Suma Precision Machinery

The working principles of one-way clutch

One-way sprag clutch resembles a roller bearing, but instead of cylindrical rollers, non-revolving asymmetric figure-eight shaped sprags are used. When the unit rotates in one direction the rollers slip or free-wheel, but when a torque is applied in the opposite direction, the rollers tilt slightly, producing a wedging action and binding because of friction. The sprags are spring-loaded so that they lock with very little backlash.

1) The components of one way clutch：

A one-way clutch consists of outer race, inner race, cage, sprags and so on.

Working principles:

When the inner race is fixed, the outer race rotates clockwise and the sprags are not locked, then the outer race can rotate freely; As the outer race rotates anticlockwise, the sprags will be locked. Here we use cages to make the sprags tilt towards the locked direction of outer race, so that we can strengthen the locking function of the sprags.

Demonstrating the working principles of one-way clutch