Friction Clutch
in machinery, a device for connecting two shafts by bringing a piece on one shaft into contact with a piece of another shaft, which revolves with such force that the former partakes of the motion of the latter. It consists of a shell or box fixed on the end of a driving shaft, fitted by a conical Vol. IV-Cyc-O FRENCH, SOCIETY OF piece which slides on a feather or raised part of the end of another shaft, so that it can be engaged at pleasure by the cone being forced into the shell by a lever or screw. This apparatus is very useful for driving machines, the parts of which are subject to violent strains, as the pressure upon the clutch can be regulated so as to allow it to slip when the strain is abnormal.