch, a centripital clutch, the gearbox,
the overdrive, and the freewheel, we should be seeing the first Spitfire
stretch limo any time now.
Trevor Jordan
74 TR6 CF29281U
At 3:29 AM +1000 18/3/98, Joe Curry wrote:
>James,
>I think you are talking about the "Free Wheeling Device that Saab
>designed in the mid-60's. It was a very unique piece of technology. It
>consisted of a shaft/cylinder affair with roller bearings riding in
>their own channels. The device was fitted between the transmission and
>the engine. When the transmission was turning faster than the engine,
>the rollers would turn freely and separate the tranny from the engine.
>But when the engine turns faster than the tranny, the rollers would
>attempt to travel up a ramp and become lodged in the space at the top,
>thus locking the engine and tranny together.
>
>The whole affair could be engaged or disengaged according to driver
>preference. The effect was to enable the driver to shift all 4 gears up
>or down without touching the clutch. It was great for long trips, as it
>increased fuel mileage, but very precarious in mountain driving where
>gearing down is helpful.
>
>If anybody else can provide a better description of the device, I
>welcome comment.
>
>Joe Curry
>
>James wrote:
>>
>> All this semi-auto stuff, that's not what I wan't, I wan't a car that
>> when you are in first or second in your standad manual setup, and
>> your revs drop below 900 rpm, the clutch goes in. When the car is
>> in nutral the cluck goes out. When you go above 900 rpm the cluch
>> engadges over 1/2 a second. This way you don't have to touch
>> the clutch pedel in trafic, it could also slip it if your in
>> second from full stop. Thus you change like normal.
>>
>> But you car won't use the 15% of the power like a normal automatic
>> with torque converter. You will get the economy, and even in that
>> auto clutch mode you can still do wheel spins away from the junction
>> (the best way of stopping pedestreians from crossing inf ront of you)
>> becasue you should be able to get 5000 rpm's before it engadges.
>>
>> Yep, I'm going to design one, that ties onto the hydrolic system.
>>
>> How can you tell if the car infront is an auto? You've just
>> overtaken them.
>> --
>> James Carpenter
>> Yellow '79 spit wired by a trained marmot
>
>--
>"Thanks to the Interstate Highway System, it is now possible
> to travel across the country coast to coast without seeing
> anything." -- Charles Kuralt
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