Improvements in Clutch or Ratchet Gearing for Lubricators.
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 12th Mar., 1897-Accepted, 5th Feb., 1898
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Clutch or Ratchet Gearing for Lubricators.
I, WILHELM MICHALK, of Deuben, near Dresden, in the Kingdom of Saxony
and Empire of Germany, Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of this
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement:-
The present invention has for its object a new clutch gear with intermittent
action which may be advantageously used in cases in which pawl and ratchet gear
or couplings with wedge action were employed. Compared with these the new
coupling presents the advantage that it is subject to hardly any wear in its
working parts and even if wear takes place the reliability of its action is not
impaired, and in addition this coupling is absolutely noiseless in its action.
By reason of the good qualities above enumerated the use of this new coupling
is particularly advantageous with such mechanisms as require particularly nice
adjustment in their feed motion as for instance in what are known as lubricating
pumps whose piston when intermittently fed forward; each time forces a small
quantity of the lubricant contained in the cylinder of such lubricating pump
toward the part to be lubricated.
In the accompanying drawing this invention is shown in Figs. 1 and 2 being
sections on line CD and line A B respectively w is the spindle to be driven by this
coupling and from which the intermittent feed motion is to be transmitted, to
the part in which it is to be operative, by any of the well known means, such as,
say screw gear, or toothed gear. On spindle is fixed a wheel r
having ratchet
teeth of coarse pitch. On the same boss or on the spindle wa disc s is loosely
mounted. A lateral flange thereon extends across the wheel r. Between this
flange and the points of the ratchet teeth a small space remains. In the hollow
of each tooth of the wheel is placed a ball k. The interior face of the flange st
has grooves the semidiameter of which is equal to that of the balls k. With
the disc s is connected the lever h which receives pendulous motion by any con-
venient means, this operating the coupling or clutch gear.
By reason of their weight the balls tend to assume the lowest position they
can occupy between the flanges and the ratchet teeth. Consequently they will
on side (the left side in the drawing) rest on the radial flanks of the teeth where
they can move about freely. On the other side of the ratchet wheel (the right
hand side) the balls fall into the narrow space formed on the one hand by the
oblique sides of the ratchet teeth and on the other hand by the flange s¹ thereby
one at least of these balls, generally however several, fall into the bottom of the
grooves s².
If now the discs is by the lever turned in the direction of the arrow it
necessarily moves those balls which lie in the grooves and by them bearing on
the flanks of the ratchet teeth moves the ratchet wheel which consequently
moves the spindle w in the same direction.
When the disc s by reason of the return stroke of lever h travels in the opposite
direction the pressure exerted by the acting balls k ceases to act on the ratchet

page_text: teeth and the ratchet wheel r stops. The balls retain their position relatively to
the wheel and noiselessly glide over the ribs between the grooves.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is:
Driving gear for lubricators characterized by a ratchet wheel r having ratchet
teeth of coarse pitch, being fixed on the driving spindle w, over which wheel is
placed a discs having a flange s¹ the inner face whereof is provided with grooves s³
balls being placed one each into the interstices between the ratchet teeth of the
wheel r, one, at least, of these balls & being wedged in between a groove and a
ratchet tooth so that when disc s'rotates forward it necessarily carries with it the
wheel r whilst on its return motion the balls are loose so that, consequently the
wheel'r stops.