Quote:
Originally Posted by Tristan Lall
A solenoid is a particular kind of wire coil: it's oriented such that it produces a uniform magnetic field within the core.
For sufficiently lax definitions of "uniform", sure, we've got all sorts of solenoids. But then you get into perverse situations where every motor winding is a rudimentary solenoid, and thus the motor is a solenoid actuator as well as a motor. (I, for one, certainly don't want to believe that this is what FIRST intended. It kind of flies in the face of conventional nomenclature, both for motors and solenoids.)
For the bell and the clutch, if the windings are squarishly wound around a squarish core (in cross-section), the magnetic field will likely be very non-uniform. That's also a poor approximation of a solenoid.
Contrast this with an ordinary solenoid actuator, which does indeed contain a tightly-wound cylindrical coil of wire, designed to provide a uniform magnetic field within the core.
I don't really see any way to judge from the rules that the level of non-uniformity found in the clutch's magnetic field is substantially different from the non-uniformity of magnetic field produced by a motor's windings.
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It'a a 2 dimensional drawing, the winding could be pentagonal for all I know. The only thing I can tell from the drawing is that what I can see of the coil is fairly uniform.
Additionally, even by your questionably strict definition of a solenoid, the sectioned clutch image you posted depicts what is quite clearly a solenoid. one side of the clutch is connected to a V-belt pulley (green) the other side is (yellow) is the armature of the solenoid which appears to move on a double keyed shaft. The solenoid winding are stationary and contained within a frame (grey). When the solenoid is energized, the armature is pushed out of the center of the solenoid winding to increase the friction between it and the green side of the clutch. The windings are co-axial with all components of the clutch and are wound as a single coil around the armature. That is, the coil of the clutch is a uniform, tightly wound cylindrical coil designed to provide a uniform magnetic field within its core.