US2777328A - Control for starter pinion engaging mechanism - Google Patents

Description

Jan. 15, 1957 H. H. WAGNER 2 7 8 CONTROL FOR STARTER PINION ENGAGING MECHANISM Filed Dec. 30, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR. HAROLD/[WAGNER BY ATTORNEYS Jan. 15, 1957 2,777,328

CONTROL FOR STARTER PINION ENGAGING MECHANISM H. H. WAGNER 2 Sheets-$heet 2 Filed Dec. 50 1954 INVENTOR. HAROLD H. WAGNER BY bar/1%. 1111111 1 1 1Q A TORNEYS United States Patent fiice 2,777,328 Patented Jan. 15, 1957 CONTRDL FOR STARTER PINION ENGAGING MECHANISM Harold H. Wagner, Peoria, 111., assignor to Caterpillar Tractor Co,v Peoria, 111., a corporation of California Application December 30, 1954, Serial No. 478,600

4 claims. or. 74-6) This invention relates to the starting mechanism for an internal combustion engine, and more particularly to th starter pinion engaging mechanism therefor.

The invention is particularly adapted for use in connect'ion with starting mechanisms of the type disclosed in Patent No. 2,481,783 to Robinson et al. for Starting Mechanism for Internal Combustion Engines which isued on September 13, 1949 and also of the type disclosed inPatent No. 2,621,532. to Robinson et al. for Starter PinionEngaging Mechanism which issued on December 16, 1952.

The former patent discloses a starting engine mounted on the side of a primary engine and a driving connection from the starting engine including a pinion gear adapted to mesh with a ring gear on the flywheel of the primary engine. gether with centrifu'gally actuated latching mechanism for holding the pinion gear in engagement with the ring gear during starting of the primary engine. The latter patent discloses an improvement to the control mechanism whereby none of the latching mechanism extends beyond the end of the pinion. The present invention is concerned with a single lever control and mechanism for engaging the pinion with the ring gear and engaging. the starting engine clutch.

The control mechanisms disclosed in the above identified patents utilize one control lever to move the starter pinion into engagement with the ring gear and a. separate control lever to engage the friction clutch associated with the starting engine. This arrangementof control levers has been found to havev certain disadvantages. One such disadvantage is that the controls must be actuated in a definite sequence to prevent damage to the pinion or the ring gear or both. The clutch brake should first be applied to stop any rotation of the pinion; secondly, the r pinion engaging control lever must be actuated to engage the pinion; thirdly,'the starting engine clutch must be engaged; and fonrthly, the clutch must be disengaged after the primary engine has started and the pinion has been It is, therefore, an object of the. present invention to provide a single lever control mechanism for the starting engine clutch, as well as the mechanism for engaging the starting pinion gear with the flywheel ring gear, which will insure a sequence of operation of first engaging the starting pinion before engagement of the starting engine clutch and will automatically disengage the starting engine clutch upon disengagement of the pinion. Another object of this invention is to provide a combined mechanism for the sequential engaging of the starter pinion and the starting engine clutch, said mechanism being of compact design and enclosed within a housing to prevent any fouling or malfunction which might occur in exteriorly mounted interconnected lever linkages.

The control mechanism is disclosed, to-

Other objects and advantages of this. invention will be made apparent in the following description wherein reference is made to the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

Fig. l is a fragmentary view in section through a portion of a starting engine and the primary engine showing in detail the clutch parts associated with the starting engine flywheel, the driving mechanism between the starting engine and primary engine disclosing the pinion engaging mechanism, and the single control lever to effect sequential engagement of both'the pinion and the starting engine clutch; and

Fig. 2 is an enlarged isometric view of the single control lever with parts broken away to illustrate the details of construction.

In Fig. l of the drawings, a part of a conventional internal combustion engine is illustrated as comprising a housing lil enclosing a flywheel 11 having a ring gear 12 which may be formed integrally therewith. The primary engine carries a separate starting engine, only part of which is shown as comprising a flywheel 13 carried on a crankshaft, part of which is shown at 14 and a housing 15 enclosing the flywheel. Power from the starting engine is transmitted through a drive shaft 16 to a pinion gear 17, which is adapted to be brought into engagement with the ring gear 12 to crank the primary engine.

The drive shaft 16 is driven from the starting engine flywheel through a'conventional clutch comprising a series of clutch plates 18 having splined connections with the interior of a recess 19 provided in the flywheel 13 and a series of cooperating clutch plates '26 alternately arranged with the plates 18 and havingsplined connections with a driven shaft 21. The clutch plates are adapted to be compressed between pressure plates 22 also having splined connections with shaft 21, which is supported for rotation in bearings 23 and 24. carried in the starting engine. flywheel 13 and an extension 15a of the housing 15 respectively. The. clutch driven shaft 21 carries a cluster gear 25 splined to the shaft 21 and meshing; with a second gear 26 splined to the drive shaft 16. The cluster gear 25 is adapted for axial movement on shaft 21 so that either end of the gear may be selectively positioned to mesh. with the mating end of gear 26 to effect a high or a low speed ratio between the starting engine and the drive shaft 16. The gear 25 is shifted by means of 'a shifter fork 27 mounted on a conventional shift rail 28 and provided with a well-known spring-loaded detent-type locking mechanism, generally indicated at 29, to resist axial movement of gear 25 While in mesh with gear 26. The drive shaft is supported for rotation in bearings 3t} and 31 carried in an internal wall 32' of the housing'lS andthe extension 1511. respectively. The enclosure formed by wall 32 and extension 15a which contains the speed change gears and the drive shaft 16 is adapted to contain lubricating oil for the lubrication of moving. parts, 'and is provided withwa seal 33 to prevent leakage-of oil. intothe adg'acent housing 10. i Engagement of the clutch to transmit the from the flywheel to the driven shaft is accomplished by compressing the clutch plates through a plurality of cam levers, only one of which is illustrated at 35 as supported for rocking movement about a pin 36 carried in a spider 37 having a threaded connection with the periphery of the driven shaft. The ends of the cam levers are received within rearwardly converging recesses 38 provided in a collar 39 carried for sliding movement on the driven shaft so that axial movement of the collar effects engagement or release of the clutch. The periphery of the sliding collar 39 is provided with a groove 40 for the reception of the inwardly extending ends of a yolce 41 secured to a d sleeve 42 extending into and supported for rotation in the housing 15.

The starter pinion engaging mechanism is very similar to that disclosed in Patent No. 2,621,532. This mechanism comprises. a drive shaft 16 carrying the pinion 17 which is splined to the shaft and is adapted for sliding movement thereon to effect engagement or disengagement with the ring gear 12. The pinion gear is normally urged toward its disengaged position illustrated in broken lines in Fig. 1 by a spring 43 carried in an axial bore provided in the drive shaft. The spring bears against a reduced section of the axial bore and a shoulder 44 formed on a control rod 45 carried in the axial bore of shaft 16. A collar 46 formed on the end of the control rod is re ceived within an enlarged bore in the pinion gear and is retained by a shoulder at the end of the bore enlargement and an internal snap ring 47. The control rod is provided with a thrust plate 50 (also see Fig. 2) which is contacted by a yoke 51 secured to an engaging shaft 52 rotatably supported within and concentric with the sleeve 42. As shown in Fig. 2, a control handle 53 is secured to the rock shaft 52 and the handle is moved in a clockwise direction to effect engagement of the pinion. Further movement in a clockwise direction will cause 2. lug 54, integral with the handle, to contact an car 55 provided on the sleeve and turn the sleeve in a clockwise direction to effect engagement of the starting engine clutch.

During starting of the primary engine it is desirable that the pinion gear remain in mesh with ring gear 12 until the primary engine is brought up to sufficient speed to assure its continued operation. A latching mechanism comprising a pair of pawls 56 biased by a spring 5611 to engage in a peripheral groove 57 in the control rod 45 is provided for this purpose. As soon as a predetermined rotational speed is reached by the pinion 17, centrifugal force causes the pawls to swing outwardly to release the control rod. The spring 43 then urges the control rod to the right, as viewed in Fig. 1, which disengages the pinion from the ring gear. As the control rod moves in this direction during disengagement, the thrust plate 50 bears on the yoke 51 to rotate the engaging rock shaft 52 in a counter-clockwise direction. The control handle 53 moving with rock shaft 52 contacts a second ear 58 extending from sleeve 42 to rotate said sleeve in a counter-clockwise direction and disengage the starting engine clutch.

To insure that the pinion is not rotating before attempting to engage it with the ring gear, the control handle may be moved in a counter-clockwise direction to fully disengage the clutch and to move the clutch collar 39 into contact with a braking disc 59. The control handle is then rocked in a clockwise direction for the sequential operation of first engaging the pinion with the ring gear followed by engagement of the starting engine clutch. As described above, as soon as the primary engine starts and a predetermined rotational speed is reached by the pinion 17, it is automatically disengaged; at the same time, the starting engine clutch is disengaged to prevent any adherence ofthe clutch plates 18 and in the event that they had become heated during engagement.

I claim:

1. In a starting mechanism for an engine having a ring gear, a starter driven pinion gear wherein the pinion gear is slidably supported on a hollow shaft for movement to and away from the ring gear, and a friction clutch interposed between the starter and the pinion gear, control means for sequential operation of first, engaging the pinion gear with the ring gear, and second, engagement of the friction clutch, said control means comprising a rod slidable in the hollow shaft, a yoke engaging the rod and secured to a rock shaft, a control lever extending from the rock shaft, said lever being provided with a projecting lug to contact an ear extending from a sleeve surrounding said rock shaft and carrying a yoke to effect engagement of the clutch.

2. In a starting mechanism for an engine having a ring gear, a starter driven pinion gear wherein the pinion gear is slidably supported on a hollow shaft for movement to and away from the ring gear, and a friction clutch interposed between the starter and the pinion gear, control means for sequential operation of first, disengaging the pinion gear from the ring gear, and second,

disengagement of the clutch, said control means comprising a spring associated with a control rod to urge the pinion out of engagement with the ring gear upon release of latch means which hold the pinion in engagement until a predetermined rotational speed is reached, a yoke engaging the control rod, a rock shaft supporting said yoke, a lever secured to said rock shaft, said lever being provided with a projecting lug to contact an ear extending from a sleeve surrounding said rock shaft and carrying a yoke to eflect disengagement of the clutch.

3. In a starting mechanism for an engine having a ring gear and a pinion on a sliding shaft for engagement with the ring gear, and a transmission shaft and clutch parallel to but spaced from the pinion shaft for driving the pinion, means including a yoke on a rockable shaft to effect engagement of the pinion, means including a yoke on a second rockable shaft to effect engagement of the clutch, and a single lever to actuate both said rockable shafts in sequence to insure engagement of the pinion with the ring gear before engagement of the clutch.

4. In a starting mechanism for an engine having a ring gear and a pinion on a sliding shaft for engagement with the ring gear, and a transmission shaft and clutch parallel to but spaced from the pinion shaft for driving the pinion, means including a yoke on a rockable shaft disposed transversely of the pinion and transmission shaft to effect engagement of the pinion, means including a yoke on a hollow rockable shaft which embraces the first rockable shaft to effect engagement of the clutch, a lever on the first rockable shaft to rock it and engage the pinion, and a part on said lever engageable with a part on the hollow rockable shaft to rock it and cause engagement of the clutch only after the pinion is engaged.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,621,532 Robinson et al. Dec. 16, 1952 FOREIGN PATENTS 656,523 Great Britain Aug. 22, 1951 891,685 France Dec. 17, 1943

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