JPS5944531B2 - variable speed gear transmission - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to gear transmissions, and more particularly to improved variable speed gear transmissions.

There are many available types of variable speed gear transmissions on the market today.

Many of these devices operate on the principle of moving a wheel along the surface of a rotating disk from the periphery to the center, thereby varying the speed continuously.

There is also a similar device in which a wheel is reciprocated along the surface of a cone between a small diameter portion and a large diameter portion.

Although the above type of device can smoothly and continuously change the rotation ratio between the input and output shafts,
The actual transmission takes place by means of a friction joint as opposed to a positive gear joint.

The load that can be transferred is therefore necessarily limited.

US Pat. issued for.

The above-mentioned U.S. patent specification essentially discloses a positive gear transmission, which uses a positive gear joint without using the idea of friction to change speed between an input shaft and an output shaft. The ratio can be set over a wide range of values.

The selected embodiment in this earlier patent uses a pair of opposing discs with a pinion connected between the discs.

The present invention belongs to an improved type of variable-speed positive gear transmission, the operating principle of which is very similar to that described in the above-mentioned U.S. patent, but in accordance with selected aspects of that patent. It is quite different from the one that utilizes a pair of opposing disks as shown in , which simply utilizes a single disk.

According to the invention: a frame; an input shaft pivotally supported by the frame;
an output shaft rotatably supported by the frame, and a flat disc that is bonded to one of the human power shaft and the output shaft and has a plurality of pie-shaped toothed segments on its surface, each toothed segment is formed with a plurality of parallel teeth running from the periphery towards the center of the disk parallel to the diameter of said disk dividing the toothed segment into thirds, said toothed segment having a circumferential surface on the surface of the disk. flat disks spaced equally apart in the direction and forming a plurality of pie-shaped blank segments between them; Supported 1st and 2nd
and its first and second axes, respectively;
first and second pinions slidably keyed along their axes and equidistant radially outwardly from the center of said disk, and a radial distance of each said pinion from the center of said disk; and thereby adjusting the speed ratio between the input shaft and the output shaft, the disc 11 having an odd number of toothed segments 12 and an odd number of blank segments 13, There is always a blank segment on the diametrically opposite side of the toothed segment, and the first
and the second shaft 14,15 are arranged coaxially such that one pinion 16 is at rest with the toothed segment when the other pinion 17 is disengaged with the toothed segment. , above the center of the surface of the disk, a central gearing 18 is mounted on the other of the input shaft or the output shaft, and the central gearing 18 is rotatable in opposite directions about a common axis and coaxially are interconnected to the inner opposite ends of first and second shafts 14, 15 arranged in Thus, there is provided an infinitely variable positive gear-gear contact transmission characterized in that the gear 18 rotates continuously in one direction.

Next, in order to better understand the present invention, an example of an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Referring first to FIG. 1, there is shown a portion of a frame 10 on which a flat disc 11 is rotatably mounted.

As shown, the disc 11 has an odd number of pie-shaped toothed segments 12 on its surface, which segments are arranged in such a way that an odd number of pie-shaped blank segments 13 are formed between them. They are arranged at equal intervals on the circumference of the surface of the disk.

By utilizing an odd number of equiangular toothed segments 12 that match the angular spacing between the toothed segments forming the blank segments, there is always a blank segment on the diametrically opposite toothed segment.

Each toothed segment has a plurality of parallel teeth running from the periphery toward the center of the disk in parallel relation to the diameter of the disk bisecting the pie-shaped toothed segment.

With this arrangement, the pinch of each tooth is always the same, no matter how close or far the teeth are from the center of the disc.

On the other hand, the number of teeth is greater near the periphery than near the center of the segment.

This is because the segment pinch is constant and pie-shaped.

Coaxially aligned first and second shafts 14 and 15
When viewed from a plan view as shown in FIG.
It is mounted in a bearing type by 0.

On these axes, first and second pinions 16 and 17 are mounted and keyed, respectively, so that each pinion has a sliding movement along its axis and rotates about its axis. It looks like this.

A central bevel gearing 18 interconnects the opposing inner ends of the shafts 14 and 15 to rotate them in opposite directions about their common axis.

It is noteworthy that the central bevel gearing 18 is located over the center of the surface of the disc when viewed in plan.

The output shaft 19 is connected to this central gearing 18 .

In FIG. 1, pinions 16 and 17 are shown connected schematically by dashed lines 20, which indicate coincident inward and outward directions for pinions 16 and 17 along their respective axes. Represents mechanical means capable of effecting an orientation movement so that the pinions are always at exactly the same radial distance from the center of the disk.

This mechanism 20 will be explained in detail later.

Next, referring to the front view of FIG. 2, what should be noted in this figure is that the flat disk 11 supports the input shaft 22 in a bearing manner as at 22 with respect to the frame 10.
It is mounted on the

FIG. 2 also shows right and left bearings 23 and 24 for supporting the first and second shafts 14 and 15.
is clearly shown.

Finally, an upper bearing 25 for the output shaft 19 is shown in FIG.

The central gearing 18 shown in FIG. 1 and also shown in FIG. I know that there is.

It is clear that if the first pinion rotates in one direction and the second pinion rotates in the opposite direction, the shaft 19 rotates in one direction.

Also, when one pinion is in meshing engagement with the toothed segment 12, the other pinion is located on the blank segment and is not engaged in any way, as can be seen from FIG. It is clear from the figure.

By utilizing a substantial number of individual pie-shaped segments as shown in FIG. Match the direction exactly.

However, due to the parallel relationship of the teeth on each side of the radially oriented central tooth of each pie-shaped toothed segment, the proper meshing of those teeth with the pinion is such that each tooth on that pinion This can only be done if the teeth on the pinion are of such length that the pinion is parallel to each tooth on the toothed segment.

It is important that the pinion be able to pivot slightly on its axis in order to maintain the parallel relationship of each tooth for proper meshing through a slight arching pivoting motion.

In FIGS. 1 and 2, the first pinion 16 is
The tooth is shown pivoted slightly in order to properly align with the teeth on the mating segment.

When the disc 11 is rotating counterclockwise as seen in FIG.
Of course, if the pinion 16 is to be left in a direction opposite to that shown in FIG.

Each pinion is in the non-swivel position only when its teeth mesh with the central tooth of each toothed segment, in other words when it meshes with a particular tooth that is colinear with the radial direction.

To facilitate the desired pivoting movement of each pinion as it traverses the toothed segment,
A flexible attachment is provided.

With particular reference to FIG. 3, the swivel mount has an inner swivel ring 26 and an outer swivel ring 27 which are interconnected in the usual manner for swivel mounts. .

It should be noted in Figure 3 that the shaft 14 is splined so that it is locked against rotation relative to the pinion, but the pinion itself can slide along the shaft. It means that it is capable of functioning.

Of course, each tooth of the pinion can be of very short length, almost in the form of a plug.

In this case, there are no problems with the interlocking of the teeth on the toothed segments, and the arrangement for pivoting is practically unnecessary.

On the other hand, with such a short tooth length, the force that can be transmitted is somewhat limited.

One important feature of the present invention is that it has a large number of toothed segments distributed circumferentially as shown, each of the segments having a relatively small angular range, so that any rotation of the pinion The pinion is also kept to a minimum, yet the pinion has relatively long teeth to provide a strong transmission coupling.

In FIG. 2, and as an example, for example, the pinion 17
The length of the tooth on the pinion is denoted by L.

This length is actually larger and certainly more than twice as thick as the pinch of teeth on the pinion of dimension P in FIG.

In the case of plugged teeth where no pivoting is necessary, L is approximately equal to P.

What should be noted in Fig. 3 is that the pinion 16
An annular support groove 28 is provided on the surface of the outermost portion of the groove.

This mechanism cooperates with engagement means forming part of the carriage structure to enable the pinion to move along the splined axis 14 while it is rotating.

Referring now to FIG. 4 in connection with the above, this figure shows the structure of FIGS. 1 schematically represented in 20
This is provided merely as an example of two possible means.

In the particular example of FIG. 4, first and second carriages 29 and 30 are provided having sleeve pairs 31 and 32 spanning pinions 16 and 17, respectively.

Sleeves 31 and 32 are the first and second shafts.

14 and 15, but constitutes a mere journal bearing for those shafts, which rotate inside sleeves 31 and 32.

As shown, each of the sleeves includes an engagement member in the form of a frame structure extending diametrically oppositely and curving inwardly as shown at 33 toward the opposing surface of the respective pinion. and each end of these frame structures is received within an annular groove such as groove 28 shown in FIG.

It is illustrated by a corresponding engagement pin or bar 34 for the second pinion 17.

These engaging members are mounted on each sleeve as described above and form part of the carriage structures 29 and 30.

Each of the first and second gear carriages 29 and 30 are connected to outer springs, such as those indicated by 35 and 36, which normally exert a tension force on each carriage, thereby Therefore, the pinions 16 and 11 are pulled apart.

In other words, if there is no resistance, the spring 35
and 36 extend each carriage and therefore each pinion to their outermost limits toward the periphery of disk 110.

Opposing the tension of springs 35 and 36 is a drawstring 37.
and 38, these cords being connected to the carriages 29 and 30 and extending inwardly towards the central portion of the structure and thence around suitable pulleys to be wound onto the drum 39. It has become.

According to the above arrangement, when the drum 39 is rotated in the direction of the arrow 40 by the handle attached to it, the tensile force acting on the strings 37 and 38 moves each carriage and thus the pinions 16 and 17. Of course, they can be brought closer to each other all at once.

When the winding on drum 39 is relaxed, springs 35 and 36 retract carriages 29 and 30 and thus move pinions 16 and 17 away from each other.

From the above explanation, it is believed that the operation of the variable speed positive gear transmission is clear.

The first and second pinions 16 and 11 are now in the actual position as shown in FIGS.
It is assumed that the pinion of the box 2 is in meshing engagement with one of the toothed segments 12, while the pinion 17 of the other box 2 is located on the blank segment 6. It is also assumed that the input shaft 21 as shown in FIG. is rotated in the direction shown by the arrow, so that the flat disk 11 is assumed to be rotating in a counterclockwise direction as seen in the plan view of FIG.

It goes without saying that the pinion 16 is reliably driven to rotate the shaft 14 and that this movement is transmitted to the output shaft 19 via the bevel gear.

When the first pinion 16 leaves said toothed segment 12, the second pinion 17 engages one of the toothed segments 12, and this latter pinion is thus caused to rotate in the opposite direction; Thereby the axis 15 becomes the axis 14
is rotated in the opposite direction to its previous rotation.

As can be seen with reference to FIG. 2, opposing rotation of shaft 150 through bevel gearing 18 causes shaft 19 to still rotate in the same direction.

The first and second pinions are thus driven alternately by the toothed segments, and the swivel mounting for each pinion on its respective axis ensures smooth yet strong contact of the intermeshed teeth. Make it.

In order to change the rotation ratio between the input shaft 21 and the output shaft 19, it is only necessary to simultaneously change the radial distances of the first and second pinions 16 and 110 from the central part of the disc.

Thus, by using suitable mechanical means, such as that indicated generally by 20 in FIGS. 1 and 2,
If the pinions 16 and 17 were to be moved radially outward, they would each successively engage a number of teeth on each of the toothed segments during a given angular rotation of the disc 11, and thus Output shaft 1
9 rotates at a faster speed than the rotational speed of the disc 11 and the input shaft 21.

Also, if the first and second pinions 16 and 17 are moved inwardly toward the center, fewer teeth in each of said toothed segments will continue with the pinion for a given angular movement of the disk 11. There is an interlocking engagement so that the output shaft 19 rotates less with each revolution of the disc 11.

It is therefore clear that by moving each pinion inwardly and outwardly, a smooth change in the speed ratio between the input and output shafts will be effected.

Furthermore, since reliable tooth engagement is always ensured through the gear train between the input shaft and the output shaft, and relatively long teeth can be used for the pinion, the Strength is also ensured.

As is clear from the above description, the present invention provides an improved variable speed positive gear transmission.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

The accompanying drawings illustrate an example of an embodiment of the invention. 1 is a plan view with a portion removed of a variable speed positive gear transmission according to the present invention; FIG. 2 is a front view taken in the direction of arrow 2-2 in FIG. 1; FIG. Arrow 3 in Figure 2
4 is a schematic perspective view illustrating the mechanical control means utilized for a portion of the structure shown in FIGS. 1 and 2; FIG. . 10... Frame; 11... Flat disc; 12... Pi-shaped toothed segment; 13...
...Pie-shaped blank segment; 14, 15...
. . . first and second axes coaxially aligned; 16,
17...first and second pinion; 18...
...Central bevel gear device; 19...Output shaft;
20... Rotation ratio adjustment means (route map) between input shaft and output shaft; 21... Human power shaft.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A frame, an input shaft pivotally supported by the frame, an output shaft pivotally supported by the frame, and a surface mounted on one of the input shaft and the output shaft. a flat disk having a plurality of pie-shaped toothed segments, each toothed segment having a diameter extending from the periphery of the disk toward the center parallel to the diameter of the disk dividing the toothed segment into thirds; a flat disk formed with a plurality of parallel teeth running along the surface of the disk, said toothed segments being equally spaced circumferentially on the surface of the disk, with a plurality of pie-shaped blank segments formed therebetween; and a first and second shaft each supported by the frame at a position above the disc on the same line as the diameter of the disc; first and second surfaces slidably keyed along the disc and equidistant radially outwardly from the center of the disc;
and a device for adjusting the radial distance of each of the pinions from the center of the disk, thereby adjusting the speed ratio between the input shaft and the output shaft, the disk 11 is an odd number of toothed segments 12 and an odd number of blank segments 13, with a blank segment always diametrically opposite the toothed segments, said first and second axes 14, 15 being coaxially arranged; The pinion 16 is arranged to be in engagement with the toothed segment when the other pinion 17 is out of engagement with the toothed segment, and a central gearing 18 is disposed above the center of the surface of the disc. It is mounted on the other of the input or output shaft, the central gearing 18 of which is rotatable in opposite directions about a common axis and coaxially arranged within the first and second shafts 14.15. are interconnected at opposite ends thereof, such that alternating rotations of said pinions 16, 17 and shafts 14, 15 in opposite directions cause continuous rotation of central gearing 18 in one direction; A variable speed gear transmission featuring: 2 Each of said pinions shall have two of their pinch points.
Variable speed gear transmission according to claim 1, characterized in that teeth are provided with an axial length that is more than double, thereby increasing the strength of the coupling of the transmission device. 3. Each of said pinions has universal attachment means connecting said pinion to its associated shaft, so that the pinion is provided with the necessary mesh for proper meshing with the parallel teeth of the toothed segments in said minor disc. The variable gear transmission according to claim 1, wherein the variable gear transmission is capable of turning by a certain angle. 4. The device for adjusting the radial distance of the pinion from the center of the disc is configured to slide each of the first and second pinions to equal radial positions on the first and second axes. A variable speed gear transmission according to claim 1, having first and second positioning devices for movement.