Abstract: A torque converter assembly is provided for adjusting the overall speed of a vehicle. The assembly comprises a driver pulley including an outer drum, a movable flange, a chamber formed by the outer drum and movable flange, a first weight and a second weight each positioned to lie within the chamber, and a shaft extending into the chamber about which the first and second weights are positioned to lie for rotation. The assembly further comprises a pair of guideposts each having a first end fixedly coupled to a respective one of the first and second weights and a second end inserted in the other of the first and second weights and a stopper coupled to the second end of each guidepost to limit the radially outward movement of the first and second weights.

Abstract: A lawn tool is provided having a drive assembly, a plurality of driven assemblies, and a connector that permits removal of a given driven assemblies from the drive assembly. The drive assembly includes a motor, a first tube, and a first shaft coupled to the motor and positioned to lie in the first tube. Each driven assembly includes an implement, a second tube, and a second drive shaft coupled to the implement and positioned to lie in the second tube. The connector includes a housing coupled to the first and second tubes and a trigger coupled to the housing for movement between a locking position coupling the first and second tubes together and a releasing position permitting removal of the second tube away from the first tube so that the driven assembly may be removed from the drive assembly.

Abstract: A centrifugal actuator is provided for a centrifugal clutch having an axially fixed base and an axially movable pulley flange. The actuator includes a drive arm having a camming surface and a bottom that is pivotably attached to the movable pulley flange, a mounting pin coupled to the fixed base, and an improved roller that rotates about the mounting pin. The roller includes an outer sleeve and an inner sleeve coupled to the outer sleeve. The outer sleeve is made of metal and has an outer surface that frictionally engages the camming surface of the drive arm. The inner sleeve is made of a plastics material and has an inner load-bearing surface that engages the mounting pin. The roller rotates about the mounting pin as the drive arm swings outwardly and inwardly.

Abstract: A centrifugal actuator is provided for a centrifugal clutch. The centrifugal clutch includes a drive spider having a cam lever-following roller and a moveable clutch housing. The centrifugal actuator includes two bosses, each boss having a mechanism for coupling to the clutch housing. Each boss is formed to include a pin-receiving opening. The bosses are arranged in spaced-apart relation on the clutch housing to form a central slot therebetween. A cam lever having an interior wall arranged to define a D-shaped pin-receiving opening is positioned to lie in the central slot and is arranged to pivot to maintain engagement of the cam lever and the cam lever-following roller. A pivot pin is rotatably received in the pin-receiving openings of the two bosses and the D-shaped pin-receiving opening of the cam lever. The pivot pin includes an elongated flat exterior wall and an elongated curved exterior wall arranged so that a transverse cross section of the pivot pin is D-shaped.

Abstract: A centrifugal clutch includes a pair of clutch shoes, a rotor, and a housing around the clutch shoe and rotor. Each clutch shoe is formed to include pockets that receive drive arms on the rotors. The shape of the pocket on the top side of the clutch shoe is different than the shape of the pocket on the bottom side so that the clutch has one torque capacity if the rotor drive arm extends into the "top side" pocket and a different torque capacity if the rotor drive arm extends into the "bottom side" pocket. The side walls of each pocket and the side walls on each rotor drive arm are shaped and configured so that a user can change the torque capacity of the clutch by changing the orientation of the clutch shoes relative to the rotor drive arms inside the housing.

Abstract: A self-contained steering, clutch, and brake assembly is provided having a housing for connection to a rotating drive shaft having a drive hub mounted on an extension thereof, a brake hub mounted to the housing, and a clutch drum movable to engage either the drive hub or the brake hub. These engagements are made through coaxial, multi-disk clamping assemblies which serve to increase engagement surface area within the minimal confines of the housing. The clutch drum is constantly connected to a standard size wheel axle through a compound reduction chain drive which is also enclosed by the housing. The clutch drum is normally biased into engagement with the drive hub and a rotary cam actuator is provided to move the clutch hub against the biasing spring and into engagement with the brake hub. The housing is adapted to be bolted directly to the mower deck without special deck reconfiguration.

Abstract: A centrifugal clutch includes a pair of clutch shoes and a rotor. The rotor includes rotor arms extending into pockets formed in the clutch shoes. Sound-deadening buffer members are positioned in the pockets to lie between each rotor arm and clutch shoe to deaden sound produced by movement of a rotor arm in its clutch shoe pocket.

Abstract: A cone-type clutch is provided having a cone-shaped housing coupled to a drive shaft for engaging a cone-shaped friction cone coupled to a driven shaft to establish a driving connection between the shafts. The clutch is activated by rotating two actuating levers relative to each other to engage opposing ramp surfaces and separate the actuating levers axially in order to force contact between the cone-shaped housing and friction cone.

Abstract: A variable speed drive system for use with a self-propelled device is coupled by a belt to an engine which is mounted to the device. The variable speed drive system includes a variable pitch pulley held in spaced-apart relation to the drive shaft by a fixture and rotates about the drive shaft between a first position proximal to the engine and a second position distal to the engine. In the first position, the drive system is disengaged from the engine and the speed of the self-propelled device is zero, the belt being slack and providing no drive force to the drive system. In the second position, the drive system is moved a maximum amount about the drive shaft and is positioned to achieve a maximum speed. The drive system can also assume any intermediate position between the first and second positions, with the speed of the self-propelled device being determined by the amount of movement about the drive shaft toward the second position.

Abstract: A belt tensioning assembly that simultaneously controls belt tension and belt drive speed is provided. A pivotable bracket is pivotably attached to a lawn mower or other light duty, belt driven equipment. A variable speed pulley for holding a pair of rotatable belts is attached to a slide bracket and the slide bracket is slidably attached to the pivotable bracket. A spring or other biasing mechanism can be used to connect the slide bracket to the pivotable bracket to maintain substantially constant belt tension.

Abstract: A garden tiller tine assembly for use with a tiller assembly which includes a drive shaft having a longitudinal axis of rotation includes a rotary blade aligned at a predetermined angle with respect to the axis of rotation. The planar body of the rotary blade is angled at a dihedral angle with respect to a plane normal to the axis of rotation. Upon rotation of the tine assembly about the axis of rotation, the rotary blade oscillates laterally from side to side along the axis of rotation to cut a wider path through the soil than conventional rotary blades.

Abstract: A brake caliper is provided for applying a braking force to a wheel, rotor, disc, or the like. The caliper includes a brake actuator, an actuator housing, a bearing for rotatably and slideably receiving the brake actuator in the actuator housing, and a ramp for displacing the brake actuator in an axial direction in relation to the actuator housing between an inactive position and a brake-actuating position in response to rotation of the brake actuator. At least one braking pad is actuable to apply a braking force in response to predetermined axial displacement of the brake actuator. The ramp includes at least one contoured camming surface inclined in a counterclockwise direction and at least one contoured camming surface inclined in a clockwise direction. Axial displacement of the brake actuator is accomplished by camming engagement between the brake actuator and one of the contoured camming surfaces formed in the ramp block.

Abstract: A rotary lawn mower blade mounted on a blade carrier by diametrically spaced bolts is further retained against release from the drive shaft by a retainer fixed on the drive shaft and having a shank extending through a central opening in the blade and having an enlarged head to obstruct separation of the blade from the retainer. Preferably, the blade opening is larger than the shank and the retainer head is in the form of a transverse bar, narrower than such opening, so that the blade can be removed by manipulation in one direction to an eccentric position, then tilted to disengage it from one end of the bar, and then moved in the opposite direction to disengage it from the other end of the bar.

Abstract: A combined safety clutch and brake mechanism for a rotary lawn mower blade has a driven blade carrier with self-energizing centrifugal shoes biased to engagement with a driving drum. Brake drum segments fixed to the shoes are engaged by a brake band which physically forces the shoes to declutched position. To ensure reliable operation, the brake band is connected to a lever arm which is strongly biased to brake-ON position by a coil spring engaged about a guide rod and disposed along the movable end portion of the brake band, in a chordal position between the band and a surrounding protective bowl. The geometry of the lever arm and spring thrust line progressively reduces the force required to actuate the brake band to OFF position, relative to the spring force, as the lever arm is moved and the spring compressed.

Abstract: A rotary lawn mower blade mounted on a blade carrier by diametrically spaced bolts is further retained against release from the drive shaft by a retainer fixed on the drive shaft and having a cylindrical shank extending in bearing relation through a central opening in the blade having an enlarged head to obstruct separation of the blade from the retainer. The head includes at least one radial projection and the opening one radial extension, and the head and opening have one orientation in which the same are in registry to permit axial removal of the blade from the retainer. Preferably, the head is triangular with three truncated apexes, one of which is longer than the others and another of which may be wider than all others. The sides of the triangular blade opening lie tangent to the cylindrical retainer shank to hold the blade concentric with such shank.

Abstract: A lawn trimmer has a tubular shaft assembly which structurally and drivingly connects an upper power head to a lower rotary tool head in a lawn-trimming tool. The assembly includes a bent portion to dispose its opposite ends at an angle to each other, and comprises an outer frame shaft of relatively large diameter and structural strength and an inner sheath tube of relatively smaller diameter formed of rigid but bendable tubing extending coaxially of the frame tube. The sheath tube is supported over the bent length of the assembly by a continuous semirigid bushing, and its lower end is held coaxial with the lower end of the frame tube by a substantially rigid bushing. The lower end of the frame tube, beyond such rigid bushing, is expanded to form a sleeve of enlarged diameter and predetermined length, and an arbor assembly is mounted in such sleeve and consists of a pair of ball bearings mounted by their inner races on the arbor and having their outer races supportingly received in the sleeve.

Abstract: A lawn mower blade clutch-brake mechanism having a driving drum and a driven blade carrier, the carrier having clutch shoes engageable with the inside of the drum and brake drum segments fixed to the shoes and disposed outside the drum for engagement by an encircling brake band which both applies braking drag and mechanically forces the segments inward to disengage the clutch shoes, and including the improvement that the clutch shoes are pivoted to the carrier at their leading ends in the direction of rotation so as to be aggressive and self-energizing, and the segments are pivoted on the same pivots and have trailing ends which are swung outward from a cylindrical position concentric with the axis of rotation when the clutch shoes are engaged so that the segments are first engaged by the brake band at and in the direction of their outward sloping trailing ends.

Abstract: A lawn mower engine having a lightweight top rotor of low polar inertia drives a rotary blade through a clutch-flywheel rotor having sufficient inertia to provide the major flywheel effect for the engine. Clutch faces at the rotor periphery engage a surrounding blade-carrier drum and have a maximum torque arm for positively driving the blade. The faces are preferably on centrifugal shoes which slip at load-reduced speed so as to maintain engine operation, and release at idling speed to allow engine starting with the blade stopped. A brake band or ring about the drum is spring-pressed ON to stop the blade when a deadman control is released. The preferred clutch-flywheel rotor is made of two heavy circular plates (e.g., 1/4".times.6") riveted together against spacer slugs and a shouldered hub. Wide clutch shoes are mounted on such rotor by end tangs and springs between the plates. The top rotor plate substantially closes the top of the drum. Access and hub openings in the two plates provide rotor spacer slugs.

Abstract: A warning device for a lawn mower having a rotary blade driven from a motor through a centrifugal clutch and normally held stopped by a brake which is released by a deadman control. The warning device comprises a flexible clicker post such as a close-wound helical spring carried by the clutch driver and having a weighted clicker head at its free end which normally stands in the path of a blade-mounting nut or other striker on the clutch-driven part so that the clicker head on the post will be repeatedly struck by the nut or other striker in the event the clutch driver element is stopped while the brake is disengaged and allows the blade to rotate under its own momentum. When the clutch driver is rotating at normal driving speed, centrifugal force bends the flexible arm to carry the clicker head out of striking relation with the striker element on the driven clutch part.