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A pawl is a movable lever that engages a fixed component to either prevent movement in one direction or restrain it altogether. As such, it is a type of latch and can also be considered a type of dog. It typically consists of a spring-loaded lever that engages a mating component at a steep enough angle to restrain it. Pawls are often tapered, being widened at their pivot for anchoring and narrow at their tip.
A pawl is a movable lever that engages a fixed component to either prevent movement in one direction or restrain it altogether. As such, it is a type of latch and can also be considered a type of dog. It typically consists of a spring-loaded lever that engages a mating component at a steep enough angle to restrain it. Pawls are often tapered, being widened at their pivot for anchoring and narrow at their tip.
Applications
;Anchor windlass: A pawl is used in ananchor windlass
A windlass is a machine used on ships that is used to let-out and heave-up equipment such as a ship's anchor or a fishing trawl. On some ships, it may be located in a specific room called the windlass room.
An anchor windlass is a machine tha ...
to prevent a free-spooling chain by grabbing and snubbing an individual link. Similar mechanisms include a Devil's claw, or a claw and dog.
;Ratchet: A pawl is used in combination with a ratchet gear in socket wrenches, bicycle freehubs, winch
A winch is a mechanical device that is used to pull in (wind up) or let out (wind out) or otherwise adjust the tension of a rope or wire rope (also called "cable" or "wire cable").
In its simplest form, it consists of a spool (or drum) attac ...
es, and many other applications.
;Ladder: Dogs (in the form of pawls) are used on extension ladders to temporarily anchor their sections to one-another.
;Table saw: Pawls are used on table saws to prevent a workpiece being sawn from kicking back.
;Transmission: A parking pawl is a device in an automobile automatic transmission
An automatic transmission (sometimes abbreviated to auto or AT) is a multi-speed transmission (mechanics), transmission used in internal combustion engine-based motor vehicles that does not require any input from the driver to change forward gea ...
which prevents it from moving when the vehicle is parked .Keith Santini, Kirk Vangelder, ''Automotive Automatic Transmissions and Transaxles'', p. 174, Jones & Bartlett Learning, 2017 .
; Revolvers: The hand (pawl) indexes the cylinder.
References
{{reflist Mechanisms (engineering) Fasteners de:Sperrklinke