US3313171A - Hydraulic reversing gear devices for marine internal-combustion engines - Google Patents

Description

ME y 1967 MECHISUKE NAGASAKI 3 9 HYDRAULIC REVERSING GEAR DEVICES FOR MARINE INTERNAL-COMBUSTION ENGINES Filed June 4, 1964 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Fig. l l 8 17 41 32 133 35 ATTORNEY? April 1967 MICHISUKE NAGASAKI 3 HYDRAULIC REVERSING GEAR DEVICES FOR MARINE INTERNAL-COMBUSTION ENGINES 4 Sheets Sheet 2 Filed June 4, 1964 AW M, 3967 MICHISUKE NAGASAKI 39 9 7 HYDRAULIC REVERSING GEAR DEVICES FOR MARINE INTERNAL-COMBUSTION ENGINES Filed June 4, 1964 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 i 11, 1967- MICHISUKE NAGASAKI 3,313,171

HYDRAULIC REVERSING GEAR DEVICES FOR MARINE INTERNAL-COMBUSTION ENGINES Filed June 4, 1964 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 fe W a .Sz 1?) KM 1 5M424 m 021% ATTORNE United States Patent M 3,313,171 HYDRAULIC REVERSE; GEAR DEVICES FOR MARINE IVTERNAL-COMBUSTIGN ENGENES Michisulre Nagasaki, Toyonaka-shi, Japan, assignor to Tadao Yamaoka, Asiiiya-shi, Japan Filed June 4, 1964, Ser. No. 372,465 Claims priority, application Japan, June 7, 1963, 38/422,956; July 18, 1963, 38/323,815 2 Claims. (Cl. 74-377) This invention relates to hydraulic reversing gear devices for marine internal-combustion engines.

Generally with marine engines, since the time for ahead operation is by far longer than that for neutral or astern operation, it is very desirable that as many as possible of the sliding parts in the reversing gear involve no relative speed during the ahead operation to eliminate wear of the parts and thereby to prolong the service life of the gear.

Moreover, with previous reversing gear devices with a reduction gearing, it is known that various manufacturing difficulties are caused to make the product excessively costly as the horsepower involved increased re quiring increased capacities of the ahead and astern clutches and the reduction gearing.

The present invention is designed to eliminate these deficiencies involved in conventional reversing gear devices and has for its object to provide a highly durable and compact reversing gear device.

The present invention relates particularly to hydraulic reversing gear devices of the clutch type including friction discs and a shaft for ahead operation and friction discs and a tubular shaft for astern operation. According to the present invention, the ahead shaft is formed with axial passage means for feeding oil under pressure to hydraulic ahead and astern pistons arranged coaxially on the ahead shaft. With this arrangement it has been found that during ahead operation the relative speed between the apertured portion of the ahead shaft and the associated apertured sliding portion of the hydraulically operated piston-carrying member can be reduced to zero to minimize the wear of the sliding shaft portion as well as the internal-bearing surface of the piston-carrying member and hence to effectively extend the service life of the parts. It will be understood that any desired number of such ahead-and-astern clutch units can be arranged in meshing engagement with a reduction gear wheel mounted on the propeller shaft depending upon the engine horsepower.

According to the present invention, there is provided a hydraulic reversing gear device for a marine internalcombustion engine which comprises: at least one aheadandastern clutch unit including an ahead shaft carrying a clutch output pinion, an ahead and an astern clutch both arranged in encircling relation to said ahead shaft, a tubular astern shaft arranged between said ahead shaft and said astern clutch, a reversing intermediate gearing associated with said tubular astern shaft and including another clutch output pinion mounted thereon, and a hydraulic clutch actuator device slidably fitted over said ahead shaft between said ahead and astern clutches and a forward and a reverse including piston for actuating said ahead and astern clutches, respectively, said ahead shaft being formed with a pair of axial passageways for directing oil under pressure to said forward and reverse pistons of said clutch actuator device, respectively; and a common gear wheel mounted on the propeller shaft and held in engagement with said clutch output pinion on said ahead shaft and the one in said reversing intermediate gearing; said ahead and astern clutches and said clutch actuator device being secured to each other so as to be rotated about the axis of said ahead shaft as an integral 3,313,171 Patented Apr. 11, 1967 assembly under drive from the engine output shaft so that during ahead operation the relative speed between said clutch actuator device and said ahead shaft is maintained at zero.

According to the present invention, the common gear wheel is required only to have a capacity corresponding to that of a single clutch unit, thus enabling the entire reversing gear device to be made extremely compact. Also, assuming that the ahead-and-astern clutch has a capacity of 200 horsepower per unit, two or three of such units can be used in combination with each other for 400 HP. or 600 HP. engines, respectively, and the combined units can employ identical parts to make the assembly inexpensive. Further, with the reversing gear device having a reduction gearing, it is now possible to arrange the propeller shaft and the engine crankshaft in axial alignment with each other. Particularly, where the reversing gear device includes a plurality of such clutch units, the engine can be operated without hitch even when one of the clutch units gets out of order if only the defective unit is taken away.

The foregoing and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of one embodiment of the invention which includes one reversing clutch unit;

FIG. 2 is a transverse sectional view of the another embodiment employing two reversing clutch units;

PEG. 3 is a sectional View taken through the reversing intermediate gearing of the device; and

FIG. 4 is a transverse sectional view of still another embodiment employing three reversing clutch units.

Referring to the drawings and particularly to FIGS. 1 to 3, the engine crankshaft 1 carries a fly wheel 4 at its end, to which is secured a coupling member 2 by means of retainer bolts 5 secured to the fly wheel and, through the intermediary of regularly spaced-apart resilient rubber bushings 3, to the coupling member 2. The forward or ahead clutch includes a casing 6 having a splined portion 8, an alternate arrangement in the casing of sintered abrasive plates or discs 10 and wear plates or discs 9 of steel. The wear plates 9 are held in engagement with the spline formation on the casing portion 8 while the sintered plates 10 are in engagement with respective splines 11 formed on an ahead shaft 12, on which the ahead clutch is mounted.

Reference numeral 13 indicates an oil inlet aperture formed in an end closure, through which oil under pressure is supplied to the ahead shaft 12 for ahead operation. As illustrated, clutch actuator device is arranged on the ahead shaft in adjoining relation to the ahead clutch and has formed therein a chamber 17 to receive an ahead actuator piston 18.

The aperture 13 communicates with the piston chamber 17 defined in the clutch actuator device by way of an axial passageway A formed in the ahead shaft, a radial bore 15 formed therein and a diagonal passage 16 formed in the body 23 of the clutch actuator device.

A pinion 19 for ahead operation is mounted on the ahead shaft 12 and held in engagement with a reduction gear wheel 20 mounted on the propeller shaft 21, which carries a coupling member 22.

As illustrated, the body 23 of the clutch actuator is formed to support pistons 18 and 30 on its opposite sides and is axially bored to be slidably fitted over the ahead shaft 12 in sealing relation thereto.

Reference numeral 25 indicates another oil inlet aperture formed in the end closure member, through which oil under'pressure is supplied to the ahead shaft for astern operation. As illustrated, the aperture 25 communicates with another piston chamber 29 defined in the clutch actuator by way of an annular passage 26, an axial passageway B and a radial bore 27, all formed in the ahead shaft 12 in communication with each other and a diagonal passage 28 formed in the body 23 of the clutch actuator.

The clutch unit illustrated also includes an astern clutch which is comprised of a casing 31 having a splined portion 32 in engagement with Wear plates 33 of steel. The astern clutch also includes sintered abrasive plates which are in engagement with a tubular astern shaft 35 by way of a splined formation thereon.

Mounted on the tubular astern shaft 35 is a clutch output pinion 36, which is in meshing engagement with an intermediate gear 37 (FIGS. 2 and 3). The gear 37 is formed integral with an intermediate pinion 38, which is in mesh with the reduction gear wheel 20 mounted on the propeller shaft 21.

Referring to FIG.1, the ahead shaft 12 is also formed with an axial passageway C for directing lubricant oil for the purpose of minimizing friction loss and heat generation while the friction plates are idling. The engine output power is transmitted by way of the coupling 2 to the input shaft of the reversing gear indicated at 39 in FIG. 1 and further through a pinion gear 40 mounted on the input shaft to a cooperating gear wheel 41 formed about the periphery of the body 23 of the clutch actuator device. The ahead and stem clutches have their respective casings 6 and 31 secured integrally to the actuator body 23 by bolt means.

During ahead operation, oil under pressure is directed through the inlet aperture 13 formed in the closure member at the end of the ahead shaft 12 into the adjacent chamber 14 and thence flows through the axial passage way A and radial bore 15 formed in the ahead shaft 12 and through the diagonal passageway 16 into the chamber 17 defined in the clutch actuator to act upon the forward piston 18 disposed therein so that the steel wear plates 9 and sintered abrasive plates 10 arranged in an alternate fashion are pressed against each other.

The rotation of the engine crankshaft is transmitted through the clutch actuator to the ahead shaft 12 by way of the spline connection between the casing 6 of the ahead clutch and the wear plates 9 therein to cause rotation of the clutch actuator, ahead clutch and ahead shaft as an integral assembly. Consequently, the propeller shaft 21 is rotated in a forward direction through the pinion 19 on the ahead shaft and reduction gear wheel 20 in mesh therewith to drive the propeller (not shown) in a forward direction by way of a shaft (not shown) secured to the coupling 22.

During astern operation, oil under pressure is directed through inlet aperture 25, annular passage 26, axial passageway B, radial bore 27 and diagonal passage 28 into the chamber 29 defined in the body 23 of the clutch actuator to act upon a reverse piston 30 disposed therein so that the steel wear plates 33 and sintered abrasive plates 34 are pressed against each other. Consequently, the astern clutch casing 31 secured to the clutch actuator is rotated through the splined connection to rotate the tubular astern shaft 35. The rotation of the astern shaft 35 causes rotation of the propeller shaft 21 through meshing engagement between the pinion 36 on the astern shaft and intermediate gear wheel 37 and that between pinion 38 integral with wheel 37 and reduction gear wheel 20. On this occasion, the rotation of the propeller shaft is in a reverse direction and causes reverse rotation of the propeller, aswill readily be observed.

As apparent from FIG. 2, this embodiment includes two identical clutch units arranged on the opposite sides of the propeller shaft 21 so as to be driven from the input shaft 39 of the reversing gear device through respective gear wheels 41 and 41' meshing with a common pinion 40, which is mounted on the input shaft 39. With this embodiment, therefore, the reversing gear device has a total capacity twice asihigh as that of each clutch unit.

FIG. 4 illustrates another embodiment in transverse cross section which includes three identical ahead-andastern clutch units each constructed in the same manner as described in connection with the first embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 3. The present invention may also be embodied to include more than three such ahead-andastern clutch units.

Though a few embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described herein, it to be understood that the invention is not to be restricted to the features set forth but many changes and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A hydraulic reversing gear device for an internal combustion engine, said device comprising an input shaft; a first clutch shaft parallel to said input shaft; a first clutch output pinion fixed to said first clutch shaft; a tubular second clutch shaft mounted over said first clutch shaft; a second clutch output pinion fixed to said second clutch shaft; a forward and reverse clutch assembly rotatably mounted over said first clutch shaft and adapted to selectively drive said first clutch shaft and said second clutch shaft; gearing means operatively connecting said clutch assembly and said input shaft; an output shaft coaxial with said input shaft; a common gear wheel fixed to said output shaft and operatively connected to said first clutch output pinion; and a reversing intermediate gear operatively connecting said second clutch output pinion to said common gear wheel.

2. The device of claim 1 wherein said clutch assembly includes an actuator device slidably fitted over said first clutch shaft and including a forward and reverse piston for coupling said input shaft to said first clutch shaft and to said second clutch shaft, respectively; a pair of axial passageways being formed in said first clutch shaft for directing oil under pressure to said pistons.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,464,538 3/1949 Vanderzee 74-377 MARK NEWMAN, Primary Examiner.

DAVID J. WILLIAMOWSKY, Examiner,

H. S. LAYTON, Assistant Examiner,

Claims (1)

1. A HYDRAULIC REVERSING GEAR DEVICE FOR AN INTERLA COMBUSTION ENGINE, SAID DEVICE COMPRISING AN INPUT SHAFT; A FIRST CLUTCH SHAFT PARALLEL TO SAID INPUT SHAFT; A FIRST CLUTCH OUTPUT PINION FIXED TO SAID FIRST CLUTCH SHAFT; A TUBULAR SECOND CLUTCH SHAFT MOUNTED OVER SAID FIRST CLUTCH SHAFT; A SECOND CLUTCH OUTPUT PINION FIXED TO SAID SECOND CLUTCH SHAFT; A FORWARD AND REVERSE CLUTCH ASSEMBLY ROTATABLY MOUNTED OVER SAID FIRST CLUTCH SHAFT AND ADAPTED TO SELECTIVELY DRIVE SAID FIRST CLUTCH SHAFT AND SAID SECOND CLUTCH SHAFTF GEAREING MEANS OPERRATIVELY CONNECTING SAID CLUTCH ASSEMBLY AND SAID INPUT SHAFT; AN OUTPUT SHAFT COAXIAL WITH SAID INPUT SHAFT; A COMMON GEAR WHEEL FIXED TO SAID OUTPUT SHAFT AND OPERATIVELY CONNECTED TO SAID FIRST CLUTCH OUTPUT PINION; AND A REVERSING INTERMEDIATE GEAR OPERATIVELY CONNECTING SAID SECOND CLUTCH OUTPUT PINION TO SAID COMMING EAR WHEEL.

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