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In the 1950s, the Automotive Products company in the United Kingdom produced an automated clutch system for automobiles called the Manumatic. This system was installed in cars with a manual transmission, allowing them to be driven without needing to use a clutch pedal.
The clutch brake not only slows or stops the idle gear axis but can also prevent shifting into gear until the clutch pedal is released a few centimetres (or inches) off the floor. In order to shift into gear, the clutch must be halfway off the floor, otherwise, the clutch brake will prevent the transmission from being shifted into or out of gear.
When the engine is running and the clutch is engaged (i.e., clutch pedal up), the flywheel spins the clutch pressure plate and hence the transmission. The design of most manual transmissions for cars is that gear ratios are selected by locking selected gear pairs to the output shaft inside the transmission.
The 1941 Chrysler M4 Vacamatic transmission was a two-speed manual transmission with an integral underdrive unit, a traditional manual clutch, and a fluid coupling between the engine and the clutch. [ 51 ] [ 52 ] [ 53 ] The two-speed transmission had "high" and "low" ranges, and the clutch was used when the driver wanted to switch between ranges.
It was a hybrid manual transmission equipped with a torque converter, like an automatic. Although Hy-Drive cars had a clutch pedal like a traditional manual transmission, it was only used to put the car in gear. Once underway, the driver could upshift and downshift using the gear shift without using the clutch or even lifting off the accelerator.
Clutch control refers to the act of controlling the speed of a vehicle with a manual transmission by partially engaging the clutch plate, using the clutch pedal instead of (or in conjunction with) the accelerator pedal. The purpose of a clutch is in part to allow such control; in particular, a clutch provides transfer of torque between shafts ...
The best-known is the fluid flywheel, used for touring cars such as the Daimler (Armstrong Siddeley used a centrifugal clutch). [2] Sports cars used a Newton centrifugal clutch. [2] This was a multiple plate dry clutch, similar to racing manual clutches of the time, but with the pressure plate centrifugally actuated to engage at around 600rpm. [17]
Float shifting can reduce clutch wear because it is used so much less (only for starting from a standstill). Conversely, improper engagement of a gear (when the engine and transmission speeds aren't matched) can cause wear on the synchros and lockouts, and damage the gears by physically grinding them together due to a difference in speed.