Improvements in Means or Apparatus for Effecting Changes of Speed or Direction of Rotation and for Stopping and Starting, applicable to Lathes, Drills, and other Machinery.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 27th Nov., 1894
Complete Specification Left, 23rd Aug., 1895-Accepted, 2nd Nov., 1895
Improvements in Means or Apparatus for Effecting Changes of
Speed or Direction of Rotation and for Stopping and Starting,
applicable to Lathes, Drills, and other Machinery.
A communication from abroad by HENRY HAVELOCK CUMMINGS, of 15 Webster
Street, Malden, in the County of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, one
of the United States of America, Machinist.
I ALFRED GEORGE BROOKES of 55 & 56 Chancery Lane in the County of
London, Chartered Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of this invention
to be as follows:-
This invention relates to speed-changing, reversing, and starting and stopping
mechanism applicable to various machines, such as lathes, drills, planers, etc.,
wherein it is desirable to change the speed of the shaft thereof according to the
nature of the work to be done, and also to start, reverse, or stop altogether the rotation
of the shaft which actuates the machine.
The mechanism in which the invention is embodied is adapted to be interposed
between the main shafting and the apparatus to be driven, and it comprises a
member adapted to be continuously rotated, a member loose with relation thereto
and to be driven, a friction wheel or disc interposed between the adjacent and
grooved faces of the two members, and means to cause relative movement of the
members, and thereby their engagement with the friction wheel or disc, to rotate
the loose member, or to withdraw the friction surfaces from engagement, and stop
the rotation of the loose member.
The main frame, of such shape as to form bearings for the operating parts,
supports the two members, one of which is adapted to be continuously rotated, and
the other of which is loose relatively and adapted to be driven, the adjacent faces
of these members being provided each with a concaved annular groove adapted to
be ei tered by one or more shiftable friction di-cs or wheels so arranged as to be
intermediate the adjacent faces of the said members.
If more than one friction disc or wheel is used, they are connected to be shifted
in unison.
The driving and diiven members are provided with belt or other pulleys by
which rotation is imparted to or conveyed from them.
One of the members is moveable towards and from the other member, and it is also
adapted to co-operate, at times, with an auxiliary member, the auxiliary member
being so related to the driving member as to rotate the member to be driven in the
same direction therewith when the auxiliary member is rendered operative.
If the member to be driven is moved towards the driving member, and thereby
the annular grooves in the two members are brought into frictional engagement
with the friction disc or discs, the member to be driven will be rotated by the
driving member, but in the opposite direction, while co-operation of the member to
be driven with the auxiliary member will cause both the driving and the driven
members to rotate in the same direction and also at the same speed.
The intermediate position of the member to be driven causes its complete
stoppage, and when diiven by, but oppositely to, the driving member, the speed of
the member to be driven is regulated by the inclination of the intermediate friction
disc or discs.

page_text: Means are provided for shifting the friction disc or discs, and also for causing the
member to be driven to occupy its various positions to cause its rotation in the same
direction as, or in the opposite direction to the rotation of the driving member, or
to stop the rotation of the member to be driven.
For greater convenience all the governing operations may be performed by proper
manipulation of a single actuator.
The triction discs or wheels may be so mounted that the separation of the driving
and driven members will cause a quick withdrawal of the peripheries of the discs
from one or the other of said members, facilitating thereby the rapid changes which
the mechanism is adapted to inake.
A simple movement of the actuator in one or another direction starts and changes
the speed, reverses the direction of rotation, or altogether stops the machine
driven by the mechanism without the intervention of fast and loose pulleys on the
machine.
Dated the 23rd day of November 1894.
WM. BROOKES & SON,
55 & 56 Chancery Lane, London, Agents for the Applicant.
Improvements in Means or Apparatus for Effecting Changes of
Speed or Direction of Rotation and for Stopping and Starting,
applicable to Lathes, Drills, and other Machinery.
A communication from abroad by HENRY HAVELOCK CUMMINGS, of 15 Webster
Street, Malden, in the County of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts,
one of the United States of America, Machinist.
I ALFRED GEORGE BROOKES of 55 & 56 Chancery Lane in the County of
London Chartered Patent Agent 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 :-
This invention has for its object the production of a combined speed-changing,
reversing and starting and stopping mechanism adapted to be applied to various
machines, such as lathes, drills, planers, etc., wherein it is desired to change the
speed of a shaft according to the work to be done, and also to start, reverse, or
stop altogether the rotation of the shaft.
The improved mechanism is adapted to be interposed between the main shafting
and the apparatus to be driven, and it comprises a construction and arrangement
of parts fully described hereinafter in the Specification and particularly pointed
out in the claims.
Fig. 1 in side elevation, partially broken out, represents the improved speed-
changing, reversing and stopping mechanism.
Fig. 2 is a vertical section taken on the line x-x, Fig. 1 looking toward the
right.
Fig. 3, is a detail view of one of the friction wheels and its support, viewed
from its outer side, and
Fig. 4 is a detail to be described.
Referring to the drawing, I have shown the mechanism as supported by a yoke-
like main frame A suitably shaped to form bearings for the operating parts, and
adapted to be secured to the ceiling or other convenient part of the building.
The frame-work has a transverse opening in its bifuicated portion A', through
which a sleeve B is extended and clamped in any suitable manner, as by set
screws B', see Fig. 2, passing through a flange of the sleeve and into the frame.

page_text: A spiral gear C shewn in section in Fig. 2, is passed between the parts A¹ of
the framework before the sleeve B is inserted, the said sleeve passing through the
hub of and forming a bearing for said spiral gear.
A pulley D, represented as a belt pulley and adapted to receive a belt from any
suitable driving or counter shaft, is mounted upon and adapted to be rotated
continuously upon or about the stationary sleeve, the pulley being prevented from
longitudinal movement by a collar B³ secured to the sleeve.
The belt pulley has connected to or forming part of it a friction pulley C, having
at its face a concaved annular groove adapted to be entered by one or more
shiftable friction discs or wheels E having preferably non-metallic peripheries,
three of such discs being herein shewn.
The sleeve B receives through it and forms a bearing for a shaft F, extended
beyond the said sleeve and having secured upon it by a set screw f, or otherwise,
a belt pulley F¹, loose relatively to the pulley D and adapted to receive a belt
from the main or power shaft of the machine to be driven.
This pulley F also has secured to it or forming a part thereof a friction
pulley F having a concaved annularly grooved inner face to receive and cooperate
with the friction discs or wheels E.
Referring to Fig. 2, it will be seen that the pulleys D and F¹ are located on
opposite sides of the frame-work A, the hub of the pulley F' being cored out
to admit one end of the sleeve B, thus forming an additional bearing for the
pulley F, which is also longitudinally movable thereon.
The outer end of the pulley D, as herein shewn, has a bevelled annular face d,
adapted to cooperate at times with the similarly bevelled face of a clutch
member D¹, when said face d and clutch member are relatively moved, and the
clutch member D¹ is secured to the shaft F by a set screw as d¹, or otherwise,
to move with the pulley F¹, the movement of the said shaft, pulley F¹, and the
clutch member D' being simultaneous, as herein shown.
Spring arms and h¹, secured at their rear ends to a rod * fast in an ear a of
the frame-work A, bear against the ends of the shaft F, as clearly shown in Fig. 2,
the front ends of said arms having extended loosely therethrough a rock-shaft H
supported in a bearing in an ear a of the framework.
Pressure collars having suitable cam surfaces and on their inner faces,
adapted to cooperate with the arms and ¹ respectively, are secured to the
threaded ends of the rock-shaft H outside of the said arms, the cams being set at
different angles, so that when one of the arms as ', Figs. 1 and 2, is engaged by
and pressed inwards by its cam i, the other arm is free to move outwardly
against the collar of its cam i, and vice versa, the collars limiting the outward
movement of said arms, and in consequence regulating the longitudinal movement
of the shaft F and its attached parts, the resilience of the arms aiding the cam-
in moving the shaft.
Suitable set nuts n hold the collar in adjusted position on the rock-shaft, whereby
the longitudinal movement of the shaft may be regulated.
An arm on the said rock shaft is connected by a link ³ to a controlling handle
or lever, pivoted to a sleeve / adjustably secured by a set screw 1* to a shaft m,
which shaft is rotatable in a fixed bearing m', Figs. 1 and 2, secured to the floor
or other suitable support.
The ends of the link ³ are connected to the arm and to the handle by ball
and socket joints.
The upper end of the shaft m is connected by a universal joint J to a lug k¹ of a
collar secured to the projecting end of a stud or pintle o having its bearing in
the ear a¹ of the frame-work, the pintle being retained in place by a collar k
secured to its inner end and resting on the frame-work, as shewn in Fig. 1, said
collar having thereon an upturned lug through which a pin k³ extends.
The shaft m may be partially rotated by means of the controlling handle or
lever 1, such rotation causing the pintle o to oscillate more or less in one or the
other direction, by means of the collar k and the joint J, and inasmuch as the

page_text: latter is a universal joint the bearing m¹ may be secured to any convenient
support.
As best shewn in Fig. 1, the frame-work A is cut away above the ears a and a¹,
and between the ears a³, the cut away portions being preferably equi-distant from
each other, and a friction disc or wheel E and its supporting yoke, to be described,
is located in each cut away portion.
The hub e of each disc or wheel E is adapted to rotate freely on a stud el
reduced at its ends, as shewn in Fig. 2, and resting in bearings formed in the
adjacent ends of the two-part rocking yokes t and t¹, one half of each bearing in
each part, a springs connecting the outer arms of the two parts, as clearly shewn
in Figs. 1 and 3.
The part of each yoke has secured to or forming a part of its inner arm
a segmental spiral toothed gear C°, shewn separately in Fig. 4, in engagement
with the spiral gear C, whereby all the gears C* may be moved in unison by or
through the gear C.
In said Fig. 4 the adjacent ends of one side of one of the two-part rocking yokes
is shown, with the attached segmental gear C*.
Preferably conical ended studs are inserted in the frame-work at its base and
in one of the ears a', to form bearings for the parts t of the several rocking yokes,
the parts t¹ of the yokes shewn in dotted lines Fig. 1, having their bearings in
conical ended set screws, whereby wear may be taken up when necessary.
The bearing for the part of the yoke, shewn in full lines in Fig. 1, is the
conical end of the pintle o hereinbefore described, the pin on the collar
entering a recess in the said part t¹ so that the yoke and the parts carried thereby
will be rocked on the bearings r and o by the controlling handle or lever and
intermediate connections, the recess being large enough to permit slight lost motion
of the pin therein.
Each yoke is adapted to rock on its end bearings, so that the friction dises or
wheels E will be parallel, or at the same angles to the shaft F, the segmental gear
carried by the yoke resting on the pintle o being turned with the yoke as described,
rotating the spiral gear C, which communicates an equal amount of rotation, and in
the same direction, to the other wheels E by their segmental gears Co.
When the parts are in the position shewn in the drawing, the wheels E are in
contact with portions of the annular concaved faces of the friction pulleys C' and F'
of equal diameter, the continuously moving pulley D then driving, by frictional
contact, the pulley F1, and thereby the machine to be operated, the said pulley F¹
being rotated at the same speed as, but in the opposite direction to, the pulley D.
As the peripheries of the friction wheels E travel towards the centre of
rotation of the friction pulleys C', the speed of the friction pulley F³ and shaft F
will be decreased and vice versa.
It will be understood that the pulley F¹ will be rotated at a slower or faster
speed with relation to the speed of rotation of the pulley D, according to the
particular position of the wheels E in the annular grooves, or in other words,
the change of position of the said wheels as to their points of contact with the
friction pulleys C' and F ensures the rotation of the pulley F¹ at a faster or
slower speed, as may be desired.
The pressure of the cam surface on the spring arm ' maintains the shaft F
and its attached friction pulley F2 in the position shewn in Figs. 1 and 2, and
in full lines Fig. 3, the friction of the wheels E being sufficient to rotate the
said pulley and the two parts of the yokes are held in alignment thereby, against
the action of the springs s, as shown in full lines Fig. 3.
When the controlling lever is lifted into dotted line position Fig. 1, the cam
is partly withdrawn from its adjacent arm ¹, and the cami is forced against and
moves the arm inwards sufficiently to cause longitudinal movement of the shaft F
to the left, Fig. 2, thereby separating the friction pulleys C' and F2.
As soon as the pressure on the friction wheels E is thus removed, the springs s
break or
cripple "the joint between the two parts t and t¹ of the rocking yokes

page_text: which rock on their conical bearings, as shown in dotted lines Fig. 3, so that the
said wheels E are moved away bodily from contact with the grooved faces of
the continuously rotating pulley D and rotation of the friction pulley F" and its
attached belt pulley F' is stopped.
In actual practice such movements of the wheel is from one sixteenth to one
eighteenth of an inch.
When it is desired to rotate the shaft F and pulley F¹ in the reverse direction,
the lever or handle is moved upwards beyond the dotted line position Fig. 1, the
cam acting against the arm hand moving the shaft still further to the left, until
the clutch member D' is brought into engagement with the conical surface d of the
belt pulley D, whereby the shaft F and pulley F' are driven in the same direction
and at the same speed as the continuously rotating pulley D.
It will be seen that the direction of rotation of the pulley F¹ is controlled by the
movement of the lever about its pivot, as is also the stopping of the pulley, while
lateral movement of the said lever rotates the shaft m, and regulates the position of
the contacting points of the friction wheels E with the two friction pulleys, to adjust
the speed of rotation of the pulley F', so that the said handle or lever forms a
common actuator for such movements.
It is to be noted that the speed of said pulley may be varied when it is rotated
in the opposite direction to the pulley D, but when rotated in the same direction its
speed is exactly that of the continuously rotating pulley D.
The springs & cause the friction wheels E to bear with a yielding pressure against
the pulley F, and also quickly move said wheels away from the annular groove of
the pulley C by bending the yokes, as soon as the pressure exerted by the friction
pulley F on their peripheries is relaxed, the teeth of the spiral gear C and the
several segmental gears C*, however, being long enough to remain in engagement
when the yokes are so bent, the movement of the gears Cx from their original angle
with relation to the spiral gear C being so slight that it can be accomplished within
a limit permitted by the play between the teeth of the said gears.
The operation of the entire mechanism is controlled by the movement of the
common actuator 1, a simple movement in one or another direction starting and
changing the speed, reversing the direction of rotation, or altogether stopping the
machine driven thereby, without the intervention of fast and loose pulleys on
the machine.
A quick movement of the actuator / about its pivot from one extreme position to
the other instantly reverses the direction of rotation of the pulley F1, and accidental
lateral movement of said actuator while the clutch member D¹ is in engagement
with the pulley D will have no effect whatever, inasmuch as the friction wheels are
at such times out of contact with the annular groove in the friction pulley C.
Prior to this invention my correspondent is not aware that a frictional speed-
changing mechanism has ever had combined with it starting and stopping, or
friction reversing mechanism, to start, stop, or reverse the rotation of the driving
shaft of a machine as desired, and all controlled from a single point, so this invention
is not limited to the exact devices shown for moving the starting and stopping, or
the reversing mechanism; nor is this invention limited to the exact construction
and arrangement of parts shown.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
ion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
laim is
1. The use, with a pulley adapted to be continuously rotated, of a pulley to be
riven and loose with relation thereto, the adjacent faces of the pulleys having
nnular grooves therein; a friction wheel interposed between the grooved faces of
he pulleys; a rocking support for such wheel; means connected to one of the
ulleys by which positive movement thereof towards the other pulley may be had
o effect the engagement of the friction wheel and both the grooved pulley faces,
o thus rotate the loose pulley, or to positively withdraw said connected pulley

page_text: from such engagement with the friction wheel to stop the rotation of the loose
pulley, and a device independent of the position or of the means for actuating said
pulleys to turn the rocking support to attain the desired relative speed of the
pulleys, substantially as described.
2. The use, with a pulley adapted to be continuously rotated, of a pulley to be
driven, loose with relation thereto, the adjacent faces of said pulleys having annular
grooves therein; a rocking support; a friction wheel mounted thereon in a yielding
manner between the grooved faces of said pulleys; and means to cause positive
relative lateral movement of the pulleys and thereby bring the friction wheel into joint
engagement with the grooved faces of said pulleys, to rotate the loose one, reverse
elative movement of the pulleys by said means permitting the yielding of and
withdrawing the friction wheel from said joint engagement and stopping the rotation
of the loose pulley.
3. The use, with a pulley adapted to be continuously rotated, of a pulley to be
driven, axially in alignment therewith and loose with relation thereto, said pulleys
being relatively movable laterally, and having annular grooves in their opposite
adjacent faces; a rocking support having fixed bearings; a friction wheel mounted
thereon between the grooved faces of the pulleys; means to move said pulleys
relatively to bring their grooved faces into engagement with opposite portious of
the friction wheel, whereby the loose pulley is rotated by but oppositely to the
continuously rotating pulley; a device to turn the rocking support and thereby
alter the angle of the wheel to attain the desired relative speed of the pulleys, and
a common actuator to operate either the support turning device or the means for
relatively moving the pulleys, substantially as described.
4. The use, with a pulley adapted to be continuously rotated, of a pulley to be
driven, axially in alignment therewith and loose with relation thereto, the adjacent
opposite faces having annular grooves therein; a series of rocking supports; a
friction wheel mounted in each support and interposed between the grooved faces
of the pulleys; connections between and to rock said supports in unison; means
independent of either of said pulleys to actuate said connections and turn the rocking
supports to attain the desired relative speed of the pulleys, and independent
mechanism connected to one of said pulleys to cause positive movement thereof
towards or from the other pulley, and thereby engagement or disengagement of
the friction wheels and the grooved faces of the pulleys, to thereby rotate, or stop
the rotation of the loose pulley.
5. The use, with a pulley adapted to be continuously rotated, of a pulley loose
with relation thereto and to be driven in either direction; a clutch member
concentric to and rotatable with the loose pulley, and adapted to be directly
engaged at times with the continuously rotating pulley, to thereby rotate the loose
pulley at the same speed and in the same direction; a friction wheel interposed
between the grooved faces of the pulleys; means to cause relative movement of the
clutch member and continuously rotated pulley, and also to cause engagement or
disengagement of the friction wheel and grooved pulley faces, to thereby rotate the
loose pulley oppositely to the continuously rotated pulley, or stop the said loose
pulley as desired, substantially as described.
Dated the 22nd day of August 1895
WM. BROOKES & SON,
55 & 56 Chancery Lane, London, Agents for the Applicant.