US1869088A - Engine startr - Google Patents

Description

July 26, 1932. R. BERTSCHE, JR

ENGINE .STARTER Filed NOV. 26. 1930 3 Sheets-Shut 1 8 a M 8 l 4. 4 z 3) a 8 8 m Q g a 7 0a x 1 l 1/ n h w 1 INVEN O2 4 A ATTORNEYS y 1932. R. BERTSCHE. JR 1,869,088

ENGINE STARTER 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Nov. 26, 1930 B2 IfWENTO E afi fimonusvs ri July 26, 1932. R. BERTSCHE, JR

ENGINE STARTER Fil ed Nov. 26. 1930 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 HHIHII 50 lllllllll IHHII Patented July 26, 1932 UNITED STATES PATEN'T OFFICE RALPH BERTSCHE, JR., F ANDERSON, INDIANA. ASSIGNOR TO DELCO-REMY CORPORA- TION, OF ANDERSON, INDIANA, A CORPORATION OF DELAVARE ENGINE STARTER Application filed November 26, 19-30. Serial No. 498,347.

This invention relates to apparatus for starting an internal combustion engine, and particularly to the type of apparatus which comprises an electric motor and means for a connecting the motor with agear of the engine to be started, and including a pinion and provisions whereby the pinion will be automatically demeshed from the engine gear when the engine starts. certain of .10 its aspects the present invention provides certain improvements in the type of engine starter described and claimed in the copending application of John BQDyer, Serial No. 314,809, filed October 24, 1928. In the Dyer 15 engine starter, the pinion has a lost motion driving connection with helical splines provided on the motor driven shaft. A pinion shifter is sli'dable along the shaft and is connected preferably with the helical spllnes 29 thereof so that axial movement of the shifter is accompanied by rotation thereof. Connections are provided between the shifter and pinion so that the pinion will rotate with the shifter, and these connections provide 25 for relative axial movement between the pinion and shifter so that in case motion of the pinion into mesh with the engine gear is arrested by the pinion teeth abutting the engine gear teeth, the shifter may continue to 80 move axially in order to rotate the pinion into meshing relation with the engine gear. Axial movement is transmitted from the shifter to the pinion through a spring so that the shifter will be held normally the required distance away from the pinion and so that the pinion will be yieldingly pressed against the engine gear teeth while being rotated. The pinion shifter is manually operated by a pedal or other suitable device which is automatically disconnected from the shifter before the engine starts so that after the engine becomes self-operative, the pinion may be automatically demeshed regardless of the status of the pedal.

Further objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, wherein a preferred embodiment of one form of the present invention is clearly disclosed.

In the drawings: a

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary view, partly in longitudinal section, of an engine starting apparatus embodying the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a sectional view on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Figs. 3 and 4 are sectional views taken respectively on lines 3-3 and 44 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary, sectional view showing a construction which is alternative to a part of the construction shown in Fig. 2.

Fig. 6 is a longitudinal sectional view of the pinion shifter and parts rotatably sup ported thereby, said sectional view being taken on the line 66 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 7 is a diagrammatic View of parts shown in Fig. 1, and shows the condition of the apparatus at the instant the motor pinion has been rotated into meshing registration with the gear of the engine.

Fig. 8 is a sectional view on the line 88 of Fig. 7

Fig. 9 is a view similar to Fig. the condition of the apparatus cranking operation.

Figs. 10 and 11 are development views of certain parts shown in Figs. 1 and 7 respectively, Fig. 10 showing these parts in normal position, and Fig. 11 showing the same parts corresponding to the position shown in Fig. 12 is a view similar to Fig. 9, showing the starting apparatus after the engine has become self-operative and before the operator has released the pedal.

Fig. 13 is a view similar to Fig. 12 showing how certain connections between the operating pedal and the pinion shifter are restored when the operatorreleased the pedal after the starting operation.

Referring to the drawings, designates the field frame of an electric motor which is secured to a gear housing 21 adapted to be attached to an engine frame not shown. The frame 20 carries a bearing, not shown, for supporting the left end of a motor armature shaft 22, and the frame 21 provides a bearing 23 for said shaft. The motor circuit is controlled by a switch having a casing 24, a fragment of which is shown in Fig. 1.

7 showing during the The casing 24c encloses contacts, one of which is movable by a switch plunger 25 normally held in switch-open position by a spring 26. The means for connecting the shaft 22 with the flywheel 30 of an engine to be started comprise a pinion 31 and provisions for automatically causing the pinion to be de meshed from the gear 30 when the engine starts. These provisions result from employing helical splines 32 on the shaft 22 for driving the pinion 31. On referring to Fig. 4, it will be noted that the internal helical splines 33 of pinion 31 are substantially narrower than the helical grooves 34 between the splines 32 of the shaft 22. This construction provides what is designated a lost motion helical spline connection between the shaft and pinion. Normally the splines of the pinion are spaced from the driving side of the splines of the shaft and are normally maintained in engagement with the demeshing sides of the splines of the shaft. This normal relation between the pinion and shaft will be described when describing the pinion shifter.

The pinion shifter 37 is a tubular body having internal splines which cooperate with the splines of the shaft with relatively little lost motion. Therefore, axial movement of the shifter along the shaft will be accompanied by rotary motion of the shifter. Rotary motion of the shifter is imparted to the pinion 31 by providing the pinion with a tubular extension 35 having diametrically opposite grooves 36, each receiving a tang 37 a extending from the shifter 37. Motion is imparted from the shifter 37 axially to the pinion 31 by a spring 38 encircling the shaft 22 and located between the shifter 37 and the pinion 31. Thus it will be seen that motion of the shifter 37 axially toward the gear 30 will cause the pinion 31 to he yieldingly urged toward the gear and in case of gear tooth abutment, the pinion 31 will be yieldingly pressed by the spring 38 against the gear while the shifter 37 continues to move axially along the shaft in order to rotate the pinion into meshing registration with the engine gear. It is desirable that the pinion be yieldingly pressed against the engine gear while being rotated for the reason that a yielding pressure will permit the pinion to recede along the shaft slightly while being rotated in engagement with the end face of a gear tooth. If the pinion were not permitted to recede slightly it might become interlocked with the engine gear due to the engagement of roughened surfaces at the ends of the abutting pinion and gear teeth.

The spring 38 is normally in a state of compression as shown in Fig. 7 and the means for preventing separation of the pinion from the shifter to a greater extent than shown in Fig. 1, includes a motor shaft itself. It will be noted that the spring 38 tends to urge the shifter 37 axially toward the left and the pinion 31 axially toward the right as viewed in the drawings. Due to the connection between the shifter and pinion provided by the tangs 37a and grooved tubular extension 36, relative endwise movement between the pinion and shifter can take place only axially of the shaft. Therefore, the helical splines 32 of the shaft cooperate with the helical splines of the shifter and pinion to limit separation of these two elements. parent from Fig. 10 that the springs 38 tend to move the helical splines 37?) 0f the shifter 37 only in an axial direction until they engage one side of the shaft splines 32. The spring 38 urges the splines 33 of the pinion only in an axial direction until they engage the demeshed sides of the splines 32 of the shaft. Therefore, no other means are required to limit separation of the pinion and shifter while these elements are mounted upon the shaft.

The shifter splines 37?) are normally yieldingly pressed against portions 32a of the shaft splines, which portions are inclined at a smaller angle to the shaft axis than other portions of the splines. This construction provides means for locking the pinion 31 to the shaft 22 in such a way that it cannot be moved toward the engine gear unless the shifter 37 be moved toward the engine gear. It is apparent from Fig. 10 that, if one were to take hold of the pinion 31 and pull it toward the right, resistance would be offered immediately due to the fact that the shifter and pinion are so connected that one cannot be moved helically without moving the other and that movement of the pinion splines 33 helically along a shaft spline portion of one lead or pitch cannot take place while the splines 37?) of the shifter attempt to move along a shaft spline portion of a different pitch. In other words, it is apparent that if one' were to attempt to slide the pinion splines 33along the shaft splines 32 toward the right as viewed in Fig. 10, these pinion splines will become tightly wedged against the shaft splines due to the fact that the shifter splines 37?), while engaging the shaft splined portion 32a, will prevent rotary motion of the pinion. Therefore, while the shifter 37 remains in normal position, the pinion will not drift accidentally into mesh with the engine gear.

The manually operable means for actuating the pinion shifter 37 includes a lever 10 adapted to be operated by a pedal not shown and pivoted upon a stud 11 attached by a nut 42 to the gear housing 21 as shown in Fig. 2. The lever 40 is normally maintained in the position shown in Fig. 1 by a'spring having its intermediate portion 43 coiled around the stud 4:1 and having end portions 4.4 and 15 engaging respectively the housing 21 and the lever 40. The spring 43 is so biased as to urge the lever 40 in a clockwise It is apsufiicient to cause its teeth to be registered direction. The lever 40 has .a surface 40a adapted to engage the switch plunger 25.

Motion is transmitted from the lever 40 to the shifter 37 by devices which are disconnectible in response to the operation of the starter while cranking the engine.

These devices include a stud 50 which is received by a notch 51 formed in the lower end of the lever 4:0. As shown inFig. 6, the stud 50 is attached to a sleeve 52 rotatable upon the hub 370 of the shifter 3? and confined between a flange 37d and a shoulder 376 of the shifter. The sleeve 52 is limited in its rotary movement due to the fact that the stud 50 extends through a :slot 53in a lever 54 which is pivotally supported by the hub 40a of the lever 40. The notch 51 is de fined in part by an edge surface 60 engageable with the stud 50 for the purpose of moving the shifter 37. The notch 51 is defined in part by a camming edge surface 61 for a purpose to be described.

Endwise movement of the pinion 31 to ward the right is arrested by a stop collar provided by a wire split ring '80 received by a groove 81in the shaft 22. The pinion 31 abuts the ring while in engagement with the gear 30 during the engine cranking operation. The end thrust from the shaft 22 is transmitted to the gear housing 21 by plain washer 87 which engages a finished surface 88 provided by the housing adjacent the left end of the bearing 23.

The operation of the engine starter is as follows The lever 40 is moved in a counterclockwise direction thereby causing the notch edge surface 60 to move toward the right along the shaft 22 to engage the stud 50 in order to move the sleeve 52 to move in the same direc tion in order to move the pinion shifter 37 toward the engine gear 30. In case motion of the pinion toward the right is arrested by the engagement of its teeth with the teeth of the gear, continued counterclockwise movement of the lever 40 will cause the pinion shifter 37 to move in a helical path about the shaft 22 while the pinion 31 is being yieldingly pressed by the spring 38 against the engine gear. During the movement of the lever 40 from the position shown in Fig. 1 to that shown in Fig. 7, the pinion will be rotated from the position shown in Fig. 4 to the position shown in Fig. 8 and its internal helical splines will be transferred from the demeshing sides of the shaft splines 32 as shown in Fig. 10 to the driving sides of the shaft splines as shown in Fig. 11. This amount of preliminary rotation of the pinion will be 1 that the shifter splines 376 have been moved considerably closer than normal to the pinion 31. Therefore the spring 38 will be consider ably more compressed at the instant the pinion has been turned for meshing with the engine gear. When this condition is brought about the spring 38 will'be released in order to cause the pinion. to move forward into mesh with the engine gear. If the lever 4C0 remains fixed during this spring operated movement of the pinion, the pinion would move into mesh with the engine gear until its internal splines are: in contact with the demeshing sides of the shaft splines. By the time the lever 4&0 has been moved into a position just prior to closing the switch the pinion will have been rotated until its splines 33 are engaged by the driving sides of the shaft splines 32.

Further movement of the lever 40 in a counterclockwise direction into the position shown in Fig. 9 will cause the surface 40a of the lever 10 to push the switch plunger 25 into switch closed position. This will cause the motor to turn the shaft 22 and the pinion 31 to drive the engine gear 30. The driving direction of rotation of the shaft 22 is counterclockwise as viewed from the right hand end looking in the direction of arrow in Fig. 1. While the engine is being cranked, the shaft 22 will rotate the sleeve 52 in the same direction by virtue of a frictional drag between these parts in order to withdraw the stud 50 from the notch 51 as shown in Fig. 9. In this way, the pinion shifter 37 is automatically disconnected from the lever 40 before the engine becomes selfoperative. Hence, automatic demeshment of the pinion 31 may take place regardless of the failure to release the pedal lever 40 when the engine starts as shown in Fig. 12. After the starting operation. the operator will release the lever 40 to permit the spring 43 to restore the lever to the position shown in Fig. 1. During clockwise movement of the lever 10 toward normal position the notch camming surface 61 carried by it will engage the stud 50 on the sleeve 52. in order to cause the sleeve to be rotated from the position shown in Fig. 12 to normal position shown in Fig. 1 so that the notch 51 will again receive the stud 50. Fig. 13 shows the surface 61 about to engage the stud. 50. Therefore it is apparent that the operator must permit the lever 40 to be returned to position before the starting operation can be repeated.

During the operation of demeshing the pinion, the pinion will be whirled with considerable force out of mesh with the engine and the pinion shifter will be moved by the pinion until it engages a stop sleeve on the shaft 22 shown in Fig. 12. Due to its greater momentunn the pinion 31 may move further toward the left before coming sion. IV hen the momentum of the whirling pinion is taken up by compression of the spring 38, the spring 38 will'rebound to throw the pinion back into normal position as shown in Fig. 10. There will be no tendency for the shifter 37 to rebound after striking the sleeve 100 because it is being followed up by the pinion and compressed spring 38 I11 the normal position of the shifter 37 its splines 376 have a slight amount of lost motion with respect to the shaft splines 32. Hence, when the shifter 37 is restored to normal position, its splines 375 will be sure to recede from the pinion splines 33 sufficiently to engage those portions 32a of the shaft splines which are inclined to the shaft axis at a different angle from other portions of the shaft splines. In other words, there should be sufficient lost motion to insure that the shifter splines 37?) move a substantial distance toward the left from the junction of the shaft spline portions 32a with portions to the right thereof. This construction therefore insures that there will always be such cooperation between the shifter splines 37b and shaft spline portions 32a that the pinion 31 will be locked to the shaft until released by movement of the shifter 37 toward the right.

Instead of using the lever 54; with the slot 53 to limit movement of the stud 50 when moving out of the notch 51 of lever 40, the housing 21 may be provided with two spaced ribs 7 0 and 71 shown in Fig. 5 on sheet 1 of the drawings. These ribs extend parallel to the shaft 22 and provide stops for limiting rotary motion of the stud 50 and sleeve 52.

One advantage of the present device is its simplicity and adaptability to low cost of manufacture. Another advantage is that the device occupies relatively little space along the motor shaft.

While the form of embodiment of the present invention constitutes a. preferred form, it is to be understood that other forms might be adopted, all coming within the scope of the claims which follow:

h at is claimed is as follows:

1. Engine starting apparatus, comprising, in combination, a motor; a shaft operated thereby; a pinion. driven by the shaft and movable along the shaft into mesh with a gear of the engine to be started; a member movable along the sh aft for shifting the pinion into mesh with the engine gear and rotatively connected with the pinion; means for causing the shifter to rotate in response to movement of the shifter along the shaft; and manually operable means for moving the shifter along the shaft, and comprising a sleeve supported by the shaft and frictionally rotatively connected therewith, a pin extend-- ing from the sleeve, an actuator having a partmovable along the shaft and provided with a recess for receiving the pin, said recess being so shaped as to provide a surface normally in the path of movement of the pin along the shaft, but so as to be relieved of the pin by partial rotation of the sleeve with the shaft, means limiting rotation of the pin away from the recess, and means operated by return movement of the actuator for restoring the normal position of the pin with respect to the recess.

2. Engine starting apparatus, comprising, in combination, a motor; a shaft having helical splines; a pinion driven by the shaft and movable along the shaft into mesh with a gear of the engine to be started; a pinion shifter connected with the helical splines of the shaft whereby axial movement of the shifter is accompanied by rotary movement; a longitudinal spline connection between the pinion and shifter permitting relative axial movement between them while the pinion and shifter remain rotatively connected; a spring for urging the pinion and shifter apart; means limiting separation of the pinion from the shifter; and manually operable means for moving the shifter along the shaft, and comprising a sleeve suppor ed by the shaft and frictionally, rotatively connected therewith, a pin extending from the sleeve, an actuator having a part movable along the shaft and provided with a recess for receiving the pin, said recess being so shaped as to provide a surface normally in the path of movement of the pin along the shaft, but so as to be relieved of the pin by partial rotation of the sleeve with the shaft, means limiting rotation of the pin away from the recess, and means operated by return movement of the actuator for restoring the normal position of the pin with respect to the recess.

3. Apparatus according to claim 2 in which the manually operable sleeve is mounted upon the shifter and is frictionally rotatively connected therewith.

In testimony whereof I hereto affix my signature.

RALPH BERTSCHE, JR.

Images