It is a vex clutch. It comes with VEX servos in the cortex era. The clutch is meant to break first before the servo, to protect the servo from being damaged.
It is important to note: This clutch, alongside the spring inside of it, is not legal in VRC anymore.
It is not going to break, it will skip instead under high torque. It is a kind of torque limiter.
Also known as a secret source of the vrc legal springs:
Oh! I merely assumed they would snap or tear apart and would need to be replaced if the load was too much. That makes more sense now as to why they have a spring.
@74260A I would like to emphasize, yet again, that the clutch and the spring in the clutch is not legal as it is a cortex component sadly.
Does anyone still use the clutch on current VEX robots ?
Not on HS team robots, as
But, as far as I know, it is still legal for vexu teams. May have use on a ratchet or something similar.