A small freewheel clutch bearing, I didn’t expect the structure to be so complicated.

A freewheel clutch, in particular a freewheel clutch bearing for a starter of an internal combustion engine, having two annular bodies configured as an inner ring and an outer ring, the annular body including a curved inner passage for a curve and a curved outer passage, The diameter of the curve varies in length, wherein a rolling body is accommodated in the curve, the rolling body being biased by a resilient element in the direction of the tapered end of the curve, characterized in that the curve configuration An angle (α) between the inner and outer tangents of the curve changes over the length of the curve such that the angle (α) gradually decreases toward the cross section The direction increases.

Clutch development
Early car freewheel clutch bearing were actually from other mechanical devices. According to the data, the first generation of the clutch is a flat belt (personally inferred to be the centrifugal clutch on the scooter). However, the transmission efficiency of the belt is too low and the wear is very serious, especially in the rainy days, the power transmission is more prone to problems. As the gearbox position increased and the freewheel clutch bearing continued to withstand greater torque, a variety of freewheel clutch bearing were invented, including the pioneer of modern clutches, the freewheel clutch bearing based on the friction principle.

Since the freewheel clutch bearing needs to be switched between separation and coupling, the spring is definitely an essential component. The older drivers know that the previous truck clutches used coil springs, some in the middle and some in the outer ring. Instead of these springs inside the freewheel clutch bearing, they are replaced by a set of plates with claws.

In fact, these claws are also a kind of spring, which is called "diaphragm spring".

The diaphragm spring freewheel clutch bearing was born in the 1936 General Motors laboratory and was mass produced in the United States in the late 1930s. It was applied to some single European models in the mid-1950s. The Porsche 356, BMW 700 and DKW Munga were the first German-made cars equipped with diaphragm spring clutches. Mass production of diaphragm spring clutches began in 1965 with the Opel Rekrod model.

In the past few years, the variety of diaphragm spring clutches has been able to fully cover the domestic demand for heavy, medium, light, sedan, micro and agricultural vehicles. So why not use a diaphragm spring without a coil spring?