how are gears in simple machines disengaged safely?

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I’m thinking of things like waterwheels, windmills, millstones, etc- these systems would presumably have a lot of force running through them, such that stopping them for maintenance or replacement would seem difficult to do and maybe even damage the system. So what kind of mechanisms back in the day did people put in place to stop energy from moving through the machine at a given point? How do you successfully get two gears that are actively engaged to be safely uncoupled, for lack of a better word?

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Anonymous 0 Comments

A clutch is a mechanism for decoupling two rotating elements in a mechanical system, and typically relies on friction between surfaces.

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