Compliant Floating-opposing-arm (FOA) Clutch combines the utility of centrifugal clutches with the simplicity and reliability of compliant mechanisms. The FOA clutch relies on flexible segments to provide motion and to create a restitution spring force, dramatically decreasing part count and manufacturing and assembly cost over traditional designs, while maintaining equal torque-speed performance.
As a variation of traditional centrifugal clutches, the FOA clutch is suitable for use in most, if not all, applications where traditional centrifugal clutches are currently used. These applications include power garden tools, go-karts, and helicopters to name a few.
Patent #6,758,975 B1
For licensing information, contact the BYU Office of Technology Transfer.
Crane, N.B., Howell, L.L., and Weight, B.L., “Design and Testing of a Compliant Floating-Opposing-Arm (FOA) Centrifugal Clutch”, Proceedings of 8th International Power Transmission and Gearing Conference, at the 2000 ASME Design Engineering Technical Conference, Baltimore, Maryland, DETC2000/PTG-14451.
Crane, N.B., Howell, L.L., Weight, B.L., and Magleby, S.P., “Compliant Floating-Opposing-Arm (FOA) Centrifugal Clutch,” Journal of Mechanical Design, Trans. ASME, Vol. 126, No. 1, pp. 169-177, 2004.
Weight, R.G., Howell, L.L., and Magleby, S.P., “Minimizing Performance Variation for the Compliant Floating-opposing-arm Clutch,” Proceedings of the 2004 ASME Mechanisms and Robotics Conference, DETC2004-57206.