Floating helical gear

Claim 2

A gear type power drive transmission comprising a first and second drive shaft and a pair of parallel countershafts arranged to transmit torque from said first to said second drive shaft, a first helical gear on each of said countershafts meshing with a gear on said second drive shaft, at least one of the aforementioned countershaft gears being floatably mounted on its corresponding shaft so as to be able to rotate relative thereto in either rotative sense to an extent less than the distance between successive ones of the gear teeth of said one gear.

Claim 3

The transmission of claim 1, saif floatably mounted gear being mounted on its countershaft by a helical spline means.

Claim 4

The transmission of claim 2, said floatably mounted gear being axially displaceable along said spline means to a limited extent in either axial direction from a normal position of radial alignment of said floatably mounted gear relative to its corresponding main shaft gear.

Claim 5

The transmission of claim 3, said limited extent being 0.040 inch.

Claim 6

The transmission of claim 1, wherein said first drive shaft is adapted to be drivingly connected to a vehicle engine and said second drive shaft is arranged to transmit driving torque to the vehicle wheels.

Claim 7

A gear type power drive transmission comprising a first and second drive shaft and a pair of parallel countershafts arranged to transmit torque from said first to said second drive shaft, a first helical gear on each of said countershafts meshing with a gear on said second drive shaft, at least one of the aforementioned countershaft gears being floatably mounted on its corresponding shaft by a helical spline means having a helix angle different from that of the gear teeth so as to be able to rotate relative thereto in either rotative sense to an extent less than the distance between successive ones of the gear teeth of said one gear.

Claim 8

A gear type power drive transmission comprising a first and second drive shaft and a pair of parallel countershafts arranged to transmit torque from said first to said second drive shaft, a first helical gear on each of said countershafts meshing with a gear on said second drive shaft, at least one of the aforementioned countershaft gears being floatably mounted on its corresponding shaft by a helical spline means having a helix angle different from that of the gear teeth so as to be able to rotate relative thereto in either rotative sense to an extent less than the distance between successive ones of the gear teeth of said one gear.

Claim 9

A gear type power drive transmission comprising a first and second drive shaft, a pair of parallel countershafts arranged to transmit torque from said first to said second drive shaft, a first helical gear on each of said countershafts meshing with a gear on said second drive shaft, at least one of the aforementioned countershaft gears being floatably mounted on its corresponding shaft by a helical spline means so as to be able to rotate relative thereto in either rotative sense to an extent less than the distance between successive ones of the gear teeth of said one gear and a resilient biasing means urging said floatably mounted gear to a particular axial position along the extent of said spline means, said floatably mounted gear being displaceable to a limited extent in either direction away from said position.

Claim 10

A gear type power drive transmission comprising a first and second drive shaft, a pair of parallel countershafts arranged to transmit torque from said first to said second drive shaft, a first helical gear on each of said countershafts meshing with a gear on said second drive shaft, at least one of the aforementioned countershaft gears being floatably mounted on its corresponding shaft by a helical spline means so as to be able to rotate relative thereto in either rotative sense to an extent less than the distance between successive ones of the gear teeth of said one gear and a resilient biasing means urging said floatably mounted gear to a particular axial position along the extent of said spline means, said floatably mounted gear being displaceable to a limited extent in either direction away from said position.

Claim 11

The transmission of claim 7, said biasing means comprising a spring means acting against each opposite face of said floatably mounted gear.

Claim 12

A helical gear mounted on a shaft so as to be able to rotate relative thereto an extent less than the distance between successive teEth on said gear, said gear including an internal helical spline engaging a matching external spline on said shaft, the helix angle of said spline being different from that of the gear teeth, said gear being axially slidable along said spline to an extent corresponding to a degree of rotation of said gear relative to said shaft which is less than the pitch between successive gear teeth.

Claim 13

A helical gear mounted on a shaft so as to be able to rotate relative thereto an extent less than the distance between successive teEth on said gear, said gear including an internal helical spline engaging a matching external spline on said shaft, the helix angle of said spline being different from that of the gear teeth, said gear being axially slidable along said spline to an extent corresponding to a degree of rotation of said gear relative to said shaft which is less than the pitch between successive gear teeth.

Claim 14

The gear of claim 9, including spring biasing means urging said gear to a neutral position along said spline, said gear being slidable in either axial direction along said spline against the urging of said spring means and correspondingly rotatable in either rotative sense relative to said shaft to said extent.