PE TRANSMISSION AXIS TO COMPACT BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates in general to manual multi-speed transmissions for use in motor vehicles. More specifically, the present invention is directed to a compact manual transmission shaft having a synchronized reverse gear. Due to increased consumer demand for front-wheel drive vehicles with more powerful, yet fuel-efficient, drive trains, the engine and drive shaft must be packaged efficiently to take advantage of all available space within the engine compartment. Concurrently, most modern transmission axes must be able to provide at least five forward speeds. As such, minimizing the total axial length of the transmission shaft as well as its central arrow distances is of critical importance to the transmission designer. To meet these requirements, various types of transmission axes have been developed
"three arrows". For example, the US patent. Do not.
4,738,150 discloses a five-speed manual transmission shaft having a power shaft and a pair of intermediate or secondary axles, both of which shift the differential which in turn displaces axle half-arrows. Gear sets in both intermediate transmissions can be selectively coupled to supply power to the feed shaft to the arrows. In addition, the patents of the U.S.A. Nos. 5,385,065 and 5,495,775 describe five-speed transmission shafts having a synchronized reverse gear assembly. Accordingly, while these conventional manual transmission shaft designs attempt to solve the aforementioned packaging requirements, there is still a need for the development of more compact and robust manual transmission shafts that can meet the demands of vehicular applications with Modern front wheel offset. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The primary objective of the present invention is to provide a multi-speed manual transmission shaft, which meets the needs noted above and improves upon conventional designs. For this purpose, the present invention is directed to a five-speed manual transmission shaft comprising a feed shaft, a first intermediate shaft having a first transfer gear fixed to it, a first supply gear fixed to the shaft feed, a first speed gear rotationally supported on the first intermediate arrow and coupled with the first feed gear, a second feed gear fixed to the feed shaft, a second speed gear rotatably supported on the first intermediate shaft and coupled with the second feed gear, a first synchronizing clutch for selectively coupling any of the first and second speed gears with the first intermediate arrow, a third feed gear fixed to the feed shaft, a third speed gear rotatably supported on the first intermediate arrow and coupled with the third feed gear, a fourth feed gear fixed on the feed shaft, a fourth speed gear rotationally supported on the first intermediate shaft and coupled with the fourth feed gear, a second synchronizing clutch for selectively coupling either the gears of third and fourth speeds with the first intermediate arrow, a second intermediate arrow that has a second transfer gear fixed to it, a fifth fixed feed gear on the feed shaft, a fifth speed gear, rotatably held on the second arrow intermediate and coupled with the fifth feed gear, a reverse gear rotationally supported on the second intermediate shaft and coupled with the first velocity gear, a third synchronizing clutch for selectively coupling any of the fifth speed gear and the reverse gear with the second intermediate shaft and a final displacement gear coupled with the first and second transfer gears. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Additional objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent to those with skill in the art from the study of the following description and the accompanying drawings, wherein; Figure 1 is a sectional view of a five-speed manual transmission shaft constructed in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention; Figure 2 is a partial sectional view of the five-speed manual transmission shaft illustrated in Figure 1; Figure 3 is a schematic view showing the arrow and gear assembly for the transmission shaft illustrated in Figure 1; and Figure 4 is a change gate diagram for the transmission shaft illustrated in Figure 1. DKSCRTPCTON DETAT.EVER OF THE PREFERRED MODE Now with reference to the drawings, a manual transmission shaft 10 is illustrated which is adapted to employ in motor vehicles with front wheel displacement. The drive shaft 10 is a five-speed assembly that has all of its forward and reverse gears synchronized and yet is packaged efficiently to provide a compact gearbox. With particular reference to Figure 1, the transmission shaft 10 is illustrated which includes a housing 12 within which a feed shaft 14 is rotatably supported by bearings 16 and 18 to rotate about a first axis "A". As is conventional, the pulse arrow 14 is adapted to travel through a convenient manually released clutch (not shown) by the vehicle engine. The transmission shaft 10 is also illustrated as including a first intermediate or displaced arrow 20 rotatably supported in the housing 12 by bearings 22 and 24 for rotation with respect to a second axis "B", a second displaced or intermediate arrow 26, rotatably held in the housing 12 by bearings 28 and 30 for rotation with respect to a third axis "C", and a differential 32 held in the housing 12 by bearings 34 and 36 for rotation with respect to a fourth axis "D". As is also conventional, the differential output 32 includes a pair of axially aligned side gears 38 to which the axle pins 40 are fixed in order to connect the differential 32 to the travel wheels.
0 of impulse of the motor vehicle. The supply of the differential 32 is a final drive gear 42 fixed to the differential cage 44 and which is in constant meshing engagement with a first transfer gear 46 fixed to the first intermediate arrow 20 as well as with a second fixed transfer gear 48 to the second intermediate arrow 26. It will be appreciated that the Figure
1 is a sectional view so-called "unfolded" where the arrows 14, 20, 26 and 40 are all arranged in a single plane. However, in reality, these arrows are arranged comparatively parallel to each other, without any of the three in a common plane, as illustrated in Figure 3. In this way, the central distance between the arrows can be effectively minimized. The transmission shaft 10 includes a series of constant coupling gear assemblies 50, 52, 54, 56, 58 and 60 that can be selectively coupled to establish five forward speed ratios as well as a reverse speed relationship between the arrow of feed 14 and the final displacement gear 42. The gear assembly 50 includes a first feed gear 62 fixed to the feed shaft 14 and a first speed gear 64 rotatably supported on the first intermediate shaft 20. The first speed gear 64 is in constant engagement with the first feed gear 62 to define a first path for power transmission that can be selectively coupled to establish a first feed rate ratio. The gear assembly 52 includes a second feed gear 66 fixed to the feed shaft 14 which is in constant engagement with a second speed gear 68 rotatably supported on the first intermediate shaft 20. In this way, the gear set 52 operates to define a second path for power transmission that can be selectively coupled to establish a second forward speed ratio. The gear assembly 54 includes a third feed gear 70 fixed to the feed shaft 14 which is in constant engagement with a third speed gear 72 rotatably supported on the first intermediate shaft 20. As such, the gear assembly 54 operates to defining a third power transmission path that can be selectively coupled to establish a third forward speed ratio. The gear set 56 includes a fourth feed gear 74 fixed to the feed shaft 14 which is in constant engagement with a fourth speed gear 76 rotatably supported on the first intermediate shaft 20. Thus, the gear set 56 operates to define a fourth path for power transmission that can be selectively coupled to establish a fourth forward speed ratio. The gear set 58 includes a fifth feed gear 78 fixed to the feed shaft 14 which engages a fifth speed gear 80 rotatably supported on the second intermediate shaft 26. The gear set 56 functions to define a fifth path for power transmission that can be selectively coupled to establish a fifth forward speed ratio. Finally, the gear set 60 includes a reverse gear 82 rotatably supported on the intermediate shaft 26 which engages with the fifth speed gear 64. The gear set 60 defines a sixth path for power transmission that can be selectively coupled to establish the inverse speed ratio.
To provide means for establishing the various forward and reverse speed ratios, by selectively coupling one of the available power transmission paths, each set of gears is associated with a synchronizing clutch. In particular, a first synchronizing clutch 84 is operatively located between first and second speed gears 64 and 68 and includes a hub 86 fixed to the first intermediate shaft 20, a shift sleeve 88 mounted for rotation with and axially sliding the movement of the hub 86 and a pair of convenient locking type synchronizers 90 sandwiched between the shift sleeve 88 and the speed gears 64 and 68. The first synchronizing clutch 84 is of the double acting variety, such that the forward axial movement of the shift sleeve 88 from its centered neutral position it is adapted to couple the first-speed gear 64 to the first intermediate arrow 20 to establish the first forward speed ratio, wherein the first transfer gear 46 displaces the final displacement gear 42. Further, the axial backward movement of the shift sleeve 88 from its neutral position is adapted to engage the second-stage gear the speed 68 to the first intermediate arrow 20, such that the first transfer gear 46 displaces the final displacement gear 42 in the second forward speed ratio. To establish the third and fourth forward speed ratios, a second synchronizing clutch 92 is located between the third and fourth speed gears 72 and 76 and includes a hub 94 fixed to the first intermediate arrow 20, a shift sleeve 96 mounted for rotation with and axial sliding movement in the hub 94 and a pair of locking type synchronizers 98, sandwiched between the shift sleeve 96, third speed gear 70 and a clutch gear 100 fixed to the fourth speed gear 76. The second synchronizing clutch 92 is of the double acting type, such that the forward axial movement of the shift sleeve 96 from its illustrated neutral centered position, is adapted to couple the third speed gear 72 to the first intermediate arrow 20, such that the first transfer gear 40 displaces the final displacement gear 42 to the third feed rate ratio. Still further, the backward movement of the shift sleeve 96 from its centered neutral position is adapted to engage the fourth speed gear 76 to the first intermediate arrow 20, such that the first transfer gear 46 moves the final shift gear 42 to the ratio of fourth speed.
The fifth speed ratio and the reverse speed ratio are established by a fourth synchronizing clutch 102, again of the double acting variety that is located between the fifth speed gear 80 and the reverse gear 82. The clutch synchronizer 102 includes a hub 104 fixed to the second intermediate shaft 26, a shift sleeve 106 mounted for rotation with and axial sliding movement in the hub 104 and a pair of locking type synchronizers 108, sandwiched between the shift sleeve 114, the reverse gear 82 and the clutch gear 110 fixed to the fifth speed gear 80. The rearward sliding movement of the shift sleeve 106 from its illustrated centered neutral position is adapted to engage the clutch gear 110 and fifth speed gear 80 to the second intermediate arrow 26 in such a way that the second transfer gear 48 displaces the final displacement gear 42 to the fifth speed ratio. In contrast, the forward sliding movement of the shift sleeve 106 from its neutral position engages the reverse gear 82 such that the reverse gear 82 engages releasably to the second intermediate arrow 26. As such, the second gear Transfer 48 shifts the final shift gear 42 to the reverse speed ratio and in the opposite direction with respect to the normal direction of rotation of the final shift gear 42 during feed operation. This reversal of direction results from the reverse gear 82 being displaced by the first-speed gear 64 which in turn travels along the first feed gear 62. In the first feed gear, torque is supplied from the arrow supply 14 to the differential 32 through the elements 62, 64, 88, 86, 20, 46, and 42. In the second feed gear, the torque is supplied from the feed shaft 14 to the differential 32 through of the elements 66, 68, 88, 86, 20, 46, and 42. In the third advance gear, torque is supplied from the feed shaft 14 to the differential 32 through the elements 70, 72, 96, 94, 20, 46 and 42. In the fourth advance gear the torque is supplied from the feed shaft 14 to the differential 32 through the elements 74, 76, 96, 94, 20, 46 and 42. In the fifth feed gear, torque is supplied from the feed shaft 14 to The differential 32 through the elements 78, 80, 106, 104, 26, 48 and 42. Finally, in the reverse gear, torque is supplied from the feed shaft 14 to the differential 32 through the elements 62. , 64, 82, 106, 104, 26, 48 and 42. Figure 3 is a schematic illustration of the assembly of the arrows 14, 20, 26 and 40 and the coupling of the various gear sets. In addition, a change pattern or gate diagram for the drive shaft 10 is illustrated in Figure 4. Obviously, any convenient shift system that couples each of the shift sleeves 88, 96 and 106 to a shift lever of gear (not shown) for coordinated movement, to establish the various advance and reverse gears, can be used with the drive shaft 10. The previous discussion illustrates and describes a currently preferred embodiment of the present invention. A person skilled in the art will readily recognize from this discussion and the accompanying drawings and claims that various changes and modifications and variations may be practiced without departing from the spirit and true real meaning of the invention as defined in the following claims.