GB216628A - Improvements in starting devices for internal combustion engines - Google Patents

Abstract

216,628. Downham, J. A. April 4, 1923. Turning-gear .-A starting-handle 1 is secured to a sleeve 2 threaded externally for engagement with a nut 4 and on rotation is displaced automatically into engagement with the starting shaft 5 and is automatically disengaged if the shaft turns backwards. In one form, Fig. 1, the nut 4 carries a ratchet 6 engaged by a pawl 7 on a casing 9 secured to the chassis of the vehicle rigidly or by springs 28. On turning the handle 1, serrated clutch members 16, 17 on the shaft 5 and the sleeve 2 are brought into engagement by the action of the screw-threads, and they are automatically disengaged if the engine turns backwards. In order to accelerate the disengagement, a washer 12 keyed on the shaft 5 engages rollers 13 mounted in the nut 4 and engaging a loose washer 15. On the backward rotation of the shaft 5, the sleeve 2 is frictionally rotated in a clockwise direction by the washer 12 acting through the rollers 13 and washer 15. In a modification, Fig. 3, the nut 4 has a serrated face 20 engaging serrations 21 on a sun-wheel 22, which is connected to a pinion 23 keyed on the shaft 5 by a gear-wheel 25 and an intermediate gear (not shown). A casing 26 mounted on the nut 4 carries the ratchet wheel 6 and the intermediate gears. On turning the handle 1, the nut 4 is held by inertia and friction, and the sleeve 2 and gear 22 move to the left. bringing the serrations 20, 21 into engagement and also the serrations 16, 17. The handle 1 is thus locked to the shaft 5, and the casing 26 and gearing 22 - - 25 rotate as a whole. If the engine turns backward's, the gearing 23, 25 drives the gear 22 in a clockwise direction, so that no shock on the handle is felt, and the nut 4 moves axially to effect disengagement.