US1595286A

US1595286A - Spring motor

Info

Publication number: US1595286A
Application number: US532949A
Authority: US
Inventors: Horace E Boucher
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1922-01-31
Filing date: 1922-01-31
Publication date: 1926-08-10
Anticipated expiration: 1943-08-10

Description

I Aug." 10 1926.

H. E. BoucHER SPRING MdTOR Filed Jan. 51 I a Shee ts-Sheet 1 IN VENTOR 7 ML ATTORNEY Aug. 10 1926. 1,595,286

H. E. BOUCHER SPRLNG MOTOR Filed Jan. 31 1922 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 H. E. BOUCHER SPRING MOTOR File Jan. 5 192 2 s Sfieets-Sheet s Aug.10,1926i 1,595,286

H. E. BOUCHER SPRING MOTOR ATTORNEY Patented Aug. 10, 1926.

nonacn E. BOUCHER, on NEW YO K, N. Y.

7 SPRING MOTOR.

a l c tio filed'lanuary e1, 1922.. Serial No. 532,949. 7

My invention relates to spring, operated motors. It relates particularly to a compact, artistic spring motor-adapted to operate light-running devices such as toy boats, toy

E submarines, toy aer planes, toy automobiles and so forth. i i

The object of the invention is to provide a sprin -controlled motor which shall be easily, economically and rapidly constructed,

and which, while eflicient in operation, shall be of few parts, easily put together and easily demounted, all parts beinginterchangeable, sothe parts may upset andbe rapidly clinched together, and, in. addition to its constructive and operative advantages presentii'ig an artistic and popular appearance. In particular, and in accordance with my invention, the parts are so constructed to present the outward appearance, of a one cylinder gasoline engine. a

The drawings accompanying and forming part of the present. specification show one embodiment of the invention whose exterior resembles a one-cylinder gasoline engine. In these drawings: f

Figure 1 shows a side elevation;

Fig. 2 is a front elevation, I

Fig. 8 is a top view of the assembled motor; I

Fig. 4 shows, a plan of the key, with its rounded grips i V i Fig. 5 isasection thru the center of the axis of the key; i i l i Fig. 6 is a vertical. section thru the center of the vertical and horizontal shafts'of the assembled m achine;

i 7 is asection thru the plane A of Fig. 6, between the covenand. the notched disc; t

Fig. 8 is a section thru the planeB of the same figure, passing. thru the first spring, the first cup and'driving sleeve fixedfto the notched disc a-ttached to the keyshaft;

Fig. 9 is. a section in the planefChthru the "second spring, the second cup and the sleeve fiizedtto the first cup. This figure, besides the fixed pieces 'of the preceding figures, also shows the play between: the sleeve and the key shaft;

Fig. 1.0:is aseCtiOn thru the plane D, the fourth spring, the fourth cup and the sleeve of the third cup; 7 i I Fig. 11 is a view of the crown gear from below, with the sleeve removed, showing also the driven transmissionelements;

YFigs. 1-2 and 13 show'respectively the second and thirdtrans nission elements.

Fig. 14 shows the keyv shaft, the notched disc and the sleeve rigidly attached thereto;

Fig. 15 isa sect-ionthru one of the cups 69 with the sleeve attached Fig. 16 is a section thru' the fifth cup, showingthe crowned toothed transmission gear, the sleeve and the method of connection. This sleeve does not, like the others, serve as an attachment for the spring, but as a collar for the crown gear and bearing for the key shaft and the cups;

Fig. 17 is a front elevation of the sleeve.

Fig. 18, is a longitudinal section of the sleeve, and

Fig. 19, is a transverse section of the sleeve. s

Referring to the drawings:

The key shaft 1 passes thru the top cap 2, which is secured to the top of the cylinder 3 The cylinder isv mounted on a base 4, to which is secured the transmission casing 5 by means of screws 5*. The motor is fixed in place by means of removable base plate 6. This platecovers the bottom of the framework and completes the casing. When removed, the works may be inspectedand repaired. y 1

Means'are provided for utilizing the cyl inder of the engine as a container for the motor spring. A plurality of flat spiral springs are used, one above the other and connectedin series, all mounted within the cylinder, thereby producing. a long-running motor in a form whoseexterior resembles a small, one cylinder gasoline engine. The series of spr'ings'are mounted each in its cup 8.; Fastenedlto the base of the cups 8 are sleeves 9, turningfree onthekey shaft 1. These serve as bearings for the cups and as spacers separating the cups and keeping adjacent springs from. touching,v Moreover, slots. 10 in the sleeves9 serveaspoints of at tachm ent for the inner ends of the springs 7, the outer ends of-which are detachably engagedbytongues ll, punched in the circumfe'rence of the'cup 8. 12 are slots in the cup thru which the springs can be'removed'. To simplify the construction the key shaft 1 is stepped in the base plate 6 (Fig. 6) which also serves as a bearing for the sleeve of the crown 'gear wheel 18 and for the other cups. The transmission gearing which is constructed tomultiply the speed,- is arranged in a casing to one side of the base of the cylinder, the spring motor shaft and the drive shaft being at right angles, thus producing the external appearance of an engine driving mechanism and its housing.

The crown gear wheel meshes with the pinion 14, mounted on the transmission shaft 15, which turns in a bearing 16 in the transmission casing 5.

In order to multiply the speed by mechanism occupying but little space, the driven shaft is split into two members and a jack shaft and intermediate gearing are provided. The transmission shaft 15 carries gear 17 which engages the pinion 18 mounted on the jack shaft 19, having its outer bearing in the front of the transmission casing 5 and its inner bearing in the side of the base 4, shaft 19 carrying in addition the gear 20. The gear wheel 20 meshes with pinion 210 attached to the driven shaft 22, which turns in a bearing 23 in the transmission casing 5. The driven shaft 22 is mounted independently of transmission shaft 15, and projects beyond the auxiliary casing. It serves to drive the toy or other device. The removable casing 5 permits ready assembly of the transmission gearing and its repair when desired.

Winding mechanism.-The key plate 22 with rounded-off grips, to prevent lacerating the hand in case of backfire of the spring, turns the key shaft in the direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. 1. The cap 2 secured to the top of the cylinder by tongues 21, which are bent over the cap, carries downwardly struck tongues 24. These engage the projections 2 1 stamped upon the disc 25 carried by the key shaft 1 and prevent backward rotation of the key shaft. 7

The sleeve 9 attached to the first cup is connected by means of its slot 10 with the inner end of the second cup spring, the outer end of which is in turn engaged by the tongue 11. In this manner tension is transmitted from cup to. cup until the fifth cup spring is wound up. The crown gear wheel 13 being fixedly attached to the last cup, is under the resultant tension of the battery of springs, and with this resultant tension acts upon the transmission unit enclosed in casing 5 thru pinion 1 1, gear 17, pinion 18, gear 20, pinion 210 and driven shaft 22.

Means are provided simulating starting and stopping mechanism, for starting and stopping the motor. A pivoted lever 26 is provided which for simplicity is shaped like a bell crank, the inner end of which engages and clutches the tooth of pinion 18.

Three steps of transmission are shown respectively in Figs. 11, 12 and 13.

In Fig. 11 the ratio of the teeth on the of course, be chosen, but in the preferred arrangement of ratios, the numbers of the teeth in the same pair of wheels has no comrnon divisor, and this accomplishes the important function of minimum and equally distributed wear. The operation of winding the springs, starting and stopping the motor and assembling the parts will be clear from the description and drawings.

The principles of this invention, altho especially advantageous for application to small toy motors. are nevertheless not limited to such application.

The method of connection in series furnishes an available source of energy in a compact form, the resultant action being the power of the springs less loss by friction, rendering the application of a considerable force at any one desired point an easy matter. It can easily be seen that by the coaction of the battery of springs, each spring in winding being under a slightly greater tension than the one following it .in the series, and the reverse being the case on unwinding, a greatly increased operating time, power and uniformity of action must result.

The parts of the motor can be easily and quickly assembled or demounted; all are interchangeable, can be struckout of lightmetal cheaply and rapidly, and the machine can be removed from its support by unscrewing four screws What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A spring actuated motor comprising a key shaft, a plurality of springs arranged in series and centered about said shaft, a disc. secured to said shaft, means for-preventing backward rotation of said disc, a slotted sleeve attached to said disc, said sleeve surrounding said shaft, a plurality of rotatable cups, one for each spring, the outside of the'first spring being secured to its cup and the inside of the first spring being secured to said slotted sleeve, a casing having a cylindrical portion enclosing said springs, said casing provided with bearings for the shaft and a driven shaft at the base of the motor at right angles to the key shaft, said parts resembling in appearance a one cylinder gas engine.

2. A spring motor, comprising a key shaft, a plurality of springs journaled on said shaft, a cylindrical casing enclosing the springs and forming a bearingfor the keyshaft, a cap secured to the end of the cylinder and provided with downwardly projecting tongues, in combination with a disc having projections and supporting the top spring, said projections adapted to be engaged by said tongues.

3. In a spring motor the combination of a key shaft, a casing, a cap secured to said casing and provided with downwardly extending tongues, a disc with projections adapted to engage said tongues, a slotted sleeve attached to said disc and rotating therewith, a spring fastened at the inner end to the slotted sleeve, and a cup enclosing the spring and provided with means for holding the outer end of the spring.

4. In a spring motor, a key shaft, a series of cups centered on said. shaft, spiral springs enclosed in the cups, sleeves attached to the bottoms of said cups and adapted to engage and tension the spring of each succeeding cup, in combination with a crown gear wheel attachedto the last spring cup and provided with a sleeve adapted to form a bearing on the key shaft and a support for the series of cups. 7

5. A spring motor having in combination, a main casing with a projecting cylindrical portion and a bottom plate, a vertical key shaft mounted in said main casing, a plurality of springs surrounding said key shaft, a gear wheel freely rotatable on the lower end of the key shaft, a pinion engaging therewith, an auxiliary casing, an outer driven shaft at right angles to the key shaft, said outer driven shaft being mounted in and carried by the auxiliary casing and having a free end projecting thru and outside of said casing adapted to be connected to the device to be driven, and multiplying gearing within the auxiliary casing and between the pinion and the outer driven shaft.

6.'In a spring motor, the combination of a key shaft, a spring actuated by the key shaft, a disc provided with means for holding said spring under tension, and a slotted sleeve attached to the base of said disc, said sleeve surrounding said shaft and attached thereto.

7. A spring motor comprising a key shaft, a series of coacting springs centered on said shaft, a main casing having a projecting cylinder resembling a one-cylinder gas engine and provided with top and bottom bearings for theshaft, an auxiliary casing attached to one side of the main casing in combination with a transmission system enclosed by said auxiliary casing said transmission mechanism comprising two shafts in line, the inner one of said shafts being mounted in the main casing and the outer shaft being mounted in the auxiliary casing, a counter-shaft mounted between the Walls of the auxiliary and main casings multiplying gearing between the springs, the counter shaft and the driven shaft and a finger lever mounted on the auxiliary casing having a portion adapted to engage and disengage with atooth of said transmission system.

In testimony whereof,'I have signed my name to this specification.

H. E. BOUCHER.