US2047123A

US2047123A - Engine starter

Info

Publication number: US2047123A
Application number: US553338A
Authority: US
Inventors: James A Charter
Original assignee: CHARTER DRIVE Inc
Current assignee: CHARTER DRIVE Inc
Priority date: 1931-07-27
Filing date: 1931-07-27
Publication date: 1936-07-07
Anticipated expiration: 1953-07-07

Description

July 7, 1936. J. A. CHARTER ENGINE STARTER Filed July 2'7. 1951 Patented July 7, 1936 UNVI'TEDVSTATES 'ENGINE STARTER James A. Charter, Chicago, 111., assignor to CharterDrive, Inc., Chicago, 111., acorpora tion of Illinois Application July 27, 1931:, Serial lSlo. 553,338

. 12'Claims.

This invention relates to engine starters and has forits object, to providea new and improved device of this description. The invention is particularly adapted to be used iii-connection with 5 engine starters for internal combustion engines used ,on automobiles and the like. One of the objects of the present invention is to produce an engine starter which can be produced, at a low cost andwhich is efilcient in construction and I operation. The inventionhas as a further object to produce an engine starter wherein the machining operations are reduced andsimplified. The invention has other objects, whicharemore particularly pointed out in the accompanying de scription.

Referring. now to the drawing. Fig. 1 is a view of oneform of enginestarter embodying the invention; v d a Fig. 2 is an end view of the device illustrated in 20 Fig. 7

Fig. 3 is a plan View of thedriving pinion;

Fig. 4 isan end view ofthe collar forming a part of said pim'on before the toothed section is connected. therewith;

25 Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken on line 5-5 of Fig. 6 is the stop lug forming a part of the drivingpinionr Like numerals refer to like parts throughout 30 the several figures.-

Referring to; the drawingwherein I have illus- .trated one construction embodying the inven tion, I- provide a sleeve I into which the drive shaft of the startingv motor is receivedthe sleeve 35 being connected to this shaft so, as to rotate therewith. .Mounted upon the sleeve I lsa driving member adapted to be connectedwith some part of the engine to be started, such for example asthe flywheel. This drivingmember as a whole 40 is designated as 2. It comprises a gear 3 having teeth-4 thereon. The top portion of the teeth 4 atone end of the, gear part way v therealong are cutaway or turned down or otherwise formed so as to be below the tops of; the remaining portion 45 of the teeth, ,.the cut away portion being indicated at 5. This provides a gear having the long teeth 4- and the short teeth5. The end of the gear containing these short teeth projects into :the collar 6, which; has an eccentric opening 1 50 and which is provided with teeth 8 which fit betweenthe teeth- 5 on the gear. The'gear is forced into" the collar until the shoulder 9 on the gear engages the collar.

w I prefer; to have thelOngitudinal dimension of 5 .thenshort teeth somewhat greater than the thickness of the collar so that they will project a short distance beyond the collar when in position. The collar is preferably slightly beveled at 50. on that face from which the end of the gear projects, and the extended metal of the teeth is then 5 forced into the bevel of the collar and smoothed off to an even surface. It will be seen that the gear and the collar are then completely united. The eccentric; collar 6 is provided, on the side which has the greater thickness of metal, with a 10 slotted opening I0 which extends along the collar, as shown in Fig'. 3, and there is also provided a slot ll connecting therewith and connecting with the face of the collar. The two slots form a T- shaped slot in the collar. This slot is for receiving the hooked end l2 of the coil spring I3, the hooked'portion l2 fittin into the slot as shown. These slots are formed in any desired manner; but are preferably formed by means of a circular saw shaped milling cutter, as this'greatly facilitates the making of the slots and greatly cheapens the construction.

Connected with the collar 6, on the side opposite the slots Hi and H, is a stop lug I54. This stop lug may ofcourse be integral with the collar; but I prefer to have it separate from the collar, as shown in Fig. 6, and to electrically weld it thereto by a fusionwelding operation, thereby greatly cheapening the construction. The stop lug M is provided with a projection I5 wh ich extends over the first coil on the back side of the spring l3. .The purpose of this projection is to prevent any possible tilting of the spring in relation to the face ofthe coil 6, thus forming a comparatively rigid positioning of the springin relation to the face of the: eccentric shaped collar of the starting elem n Th stop g 4- ha a flat me 4 one side of the projection. l5 and aserrated face on the other side of the projection IS, the serrations extending across the face. These ser- 40 rations are brought into contact with the collar ,6 and are fused in the welding process and insure a permanent complete uniting of the stoplug with the collar. v v

The collar 6 is preferably made from solid round bars or rods of the proper metal, which are regular stock and therefore low in cost. These bars are then severed into pieces of the proper length and bore eccentrically, the bore being serratedor provided with teeth. 'I'l'iisprovides a collar with a smooth outer periphery which needs no machine workjupon it. By providing the collar with the eccentric openin'g, the metalon Qne'side of the opening, where the slots are placed, is thicker andof greaterweight than on the other side. The slotting of the collar reduces this weight and the amount of metal at this point, but the thickness of the metal is sufiicient to maintain the proper strength. The eccentric hole in the collar is so placed that when the metal is removed to form the slots l0 and l l, the collar will be just balanced, with the stop lug [4 added on the opposite sides as shown. This eccentric placing of the hole in the collar, therefore, provides a compensating feature of providing a balanced condition when the driving element is completed, and without adding any additional device or material which has no other function than to assist in securing the balance. This eccentric placing of the opening in the collar also provides for a proper depth of the slot without an unduly large or heavy collar and without extra weight, and still permits the maintaining of a balanced condition. It will further be noted that the stop lug l4 and the slot ll project in the same direction.

In addition to the cheapening of the construction, this arrangement makes it possible to use materials of different strengths. The stop lug M, for example, being small, can be made of stronger metal than the collar 6, that is of metal containing a greater amount of carbon. If the stop lug I l was integral with the collar, it would necessarily be of metal of the same strength and would have to be larger and heavier. When the device is heat treated, the stop lug 14, having a greater amount of carbon, will become harder and will therefore wear longer than if made of the same metal as the collar. The sleeve is connected with the shaft 18 of the starting motor H by the screw l8a. The part engaged by the driving member is indicated at I9. The sleeve I is provided with a projection or stop 20 which, under predetermined conditions, is engaged by the stop lug I4.

I claim:

1. An engine starter comprising a rotatable part, a driving member rotatably and slidably mounted thereon, and comprising a gear having teeth which are adapted to engage the driven part, said teeth for a portion of their length being shorter radially than the remaining portion of the teeth, a collar separate from the gear of harder material than the gear and encircling said shorter teeth and fastened thereto, a laterally projecting stop lug connected with said collar, and a stop projecting laterally from said rotatable part and engaging said stop lug when the parts are in a predetermined position to transmit power from the shaft through said lug to said gear, said stop lug being of harder material than said gear so that it will stand the strain placed thereon.

'2. An engine starter comprising a rotatable part, a driving member rotatably and slidably mounted thereon, and comprising a gear having teeth which are adapted to engage the driven part, said teeth for a portion of their length being shorter radially than the remaining portion of the teeth, a collar separate from the gear, said collar provided with teeth intermediate the short teeth on the gear, said collar being rigidly connected with said gear and a stop lug projecting laterally from said gear, said stop lug provided with a projection extending therefrom adapted to prevent tilting of the coil spring which surrounds the rotatable part.

3. An engine starter comprising a rotatable part, a driving member rotatably and slidably mounted thereon, and comprising a gear having teeth, a collar having an eccentric opening therein, the end of the gear projecting into said opening and fastened to said collar, said collar being provided with a recess, where the material thereof between the periphery of the collar and the eccentric opening is the thickest, said recess adapted to receive the end of the spring associated with the rotatable part.

4. An engine starter comprising a rotatable part, a driving member rotatably and slidably mounted thereon, and comprising a gear having teeth, a collar having an eccentric opening therein, the end of the gear projecting into said opening and fastened to said collar, said collar having a portion of the material thereof removed, at the point where the metal thereof between the periphery of the collar and the eccentric opening is the thickest, to form a T-shaped slot.

5. An engine starter comprising a rotatable part, a driving member rotatably and slidably mounted thereon, and comprising a gear having teeth, a collar having an eccentric opening therein, the end of the gear projecting into said opening and fastened to said collar, said collar having a portion of the material thereof removed, at the point where the metal thereof between the periphery of the collar and the eccentric opening is the thickest, to form a T-shaped slot, a stop lug separate from said collar and attached thereto at a point opposite said slot, said stop lug having a portion which projects laterally from said collar.

6. An engine starter comprising a rotatable part, a driving member rotatably and slidably mounted thereon, and comprising a gear having teeth, a collar having an eccentric opening therein, the end of the gear projecting into said opening and fastened to said collar, said collar having a portion of the material thereof removed, at the point where the metal thereof between the periphery of the collar and the eccentric opening is the thickest, to form a T-shaped slot, a stop lug having a projection thereon, the stop lug being provided with a flat face on one side of said projection and a serrated face on the other side of the projection, the serrated face being connected with said collar.

7. An engine starter comprising a rotatable part, a driving member rotatably and slidably mounted thereon, and comprising a gear having teeth which are adapted to engage the driven part, a collar connected with said gear, a stop lug having a projection thereon, said stop lug having a fiat face on one side of said projection and a serrated face on the other side of said projection, the serrated face being connected with said collar.

8. An engine starter comprising a rotatable part, a driving member rotatably and slidably mounted thereon, and comprising a gear having teeth, a collar having an eccentric opening therein, the end of the gear projecting into said opening and fastened to said collar, a portion of the metal of said collar, at the thickest portion of its periphery, being removed to form a T-shaped slot.

9. An engine starter comprising a rotatable part, a driving member rotatably and slidably mounted thereon, and comprising a gear having teeth, a collar having an eccentric opening therein, the end of the gear projecting into said opening and fastened to said collar, a portion of the metal of said collar, at the thickest portion of its periphery, being removed to form a T-shaped slot, and a stop lug separate from said collar and attached to the periphery thereof at a. point opposite said slot.

10. An engine starter comprising a rotatable part, a driving member rotatably and slidably mounted thereon, and comprising a gear having teeth, a collar having an eccentric opening therein, the end of the gear projecting into said opening and fastened to said collar, a portion of the metal of said collar, at the thickest portion of its periphery, being removed to form a T-shaped slot, and a stop lug separate from said collar and attached to the periphery thereof at a point opposite said slot, the portion of metal removed from said collar to form the slot being of an amount to bring the parts into a substantially balanced condition when the stop lug is attached to said collar.

11. An engine starter comprising a rotatable part, a driving member rotatably and slidably mounted thereon, and comprising a gear having teeth, a collar having any eccentric opening therein, the end of the gear projecting into said opening and fastened to said collar, a portion of the metal of said collar, at the thickest portion of its periphery, being removed to form a slot, and spring, the end of which is received in said slot.

12. An engine starter comprising a rotatable part, a gear having an opening through which the rotatable part extends, a collar on said gear, said collar being provided with a slot opening out through the side of the collar extending from the periphery toward the rotatable part, a spring surrounding said rotatable part and having one end thereof received in said slot, said spring projecting laterally from said slot.

JAMES A. CHARTER.