Improvements in Clutches.
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 25th Jan., 1897
Complete Specification Left, 1st Nov., 1897-Accepted, 8th Jan.,
1898
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Clutches.
I, JOHN MARION RAUHOFF, of 2942 Cottage Grove Avenue, in the City of
Chicago, County of Cook, and State of Illinois, United States of America, Gentleman
do.hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:
My invention relates particularly to friction clutches for use in connection with
the transmission of power from a movable shaft to a pulley or other mechanism or
vice versa, and especially of mechanism for reducing the friction or adhesion between
the clutch and the shaft upon which it is mounted.
The object of my invention is to provide a simple and efficient friction clutch, and
in constructing my improvement and applying it to a shaft or pulley, I provide a
shaft, which in this particular instance may be used as the driver, and upon it I mount
a sleeve which in turn is provided with a key entering a groove in the shaft, the
arrangement being such that the sleeve has imparted to it the rotary movement of
the shaft, but is free to move independently laterally. This sleeve I prefer to
provide with two wedge-shaped expanding fingers or prongs, upon which is mounted
a split collar, in such a manner that the collar may be expanded or contracted by the
movements of the sleeve. In order to hold this split collar normally in contact with
the prongs of the sleeve and as occupying the smallest space of diameter, I provide
it with an annular groove in which is located a circular metallic spring, the arrange-
ment being such that when the sleeve is at or near its outermost limit of motion the
split collar rests upon the prongs and occupies its smallest diameter. During the
movement of the sleeve and the wedging action consequent upon such movements, it
would be very difficult to return the split collar to its smallest diameter after being
once expanded and in order to facilitate this construction I provide the split collar
with a groove and the prongs of the sleeve with grooves in which are placed a series
of antifriction balls which occupy what might be termed an inclined plane. It will
thus be seen that when the sleeve is retracted or withdrawn to its outermost limit of
motion, the spring will act to move the split collar so that it will roll outwardly upon
its antifriction balls and be contracted in diameter.
Dated this 05th don of January 1897
BOULT & WADE,
Agents for the Applicant.
Improvements in Clutches:
I, JOHN MARION RAUHOFF, of 2942 Cottage Grove Avenue, Chicago, in the County.
5. of Cook, and State of Illinois, United States of America, Gentleman, do hereby
declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be
Dine 21

page_text: performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement :-
My invention relates particularly to friction-clutches for use in connection with the
transmission of power from a movable shaft to a pulley or other mechanism, or vice
versa, and especially to mechanism for reducing the friction or adhesion between the
clutch and the shaft upon which it is mounted.
The object of my invention is to provide a simple, economical, and efficient
friction-clutch, and the invention consists in the features and combinations hereinafter
described and claimed.
In the accompanying drawings, Fig. 1 is a vertical elevation, partly in section,
showing my improvement as applied to a shaft and loose pulley. Fig. 2 an enlarged
transverse section taken on the line 2 of Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 a longitudinal section of a
portion of the mechanism, taken on line 3 of Fig. 2, looking in the direction of the
arrow.
In constructing my improvement and applying it to a shaft and pulley I provide
a shaft A, which in this particular instance may be used as the driver, and upon it I'
mount a sleeve B which in turn is provided with a key b, entering a groove a, in the
shaft, the arrangement being such that the sleeve has imparted to it the rotary
movement of the shaft, but is free to move independent laterally. This sleeve I
prefer to provide with two wedge-shaped expanding fingers or prongs B¹, upon which
is mounted a split collar C in such a manner that the collar may be expanded or
contracted by the movements of the sleeve. In order to hold this split collar
normally in contact with the prongs of the sleeve and as occupying the smallest
space or diameter I provide it with an annular groove c, in which is located a
circular metallic spring D, the arrangement being such that when the sleeve is at or:
near its outermost limit of motion the split collar rests upon the prongs, as shown
in Fig. 2, and occupies its smallest diameter. During the movements of the sleeve
and the wedging action consequent upon such movements it would be very difficult
to return the split collar to its smallest diameter after being once expanded, and in
order to facilitate this contraction I provide the split collar with a groove c¹ and the
prongs of the sleeve with grooves 61, in which are placed a series of antifriction
balls E, which occupy what might be termed an "inclined" plane. It will thus be seen
that when the sleeve is retracted or withdrawn to its outermost limit of motion the
spring will act to move the split collar so that it will roll outwardly upon its
antifriction balls and be contracted in diameter.
3
For the purpose of demonstrating the practicability of my improvement in one of
my drawings I have shown a pulley G as being loosely mounted upon the driving-
shaft, but held against longitudinal movement by means of the collars g g¹ which
are fixed rigidly to the shaft. This pulley is provided with a center projecting hub
having an axial opening adapted to easily receive the split collar, so that when such 4
collar is in the position shown in Fig. 1 but with the parts moved to their
innermost position, the collar may be expanded so as to firmly grip the interior
surface of the hub and thus transmit the motion and power of the driving-shaft to
the pulley, and vice versa.
While I have described my invention with more or less minuteness as regards
details and as being embodied in more or less precise forms and as applied to certain
specific mechanical structures, I do not desire to be limited thereto unduly no more
than is pointed out in the claims. On the contrary, I contemplate all proper uses,
changes of form, construction, and arrangement, the omission of material parts, and
the substitution of equivalents, as circumstances may suggest or necessity render 5
expedient.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is
1 In clutah L

page_text: shaft, a split collar mounted upon such sleeve, a spring for normally holding the
split collar in its smallest diameter, and a series of balls interposed between the split
collar and the sleeve to lessen the friction and adhesion of the parts, substantially as
described.
2. In a clutch, the combination of a shaft, a sleeve longitudinally movable upon
such shaft, and provided with at least two taper projecting prongs, a split collar
mounted upon such prongs and provided with a spring to normally hold a collar at
its smallest diameter, a series of balls interposed between the split collar and the
taper projecting prongs to facilitate the operation of the parts, and adjacent
mechanism provided with a circular recess adapted to receive the split collar and be
engaged thereby when such collar is expanded, substantially as described.
Dated this 1st day of November 1897.
BOULT & WADE,
Agents for the Applicant.