US Patent 7448481 Ratcheting one-way clutch having rockers actuated by centrifugal force

A ratcheting one-way clutch includes a cam plate formed with cam surfaces angularly spaced about a central axis, and a rocker plate having pockets angularly spaced about the central axis, each pocket including a surface having a pivot axis located within the pocket. A rocker, located in each pocket, pivots about the pivot axis toward and away from the cam surfaces. Each rocker has a center of mass, located relative to the pivot axis when the rocker is retracted into the pocket away from the cam surfaces, such that an acute angle formed between a first line that extends radially from the central axis through the pivot axis and a second line that passes through the center of mass and the pivot axis is equal to or less than twenty degrees.