US1830614A

US1830614A - Starting mechanism

Info

Publication number: US1830614A
Application number: US299210A
Authority: US
Inventors: John A Mcgrew
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1928-08-13
Filing date: 1928-08-13
Publication date: 1931-11-03
Anticipated expiration: 1948-11-03

Description

Nov. 3, 1931. J. A. M GREW 1,330,614

STARTING MECHANISM Filed Aug. 15, 1928 ginmnto o X4 7m/iw attomwqs Patented Nov. 3, 1931 UNITED STATES JOHN A. MCGREW; F ALBANY, NEW YORK STARTING MECHANISM Application filed. August 13, 1923. Serial No. 299,210.

' This invention relates to starting mechanisms for engines, and more particularly to electric starting devices for internal combustion engines.

It is a general object of the present invention to provide, in an engine starting mechanism, a motor carrying a drive means adapted to engage a rotatable part on the engine; and a starting lever having inter o posed between it and the motor an irreversible mechanism for moving the motor to cause the driving means to engage said engine part.

One of the features of the invention comprises a gearing arrangement for a starting motor whereby a movement of a starting lever in the general direction of the motor shaft causes a lateral or transverse motion of this shaft.

Another feature of the invention comprises novel support means for a swinging, starting motor which constitutes also stop mechanism to limit movement of said motor in one direction. I

A further feature of the invention comprises an engine starting mechanism having a motor movable to engage a pinion thereon with a gear on the engine shaft,together with a switch mechanism mounted directly on the motor and having an operating part engagean able with a stationary abutment at the time the pinion and gear become engaged.

Other and further features and objects of the invention will be more apparent to those skilled in the art. upon a consideration of the'accompanying drawings and following specification, wherein is disclosed a singleexemplary embodiment of the. invention with the understanding, however, that such changes may be made therein as fall Within the scope of the appended claims without departing from the spiritof the invention.

In said drawings: a Figure 1 is an end elevation of the starting mechanism showing its pinion engaged with 4 a fly wheel gear; 7 a

Figure 2 is a similar view showing the pinion disengaged and the motor retracted; and

Figure 3 is a side elevation of themechanism showing in solid lines the position of certain of the parts when the gear and pinion are engaged, and in dotted lines'their position when disengaged.

The present invention comprises a novel electric starting mechanism'for internal combustion engines, particularly of the automotive type, and is disclosed illustratively as cooperating with a large gear 10 on the rear of the periphery of the fly wheel 11 of the J engine. The electric motor 12 forming the 36 main part of the starting mechanism may be of any conventional form andis adapted to be operated from the battery of'the vehicle, or other suitable source of current; It. car'- ries on its extended shaft 13 the pinion 14 or other drive means adapted to engage with v the corresponding driven means here shown as gear 10 when the two arebrought into op:- erative relation as'shown in Fig. 1 by relative movement between the axes of the engine and the motor. In the form of device shown this movement tends to bring these axes closer together. It 'is obvious that if the teeth are cut on the rear face of the fiy wheel, the shafts of the motor and engine maybe at a substantially rlght angles to each other and movement of the motor to engage the pinion and gear will before and aft. v p

The invention is disclosed ina specific embodiment illustrating the use of positive 0 drive means in the form of a pinion on the 1 motor shaft and a ring gear ontheengine fly wheel. It will be understood that this positive drive mechanism may well be replaced by so-called friction gearing or other forms of gearing. The means used here'for moving the motor as described in thefollowing paragraphs will be appreciated to be of special value where friction gearing is used, since a considerableforce can be applied with it to the motor to maintain the friction discs in such engagement that there will be sub stantially no slippage. In the following claims it is to be'understood that anyexpression referring to driving means between the motor and the fly wheel is not to be construed in any limiting sense and is to include both the positive or toothed gearing shown as well as friction gearing and its equivalents. V Y

The motor is provided with the lug 15 ex- 10% bearing pin 20 previously described.

tending up from the upper surface of the substantially cylindrical casing, and this lug has its ends fitted between the bearings 16 carried on the

arms

17 and 18 extending upwardly from the base 19 which is adapted to be mounted in any convenient manner either on the frame of the engine or on other suitable supports rigid in respect to the engine. A pin 20 passes through the bearings 16 and the lug 15 and permits the motor to be swung. The

arms

17 and 18 are preferably cast integrally with the base 19. The arm 17 comprises a web 21 and a fiange'22at'right angles to each other. The whole arm is curved as shown in Fig. 1 so that the motor can hang-suspended from the pin 20 and the inner face of the web at'23 has a curvature concentric to the curvature of the motor casing so that when the motor is in the retracted position as shown in Fig. 2 with its pinion disengaged from the gear, the casing fits snugly against this web at '23 which forms a stop therefor.

The arm 18 is curved in a manner identical with that disclosed in connection with :the

arm 17, and it also acts as a stop. The flange .24 'of the .arm 18 isiextended laterally at the top and is provided with the boss 25 having secured therein the bearing pin 20' at right angles to the pin 20 and directed away from the engine.

The motor is .adapted to be swung toward and away from the engine by what. may be termed an irreversible mechanism, i. e., one which can be driven to move the motor, but which the motor cannot drive in attempting 'to move away from the fly wheel. This mechanism comprises a worm wheel segment 26 on the lower surface'of the motor-casing which is adapted to mesh with a worm 27 secured to a shaft 28having a bearing in the block '29 extending upwardly from and seshaft 28 is provided withthe pinion 30. It.

will be seen that rotation of theshaft 28 in a counter-clockwise direction, as viewed in Fig. '3, will cause the motor to be moved toward the engine to engage thepinion 14 with thegear 10. However, the thrust .caused by the pinion and gear tendingto separate their respective axes, will not rotate the shaft 28, since-the pitch of the worm and the worm tglgar segmentare so adjusted as to prevent 1s. The shaft.28.is adapted to be rotated by the gear segment '32 meshing with the pinion 30 and carried by the arm 33 pivoted to the An operating link or lever 34 is pivoted to the arm 33 at 35 and may extend upwardly to a arm 33.

Web 21 and is braced by the gusset web 39 as shown in Fig. 3. The cup 38 ispreferably provided with a segmental slot adapted to engageover the curved abutment 4:0 on the The spring is arranged to expand and maintain the ,arm 33 in the dotted line position shown in Fig. 3, which will also retract the motor to the position shown in Fig. v2 and disengage the pinion and gear. The motor will be held tightly against the stops and cannot rattle.

In order to effect a closure ofthe electric circuit connected to the motor, it is preferred to have carried by the motor a suitable switch mechanism in the form of a push button in a casing-42 which; can be secured by the screws 43 to the end plate 4410f the motor remote from the drive pinion 1 1. The end face of the switch. housing is provided with a contact terminal 45 to which a flexible lead from the storage battery may be directly connected. The other terminal of the switch (not shown) is connected directly to the motor Winding, it beingassumed that the other terminal of the motor is grounded through the frame of the vehicle, as is customary. Projecting from the side of the switch casing is theoperating shaft lti having fixedto its end thebutton 17. Surrounding the shaft and abutting the button and the switch housing is the coil spring 49 normally extending the shaft 16 and disengaging the contacts in the housing.

, The button 47 isadapted to engage with the stationary abutment 50 on the arm 51 .formed integral with the base. The device is so adjusted that the switch is normally.

open, but after the pinionl-i and gear- 10 have come into engagement, movement of the switch shaft 46 has taken placerto a sufficient extent to close the circuit to. the motor and needsovercome only the

springs

36 and 49,

and does not take any-of the reaction result ing from the thrust between the gear and the pinion, this being all taken by the irreversible worm and worm gear segment. The switch structure is made sufiiciently heavy so that it acts as a stop to limit the movement of. the motor toward the engine. This insures an adequate meshing of the gears, since they must be properly engaged before the switch can be closed and any tendency to allow them to become disengaged will immediately open the circuit, preventing operation with improperly meshed gears.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. Starting mechanism for engines including in combination, an electric motor movably mounted, a driving element on said motor adapted to engage a driven element on the engine when the motor is moved, means to transmit movement to said motor, a switch on said motor having an operator thereon and an abutment in the path of movement of said motor adapted to be engaged by said operator to close said switch when the motor is moved to engage said elements.

2. In a starting mechanism for engines, in combination, an electric motor mounted for movement toengage and disengage driving mechanism, a normally open switch carried by said motor, and an abutment in the path of movement of said motor engageable by said switch to close the same when said motor is moved.

3. In a starter, in combination, a driven member, a driving member,.an electric motor for said driving member mounted for swinging movement to engage said members, a switch mounted to move with said motor and an abutment in the path of movement of said motor to engage said switch when said members are engaged to close the circuit to said motor.

4. In a starter, in combination, a driven member, a driving member, a motor for said driving member mounted for swinging movement, a worm wheel segment on said motor, a worm engaging said segment, a pinion operatively associated with said worm and a pivoted gear segment engaging said pinion to rotate the worm and swing said motor to engage said members. I

5. In a starter, in combination, a driven member, a driving member, a motor for said driving member mounted for swinging movement, a worm wheel segment on said motor, a worm engaging said segment, a pinion operatively associated with said worm, a pivoted gear segment engaging said pinion to rotate the worm and swing said motor to engage said members, and an operating member associated with said gear segment.

6. A starting mechanism comprising a motor, a pair of arms pivotally supporting said motor and shaped to form a stop therefor in one direction, a worm wheel segment on said motor, a shaft at right angles to the pivot of said motor, a worm on said shaft engaging said segment, a pinion on said shaft, a gear against said stop.

segment pivoted to one of said arms and engaging said pinion and a spring between sald gear segment and the other arm.

7. A starting mechanism comprising a motor, an arm pivotally supporting said motor and forming a stop therefor in one direction, a shaft, cooperating gearing on said shaft and motor, a pivoted member, cooperating gearing on said shaft and member, and means to bias said member to hold said motor against said arm and means to move said member. I

8. A starting mechanism comprising a motor pivotally mounted, a stop to limit movement thereof in one direction, means to move said motor including an irreversible gearing and a bias for said means to hold said motor In testimony whereof I hereunto afiizi my signature.

JOHN A. MoGREW.