US3848474A
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Variable-speed, positive-drive transmission providing output speeds from zero r.p.m. up to full output r.p.m.
Assignee: Enviri Corp
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Filing: 1973-01-10
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Granted: 1974-11-19
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Expires: 1993-01-10
Abstract
Abstract A variable-speed, positive-drive transmission is described in which the output speed is variable over a continuous range from zero output speed to the maximum output speed of the transmission. The maximum output can be made equal to, greater than, or lesser than the input speed depending upon the relative sizes of a sun and intermediate gears used in the output stage. A rotatable speed control member can be turned to different angular positions to control the speed of the intermediate and sun gears. An input connection rotates eccentric drive means causing a plurality of input crank arms mounted on the speed control member to swing back and forth about swing axes to swing yoke crank arms also mounted on this speed control member. A plurality of output crank arms have swivel means slidably engaging slideways on the yoke crank arms. Changing the angular position of the rotatable speed control member slides the effective points of engagement between said swivel means and said yoke crank arms toward or away from the swing axes of said yoke crank arms, thereby decreasing or increasing the effective length of the yoke crank arms to thereby decrease or increase the extent of rocking motion of the output crank arms which are connected through over-running clutches to the intermediate gears. When the speed control member is moved to the angular position such that the swing axes of the yoke crank arms are directly aligned with the swivel axes of the swivel means, the resultant motion of the output crank arms is reduced to zero to produce zero output speed.
Inventors
- 👤 A Epstein
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-28 20:33
CPC Classifications
F; F16; F16H; F16H29/00; F16H29/02; F16H29/08; Y; Y10; Y10T; Y10T74/00; Y10T74/15; Y10T74/1503; Y10T74/1508; Y10T74/151
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 12
Claim 1
Independent Claim
417 words
A variable-speed, positive-drive transmission comprising: a rotatable input connection adapted to have a rotary source of power connected thereto, said input connection being rotatable about the main axis of the transmission; an output speed control member rotatably mounted in said transmission adapted to be turned to various angular positions about the main axis, said output speed control member having a plurality of openings therein spaced about the main axis; a plurality of input crank arms each having an axis of swinging motion, said input crank arms being mounted on the input side of said speed control member with their swing axes parallel with the main axis; eccentric drive means attached to said input connection and engaging the input crank arms for swinging the input crank arm back and forth about their respective swing axes; a plurality of adjustable length crank arms mounted on the output side of said speed control member, respective ones of said adjustable length crank arms being connected through respective ones of said openings in the speed control member to respective ones of said input crank arms, said adjustable length crank arms having the same swing axes as said input crank arms and being swung back and forth by said input crank arms; said adjustable length crank arms each having slideways thereon extending from said swing axis out toward the respective ends of said adjustable length crank arms; a plurality of output crank arms mounted in said transmission adapted to swing back and forth abour rock axes, said rock axes extending parallel with the main axis; a plurality of swivel means, respective swivel means being mounted on respective ones of said output crank arms, each of said swivel means having a swivel axis; respective swivel means engaging the respective slideways of said adjustable length crank arms; said swivel means being movable along said slideways of said adjustable length crank arms; a plurality of over-running clutches, respective clutches being driven by respective output crank arms; a driven gear engaged by a plurality of intermediate gears positioned thereabout; respective intermediate gears being driven by said respective over-running clutches; and output connection means driven by said gears and aDapted to be connected to a load to be driven, whereby turning said output speed control member to differing angular positions about said main axis changes the respective displacement between said swing axes and said swivel axes for changing the effective length of said adjustable length crank arms for varying the speed of rotation of said output connection means.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
417 words
A variable-speed, positive-drive transmission comprising: a rotatable input connection adapted to have a rotary source of power connected thereto, said input connection being rotatable about the main axis of the transmission; an output speed control member rotatably mounted in said transmission adapted to be turned to various angular positions about the main axis, said output speed control member having a plurality of openings therein spaced about the main axis; a plurality of input crank arms each having an axis of swinging motion, said input crank arms being mounted on the input side of said speed control member with their swing axes parallel with the main axis; eccentric drive means attached to said input connection and engaging the input crank arms for swinging the input crank arm back and forth about their respective swing axes; a plurality of adjustable length crank arms mounted on the output side of said speed control member, respective ones of said adjustable length crank arms being connected through respective ones of said openings in the speed control member to respective ones of said input crank arms, said adjustable length crank arms having the same swing axes as said input crank arms and being swung back and forth by said input crank arms; said adjustable length crank arms each having slideways thereon extending from said swing axis out toward the respective ends of said adjustable length crank arms; a plurality of output crank arms mounted in said transmission adapted to swing back and forth abour rock axes, said rock axes extending parallel with the main axis; a plurality of swivel means, respective swivel means being mounted on respective ones of said output crank arms, each of said swivel means having a swivel axis; respective swivel means engaging the respective slideways of said adjustable length crank arms; said swivel means being movable along said slideways of said adjustable length crank arms; a plurality of over-running clutches, respective clutches being driven by respective output crank arms; a driven gear engaged by a plurality of intermediate gears positioned thereabout; respective intermediate gears being driven by said respective over-running clutches; and output connection means driven by said gears and aDapted to be connected to a load to be driven, whereby turning said output speed control member to differing angular positions about said main axis changes the respective displacement between said swing axes and said swivel axes for changing the effective length of said adjustable length crank arms for varying the speed of rotation of said output connection means.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
49 words
A variable-speed, positive-drive transmission as claimed in claim 1, in which: said slideways on said adjustable length crank arms are provided by channels in said adjustable length crank arms; and said swivel means each includes a shoe slidably engaged in the respective channels of said adjustable length crank arms.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
85 words
A variable-speed, positive-drive transmission as claimed in claim 1, in which: said eccentric drive means includes circular eccentric attached to said input connection; a bearing encircling said eccentric; a wobble ring encircling said bearing; said wobble ring having a circular annular channel therein; and said input crank arms having arcuate blocks rotatably mounted thereon with said arcuate blocks being engaged in said circular annular channel for movement back and forth along said annular channel as said eccentric drive means is rotated by said input connection.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
40 words
A variable-speed, positive-drive transmission as claimed in claim 1, in which: said input connection includes an input shaft extending into the transmission along the main axis thereof; and bearing means rotatably mounting said speed control member on said input shaft.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
274 words
A variable-speed, positive-drive transmission comprising: a driven gear engaged by a plurality of intermediate gears in the transmission output; a rotatable speed control member which can be turned to various angular positions about the main axis of the transmission to control the speed of said intermediate and driven gears; a plurality of input crank arms mounted on the speed control member to swing back and forth about respective swing axes; a plurality of yoke crank arms also mounted on said speed control member and connected to said input crank arms to swing back and forth also about said swing axes; said yoke crank arms having slideways thereon extending toward and away from the swing axes; an input connection having eccentric drive means associated therewith engaging said input crank arms for swinging said input crank arms and said yoke crank arms back and forth about said swing axes; a plurality of output crank arms connected through respective over-running clutches to respective ones of said intermediate gears; and said output crank arms each having swivel means slidably engaging said slideways on the yoke crank arms, whereby changing the angular position of said rotatable speed control member slides the effective points of engagement between said yoke crank arms and said swivel means toward or away from the swing axes of said yoke crank arms, thereby decreasing or increasing the effective length of the yoke crank arms to thereby decrease or increase the extent of rocking motion of said output crank arms to decrease or increase the speed of said intermediate and driven gears, by virtue of which the output speed can be continuously varied over a range.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
274 words
A variable-speed, positive-drive transmission comprising: a driven gear engaged by a plurality of intermediate gears in the transmission output; a rotatable speed control member which can be turned to various angular positions about the main axis of the transmission to control the speed of said intermediate and driven gears; a plurality of input crank arms mounted on the speed control member to swing back and forth about respective swing axes; a plurality of yoke crank arms also mounted on said speed control member and connected to said input crank arms to swing back and forth also about said swing axes; said yoke crank arms having slideways thereon extending toward and away from the swing axes; an input connection having eccentric drive means associated therewith engaging said input crank arms for swinging said input crank arms and said yoke crank arms back and forth about said swing axes; a plurality of output crank arms connected through respective over-running clutches to respective ones of said intermediate gears; and said output crank arms each having swivel means slidably engaging said slideways on the yoke crank arms, whereby changing the angular position of said rotatable speed control member slides the effective points of engagement between said yoke crank arms and said swivel means toward or away from the swing axes of said yoke crank arms, thereby decreasing or increasing the effective length of the yoke crank arms to thereby decrease or increase the extent of rocking motion of said output crank arms to decrease or increase the speed of said intermediate and driven gears, by virtue of which the output speed can be continuously varied over a range.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
78 words
A variable-speed, positive-drive transmission as claimed in claim 5, in which: said slideways extend along said yoke crank arms to their respective swing axes, whereby the speed control member can be turned to an angular position to bring the swing axes of the yoke crank arms into alignment with the axes of the respective swivel means, thereby to reduce the rocking motion of said output crank arms to produce zero output speed of said intermediate and sun gears.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
57 words
A variable-speed, positive-drive transmission as claimed in claim 5, in which: said slideways on said yoke crank arms are provided by channels in said yoke crank arms, said swivel means Include a shoe pivotally mounted on each of said output crank arms, and each shoe is slidably engaged in the channel of a respective yoke crank arm.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
35 words
A variable-speed, positive-drive transmission as claimed in claim 7, in which: the channel in each of said yoke crank arms extends radially from the swing axis to the end of the respective yoke crank arm.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
53 words
A variable-speed, positive-drive transmission as claimed in claim 5, in which: said eccentric drive means includes an eccentric driven by the input connection, a bearing encircling said eccentric, and a wobble ring encircling said bearing for swinging said input crank arms and said yoke crank arms back and forth about said swing axes.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
49 words
A variable-speed, positive-drive transmission as claimed in claim 9, in which: said wobble ring includes an annular channel therein, a plurality of arcuate shoes are slidably engaged in said annular channel, and respective ones of said slide shoes are pivotally connected to respective ones of said input crank arms.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
US2983154A
Cited
USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 1977-11-18 | 1978-05-20 | 1978-11-19 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 1981-11-18 | 1982-05-20 | 1982-11-19 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 1985-11-18 | 1986-05-20 | 1986-11-19 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |