The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
May. 07, 1985
Filed:
Mar. 29, 1983
Roy E VanDerLinden, West Minster, MD (US);
John H Francis, Charles Town, WV (US);
Frederick Manufacturing Company, Frederick, MD (US);
Abstract
A multi-speed drive has input and output shafts aligned on a first axis and connected to one another by a cone drive which has a plurality of conical surfaces sloped at various angles to form a 'composite' cone. The composite cone is connected to the input shaft by a crank and rotates about a second axis which is oblique to, but intersects, the first axis at a point of intersection which is also a point of coincidence of the apexes of the conical surfaces. The composite cone rolls on one of a plurality of annular, conical surfaces, each of which is aligned with one of the conical surfaces on the cone. In accordance with the illustrated embodiment, all of the annular surfaces are free to rotate with respect to the composite cone, with the exception of the single annular surface that the composite cone rolls upon. This surface may be selected by stopping its rotation with a braking device, such as a pin or a prony brake. In the alternative, the conical annular surfaces may be slid axially in and out of engagement with their respective annular surfaces on the composite cone to select the desired output speed. A constant velocity joint connects the composite cone to the output shaft so as to transmit the rotation of the composite cone to the output shaft. By selecting a single angle (.gamma.) between the first and second axis, and by selecting appropriate angles (.alpha.) for the conical surfaces, various output speeds and torques may be applied to the output shaft for a single input speed according to the ratio (R) wherein: ##EQU1## The aforedescribed multi-speed drive provides positive speed reductions and negative speed reductions. In addition, it provides 'overdrive', direct drive, 'park ' and neutral modes of operation.