Bicycle three-speed hub

Claim 1

A three-speed hub of a bicycle comprising a hub shell, a first hub cone secured to one end of said hub shell and having internal ratchet teeth, a second hub cone secured to the other end of said hub shell and having internal ratchet teeth, a hub spindle passing through said hub shell, said hub spindle having an axial hole and a vertical slot communicating in position with said axial hole, an operation rod having a threaded inward end and being inserted within said axial hole of hub spindle in the manner that it is axially movable by means of an external known control device connected thereto, a sliding key screwed to said inward end of the operation rod and disposed slidably within said vertical slot of hub spindle, a driver connected to a sprocket wheel so as to be driven thereby and being rotatable about said hub spindle, said driver being rotatable with relative to said second hub cone and having an integral hollow spline shaft extending inwardly therefrom, a sun pinion fixedly mounted on said hub spindle, a plurality of planet pinions which are always in mesh with said sun pinion, a plurality of low-normal gear pawls which are engageable in one direction with said internal ratchet teeth of the first hub cone, a planet cage which supports said planet pinions at one position and said low-normal gear pawls at another position, said planet cage having a substantially cylindrical extension of which internal periphery is formed with concavo-convex surface serving as a boss, a gear ring which is always meshed with said planet pinions and has a substantially cylindrical extension circumferentially spaced apart a short distance from said extension of planet cage, a plurality of double-acting pawls swingably supported at one end of said extension of gear ring, the outward end of each of said double-acting pawls being engageable in one direction with said ratchet teeth of the second hub cone, a hollow sliding clutch disposed within said extension of planet cage and having an integral spline shaft and reduced portion extending from said spline shaft thereof, said sliding clutch having an integral inward flange with which said sliding key is associated, said spline shaft of sliding clutch being disengageably coupled with said concavo-convex internal surface, viz. boss of said planet cage, the internal periphery of said reduced portion of sliding clutch being formed with concavo-convex surface serving as a boss to be engageable and axially slidable with said spline shaft extending from said driver, the external periphery of said reduced portion of sliding clutch being formed with ratchet teeth engageable in one direction with the inward end of each of said double-acting pawls, and further being formed with an smooth surface next to said ratchet teeth thereof, and, each of said double-acting pawls beIng swingably supported so that said outward end thereof is disengageable with said ratchet teeth of the second hub cone when said inward end thereof is in mesh with said ratchet teeth of the sliding clutch or is in contact with said smooth surface of the sliding clutch.