Clutch Bearings

One-way bearings are widely used in mining /hydraulic / textile / printing / washing machines, conveyor systems and so on. One-way clutch bearings allow shafts to be driven in only one direction; it allows one shaft to "freewheel" if it is spinning in the opposite direction from the direction at which the clutch is designed to engage.

The one-way clutch bearing is designed very much like the roller bearing, but the rollers are allowed to move up small ramps. When the shaft turns in direction that locks the clutch, the rollers roll up small ramps and wedge into cavities. When this happens, the clutch locks and the shaft will drive the gear, or the gear will drive the shaft. These bearings are used extensively in automatic and manual transmissions allowing gears to be engaged depending on their direction of rotation.