Improvements in or relating to Driving Gear for Self-propelled Vehicles.
Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 4th Mar., 1898
Complete Specification Left, 1st June, 1898-Accepted, 20th Aug.,
1898
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or relating to Driving Gear for Self-propelled
Vehicles.
A communication from THE DAIMLER MOTOREN GESELLSCHAFT, of Cannstatt, in
the Empire of Germany.
We, THE BRITISH MOTOR COMPANY LIMITED, of 40, Holborn Viaduct, in the
County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
-
This invention relates to the driving gear of self-propelled vehicles, and
particularly to the reversing gear.
In carrying out the invention which may be applied to various kinds of driving
gear, but is very suitable for application with belt pulleys, we arrange between
a driving and driven pulley the following mechanism: To a suitable hanger is
pivotted a spring-controlled bracket having bearings for two rollers or pulleys
geared together so that No. 2 when driven by No. 1 will travel much slower than
No. 1. The hanger which may consist of a couple of suspending links is provided
with a stop, and a spring may be used to maintain the hanger normally against
the stop so that the normal position of the whole gear is always the same.
The other end of the bracket remote from the hanger is connected by a wire
cable, rod or other suitable device with a foot or other pedal or operating device,
and the operation of the apparatus is as follows:-
When it is desired to operate this gear by means of the foot or other lever etc.,
the slow-going roller is brought into peripheral contact with any suitable drum
pulley or equivalent, which operates the road wheels of the vehicle, and the other
roller is similarly brought into contact with one of the driving drums of the
vehicle, and the harder the pedal is pressed the more firmly the various parts
engage. Roller No. 1 is rotated at a relatively high speed, but roller No. 2 goes
much slower and therefore imparts a much slower speed to the vehicle, and roller
No. 1 engaging with the slow speed of the ordinary driving mechanism it will
be appreciated that a very slow speed can be obtained for driving the vehicle
backwards.
By this arrangement the direction of motion would naturally be reversed so
that the vehicle would be driven backwards instead of forwards.
The details of the mechanism may be varied without departing from the spirit
of the invention, which however, will be understood from the foregoing descrip-
tion. For example the hanger may be dispensed with, and other means of sup-
porting the apparatus adopted.
Dated this 4th day of March 1898

page_text: Improvements in or relating to Driving Gear for Self-propelled
Vehicles.
A communication from THE DAIMLER MOTOREN GESELLSCHAFT, of Cannstatt, in
the Empire of Germany.
We, THE BRITISH MOTOR COMPANY LIMITED, of 40, Holborn Viaduct, in the
County of sliddlesex, 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 relates to the driving gear of self-propelled vehicles, and
particularly to the reversing gear.
•
In carrying out the invention which may be applied to various kinds of driving
gear, but is very suitable for application with belt pulleys, we arrange between
a driving and driven pulley the following mechanism:-To a suitable hanger is
pivotted a spring-controlled bracket having bearings for two rollers or pulleys
geared together so that No. 2 when driven by No. 1 will travel much slower than
No. 1. The hanger which may consist of a couple of suspended links is provided
with a stop, and a spring may be used to maintain the hanger normally against
the stop so that the normal position of the whole gear is always the same.
The other end of the bracket remote from the hanger is connected by a wire
cable, rod or other suitable device with a foot or other pedal or operating device,
and the operation of the apparatus is as follows: —
When it is desired to operate this gear by means of the foot or other lever etc.,
the slow-going roller is brought into peripheral contact with any suitable drum
pulley or equivalent, which operates the road wheels of the vehicle, and the other
roller is similarly brought into contact with one of the driving drums of the
vehicle, and the harder the pedal is pressed the more firmly the various parts
engage. Roller No. 1 is rotated at a relatively high speed, but roller No. 2 goes
much slower and therefore imparts a much slower speed to the vehicle, and roller
No. 1 engaging with the slow speed of the ordinary driving mechanism it will
be appreciated that a very slow speed can be obtained for driving the vehicle
backwards.
By this arrangement the direction of motion would naturally be reversed so
that the vehicle would be driven backwards instead of forwards.
In the accompanying drawings
Fig. 1 is a side elevation of one construction of reversing gear according to this
invention.
Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the same part being removed for the sake of
clearness.
Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic view showing the gear out of action.
Figs. 4, 5 and 6 are views similar to Figs. 1, 2 and 3 respectively, illustrating
another construction of reversing gear also according to this invention.
Like letters indicate like parts throughout the drawings.
With reference first to Figs. 1, 2 and 3 A is one of the driving drums of the
vehicle, and is connected by a belt B to a drum C which operates the road wheels
of the vehicle. A jockey pulley D serves to tighten the belt B when it is desired
to drive the drum C from the drum A i.e. when the vehicle moves forward in the
usual manner. The direction of the rotation which then takes place is indicated
by the arrows a. The belt B is of course slackened as shown in Figs. 1 and 4
before the reversing gear is thrown into action.

page_text: E is a hanger comprising two levers E¹ pivotally suspended in bearings E2
which are attached to the frame of the vehicle. The lower ends of the levers E2
are connected by a bolt E³ which serves as a pivot for a bracket F which is sus-
pended from it. Two rollers G G are mounted upon the bracket F and are
geared together by means of toothed wheels H H¹, the diameter of the toothed
wheel H being much smaller than that of the toothed wheel H¹. The end of the
bracket F remote from the pivot E³ is connected by a wire cable J to a foot or
other lever or operating device.
A stop E attached to the bearing E2 limits the motion of the hanger E in one
direction, and a spring E³ one end of which is also fixed to the bearing E² operates
upon a pin E6 fixed to one of the levers E¹ and tends to keep the hanger E against
the stop E. A spring FI carried by the hanger E presses upon the side of the
bracket F so that it opposes the motion caused by a pull on the cable J.
When the reversing gear is out of action as shown diagrammatically in Fig. 3
the action of the springs E5 and F¹ keeps the rollers G and G¹ out of contact with
the drums A and C.
If it is desired to reverse the motion of the vehicle the belt B is slackened and
the cable J is pulled. This causes the bracket F to move forward against the
action of the spring F¹ and brings the roller G¹ into contact with the drum C.
The roller G then acts as a fulcrum, and a further pull on the cable J causes the
bracket F to carry the roller G over into contact with the drum A. The drum A
now drives the roller G and the motion is transmitted through the toothed
wheels H and H₁ and the roller G¹ to the drum C which consequently rotates in
the direction indicated by the arrow b and drives the vehicle slowly backwards.
In the arrangement shown in Figures 4, 5, and 6 the hanger E is in the form
of a bent lever and is pivoted at its lower extremity to a bracket K which is
fastened by means of clamps K¹ to an arm K2 which forms a portion of the frame
work of the vehicle.
The other end of the hanger E carries the bracket F which is, however, in this
construction, pivoted at a point F2 between the centres of the rollers G, G¹. The
lower end of the bracket F is connected by means of a rod J¹ to a lever L. The
motion of the hanger E is limited in one direction by the arm K2 to which
the bracket K is clamped. A spring E³ which opposes the motion of the hanger E
in the other direction is carried by the arm K. This spring E5 keeps the hanger
in its normal position when the reversing gear is out of action. Any rattling
or vibration of the toothed wheels H H₁ may be prevented by causing a spring
or equivalent M to press against the side of the wheel H.
Other details of the construction of this gear are similar to those described with
reference to Figures 1, 2 and 3.
Figure 4 shows the gear in operation, and Figure 6 is a diagrammatic view of
it when out of action.
The operation of reversing the motion of the vehicle is substantially the same
as described above with reference to Figures 1, and 3. The belt B is slackened.
The rod J¹ is then pulled by means of the lever L, and the bracket F is moved
about its pivot F3 so that the roller G¹ is brought into contact with the
drum C. The roller G¹ then acts as a fulcrum and a further pull causes the
roller G to engage with the drum A which consequently drives the drum C
through the rollers G G¹ and toothed wheels H H¹ as before described.
It is obvious that several alterations may be made in the construction of this
gear without departing from the spirit of this invention for instance: -
The rollers G, G¹ need not be geared together by means of toothed wheels but
may be connected by a belt or in any other suitable manner.
Again the lever controlling the jockey pulley D may be connected with the
lever, or pedal which operates the reversing gear, so that the belt B must of
necessity be slackened before the reversing gear is thrown into action.

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this invention
as communicated to me by my foreign correspondents, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, we declare that what we claim is:-
1. In a self-propelled vehicle reversing or driving gear comprising rollers or
pulleys geared together and mounted upon a bracket pivotted to a spring-controlled
hanger.
2. In a self-propelled vehicle reversing or driving gear comprising rollers or
pulleys geared together and mounted upon a spring-controlled bracket pivotted
to a hanger also spring controlled.
3. In a self-propelled vehicle the combination with a driving and a driven
pulley of rollers or pulleys geared together and mounted upon a bracket pivotted
to a spring controlled hanger and constructed to operate substantially as described.
4. The complete reversing or driving gear for a self-propelled vehicle sub-
stantially as described or illustrated in Figures 1, 2 and 3 or Figures 4, 5 and 6
of the accompanying drawings.