Automobile transmission with non-rotating reverse gear

A manual automobile transmission includes a non-rotating reverse gear having an internal spline in the front portion of the reverse gear and a needle roller bearing mounted at the rear portion. The bearing supports the gear and allows the main shaft to rotate without the gear turning when the transmission is not in the reverse mode. A separate splined collar is mounted on the shaft. Internal splines on the collar readily engage the splines on the main shaft and extended splines match the reverse gear splines. A small spring ball is inserted in the gear just forward of the splines to facilitate alignment of the gear and splined collar.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
 This application is an improvement on U.S. Pat. No. 5,907,972 which issued
 Jun. 1, 1999 and has common ownership with the present application.
 STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT
 Research and development of the present invention and application have not
 been Federally sponsored, and no rights are given under any Federal
 program.
 BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
 1. Field of the Invention
 This invention relates to automobile and particularly racing car
 transmissions having manual transmissions with reverse gears.
 2. Description of the Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37
 CFR .sctn..sctn.1.97-1.98
 The following patents are cited as being of interest in the field to which
 the present invention pertains:

U.S. PAT. NOS.:
 4,192,410 4,436,904 4,503,957
 4,532,821 4,836,041 5,907,972
 Applicant's U.S. Pat. No. 5,907,972 discloses a racing car transmission
 with a non-rotating reverse gear. The gear does not rotate until it is
 shifted into the reverse mode. The main shaft splines are shortened to
 allow the reverse gear to free wheel. The main shaft is machined to accept
 a needle roller bearing so that the gear can be rotatable about the shaft
 when free wheeling. This is no longer required with applicant's new
 designs proposed herein.
 U.S. Pat. No. 4,532,821 to HAGER discloses a transmission primarily
 designed for racing cars and includes a disclosure that the reverse gear
 is operational only as long as the clutch is depressed.
 U.S. Pat. No. 4,836,041 to FALZONI, et al discloses a transmission which
 deactivates the reverse gear when not in use.
 The remaining patents cited above relate generally to transmissions having
 reverse gears and were cited during the prosecution of applicant's earlier
 U.S. Pat. No. 5,907,972.
 While, as in U.S. Pat. No. 5,907,972, the reverse gear does not rotate
 until the transmission is shifted into the reverse mode, the new designs
 proposed herein will allow anyone with limited mechanical background to
 install the proposed reverse gear in the transmission by simply removing
 the original standard gear and replacing it with the unique gear proposed
 herein. This results in a considerable savings in time and expense.
 SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
 The present invention relates to manual transmissions and particularly to
 racing car transmissions having a non-rotating reverse gear during forward
 vehicle movement.
 Applicant discloses a reverse gear with an internal spline in the front
 portion of the reverse gear and a needle roller bearing pressed in at the
 rear portion. The bearing supports the gear and allows the main shaft to
 rotate without the gear turning when the transmission is not in the
 reverse mode. A separate splined collar having internal and external
 splines is slipped onto and secured to the main shaft. The internal
 splines are the same as the main shaft and the external splines match the
 reverse gear splines. Using a splined collar allows the use of finer
 splines for easy engagement. To facilitate alignment of the gear and
 splined collar, a small spring ball is inserted in the gear just forward
 of the splines. This spring ball aligns the splines in the front of the
 gear with the splines on the collar as it engages the main shaft and the
 reverse idler gear.
 An alternate embodiment of the invention comprises a gear with internal
 splines at the rear portion of the reverse gear which match the splines on
 the main shaft and the bearing housed in the front end and secured with a
 snap ring arrangement. The gear engages the main shaft splines from the
 back end of the splines. A spring ball located just forward of the splines
 in the reverse gear is used to align the splines in the gear and the main
 shaft for ease of meshing the gear and the main shaft. A bearing supports
 the gear and allows it to free wheel when the gear is not in the reverse
 mode. As the gear is shifted into the reverse mode, the main shaft splines
 engage first the reverse gear and then the reverse gear meshes with the
 reverse idler gear.
 Accordingly, an object of this invention is to provide a new and improved
 transmission having a non-rotating reverse gear during forward operation.
 Another object of this invention is to provide a new and improved manual
 transmission especially for racing cars wherein a new non-rotating reverse
 gear is provided which does not require modifying the main shaft of the
 transmission.
 A further object of this invention is to provide a new and improved
 transmission wherein the reverse gear does not rotate until shifting into
 the reverse mode as a result of replacing the standard gear with said
 reverse gear in combination with a splined collar to engage the splines on
 the main shaft.
 A more specific object of this invention is to provide a new and improved
 transmission wherein a new reverse gear and splined collar are utilized
 together with a spring ball for alignment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
 Referring now to the drawings FIGS. 1-3 show a reverse gear 10 with teeth
 46, an internal spline 11 in the front portion of the reverse gear 10 and
 a needle roller bearing 12 pressed in at the rear portion. A snap ring 13
 is positioned in a groove 43 at the end of the bearing 12 to prevent the
 bearing 12 from coming out of the gear 10. This bearing 12 supports the
 gear 10 and allows the main shaft 14 to rotate without the gear turning
 when the transmission is not in the reverse mode.
 FIG. 1 also shows an inner bearing sleeve 41 which rides on the shaft 14
 and a groove 43 for the snap ring 13 which holds the bearing 12 in place.
 A spring-backed ball 18 is inserted through in the gear 10 just forward of
 the splines 11 to align the splines 11 in front of the gear 10 with the
 splines 17 on the collar 15 as it engages the main shaft 14 and the
 reverse idler gear 50.
 The shifting flange is shown at 19.
 A separate splined collar 15 consisting of internal and external splines 16
 and 17 is slipped on the main shaft splines 42 and secured with three
 circumferentially spaced set screws 38. The internal splines 16 are the
 same as the main shaft 14 and the external splines 17 match the reverse
 gear spline 11. The reason for this type of set up is due to the coarse
 spline configuration on the main shaft 14. When the idler gear 50 is
 disengaged from the reverse gear 10 the reverse gear 10 does not rotate
 with the shaft 14.
 Coarse splines are difficult to align when trying to mesh one with the
 other. This method of using a splined collar 15 allows the use of finer
 splines for easy engagement. To facilitate alignment of the gear 10 and
 splined collar 15, a small "spring ball" 18 is inserted through a flange
 portion 36 in the gear 10 just forward of the splines 11. This resiliently
 backed spring ball 18 aligns the splines 11 in the front of the gear 10
 with the splines 17 on the collar 15 as it is slid forward by the shifting
 fork 19 to engage the main shaft 14 and the reverse idler gear 50. At
 other times. the reverse gear 10 will not rotate since the transmission in
 a forward mode. FIG. 2 depicts the reverse gear 10 in a free wheeling mode
 while FIG. 3 shows the gear 10 in an engaged position with the idler gear
 50 engaging the reverse gear 10 and the collar 15 meshing with splines 11.
 Thus. the transmission shaft 14 need not be modified to provide a
 non-rotating reverse gear 10 with its many advantages. This new design
 permits anyone with limited mechanical ability to rapidly install the new
 gear 10 in the transmission by simply removing the original gear and
 replacing it with gear 10.
 In the alternate embodiment of FIGS. 4, 5 and 6, a gear 20 is disclosed
 with internal splines 21 at the rear portion of the reverse gear 20 which
 match the splines 22 on the main shaft 23. A bearing 29 is housed in the
 front end 32 and secured with a similar snap ring arrangement 26. Also
 shown are an inner bearing sleeve 56 and a snap ring groove 26 to retain
 the bearing 29. This embodiment engages the main shaft splines 22 from the
 back end of the splines. This is made possible due to the fine spline
 configuration of the main shaft 23. A "spring ball" 27 located just
 forward of the splines 21 in the reverse gear 10 is used to align the
 splines 21 in the gear 10 and the splines 22 on the main shaft 23 to
 facilitate meshing the gear 10 and the main shaft 23. A bearing 29 similar
 to the previous embodiment supports the gear 10 and allows it to free
 wheel when the gear 10 is not in the reverse mode with the shifting flange
 33. As the gear 10 is shifted into the reverse mode the main shaft splines
 22 engage first the splines 21 of reverse gear 10 and then the reverse
 gear 10 meshes with the idler gear 30.
 While the invention has been explained by a detailed description of certain
 specific embodiments, it is understood that various modifications and
 substitutions can be made in any of them within the scope of the appended
 claims which are intended also to include equivalents of such embodiments.