US1029549A - Change-speed mechanism. - Google Patents

Description

R. MILNE. CHANGE SPEED MECHANISM. APPLICATION FILED JUNE 29, 1911.

1,029,549. Patented June 11,1912.

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COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH CO.,WASHXN01'ON D C I R. MILNE. CHANGE SPEED MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 29, 1911.

Patented June 11, 1912.

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R. MILNE.

CHANGE SPEED MEGHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED-TUNE 29, 1911.

1,029,549. Patented June 11, 1912.

a SHEETS-SHEET a.

COLUMBIA PLANDGRAPH 60.. WASHINGTON. u. C.

ROBERT MILNE, OF ROCKFORD, ILLINOIS.

CHANGE-SPEED MECHANISM.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 11, 1912.

Applicationfiled June 29, 1911. Serial No. 636,040.

To all whom it may concern."

Be it known that I, ROBERT MILNE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Rockford, in the county of WVinnebago and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Change-Speed Mechanism, of which the following is a specification.

The present invention relates to a mechanism for changing and regulating the speed of a driven shaft, so as to give it any proportionate speed desired in relation to that of a driving shaft which is driven at a fixed rate of speed.

One of the principal objects of the present invention is to provide an arrangement of parts which is simply and easily controlled; another is to so arrange the parts that it is impossible to throw one set of gears into mesh for the purpose of chang ing the speed of the driven shaft without first throwing out of mesh the set of gears which at that time are performing the driving operation.

Further objects of the invention are to provide a means for speedily disengaging and engaging the gears with practically no resultant jar or clash as the result of the engaging and disengaging operation; to so arrange the parts comprising the mechanism, as to enable them to be operated by a swinging lever, thus requiring only one movement to be imparted to the lever for the purpose of changing the speeds; to provide a mechanism for accomplishing the instantaneous disengagement and engagement of the driving and driven gears, and to regulate the movement of the different movable parts, so as to bring the gears comprising a set of gears to a stop in a fixed relation to each other, after they have been disen: gaged; to shift the gears so as to bring them into mesh 011 the periphery, thereby eliminating the wear and tear to the gear which occurs when the gears are shifted and brought into engagement with a sliding movement.

The invention furtherconsists in the features of construction and combination of parts hereinafter described and claimed.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is an elevation, showing the mechanism of the present invention applied to one type of machine, namely, a drill press; Fig. 2, a plan view of the mechanism of the present invention; F ig. 3, a face view of the mechanism of the present invention; Fig. 4, a cross section, showing a train of gearing in mesh; and Fig. 5, a view similar to Fig. 4, showing said train of gearing out of mesh.

The invention is shown as applied to a drill press, although it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in any way to the exclusive use with a drill press mechanism. Obviously, the device may be employed with any suitable form of mechanism where it is desirable to frequently change the speed of the driven member.

The mechanism, as shown, is housed within a casing 7 of suitable size and formation, and this, if desired, may be partially filled with oil so as to permit the movement of the gears to take place in a body of oil, thus'reducing the resultant and noise of operation, as is well-known in this line of work. Extending through the interior of the casing is a driving shaft 8, having thereon a suitable pulley 9 and a driven shaft 10 having thereon a suitable pulley 11. The driving shaft has mounted thereon a series of gears 12, 13, 14c, and 15, which, as shown, are of varying sizes. The driven shaft 10 has mounted thereon a series of gears 16, 17, 18, and 19, which are also of varying sizes. The gears are so arranged as to lie in opposed relation to one another and in substantial alinement with one another, and they are also so arranged that the ratio between any selected set of opposed gears is different from that of the balance.

In the construction shown in the draw ings, it will be seen that the gear 12 is of substantially smaller diameter than the gear 16, and the gear 12, being a driving gear, the gear 16 will naturally be rotated at a relatively slow rate of speed when a connection is made between these two gears.

By observing the gears 15 and 19, it will be seen that the gear 15 is of asubstantially larger diameter than the gear 19, and as the gear 15 is the driving gear, it will naturally follow that when-a connection is made between these two gears, the gear 19 will be driven at a substantially high speed, and, of course, the gears 16 and 19 are both connected to the shaft 10, the driven shaft of the mechanism; hence, when a connection is made between the gears 12 and 16, said shaft will be driven at a relatively slow speed, and when a connection is made between the gears 15 and 19, the shaft will be driven at a relatively high speed. The gears 13 and 18 and the gears 1 1 and 18 are of a rat-i0 so that when a connection is made between either of these sets, they will give to the driven shaft the speed intermediate the low speed and high speed heretofore referred to.

Lying in the interior of the casings, is a fixed shaft 20, upon which is pivotally mounted a supporting member 21 for the intermediate or shiftable gears. These shiftable gears in the construction shown are in the form of a series, there being one provided for each set of driving and driven gears. The shiftable gears-are, perhaps, best shown in Figs. 2, 1, and 5, and are designated by the reference numerals, 22, 23, 24, and 25. These shiftable gears are as shown all the same size, but because of the difierence in ratio between the driving and drivengears, there will be a corre sponding difference in ratio between each set of driving and driven and intermediate gears.

The support 21 is in the form of an armlike bracket member 26, which has secured to its outer end a roller, or other suitable anti-friction device 27, and is further provided with a lug 28 which lies in opposed relation to a lug 29 on the interior of the casing 7. The supporting member is further provided at its inner end with a fingerlike member 30, between which and the wall of the casing is interposed a tension member 31, which tends to normally keep the parts in the position shown in Fig. 5.

It is understood, of course, that although there are only four sets of gears shown in the drawings, and although the description is directed toward a construction embodying only four sets of gears, that the number of sets of gears may be changed or varied to suit the conditions under which the mechanism is operated, or to suit the idea of the mechanic constructing the machine.

For the purpose of throwing the intermediate gears into mesh with the opposed gears, I employ a shift-able member, which in the form shown consists of a pivoted lever 32, to which, as shown, is attached a rod 33, carrying a roller 84: which is adapted to register with any selected one of a series of notches 35. The lever 33 is maintained in position to hold the roller within said notch by means of a suitable tension controlled pressure member 36. The end of the lever is attached to a cam member 37, and the cam member is guided in its back and forth movements within the casing by means of a rod 38. The connection between the lever and the part which has been termed the cam member is in the form ofa slotted plate 39, best shown in Fig. 3, which permits a certain amount of lost movement between the lever and the member carrying the cam. This, of course, is necessary because of the fact that the lever is being operated with a swinging movement about a fixed center, while the cam member is traveling in a rectilinear movement on a fixed guide-rod. It is, however, understood that this connection between the lever and the cam member may be of any construction, adapted to enable the parts to move with their relative movements.

The operation of the device is as follows: vlVhen it is desired to throw into mesh any selected set of driving and driven gears, the lever is thrown until the cam surface engages the roller upon the end of the supporting member carrying the intermediate gear of that particular set of driving and driven gears. The engagement of the cam surface with the roller will swing the mounting of the intermediate gear and bring that gear into the position shown in Fig. 1, in which position it will be in mesh with both the driving and driven gears, and power will be conveyed to the driven shaft.

It will be noticed that in the present construction, it is impossible to throw one set of gears into mesh, before the set of gears which have formerly been in mesh are thrown out. This is due to the fact that a single operating member is used for effecting the engagement or disengagement of all of the sets of gears; and hence no two sets of driving and driven gears can be thrown in at the same time. It will further be noted that to change the speed of the driven shaft from extreme high to extreme low, or viceversa, the intermediate gears of the intermediate sets of driving and driven gears will be brought into mesh for a very short space of time during such interchange. This eliminates the violent ar or olt which is usually imparted to the driven shaft, when an excessive'strain is produced thereon by a sudden change from a high to a low speed. Of course, the space of time in which these intermediate gears are in mesh is very short,

and the space of time which is required to throw the device from high to low speed is extremely short, but the efiect of this construction is, to graduate the increase or decrease of speed on the driven shaft when it is changed from one extreme of speed to the other, although, as stated, this graduation consists of a series of short periods of movements of the driven shaft on the speeds intermediate the high and low speeds. The notches 35 are so arranged that when the roller 34: is in a selected one of them, the cam member will be in engagement with the roller 27 of a selected support for an intermediate gear. By the placing of indicating signs adjacent the different notches, the operator may move the lever to accurately position the lever to throw into mesh any selected driving and driven gears that he may desire, and thus obtain the desired rate of speed of the driven member.

It will be noted that the intermediate gears always remain in mesh with one of the gears of the sets of driving and driven gears. As shown in the drawings, it is in mesh with the driving gear; since, however, all of the intermediate gears are idlers, this cannot eifect in any way the movement of the driven gears. By permitting the intermediate gears to remain in mesh with one 'of the gears of the sets of gears, it eliminates the throwing of the intermediate gears into mesh with both of the gears of the sets of gears. The cam surface forces the support of the intermediate gears upward to bring said gears into mesh with the driving and driven gears, the spring 31 acting to return said support to normal position after the cam surface has been brought out of engagement with the roller, and the stop member to limit the disengaging movement of said intermediate gears to maintain them in a fixed normal relation to. the driving and driven gears.

I claim:

1. In a change speed device, the combination of a driving shaft, a driven shaft, a se ries of gears on each shaft, at least one of said series being composed of stepped gears, said gears lying in opposed relation to one another, a shiftable gear for each set of opposed gears, and means actuated with a sliding movement in a direction crosswise of the gearing and adapted to throw and maintain a selected shiftable gear in position to effect a connection between its set of opposed gears, substantially as described.

2. In a change speed device, the combination of a driving shaft, a driven shaft, a series of gears on each shaft, at least one of said series being composed of stepped gears, said gears lying in opposed relation to one another, a shiftable gear for each set of op posed gears, means actuated'with a sliding movement in a direction crosswise of the gears and adapted to throw any selected shiftable gear into position to efiect a connection between its set of opposed gears, and means for automatically returning said shiftable gears to normal position after said means have moved out of operative relation with respect thereto, substantially as described.

3. In a change speed device, the combina tion of a driving shaft, a driven shaft, a series of gears on each shaft, at least one of said gears being composed of stepped gears, said gears lying in opposed relation to one another, a shiftable gear for each set of opposed gears, means actuated with a sliding movement in a direction crosswise of the gears for throwing any selected shiftable gear into position to make a connection between its set of opposed gears, and a stop member to regulate the return movement of the shiftable gear, whereby it lies when in normal position in mesh with one gear of the set of opposed gears, substantially as described.

4. In a change speed device, the combination of a driving shaft, a driven shaft, a series of gears on each shaft, at least one of said series being composed of stepped gears,

said gears lying in opposed relation to one another, an intermediate gear for each set of opposed gears, a pivotally mounted sup port for each of said intermediate gears, and means actuated with a sliding movement in adirection crosswise of the gears for throwing any selected intermediate gear into position to effect a connection between its set of opposed gears, substantially as de scribed.

5. In a change speed device, the combination of a driving shaft, a driven shaft, a series of gears on each shaft, at least one of said gears being composed of stepped gears, said gears lying in opposed relation to one another, an intermediate gear for each set of opposed gears, a pivotally mounted support for each of said intermediate gears, means actuated with a sliding movement in a direction crosswise of the gears for throwing any selected intermediate gear into position to effect a connection between its set of opposed gears, means for automatically returning, said intermediate gear to normal position, and a stop member for limiting the return movement of said intermediate gear, substantially as described.

6. In a change speed device, the combination of a driving shaft, a driven shaft, a series of gears on each of said shafts, at least one of said series being composedpf stepped gears, said gears lying in opposed relation to one another, an intermediate gear for each set of opposed gears, a pivotally mounted support for each of said opposed gears, comprising an arm, and means actu ated with a sliding movement in a direction crosswise of the gears for engaging said arms to throw a selected intermediate gear into position to effect a connection between its set of opposed gears, substantially as described.

7. In a change speed device, the combination ofadriving shaft, adriven shaft,aseries of gears on each of said shafts, at least one of said series being composed of stepped gears, said gears lying in opposed relation to one another, an intermediate gear for each set of opposed gears, a pivotally mounted support for each of said intermediate gears, com

prising an arm, and a shiftable member actuated in a direction crosswise of the gears and having an acting surface adapted to engage said arms to throw a selected intermediate gear into position to effect a connection between its set of opposed gears, sub-- stantially as described.

8. In a change speed device, the combination of a driving shaft, a driven shaft, a series of gears on each of said shafts, at least one of said series being composed of stepped gears, said gears lying in opposed relation to one another, an intermediate gear for each set of opposed gears, a pivotally mounted support for each of said intermediate gears, comprising an arm, a slidable member actuated in adirection crosswise of the gears and having a cam surface adapted to engage said arms and throw a selected intermediate gear into mesh with its set of opposed gears, substantially as described.

9. In a change speed device, the combination of a driving shaft, a driven shaft, a series of gears for each shaft, at least one of said series being composed of stepped gears, said gears lying in opposed relation to one another, a shiftable gear for each set of opposed gears, a slidable member actuated in a direction crosswise of the gears for throwing a selected shiftable gear into position to effect a connection between its set of opposed gears, and means for locking said shiftable member in its thrown position, substantially as described.

10. In a change speed device, the combination of a driving shaft, a driven shaft, a series of gears on each of said shafts, at least one of said series being composed of stepped gears, said gears lying in opposed relation to one another, an intermediate gear for each set of opposed gears, a pivotally mounted support for each of said intermediate gears, comprising an arm, a slidable member actuated in a direction crosswise of the gears and provided with an acting surface adapted to engage said arms to throw a selected intermediate gear into position to effect a connection between its set of opposed gears, and means for looking said shiftable member in its thrown position, substantially as described.

11. In a change speed device, the combination of a driving shaft, a driven shaft, a series of gears on each of said shafts, at least one of said shafts being composed of stepped gears, said gears lying inopposed relation to one another, an intermediate gear for each set of opposed gears, a pivotally mounted support for each of said intermediate gears, comprising an arm, a swinging lever, a member having a cam surface actuated by said lever with a sliding movement in a direction crosswise of the gears, said cam engaging the ends of said mounting to throw a selected intermediate gear into position to effect a connection between its set of opposed gears, substantially as described.

12. In a change speed device, the combination of a driving shaft, a driven shaft, a series of gears on each of said shafts, at least one of said gears being composed of stepped gears, said gears lying in opposed relation to one another, a movable intermediate gear for each set of opposed gears, a swinging lever, a memberhaving a cam surface actuated by said lever with a sliding movement in a direction crosswise of the gears, a member extending from each of said intermediate gears, and adapted to be engaged by said cam surface to throw a selected intermediate gear into position to effect a connection betweenits set of opposed gears, substantially as described.

13. In a change speed device, the combination of a driving shaft, a driven shaft, a series of gears on each of said shafts, at least one of said gears being composed of stepped gears, said gears lying in opposed relation to one another, a movable intermediate gear for each set of opposed gears, a swinging lever, a member having a cam surface actuated by said lever with a sliding movement in a direction crosswise of the gears, a member extending from each of said intermediate gears, and adapted to be engaged by said cam surface to throw a selected intermediate gear into position to effect a connection between its set of opposed gears, and means for locking said lever in position to maintain a selected intermediate gear in mesh with its set of opposed gears, substantially as described.

14. In a change speed device, the combination of a driving shaft, a driven shaft, a series of gears on each of said shafts, at least one of said series being composed of stepped gears, said gears lying in opposed relation to one another, a swinging intermediate gear for each set of opposed gears, a member extending from each set of intermediate gears, a pivoted lever, a member having a cam surface actuated by said lever with a sliding movement in a direction crosswise of the gears, and adapted to engage the members extending from said intermediate gear, a notched bar, and a member on said lever adapted to enter said notches and lock the lever in position, substantially as described.

15. In a change speed device, the combination of a driving shaft and a driven shaft lying in different planes from one another,

a series of gears on the driving shaft, a series of gears on the driven shaft, said gears lying in opposed relation to one another, a series of intermediate shiftable gears, one intermediate gear for each pair of opposed gears, said opposed and intermediselected intermediate gear into a position ate gears constltutlng sets of gears, the gears to effect an engagement With its set of 0p- 111 each set belng of a relatlve sue to proposed gears, substantially as described.

duce, when in mesh, a different speed of the ROBT. MILNE. driven shaft, and means actuated With a Witnesses:

sliding movement in a direction crosswise WM. P. BOND,

of the gears for shifting and holding any EPHRAIM BANNING.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G.

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