02) G4) (75) 3) © en e (65) GD ©) 68) (50) United States Patent Drussel et al. AUTOMATIC CLUTCH WITH MANUAL, OVERRIDE CONTROL MECHANISM Inventors: Douglas W, Drussel, Sedalia, CO (US); G. Michael Wilfley, Cherry Hills Village, CO (US) Assignee: Drussel Willley Design, LLC, Denver, cous) Notice: Subject to any disclaimer, the term ofthis patent is extended or adjusted under 35 US.C. 154(b) by 173 days. Appl. No.: 09/87,518 Filed: Jun. 7, 2001 Prior Publication Data US 200200185355 AI Dee. 12, 2002 Int. Cl? BoM 9/00 US. Ci 192/83; 192/96; 192/105 B Field of § 192,83, 105 C, 193/103 A, 105 B, 96; 180/230, References Cited US. PATENT DOCUMENTS 178370 A 1/1930 Veit 241238 A 12/946 Gren 2555860 A * 6/1951 Reed wassi 2717974 A 9/1955. Crichton 272163 A 10/1955. Miller 300123 A 9/1961. Fawick 3,003,508 A * 10/1961 Biraden 19288 3218234 A 11/1965. Han 3265,172 A 811966 Asum ta 3762519 A 10/1973 Bentley US00670SA46B2 (0) Patent No: US 6,705,446 B2 (45) Date of Patent: Mar. 16, 2004 38295 A 101974 Honma 3930734 A 21076 blanche ta Gas7i8s A 71084 Yoshie ASisom A St985 Oka AGia58 A + Gt990 Mauls etal ia 4ioo028 A 51989 Teak ea atmos A tas Kite omans A191 Tipton So'882 A 111994 Tipton Sizam A + ‘6/1005 Anlonor wa.03 a Shai 37 A 81995 Organ ea. SoM217 A + 319% Nani ea srs * cited by examiner Primary Examiner—Saul Rodriquez (74) Attorney, Agent, or Firm—John E. Reilly 67) ABSTRACT [An automatic cluteh for automotive and other applications employs a contra rod to manually control engagement and slisengagement of the clutch independently of its speed of | rotation, and in one form of invention can be employed in manual start motoreycles to engage the clutch for bump- starting purposes before the engine is up 1 speed, and in an alternate foem a control rod can be employed in electrically started bikes to Tock the clutch against engagement whether ‘oF not the engine is up to the Speed required for automatic ‘engagement of the clutch, The conteo rod may either extend through the transmission shaft from one end of the eluteh housing o may extend through the opposite end of the clutch housing, and in certain applications the hereinbefore ‘described contzol rods ean be combined 10 selectively eon trol burnpstarting to manually effect clutch engagement or as a locking mechanism to prevent clutch engagement 39 Claims, 10 Drawing Sheets séU.S. Patent Mar. 16,2004 Sheet 1 of 10 US 6,705,446 B2 14.US 6,705,446 B2 Sheet 2 of 10 Mar. 16, 2004 U.S, Patent éOlsd efUS 6,705,446 B2 Sheet 3 of 10 Mar. 16, 2004 U.S, Patent Ov. oe eS. 19 09 82, OL OF ‘9c LbUS 6,705,446 B2 Sheet 4 of 10 Mar. 16, 2004 U.S, Patent bb Old OL SidUS 6,705,446 B2 Sheet 5 of 10 Mar. 16, 2004 U.S, PatentU.S. Patent Mar. 16,2004 Sheet 6 of 10 US 6,705,446 B2 86 82 80 81 20 FIG. 13 36"US 6,705,446 B2 Sheet 7 of 10 Mar. 16, 2004 U.S, Patent 86,U.S. Patent Mar. 16,2004 Sheet 8 of 10 US 6,705,446 B2 FIG.15 ~~ 108 FIG. 16US 6,705,446 B2 Sheet 9 of 10 Mar. 16, 2004 U.S, Patent LVL 4 8b OldU.S. Patent Mar. 16,2004 Sheet 10 of 10 US 6,705,446 B2 H “1 R41 L-2 R-2 R-3 LF-1—4 P—RF-1 FIG. 19 7 Ht on R41 L-2 R2 L-3 Ra L-4 L5 LF-1—4 P RF FIG. 20US 6,705,446 B2 1 AUTOMATIC CLUTCH WITH MANUAL ‘OVERRIDE CONTROL MECHANISM BACKGROUND AND FIELD OF INVENTION ‘This invention relates to automatic clutches adapted for use with a motive power source, anc! more particularly relates to a novel and improved sulomatic centrifugal clutch ‘with « manual override control mechanism for motorcycles, Motoreycles employ internal combustion engines either of the two-stroke of foursiroke variety, the fuel being ignited by an eletre starter to cause the pistons to advance through their respective cylinders and to tum the engine crankshaft via @ connecting rod which joins the piston and crankshaft together. The crankshaft converts the up and down movement of the piston 10 a circular motion which ‘operates through « geae of chain reduction o power a pinion into the primary drive gear on a clutch housing. This permits the rider to disconnect the engine from the transmission in ‘order 10 shift from one geae to another. The clutch itself is ‘operated by a hand lever so as to allow power to be fed gradually from the engine 10 the gearing or to be discon- neted for gear changing, Also, inthe standard motorcycle, 4 gear shift is controlled by a foot lever to engage ot disengage the transmission depending upon whether one ‘wants to idle or cause the gears to impart rotation of the crankshaft into the rear wheel, In most street bikes an clectric starter is employed, and in emergency stations itis possible to bumpstart by running alongside the motoreyele ‘with the manual clutch pulled in and transmission ia the lowest gear that won't lock up the rear wheel, then hop on and pop the elute as one hits the seat. In off-road motoreycles, refered to as “trail” or “dit” bikes customarily there is no electric starter 10 start the engine; instead, a kickstart foot lever operates through a primary gear on the clutch housing to rotate the eranksbalt land start the engine very much like the hand crank employed in early model automobiles, Wheo used in conjunction with fan aulomatic clutch the kickstart lever imparts rotation directly to the outer basket of housing portion of the clutch via idler gars in a crankshaft set to tbe engine. Previously, at least in the automatic clutch versions, it was not possible to bumpstart by popping oF manually engaging the clutch after getting up 10 speed. It has been proposed in the past to utilize a central push rod in the elutch housing which when activated will release the friction plates in the clutch against spring pressure, representative patents being USS. Pat. Nos. 4,518,070, 3,842, 954 and 3,215,234. Nevertheless, no practical way has been devised previously to mechanically engage the automatic clutch for purposes of bumpstarting it in emergency situa- tions. Therefore, ii desirable to provide a simple but highly effective means of manually engaging an automatic clutch through the utilization of the existing clutch mechanism and specifically to employ a push rod in the reverse manner to cause the clutch plates to engage by forcing a series of rolling members out along an inclined surface or ramp to ‘overcome the spring pressure normally retaining the clutch plates out of engagement. In this way, it is possible to Dbumpstart the engine by engaging the transmission gears, rolling the motorcycle along the ground to reverse the transmission from the rear wheel into the teansmission shaft centrally of the clutch housing, followed by activating the push rod to engage the clutch and rotate the crankshaft through the primary driven gear in the clutch housing, ‘Moreover, the automatic clutch will be normally disengaged 0 6 2 at lower spms or when the engine i dling andl therefore not require manual disengagement each time thatthe motorcycle is slowed down or stopped. In bumpstarting, it is important to understand that the inital turning or rotational movement required for rotation (of the transmission shaft must be imparted by rotation ofthe war wheel back through the gear reduction drive into the ‘wansmission shaft and which can be done simply by rolling ‘or advancing the motorcycle along the ground. Secondly, it is necessary to shift the gearing from neutral into one of the _zcar positions, such as, second! gear whereupon activation of | the push rod 10 engage the clutch will impart rotation to the crankshaft and start the engine without the kickstarter. ‘Accordingly, there is a need for an emergency starting mechanism for automatic cluteh type motorcycles and other ‘applications as well but particularly for use in offroad vehicles which can employ the existing drive train of the motoreyele and impart the necessary tuening force to start, the engine without the assistance of a kickstarter or electric ser, Moreover in standard motoreyeles there isa need for ‘clutch lockout s0 as to make automatic clutches feasible for use with electric starters. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION is therefore an object of the present invention o provide for a novel and improved method! and means for bumpstart- ing an internal combustion engine which is highly depend- able and effective in use while requiring 4 minimum of manual exertion or effort Is another object of the invention to provide fora push rod in combination with a centrifugal clutch which is capable of selectively engaging the clutch plates of an sulomatic clutch without imparting any centrifugal force to the clutch-engaging members. isa further object of the present invention o provide for ‘4 novel and improved clutch-engaging mechanism which requires minimal movement of an activating member 10 eflect engagement ofthe clutch plates of an automatic clutch and wherein the starting mechanism is conformable for use with different types of existing automatic clutch mecha- It is a still further object of the present invention to provide a manual control for an automatic motorcycle Clutch, either in the form of « push rod or pull rod, whieh ‘enables the clutch to remain in a normally released position ‘when at low speeds or idling and ean effect manual clutch for bumpstating In accordance with the present invention, there has been devised a novel and improved manual control mechanism for an automatic elutch interposed between an engine exank= shaft and a transmission shaft wherein the clutch is provided ‘with an inner bub coupled to the transmission shaft and an cuter cover coupled to the crankshaft with clutch members alternately extending from and fixed for rotation with said hub and said cover portion and being axially displaceable into and away from frictional engagement with one another, a.clutch-engaging member at one end of the clutch members including spring means biasing said pressure plate away fom the elutch members, and centrifugal force-responsive means movable radially and outwardly along suid pressure plate to overcome the Spring means and force the pressure plate axially against an endmost of the clutch members ‘whereby to impart rotation between the basket and the bub, the mechanism comprising control member actuating means ‘between one end of the control member and elutch-engaging member being movable in response to axial movement of