CA1162759A - Engine starter gearing - Google Patents
Engine starter gearingInfo
- Publication number
- CA1162759A CA1162759A CA000362417A CA362417A CA1162759A CA 1162759 A CA1162759 A CA 1162759A CA 000362417 A CA000362417 A CA 000362417A CA 362417 A CA362417 A CA 362417A CA 1162759 A CA1162759 A CA 1162759A
- Authority
- CA
- Canada
- Prior art keywords
- engine
- ring gear
- pinion gear
- clutch member
- gear
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Expired
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- Connection Of Motors, Electrical Generators, Mechanical Devices, And The Like (AREA)
Abstract
Abstract An engine starter drive adapted to engage an engine ring gear having a tooth driving clutch member which cooperate with a tooth driven clutch member. The driven clutch member further comprises a helical screw shaft with two circular grooves. A control nut threadably mounted on the screw shaft has a spring loaded detent which engages the circular grooves.
The control nut is connected to the pinion gear by means of a retaining cup.
Rotating the screw shaft causes the control nut to move along the screw shaft to traverse the pinion into mesh with the engine ring gears and crank the engine. When the engine fires, the acceleration of the pinion causes the control nut to move back on the screw shaft until the detent engages the first circular groove. After the engine starts and the pinion rotates to a predetermined speed, the detent withdraws from the first groove in the screw shaft and the control nut withdraws the pinion gear from engaging the engine ring gear. The detent then engages a second groove in the screw shaft to prevent undesired meshing of the pinion to the ring gear. If, during the engine cranking mode, the excessive torque is transmitted to the pinion gear by the ring gear, the driven clutches move away from the ring gear to compress a spring and resilient member to permit movement of the clutch members along solines coupling the driving clutch member to the power shaft and thereby absorb this torque by the resilient member. Indexing means also is provided to rotate the pinion gear to clear any abutment with the engine ring gear and causes the pinion gear to mesh with it.
The control nut is connected to the pinion gear by means of a retaining cup.
Rotating the screw shaft causes the control nut to move along the screw shaft to traverse the pinion into mesh with the engine ring gears and crank the engine. When the engine fires, the acceleration of the pinion causes the control nut to move back on the screw shaft until the detent engages the first circular groove. After the engine starts and the pinion rotates to a predetermined speed, the detent withdraws from the first groove in the screw shaft and the control nut withdraws the pinion gear from engaging the engine ring gear. The detent then engages a second groove in the screw shaft to prevent undesired meshing of the pinion to the ring gear. If, during the engine cranking mode, the excessive torque is transmitted to the pinion gear by the ring gear, the driven clutches move away from the ring gear to compress a spring and resilient member to permit movement of the clutch members along solines coupling the driving clutch member to the power shaft and thereby absorb this torque by the resilient member. Indexing means also is provided to rotate the pinion gear to clear any abutment with the engine ring gear and causes the pinion gear to mesh with it.
Description
7`~ ~
Back.ground of the Invention Field of the ~nvention The present ~nventian relates to engine starter gearing, and more particularl~ to a starter drive of the type in which the gearing IS automatIcally engaged and main-tained in mesh until the eng;~ne has attained a sufficient rotary speed to indicate that it is reliably self-operative and further of the type in which the gearing is automatically maintained out of mesh after the engine has been started.
Descript~on of the Prior Art In starter gearing of this character, it is nece-ssary to provide some form of overrunning connection between the drive pinion and the starting motor in order to prevent acceleration of the starting motor to excessive speeds when the engine becomes self-operative, and also to avoid having the starter motor act as a load on the engine during the ini-tial period when the engine cylinders start firing. Various ; types of overrunning clutches have been and are employed for this purpose, but it has been found that the type which employs clutch members having interengaginy teeth which are wedged together by screw jack action under load is in many respects the most satisfactory. The screw jack action is pro vided by a hollow screw shaft with a three (3) start helical splines machined therein. This hollow screw shaft is mounted on a.driving sleeve which is in turn connected to the drive shaft.
In prior art devices~ the overrunning function is provided by millin~ a notch in the center helical thread of the scre~ shaft so th.at a detent may engage this notch and stop the control nut from being driven backwards (away from the engine rin~ gear) after the engine has been started.
The assembly of the control nut to the screw shaft is simpli-~ ~ ~27~
fied b~ the fact that there are onl~ three helical threads which provide ~he screw iack action. In assembly, the detent is merely lined up wi~th the middle helical thread containing the notch so as to i~nsure that the starter drive will func-tion properl~ and allow the detent to engage this notch during the specific mode of operation mentioned above.
The machin~ng of the helical spline on the hollow screw shaft and the detent notch adds a great deal of expense to the total cost of the shaft. To reduce this expense, it was determined to change the screw shaft helical spline to a 15 start spline which could then be manufactured by rolling the thread onto the screw shaft sleeve at the same time that the sleeve was Being manu-Eactured on a screw machine. This reduced the cost of the sleeve as well as the overall cost of the starter drive. However, the 15 start helical thread presented a first difficult problem for,the location and milling of the detent notch. In addition a second difficult assembly problem was presented, in that, the assembler must align the detent of the control nut with the helical thread, the detent notch is located on, in order to insure proper functioning of the starter drive. Unless the detent is start-ed on the same thread having the detent notch, the control nut will not properly engage the detent notch and, therefore, the starter will not function accoxding to its intended use.
In addition, the determination of whether the detent in the control nut had been properly started on the correct thread could not be made until after the sub-assembly was complete.
This resulted in a cons~derable number of sub-assemblies being rejected and torn down for reassembl~ because the detent in the contxol nut was not properly aligned with the detent notch on the 15 start helical spline of the screw shaft.
Brief ~escription of the Invention 7~
The present invention is directed to an engine s,ta~ter drive of the "~folo-thru" type which incorporates a circular groove on the screw shaft all the way around the outside of the screw shaft in order to eliminate the need to line up the detent with the detent notch. The groove neces-sarily is sharp stepped on the backside to prevent the detent from climbing out of the groove and tapered at the front side allowing the detent to climb out of the groove when the starter drive is in the meshed position. The screw shaft is, there-fore, allowed to move away from the ring gear and compressthe rubBer cushion under shock loading conditions. If the pinion gear and control nut assembly attempts to move back out of mesh prematurely, the detent will fall back into the cir-cular detent groove and move against the perpendicular backside or stepped backside of the groove preventing demeshing until sufficient centrifugal force acts on the detent to overcome the spring force holding the detent in the groove, thereby allowing the pinion to disengage from the ring gear.
An antidrift groove is further provided in the starter drive to prevent the control nut from traversing the screw shaft after the engine has been started and the started pinion gear has been disengaged by the engine ring gear over-running the pinion gear. The antidrift groove cooperates with the detent to prevent the control nut from travelling along the helical thread to abut the ring gear while the engine is running.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a novel eng~ne starter drive of the above type incorporating means for preventing demeshing of the pinion gear from the 3~ engine gea,x ~elow a predetermined speed which requires simple mach~ning operati~ons and avoids unnecessary rework due to misalignment between the detent and the detent notch in the -~ 1 B27~9 screw shaft.
It ~s-~ further o~ject of t~s invention to provide a novel engiIle starter d~ve of the above type which incorpor-ates means for prevent~ng the pin~on from drifting into en-gagement w;~th the en~ne r~ng fielow a predetermined rotation speed.
Still a f~lrther ofiject of this invention is to proyide a novel engine starter drive which is simple to as-semble and economical in construction and eliminates the need of an expensive milling operation by permitting - 3a -~ ~ z7t~
he incorporation of the anti-drift notch and detent notch to the screw shaft during the screw machine operation.
Accordingly, the present invention provides a starter drive adapted to engage the ring gear of an engine, said engine starter comprising: a power shaft; an annular sleeve member mounted on said power shaft for rotation therewith; overrunning clutch means mounted on said annular sleeve member, said over-running clutch means comprising a driving clutch member mounted to said annular sleeve member for rotation therewith and an annu-lar driven clutch member slidably and rotatably mounted to saidannular sleeve member; said driving clutch member further being axially slidable on said annular sleeve member, said driven clutch member further having at least one circular groove in an outer surface; a pinion gear member juxtaposed said annular sleeve member, said pinion gear member being axially and rotat-ably movable with respect to said annular sleeve member; means for traversing said pinion gear into mesh with said engine ring gear, said traversing means being responsive to the acceleration of said powershaft such that when said ring gear rotates below ~ 20 a predetermined speed said pinion gear moves into mesh with said : ring gear and moves said ring gear to start said engine, said pinion gear further demeshing from said ring gear when said ring gear rotates above said predeterminate speed; and means for preventingdemeshingof said pinion gear from the engine ring : gear below said predetermined ring gear rotation speed; said preventing means cooperating with said at least one circular ; groove of said driven clutch member to prevent demeshing of said pinion gear from said engine ring gear below said predetermined ring gear rotation speed; whereby said pinion gear is accelerated by said power shaft to traverse along said power shaft into mesh with the engine ring gear so as to start the engine, said pinion gear being prevented from demeshing from said ring gear ~elow said predetermined ring gear rotation and further demesh-ing from said ring gear above said predetermined ring gear ro tation speed.
The invention further provides a starter drive adapted to engage the ring gear of an engine, said engine starter com-prising: input means; a sleeve member mounted on said input means; overr~ng clutch means comprising: a driving clutch mounted to said sleeve member for rotation therewith; and an annular driven clutch member slidably and rotatably mounted to said sleeve member for cooperation therewith; said annular driven clutch member further having at least one circular groove on an outer surface; a pinion gear member mounted on said input means ju~taposed said sleeve member; means for traversing said pinion gear member into mesh with said engine ring gear, said traversing means being responsive to the acceleration of said input means such that when said engine ring gear rotates below a predeter-mined speed said pinion year moves into mesh with said engine ring gear to start said engine, said pinion gear further demesh-ing from said engine ring gear when said engine ri~g gear rotates above said predetermined speed; and means for preventing demesh-ing of said pinion gear from said engine gear when said engine ring gear rotates below said predetermined speed; said demeshing preventing means cooperating with said at least one circular groove of said annular driven clutch member to prevent demeshing of sa~d pinion ~ear from said engine ring gear when said engine ring gear rotates below said predetermined speed.
Further objects and advantages will be apparent from the following description taken in connection with the accompany-ing drawings.
Brief Description of the Drawings Figur~ 1 is a side elevation view partly broken away and in section, showing a preferred embodiment of the invention -4a -./ith the parts in the idle condition.
Pigure 2 is a view similar to Figure 1 showing the parts in the engine cranking position.
Figuxe 3 is another similar view showing the parts in the positions assumed when the engine becomes self-operative while the drive pinion is held in mesh with the engine ring gear.
Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiment In ~igure 1 of the drawing, there is illustrated a power shaft 1 on which a hollow sleeve 2 is fixably mounted by suitable means such as cross-pin 3. The sleeve 2 is provided with a red~ced diameter portion 4 defining a radial shoulder and stra~~ght splines 8 on which a driving clutch member 20 is slidably but nonrotatably mounted. A retainer 9 ring 10 prevents the driving clutch sleeve from disengaging from the spline 8 in one direction away from the cross-pin 3.
The driving clutch member 20 is yieldably mounted to the sleeve 2 by means of a resilient member 12 contained in a cup-shaped housing 14. The cup-shaped housing is mounted on the reduced diameter portion 4 of the sleeve 2 against the radial 20 shoulder 6 with a bearing washer 16 therebetween. A spring 17 is mounted on the reduced diameter portion 4 between the radial por-tion of the cup-shaped housing 14 and the driving clutch member 20. The spring 17 maintains an axial force on the driving clutch member 20. Thus the spring 17 resists movement of the clutch member 20 along the splines 8 in the direction towards the cross-pin 3. A thrust collar 18 mounted - 4b -~ ~ 6~7~9 to the d~ ng clutch memher 2Q isi~ntended to enga~e the el-astically~defor~able resi~lient member 12 so that excessiVe axial movement of the dri~n~ clutch member 20 toward the cross-pin 3 will also ~e resl~sted ~y the elastically deform-able resilient member 12.
The dr~v~ng sleeve 2 has a second reduced diameter portion 5 upon which is slideably mounted a hollow screw shaft or driven clutch member 30. The driven clutch member 30 is slidably~journalled on the reduced diameter portion 5 of the sleeve 2 and is provided with overrunning clutch teeth 32 arranged to cooperate with similar overrunning clutch teeth 22 on the drivi~ng clutch member 20. The engagement of the driven and driving clutch member teeth, being normally main-tained by a spring washer 40, interposed the one end of the driven clutch member 30 and a stop ring 50 axially fixed on the second reduced diameter portion 5 near the one end of the driving sleeve 2 ~y means of retainer ring 60. A circum-ferential groove 7 is formed on the one end of the driving sleeve and contains the retainer ring 60 which securely locks the stop ring 50 axially on the sleeve 2. A thrust washer 65 is preferably interposed between the one end of the driven clutch sleeve member or the hollow screw shaft 30 and the stop ring 50.
A pinion 80 is slidably mounted on the power shaft 1 adjacent to one end of said driving sleeve 2 for movement into and out of mesh with the ring gear 85 of the engine to be sta~ted. A control nut 70 is threaded on the driven clutch sleeve member 3Q. The control nut 7Q further has a rad~al lug 72 which is re.cei~ved adjacent a slot 92 into the open end of the Xetain~n~ cup 90. The radial lug 72 is re-tained ~n the retai~ni~ng cup ga b~ means of a lock ring 95 positioned in a groove near the open end of the retaining cup t ~27~
90. The o~pos~ite. end ~ the xetainin~ cup is xigidly con-nected to the p~ni~on 8 a as ind~cated at 34. The movement of the control nut 7Q and the driv~-n~ member 30 away from driving clutch member 2Q ~s l~mited by the thrust water 65 and spring washer 40.
The demesh~ng of the pinion 80 from the ring gear 85 is prevented until a successful start has occurred by a spring pressed detent 74 in the lug 72. The detent 74 is mounted for radial sliding movement in the control nut 70 and for bear;ng on the peripfiery of the driven clutch sleeve mem-~er 3~. The screw shaft 30 has a circular groove 34 positioned to receive the detent 74 when the pinion 80 approaches the meshed condition with the ring gear 85 as shown in Figure 2.
The groove 34 is tapered 35 adjacent the one end near the pinion 80 allowing the detent 74 to climb out of the groove 34 when the pinion 80 is moved into mesh with the ring gear 85. The groove 34 is sharp stepped 36 on the other side to prevent the detent 74 from climbing out of the groove 34 until the pinion 80 and the retaining cup 90 are rotated by the ring gear 85 at a predetermined speed to withdraw the detent 74 out of the groove 34 by centrifugal force~
The screw shaft 30 is also provided with an inclined shoulder circular groove 38 in position to receive the detent 74 to prevent the control nut 70 from drifting away from the idle position shown in Figure 1.
In operation, starting with the assembly as shown in Figure 1, rotation o~ the power shaft 1 in the direction of the arrow ~5~ transmitted through the sleeve 2, to driving clutch me~b~e~ 2a and th.us; ta the screw shaft of driven clutch 30 membex 3Q~ The ~nerti~a a~ the reta~ning cup 90 and contxol nut 7n as~sembly~ causes th~ control nut 70 to move along the driven clutch sleeve helical spline to traverse the pinion 80
Back.ground of the Invention Field of the ~nvention The present ~nventian relates to engine starter gearing, and more particularl~ to a starter drive of the type in which the gearing IS automatIcally engaged and main-tained in mesh until the eng;~ne has attained a sufficient rotary speed to indicate that it is reliably self-operative and further of the type in which the gearing is automatically maintained out of mesh after the engine has been started.
Descript~on of the Prior Art In starter gearing of this character, it is nece-ssary to provide some form of overrunning connection between the drive pinion and the starting motor in order to prevent acceleration of the starting motor to excessive speeds when the engine becomes self-operative, and also to avoid having the starter motor act as a load on the engine during the ini-tial period when the engine cylinders start firing. Various ; types of overrunning clutches have been and are employed for this purpose, but it has been found that the type which employs clutch members having interengaginy teeth which are wedged together by screw jack action under load is in many respects the most satisfactory. The screw jack action is pro vided by a hollow screw shaft with a three (3) start helical splines machined therein. This hollow screw shaft is mounted on a.driving sleeve which is in turn connected to the drive shaft.
In prior art devices~ the overrunning function is provided by millin~ a notch in the center helical thread of the scre~ shaft so th.at a detent may engage this notch and stop the control nut from being driven backwards (away from the engine rin~ gear) after the engine has been started.
The assembly of the control nut to the screw shaft is simpli-~ ~ ~27~
fied b~ the fact that there are onl~ three helical threads which provide ~he screw iack action. In assembly, the detent is merely lined up wi~th the middle helical thread containing the notch so as to i~nsure that the starter drive will func-tion properl~ and allow the detent to engage this notch during the specific mode of operation mentioned above.
The machin~ng of the helical spline on the hollow screw shaft and the detent notch adds a great deal of expense to the total cost of the shaft. To reduce this expense, it was determined to change the screw shaft helical spline to a 15 start spline which could then be manufactured by rolling the thread onto the screw shaft sleeve at the same time that the sleeve was Being manu-Eactured on a screw machine. This reduced the cost of the sleeve as well as the overall cost of the starter drive. However, the 15 start helical thread presented a first difficult problem for,the location and milling of the detent notch. In addition a second difficult assembly problem was presented, in that, the assembler must align the detent of the control nut with the helical thread, the detent notch is located on, in order to insure proper functioning of the starter drive. Unless the detent is start-ed on the same thread having the detent notch, the control nut will not properly engage the detent notch and, therefore, the starter will not function accoxding to its intended use.
In addition, the determination of whether the detent in the control nut had been properly started on the correct thread could not be made until after the sub-assembly was complete.
This resulted in a cons~derable number of sub-assemblies being rejected and torn down for reassembl~ because the detent in the contxol nut was not properly aligned with the detent notch on the 15 start helical spline of the screw shaft.
Brief ~escription of the Invention 7~
The present invention is directed to an engine s,ta~ter drive of the "~folo-thru" type which incorporates a circular groove on the screw shaft all the way around the outside of the screw shaft in order to eliminate the need to line up the detent with the detent notch. The groove neces-sarily is sharp stepped on the backside to prevent the detent from climbing out of the groove and tapered at the front side allowing the detent to climb out of the groove when the starter drive is in the meshed position. The screw shaft is, there-fore, allowed to move away from the ring gear and compressthe rubBer cushion under shock loading conditions. If the pinion gear and control nut assembly attempts to move back out of mesh prematurely, the detent will fall back into the cir-cular detent groove and move against the perpendicular backside or stepped backside of the groove preventing demeshing until sufficient centrifugal force acts on the detent to overcome the spring force holding the detent in the groove, thereby allowing the pinion to disengage from the ring gear.
An antidrift groove is further provided in the starter drive to prevent the control nut from traversing the screw shaft after the engine has been started and the started pinion gear has been disengaged by the engine ring gear over-running the pinion gear. The antidrift groove cooperates with the detent to prevent the control nut from travelling along the helical thread to abut the ring gear while the engine is running.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a novel eng~ne starter drive of the above type incorporating means for preventing demeshing of the pinion gear from the 3~ engine gea,x ~elow a predetermined speed which requires simple mach~ning operati~ons and avoids unnecessary rework due to misalignment between the detent and the detent notch in the -~ 1 B27~9 screw shaft.
It ~s-~ further o~ject of t~s invention to provide a novel engiIle starter d~ve of the above type which incorpor-ates means for prevent~ng the pin~on from drifting into en-gagement w;~th the en~ne r~ng fielow a predetermined rotation speed.
Still a f~lrther ofiject of this invention is to proyide a novel engine starter drive which is simple to as-semble and economical in construction and eliminates the need of an expensive milling operation by permitting - 3a -~ ~ z7t~
he incorporation of the anti-drift notch and detent notch to the screw shaft during the screw machine operation.
Accordingly, the present invention provides a starter drive adapted to engage the ring gear of an engine, said engine starter comprising: a power shaft; an annular sleeve member mounted on said power shaft for rotation therewith; overrunning clutch means mounted on said annular sleeve member, said over-running clutch means comprising a driving clutch member mounted to said annular sleeve member for rotation therewith and an annu-lar driven clutch member slidably and rotatably mounted to saidannular sleeve member; said driving clutch member further being axially slidable on said annular sleeve member, said driven clutch member further having at least one circular groove in an outer surface; a pinion gear member juxtaposed said annular sleeve member, said pinion gear member being axially and rotat-ably movable with respect to said annular sleeve member; means for traversing said pinion gear into mesh with said engine ring gear, said traversing means being responsive to the acceleration of said powershaft such that when said ring gear rotates below ~ 20 a predetermined speed said pinion gear moves into mesh with said : ring gear and moves said ring gear to start said engine, said pinion gear further demeshing from said ring gear when said ring gear rotates above said predeterminate speed; and means for preventingdemeshingof said pinion gear from the engine ring : gear below said predetermined ring gear rotation speed; said preventing means cooperating with said at least one circular ; groove of said driven clutch member to prevent demeshing of said pinion gear from said engine ring gear below said predetermined ring gear rotation speed; whereby said pinion gear is accelerated by said power shaft to traverse along said power shaft into mesh with the engine ring gear so as to start the engine, said pinion gear being prevented from demeshing from said ring gear ~elow said predetermined ring gear rotation and further demesh-ing from said ring gear above said predetermined ring gear ro tation speed.
The invention further provides a starter drive adapted to engage the ring gear of an engine, said engine starter com-prising: input means; a sleeve member mounted on said input means; overr~ng clutch means comprising: a driving clutch mounted to said sleeve member for rotation therewith; and an annular driven clutch member slidably and rotatably mounted to said sleeve member for cooperation therewith; said annular driven clutch member further having at least one circular groove on an outer surface; a pinion gear member mounted on said input means ju~taposed said sleeve member; means for traversing said pinion gear member into mesh with said engine ring gear, said traversing means being responsive to the acceleration of said input means such that when said engine ring gear rotates below a predeter-mined speed said pinion year moves into mesh with said engine ring gear to start said engine, said pinion gear further demesh-ing from said engine ring gear when said engine ri~g gear rotates above said predetermined speed; and means for preventing demesh-ing of said pinion gear from said engine gear when said engine ring gear rotates below said predetermined speed; said demeshing preventing means cooperating with said at least one circular groove of said annular driven clutch member to prevent demeshing of sa~d pinion ~ear from said engine ring gear when said engine ring gear rotates below said predetermined speed.
Further objects and advantages will be apparent from the following description taken in connection with the accompany-ing drawings.
Brief Description of the Drawings Figur~ 1 is a side elevation view partly broken away and in section, showing a preferred embodiment of the invention -4a -./ith the parts in the idle condition.
Pigure 2 is a view similar to Figure 1 showing the parts in the engine cranking position.
Figuxe 3 is another similar view showing the parts in the positions assumed when the engine becomes self-operative while the drive pinion is held in mesh with the engine ring gear.
Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiment In ~igure 1 of the drawing, there is illustrated a power shaft 1 on which a hollow sleeve 2 is fixably mounted by suitable means such as cross-pin 3. The sleeve 2 is provided with a red~ced diameter portion 4 defining a radial shoulder and stra~~ght splines 8 on which a driving clutch member 20 is slidably but nonrotatably mounted. A retainer 9 ring 10 prevents the driving clutch sleeve from disengaging from the spline 8 in one direction away from the cross-pin 3.
The driving clutch member 20 is yieldably mounted to the sleeve 2 by means of a resilient member 12 contained in a cup-shaped housing 14. The cup-shaped housing is mounted on the reduced diameter portion 4 of the sleeve 2 against the radial 20 shoulder 6 with a bearing washer 16 therebetween. A spring 17 is mounted on the reduced diameter portion 4 between the radial por-tion of the cup-shaped housing 14 and the driving clutch member 20. The spring 17 maintains an axial force on the driving clutch member 20. Thus the spring 17 resists movement of the clutch member 20 along the splines 8 in the direction towards the cross-pin 3. A thrust collar 18 mounted - 4b -~ ~ 6~7~9 to the d~ ng clutch memher 2Q isi~ntended to enga~e the el-astically~defor~able resi~lient member 12 so that excessiVe axial movement of the dri~n~ clutch member 20 toward the cross-pin 3 will also ~e resl~sted ~y the elastically deform-able resilient member 12.
The dr~v~ng sleeve 2 has a second reduced diameter portion 5 upon which is slideably mounted a hollow screw shaft or driven clutch member 30. The driven clutch member 30 is slidably~journalled on the reduced diameter portion 5 of the sleeve 2 and is provided with overrunning clutch teeth 32 arranged to cooperate with similar overrunning clutch teeth 22 on the drivi~ng clutch member 20. The engagement of the driven and driving clutch member teeth, being normally main-tained by a spring washer 40, interposed the one end of the driven clutch member 30 and a stop ring 50 axially fixed on the second reduced diameter portion 5 near the one end of the driving sleeve 2 ~y means of retainer ring 60. A circum-ferential groove 7 is formed on the one end of the driving sleeve and contains the retainer ring 60 which securely locks the stop ring 50 axially on the sleeve 2. A thrust washer 65 is preferably interposed between the one end of the driven clutch sleeve member or the hollow screw shaft 30 and the stop ring 50.
A pinion 80 is slidably mounted on the power shaft 1 adjacent to one end of said driving sleeve 2 for movement into and out of mesh with the ring gear 85 of the engine to be sta~ted. A control nut 70 is threaded on the driven clutch sleeve member 3Q. The control nut 7Q further has a rad~al lug 72 which is re.cei~ved adjacent a slot 92 into the open end of the Xetain~n~ cup 90. The radial lug 72 is re-tained ~n the retai~ni~ng cup ga b~ means of a lock ring 95 positioned in a groove near the open end of the retaining cup t ~27~
90. The o~pos~ite. end ~ the xetainin~ cup is xigidly con-nected to the p~ni~on 8 a as ind~cated at 34. The movement of the control nut 7Q and the driv~-n~ member 30 away from driving clutch member 2Q ~s l~mited by the thrust water 65 and spring washer 40.
The demesh~ng of the pinion 80 from the ring gear 85 is prevented until a successful start has occurred by a spring pressed detent 74 in the lug 72. The detent 74 is mounted for radial sliding movement in the control nut 70 and for bear;ng on the peripfiery of the driven clutch sleeve mem-~er 3~. The screw shaft 30 has a circular groove 34 positioned to receive the detent 74 when the pinion 80 approaches the meshed condition with the ring gear 85 as shown in Figure 2.
The groove 34 is tapered 35 adjacent the one end near the pinion 80 allowing the detent 74 to climb out of the groove 34 when the pinion 80 is moved into mesh with the ring gear 85. The groove 34 is sharp stepped 36 on the other side to prevent the detent 74 from climbing out of the groove 34 until the pinion 80 and the retaining cup 90 are rotated by the ring gear 85 at a predetermined speed to withdraw the detent 74 out of the groove 34 by centrifugal force~
The screw shaft 30 is also provided with an inclined shoulder circular groove 38 in position to receive the detent 74 to prevent the control nut 70 from drifting away from the idle position shown in Figure 1.
In operation, starting with the assembly as shown in Figure 1, rotation o~ the power shaft 1 in the direction of the arrow ~5~ transmitted through the sleeve 2, to driving clutch me~b~e~ 2a and th.us; ta the screw shaft of driven clutch 30 membex 3Q~ The ~nerti~a a~ the reta~ning cup 90 and contxol nut 7n as~sembly~ causes th~ control nut 70 to move along the driven clutch sleeve helical spline to traverse the pinion 80
2~9 into ~esh with the ~:in~ ~ear 85. ~ny furthex tra~el of the control nut ~s arrested b-~ the. thrust washer 65 as shown in Figure 2. ~uxther rotat~on of the powex shaft causes crank-ing tox~ue to be transmitted to the ring gear in order to start the en~ne.
When tfi.e en~i-ne fires, the acceleration of the pin-ion 80 causes the control nut 70 to move ~ack on the screw shaft 30 until th.e detent 74 is stopped by the sharp step 36 in the groove 34 as shown in Figure 3.
When a success~ul staxt is secured, the acceleration of the pinion 80 to a predetermined speed causes the detent 74 to withdraw from the groove 34 in the screw shaft 30. Thus, the control nut 70 traverses towards the driven clutch member 20 and the assembly is returned to the idle position as shown in Figure l. The undesired remeshing of the pinion to the ring gear is prevented by the engagement of the detent 74 with the groove 38 on the screw shaft.
If during the traversing mode of the contxol nut 70 along the screw shaft 30 towards the ring gear 85 the pinion gear 80 does not engage the engine ring gear 85 but merely abuts the ring gear 85, an indexing means is provided to rec-tify this condition. The indexing means permits the control nut 70 to be rotated on the helical splines with respect to the driving clutch sleeve member 30. In the abutting condi-tion, the control unit 70 moves rearward tcwards the cross pin 3 which causes the screw shaf-t 30 to compress the spring 17 and the resilient membex 12. The driving clutch member 20 moves axially~ rearward to~ards the cross pin 3 because the membex 20 is mounted to the sleeve 2 fiy straight splines 8. As d~scussed prev~Qu~l~, the reta~.ner ring lQ prevents the dri-vin~ clutch`.slee.ve. 20 from di~sen~agi~ng the sleeve 2 when the clutch memfier 20 i~s urged toward the ring geax. The control nut 7Q ~s xotated and tx~yel~s along the helical splines there~ caus~ng t~e pin~on gear 80 to clear the abutment with the engine ring geax 85. Th~ perr,lits the pinion gear 80 to mesh.with.and engage the engine.ring gear 35 to start the engine.
If, after the initiation of the cranking operation and excessive torque is applied to the pinion 80 by the ring gear 85 the cou~ling m~bers 20,.30 move rearward along the power sha~t to compress the spring 17 and the resilient mem-ber 12. This rearward movement permits the movement of thedriving clutch member 20 along the straight splines 8 in the direction towards the cross pin 3, thus allowing the teeth 22, 32 to slip past each other. On the other hand, the driven clutch memb.er 30 continues to rotate relative to the driving clutch member 20.
When tfi.e en~i-ne fires, the acceleration of the pin-ion 80 causes the control nut 70 to move ~ack on the screw shaft 30 until th.e detent 74 is stopped by the sharp step 36 in the groove 34 as shown in Figure 3.
When a success~ul staxt is secured, the acceleration of the pinion 80 to a predetermined speed causes the detent 74 to withdraw from the groove 34 in the screw shaft 30. Thus, the control nut 70 traverses towards the driven clutch member 20 and the assembly is returned to the idle position as shown in Figure l. The undesired remeshing of the pinion to the ring gear is prevented by the engagement of the detent 74 with the groove 38 on the screw shaft.
If during the traversing mode of the contxol nut 70 along the screw shaft 30 towards the ring gear 85 the pinion gear 80 does not engage the engine ring gear 85 but merely abuts the ring gear 85, an indexing means is provided to rec-tify this condition. The indexing means permits the control nut 70 to be rotated on the helical splines with respect to the driving clutch sleeve member 30. In the abutting condi-tion, the control unit 70 moves rearward tcwards the cross pin 3 which causes the screw shaf-t 30 to compress the spring 17 and the resilient membex 12. The driving clutch member 20 moves axially~ rearward to~ards the cross pin 3 because the membex 20 is mounted to the sleeve 2 fiy straight splines 8. As d~scussed prev~Qu~l~, the reta~.ner ring lQ prevents the dri-vin~ clutch`.slee.ve. 20 from di~sen~agi~ng the sleeve 2 when the clutch memfier 20 i~s urged toward the ring geax. The control nut 7Q ~s xotated and tx~yel~s along the helical splines there~ caus~ng t~e pin~on gear 80 to clear the abutment with the engine ring geax 85. Th~ perr,lits the pinion gear 80 to mesh.with.and engage the engine.ring gear 35 to start the engine.
If, after the initiation of the cranking operation and excessive torque is applied to the pinion 80 by the ring gear 85 the cou~ling m~bers 20,.30 move rearward along the power sha~t to compress the spring 17 and the resilient mem-ber 12. This rearward movement permits the movement of thedriving clutch member 20 along the straight splines 8 in the direction towards the cross pin 3, thus allowing the teeth 22, 32 to slip past each other. On the other hand, the driven clutch memb.er 30 continues to rotate relative to the driving clutch member 20.
Claims (11)
PROPERTY OR PRIVILEGE IS CLAIMED ARE DEFINED AS FOLLOWS:
1. A starter drive adapted to engage the ring gear of an engine, said engine starter comprising: a power shaft; an an-nular sleeve member mounted on said power shaft for rotation there-with; overrunning clutch means mounted on said annular sleeve mem-ber, said overrunning clutch means comprising a driving clutch member mounted to said annular sleeve member for rotation there-with and an annular driven clutch member slidably and rotatably mounted to said annular sleeve member; said driving clutch member further being axially slidable on said annular sleeve member, said driven clutch member further having at least one circular groove in an outer surface; a pinion gear member juxtaposed said annular sleeve member, said pinion gear member being axially and rotatably movable with respect to said annular sleeve member; means for traversing said pinion gear member into mesh with said engine ring gear, said traversing means being responsive to the accelera-tion of said power shaft such that when said engine ring gear ro-tates below a predetermined speed said pinion gear member moves into mesh with said engine ring gear and moves said engine ring gear to start said engine, said pinion gear member further demesh-ing from said engine ring gear when said engine ring gear rotates above said predetermined speed; and means for preventing demesh-ing of said pinion gear member from the engine ring gear below said predetermined engine ring gear rotation speed; said preventing means cooperating with said at least one circular groove of said driven clutch member to prevent demeshing of said pinion gear mem-ber from said engine ring gear below said predetermined engine ring gear rotation speed; whereby said pinion gear member is ac-celerated by said power shaft to traverse along said power shaft into mesh with said engine ring gear so as to start the engine, said pinion gear member being prevented from demeshing from said engine ring gear below said predetermined engine ring gear rota-tion and further demeshing from said engine ring gear above said predetermined engine ring gear rotation speed.
2. An engine starter drive as claimed in claim 1, fur-ther comprising: anti-drift means, located in said annular sleeve member, for preventing said pinion gear member from traversing in-to mesh with said engine ring gear when said power shaft is at rest; and means, for indexing said pinion gear member, said index-ing means mounted on said annular sleeve member so that when said pinion gear member abuts said engine ring gear, said indexing means rotates said pinion gear member to clear the abutment with said engine ring gear and thereby permits engagement of said pinion gear member with said engine ring gear.
3. An engine starter drive adapted to engage an engine ring gear, said starter drive comprising: a power shaft; a hollow sleeve member mounted on said power shaft, said sleeve member be-ing fixed to said power shaft at one end; a driving clutch member coaxially mounted on said hollow sleeve; an annular driven clutch member coaxially mounted on said hollow sleeve adjacent to said driving clutch member for cooperation therewith; said annular dri-ven clutch member having at least one circular groove proximate to one end; a control nut threadably mounted on said annular driven clutch member; a pinion gear slidably mounted on said power shaft juxtaposed said hollow sleeve member; a retaining cup connected to said control nut at one end to said pinion gear at an opposite end;
a stop collar fixedly mounted to the opposite end of said hollow sleeve member to limit the axial movement of said control nut on said driven clutch member; anti-drift means for preventing engage-ment of said pinion gear with said engine ring gear when said pin-ion gear is at rest; means, responsive to the acceleration of said input means, for moving said pinion gear into mesh with said en-gine ring gear, said moving means transmitting torque from said driving clutch member to said engine ring gear so as to crank the engine to be started; and means, cooperating with said at least one circular groove, for preventing demeshing of said pinion gear from said engine ring gear below a predetermined speed of said engine ring gear.
a stop collar fixedly mounted to the opposite end of said hollow sleeve member to limit the axial movement of said control nut on said driven clutch member; anti-drift means for preventing engage-ment of said pinion gear with said engine ring gear when said pin-ion gear is at rest; means, responsive to the acceleration of said input means, for moving said pinion gear into mesh with said en-gine ring gear, said moving means transmitting torque from said driving clutch member to said engine ring gear so as to crank the engine to be started; and means, cooperating with said at least one circular groove, for preventing demeshing of said pinion gear from said engine ring gear below a predetermined speed of said engine ring gear.
4. An engine starter drive as claimed in claim 3, fur-ther comprising: means, located on said driven clutch member for indexing said pinion gear so that when said pinion gear abuts said engine ring gear, said indexing means rotates said pinion gear to clear the abutment with said engine ring gear and to permit the engagement of said pinion gear with said engine ring gear.
5. An engine starter drive as claimed in claim 3, where-in said anti-drift means comprising a second circular groove lo-cated on said driven clutch member adjacent to said driving clutch member and a spring loaded detent mounted in said control nut, said spring loaded detent further engaging said second circular groove when said pinion gear is at rest.
6. An engine starter drive adapted to engage an engine ring gear comprising: input means; an annular sleeve member mounted to said input means; a pinion gear mounted adjacent to said annular sleeve member; an overrunning clutch mounted to said annular sleeve member, said overrunning clutch having an annular driven clutch member and an annular driving clutch member for co-operative engagement therewith; said annular driven clutch member having at least one circular groove on an outer surface, said at least one circular groove further having a tapered end adjacent to said pinion gear and a sharp stepped end opposite said tapered end;
means, responsive to the acceleration of said input means, for mov-ing said pinion gear into engagement with said engine ring gear when said engine ring gear rotates below a predetermined speed;
means for rotating said pinion gear to crank said engine to be started when said pinion gear is interengaged with said engine ring gear; and means, mounted on said annular driven clutch member, for preventing the disengagement of said pinion gear from said engine ring gear below a predetermined engine ring gear rotation speed, said disengagement preventing means comprising detent means cooperating with said sharp stepped end of said at least one cir-cular groove for preventing said detent means from withdrawing from said at least one circular groove when the engine fires so as to accelerate said pinion gear thereby preventing said pinion gear from traversing out of mesh with said engine ring gear below said predetermined rotational speed of said engine ring gear.
means, responsive to the acceleration of said input means, for mov-ing said pinion gear into engagement with said engine ring gear when said engine ring gear rotates below a predetermined speed;
means for rotating said pinion gear to crank said engine to be started when said pinion gear is interengaged with said engine ring gear; and means, mounted on said annular driven clutch member, for preventing the disengagement of said pinion gear from said engine ring gear below a predetermined engine ring gear rotation speed, said disengagement preventing means comprising detent means cooperating with said sharp stepped end of said at least one cir-cular groove for preventing said detent means from withdrawing from said at least one circular groove when the engine fires so as to accelerate said pinion gear thereby preventing said pinion gear from traversing out of mesh with said engine ring gear below said predetermined rotational speed of said engine ring gear.
7. An engine starter drive as claimed in claim 5, fur-ther comprising: means, mounted on said annular driven clutch member, for indexing said pinion gear to engage said engine ring gear when said pinion gear abuts said engine ring gear so that said indexing means rotates said pinion gear to clear the abut-ment and traverses said pinion gear into engagement with said en-gine ring gear.
8. An engine starter drive as claimed in claim 7, wherein said means for preventing demeshing means further compris-es: a screw thread on said annular driven clutch member, said screw thread having said at least one circular groove therein and wherein said control nut further has a spring loaded detent for co-operation with said at least one circular groove below a predeter-mined pinion gear rotation speed.
9. An engine starter drive for engaging an engine ring gear, said starter drive mounted on a power shaft, said engine starter drive comprising: a pinion gear slidably mounted on said power shaft to cooperatively engage said engine ring gear; an an-nular sleeve member mounted on said power shaft for rotation there-with, said annular sleeve member having one end adjacent to said pinion gear; a driving clutch member slidably connected to said annular sleeve member for rotation therewith, said driving clutch member having a first end; an annular driven clutch member mount-ed on said annular sleeve member adjacent to said first end of said driving clutch member, said driven clutch member having one end and an opposite end, said annular driven clutch member further having a first circular groove adjacent said one end and a second circular groove adjacent said opposite end; overrunning clutch means, between said driving clutch member and said annular driven clutch member, for providing a rotational coupling therebetween in one direction of rotation and for providing an overrunning coupl-ing therebetween in an opposite direction of rotation; a control nut threadably mounted on said annular driven clutch member; de-tent means, integral with said control nut and engaging said first circular groove, for preventing said detent means from withdrawing from said first circular groove below a predetermined rotational ring gear speed when said engine fires so as to accelerate said pinion gear; means, responsive to the rotation of the power shaft, for moving said pinion gear into mesh with said engine ring gear and for transmitting torque from the power shaft to said engine ring gear so as to crank said engine to be started; and anti-drift means, cooperatively engaging said second circular groove, for pre-venting said pinion gear from moving axially along the power shaft into mesh with said engine ring gear when the power shaft is at rest.
10. An engine starter drive for engaging an engine ring gear to start the engine, said starter drive mounted on a power shaft, said engine starter drive comprising: a pinion gear slid-ably mounted on said power shaft to cooperatively engage said en-gine ring gear; an annular sleeve member mounted on said power shaft for rotation therewith, said annular sleeve member having one end adjacent to said pinion gear; a driving clutch member slidably connected to said annular sleeve member for rotation therewith, said driving clutch member having a first end; an annular driven clutch member mounted on said annular sleeve member adjacent to said first end of said driving clutch member, said annular driven clutch member having one end and an opposite end, said annular driven clutch member further having a first circular groove ad-jacent said one end of a second circular groove adjacent said opposite end; overrunning clutch means, interposed said annular driving clutch member and said annular driven clutch member, for pro-viding a rotational coupling therebetween in one direction of ro-tation and for providing an overrunning coupling therebetween in an opposite direction of rotation; detent means, mounted on said annular driven clutch member, for cooperatively engaging said se-cond circular groove to prevent said detent means from withdrawing from said second circular groove below a predetermined rotational speed of said engine, said detent means further cooperatively en-gaging said first circular groove to prevent said pinion gear from moving axially along said power shaft into mesh with said engine ring when said power shaft is at rest; and means, responsive to the rotation of said power shaft, for axially traversing said pin-ion gear into mesh with said engine ring gear and for transmitting torque from the power shaft to the engine ring gear so as to crank the engine to be started.
11. A starter drive adapted to engage the ring gear of an engine, said engine starter comprising: input means; a sleeve member mounted on said input means; overrunning clutch means com-prising: a driving clutch member mounted to said sleeve member for rotation therewith, and an annular driven clutch member slid-ably and rotatably mounted to said sleeve member for cooperation therewith; said annular driven clutch member further having at least one circular groove on an outer surface; a pinion gear mem-ber mounted on said input means juxtaposed said sleeve member;
means for traversing said pinion gear member into mesh with said engine ring gear, said traversing means being responsive to the acceleration of said input means such that when said engine ring gear rotates below a predetermined speed said pinion gear moves into mesh with said engine ring gear to start said engine, said pinion gear further demeshing from said engine ring gear when said engine ring gear rotates above said predetermined speed; and means for preventing demeshing of said pinion gear from said en-gine gear when said engine ring gear rotates below said predeter-mined speed; said demeshing preventing means cooperating with said at least one circular groove of said annular driven clutch member to prevent demeshing of said pinion gear from said engine ring gear when said engine ring gear rotates below said predetermined speed.
means for traversing said pinion gear member into mesh with said engine ring gear, said traversing means being responsive to the acceleration of said input means such that when said engine ring gear rotates below a predetermined speed said pinion gear moves into mesh with said engine ring gear to start said engine, said pinion gear further demeshing from said engine ring gear when said engine ring gear rotates above said predetermined speed; and means for preventing demeshing of said pinion gear from said en-gine gear when said engine ring gear rotates below said predeter-mined speed; said demeshing preventing means cooperating with said at least one circular groove of said annular driven clutch member to prevent demeshing of said pinion gear from said engine ring gear when said engine ring gear rotates below said predetermined speed.
Applications Claiming Priority (2)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| US8509279A | 1979-10-15 | 1979-10-15 | |
| US085,092 | 1979-10-15 |
Publications (1)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| CA1162759A true CA1162759A (en) | 1984-02-28 |
Family
ID=22189418
Family Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA000362417A Expired CA1162759A (en) | 1979-10-15 | 1980-10-15 | Engine starter gearing |
Country Status (1)
| Country | Link |
|---|---|
| CA (1) | CA1162759A (en) |
-
1980
- 1980-10-15 CA CA000362417A patent/CA1162759A/en not_active Expired
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| Date | Code | Title | Description |
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| MKEX | Expiry |