GB425264A - Improvements relating to inertia starters for internal combustion engines - Google Patents

Abstract

425,264. Turning - gear. CIRRUSHERMES ENGINEERING CO., Ltd., and CAPLE, A. H., Brough Aerodrome, Brough, Yorkshire. April 24, 1934, Nos. 12290 and 17585. [Class 7 (v)] An engine starter includes a flywheel 1 rotated by an electric motor and driving through an epicyclic gear train a pinion 13 movable at will into mesh with an engine gear 22, the pinion being in threaded connection with a member of the epicyclic train and means under manual control being provided to resist or arrest its rotation in order to ensure its axial movement into mesh with the gear 22. As shown, the electric motor comprises a stator 2 secured to the starter housing 3 and a rotor 4 mounted on a tubular shaft 5 rigid with the flywheel 1. A pinion 6 on the shaft 5 meshes with stepped planet wheels 7 rotatable on a carrier 10 and meshing with a stationary toothed ring 8, which is mounted between friction rings 12 on the housing 3 in order to allow slip under excessive load. The carrier 10 is journalled in ball bearings 11 and is internally threaded to engage a threaded spindle 14 supporting the starter pinion 13, which is connected to the spindle by a one-way ratchet clutch 17 loaded by a spring 18. The pinion 13 is normally held out of engagement with the engine gear 22 by a spring 21 interposed between a shoulder 19 on the carrier 10 and a head 20 on a shaft 23 secured at 24 to the spindle 14 and extending through the tubular shaft 4. A ratchet wheel 28 on the rear end of the shaft 23 is engaged by a spring-controlled detent 29 pivoted at 30 on the motor housing and having an arm 33 in engagement with a cam notch 34 in a hand-actuated rod 35 carrying a contact member 37 for closing the circuit of the starting motor. On operation of the rod 35 to close the circuit, the detent 29 is first allowed to engage the ratchet wheel 28 and then disengaged just before the circuit is closed. When the motor has attained the required speed, the rod 35 is released and a spring 40 moves it into a position in which the circuit is broken and the detent 29 engages the ratchet wheel, arresting rotation of the spindle 14, so that the pinion 13 moves axially into engagement with the engine gear 22 until the shoulders 14<a>, 10<a> are in contact, when rotation is imparted to the gear 22. When the engine starts, the ratchet clutch 17 allows the pinion 13 to be driven freely by the engine. In the starting position, the detent 29 is brought by its spring 31 into the space between the ratchet wheel 28 and the motor housing 27, holding the shaft 23 against movement in a direction to disengage the pinion 13 from the gear 22. The engine having started, the operator pushes the shaft 35 into the initial position, moving the detent 29 clear of the ratchet and allowing the spring 21 to disengage the pinion 13 from the gear 22. Specification 417,128 is referred to in the first Provisional Specification.