Torque transmitting mechanism

Claim 1

A MECHANISM FOR TRANSMITTING TORQUE AT DIFFERENT RATIOS FROM AN ENGINE HAVING A THROTTLE, COMPRISING IN COMBINATION, A FLUID TORQUE CONVERTER UNIT HAVING AN IMPELLER, A TURBINE, A POWER OUTPUT MEMBER, A DRIVING MEMBER TO BE DRIVEN BY THE ENGINE AND CONNECTED TO THE IMPELLER, MEANS CONNECTING THE TURBINE AND POWER OUTPUT MEMBER, A FRICTION CLUTCH FOR COUPLING TOGETHER THE DRIVING MEMBER AND THE POWER OUTPUT MEMBER; A PLANETARY GEAR UNIT HAVING A CARRIER CONNECTED TO SAID POWER OUTPUT MEMBER, A SUN GEAR, A RING GEAR, AND A POWER OUTPUT ELEMENT CONNECTED TO THE RING GEAR, THE CARRIER HAVING PLANET GEARS COOPERATING WITH THE SUN GEAR AND RING GEAR, A FRICTION BRAKE HAVING GROUND MEMBERS AND A MEMBER CONNECTED TO THE SUN GEAR, A UNIDIRECTIONAL COUPLING BETWEEN THE SUN GEAR AND SAID POWER OUTPUT MEMBER ARRANGED TO ENGAGE WHEN THE SUN GEAR TENDS TO OVERRUN THE POWER OUTPUT MEMBER; A RANGE CHANGE UNIT FOR TRANSMITTING TORQUE FROM THE POWER OUTPUT ELEMENT AND HAVING A FINAL POWER OUTPUT MEMBER COMPRISING, A PLURALITY OF INTER-RELATED PLANETARY GEAR SETS, A PLURALITY OF FRICTION DEVICES INCLUDING ONE WHICH IS OPERABLE TO LOCK UP A PLANETARY GEAR SET FOR HIGH SPEED RANGE, TWO WHICH ARE FOR ENGAGING AND HOLDING STATIONARY ELEMENTS OF THE INTER-RELATED PLANETARY GEAR SETS FOR INTERMEDIATE AND LOW SPEED RANGES; MANUALLY OPERATED MEANS UNDER THE CONTROL OF AN OPERATOR FOR SELECTIVELY ENGAGING SAID FRICTION DEVICES, MEANS RESPONSIVE TO THE SPEED OF OPERATION AND THE POSITION OF THE ENGINE THROTTLE FOR AUTOMATICALLY ENGAGING THE SAID FRICTION CLUTCH OF THE TORQUE CONVERTER UNIT, MEANS RESPONSIVE TO DIFFERENT SPEEDS OF OPERATION AND THE POSITION OF THE ENGINE THROTTLE FOR AUTOMATICALLY ENGAGING THE FRICTION BRAKE OF THE PLANETARY GEAR UNIT, AND MEANS CONTROLLED BY SAID MANUALLY OPERATED MEANS TO PROVIDE A DIFFERENT SPEED AT WHICH SAID LAST NAMED MEANS IS OPERATIVE FOR EACH FRICTION DEVICE SELECTIVELY ENGAGED BY SAID MANUALLY OPERATED MEANS.