The transmission has a housing enclosing an annular output gear with a drive member rotatably mounted coaxially therein. A drive gear carried by the drive member engages the output gear. A lug plate carried by the drive member interacts with a guide plate radially movable with respect to the housing to change the relative path traveled by the lugs and thereby the rotational ratio between the input and output gears. transition between ratios is smooth and continuous over an almost infinite range of ratios.
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16. A method for changing gear ratios between an annular output gear means and an input gear means through an almost infinite range of ratios in a smooth and efficient manner, comprising the steps of:
drivingly rotating said input gear means coaxially within said annular output gear means; and changing the dynamic relation between the input gear means and output gear means by controlling orbital rotation of a gear carried by said input gear means and meshing with said output gear means.
1. A transmission having a substantially infinite range of gear ratios with the capability of smoothly moving between gear ratios, said transmission comprising:
a first gear means freely rotatable about a first axis; a second gear means meshing with said first gear means and freely rotatable about a second axis which follows an orbital path about said first axis; and means controlling the orbital path whereby the relation between the first and second gear means is changed thereby effecting a gear ratio change.
14. A transmission providing a smooth transition through a substantially infinite range of gear ratios, said transmission comprising:
a first gear rotatable about a first axis; a second gear rotatable about a second axis parallel to and offset from said first axis, said second gear and second axis moving in an orbit that is related to the motion of the first gear; and means to change said orbit for the purpose of changing the dynamic relation between said first and second gears thereby effecting a gear ratio change.
2. A transmission according to
an annular gear member having an outwardly directed set of first gear teeth and an inwardly directed set of second gear teeth, said second gear means meshing with said second gear teeth; and output means engaging said first gear teeth.
4. A transmission according to
a member having a disk portion rotatable coaxially about said first axis; and a gear carried by said disk portion and engaging said first gear means.
5. A transmission according to
6. A transmission according to
a lug plate carried by said second gear means and having at least one lug extending from the plane of said plate; a lug guide defining at least one path for each lug of said lug plate; and means to move said lug guide in a plane normal to said first axis, whereby the path followed by each said lug is changed thereby varying the relative rotation of said first and said second gear means and thus the ratio of said transmission.
7. A transmission according to
a member having a disk portion rotatable coaxially about said first axis; a gear carried by said disk portion and engaging said first gear means; said lug plate mounted for rotation with said gear with their axes parallel to and radially spaced from said first axis, said lug plate and gear following a coaxial orbit about said first axis.
8. A transmission according to
9. A transmission according to
10. A transmission according to
a member defining a cavity; a piston block mounted for movement in said cavity in a plane normal to said first axis; means connecting said lug guide to said piston block; and means to control flow of pressurized fluid to said cavity whereby said piston block is moved.
11. A transmission according to
12. A transmission according to
13. A transmission according to
15. A transmission according to
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a transmission and in particular to a transmission utilizing inertial phenomena to achieve an infinite range of gear ratios with smooth transition between ratios.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There are many known types of transmissions. Various transmissions include braking devices and/or clutching devices to provide an interchange of rotary force at an input device to a second output device at a different, second rotary force. All of the prior art devices have suffered from a number of limitations including the mechanical complexity of the devices, corresponding difficulty of repair, and various losses in efficiency. The prior art devices also have had limited numbers of available ratios amd very few could change ratios in a smooth transition without a noticeable vibration.
The present invention has a housing defining a cavity with an axis. An output gear is mounted in the cavity for rotation about the axis and is in engagement with output drive means. An input drive means is mounted coaxially within the output gear and includes a drive member driven at the axis and an input drive gear carried by the drive member on an axis parallel to but radially offset from the cavity axis. The input drive gear meshes with the output gear. Means control the relative rotational relationship of the input drive and output gears whereby the transmission ratio is smoothly changed.
FIG. 1 is a longitudinal section through a transmission according to the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a transverse section taken along line 2--2 of FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a transverse section taken along line 3--3 of FIG. 1;
FIG. 4 is a transverse section taken along line 4--4 of FIG. 1;
FIG. 5 is a transverse section taken along line 5--5 of FIG. 1; and
FIG. 6 is a diagrammatic representation of the geometry involved in the present invention.
The preferred embodiment of the subject transmission 10 is shown in FIGS. 1-5. A housing 12 formed by a first generally cylindrical member 14 is closed at one end thereof by an integral inwardly directed flange 16 defining an axial entry 18. The housing 12 defines a generally cylindrical cavity 20 closed at the opposite end by a cover 22 secured to the member 14 by bolts 24. The cover 22 also defines an axial entry 26 which is coaxial with the entry 18. A drive member 28 is mounted in the cavity 20 with a drive shaft portion 30 extending through bearings 32 and seal 34 in the entry 18. The drive member 28 includes a disk portion 36 integral with the shaft 30 and containing a radially directed slot 38 intersected by a bore 40 which is parallel to the radially offset from the axis of the shaft 30. An input gear 42 is mounted in slot 38 by means of a shaft 44 mounted in bearings 46, 48 in the bore 40. An input rpm sensing means 50, 52 is mounted respectively in the drive member 28 and casing 14. An output gear 54 is mounted coaxially about the drive member 28 by bearings 56, 58 on opposite sides of inwardly directed teeth 60. The output gear 54 also includes at least one set of outwardly directed teeth 62 (FIG. 2) which engage ouput drive chains 64. There are also bearings 66 between the outer circumference of the output gear 54 and the inner surface of the member 14. Output rpm sensing means 68, 70 are mounted respectively between the output gear 54 and the casing member 14. A circular lug plate 72 is fixedly mounted coaxially on the shaft 44 and lies in an annular recess 74 in the rear face of the disk 36. The lug plate has four integral studs 76, 78, 80, 82 projecting therefrom spaced 90° from each other with each carrying a respective roller 84, 86, 88, 90. A guide plate 92 has an integral axial shaft 94 projecting from a first side and a series of lugs 96, 98, 100, 102, 104, 106, 108 and 110 projecting from the other side thereof. The lugs are all wedge shaped and are spaced about the periphery of the plate 92 (see FIG. 3) so as to define four intersecting paths angled 45° with respect to the adjacent paths. The outer edge of the plate 92 is formed with a continuous series of saw tooth shaped teeth 112 (see FIG. 4). A plurality of cantilever bars 114 are mounted in respective slots 116 in housing 12 and are biased by springs 115 to engage the teeth 112 of guide plate 92 with their free ends so as to prevent the rotation of plate 92 about shaft 94 in a clockwise direction as shown in FIG. 4.
A cylinder block 118 substantially fills the remainder of cavity 20 with an integral shaft portion 120 extending through bearings 122 in the entry 26. The entry 26 is closed by a coupling and seal member 124 which is bored to provide an axial fluid passage 126 engaging fluid passage 128 in the cylinder block 118 through seal 130. The passage 128 leads to one end of a cavity 132 containing a piston block 134 with the shaft 94 of lug plate 92 being received in bearings 136 in the piston block 134.
It will be appreciated from FIG. 1, wherein the transmission is shown in a neutral condition, that rotary drive applied to the shaft 30 will cause the input gear 42 to essentially "free wheel" within the output gear 54 imparting no rotary motion to the output gear 54. In this condition the studs 76, 78, 80, 82 on lug plate 72 would follow a linear path noted by arrow 138 in FIG. 6. When it is desired to effect a driving action, then fluid under pressure is admitted through passages 126, 128 to drive the piston block 134 radially from the position shown in FIGS. 1 and 5. This causes the plate 92 to be moved radially, thereby changing the lie of the paths between the lugs 96, 98, 100, 102, 104, 106, 108, 110 from the essentially symmetric with the axis configuration of FIG. 3 to an asymmetric or offset configuration of FIG. 6. Thus, the studs and rollers on plate 72 will begin following arcuate paths 140 rather than linear paths, thereby restraining the heretofore free-wheeling movement of the input gear 42 imparting rotary motion to the output gear 54. Path 140 represents the track of a stud for an 8 to 1 ratio. The axis of the guide plate 92 is noted as 142, the input gear 42 orbit as 144, input shaft 30 axis as 146, and movement of guide plate 92 by arrow 148.
It will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art that the radial offset of the piston block 134 and lug plate 72 will be directly proportional to the transmission ratio change produced between the input gear and the output gear. It will also be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the present invention is able to omit the brakes and clutches of conventional transmissions to produce a much simpler and more efficient transmission which can smoothly move through an almost infinite range of transmission ratios. It will further be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the chain drive illustrated for the present embodiment can easily be replaced by a gear and shaft, parallel to and axially offset from shaft 30, driving directly off the outer teeth of the output gear 54 or other suitable output drive means.
The rpm sensing means 50, 52 and 68, 70 can be any of the well known electrical, optical, electronic, magnetic or electromagnetic devices which are readily available. The sensing means could operate independently, just giving the respective readings, or could be integrated into means controlling the transmission in response to or independently of sensed or desired transmission inputs or outputs.
The present invention can find a wide range of useful applications including, but not restricted to, automobiles. The means for effecting movement of the piston block 134 would vary accordingly. Using an automobile as an example, an accelerator could be connected to a fluid system so that as the accelerator is depressed, fluid pressure in the system increases and the piston block is moved radially a corresponding amount. For a fixed installation, a screw or lever actuated piston might be used to change pressure in a fluid system to affect piston block movement. This, of course, does not rule out or exclude electronic controls and/or the use of computerized systems in which the transmission ratio is varied due to some outside influence or to achieve a desired result. Such control would be in cooperation with rpm monitoring devices, as mentioned above.
The present transmission can be used in almost any type of vehicle to start the vehicle moving without spinning the wheels, regardless of the engine speed. The high torque achieved enables the vehicle to mount steeper inclines and therefor is quite suitable for four wheel drive vehicles. It also permits very high overdrives allowing the use of smaller engines to achieve fuel economy.
The foregoing disclosure and description of the invention is illustrative and explanatory thereof, and various changes in the size, shape and materials as well as in the details of the illustrated construction may be made within the scope of the appended claims without departing from the spirit of the invention.
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