Improvements in Apparatus for the Transmission of Power or Motion.
Year: 1887

page_text: Date of Application, 9th Feb., 1887
Complete Left, 9th Nov., 1887
Complete Accepted, 9th Dec., 1887
Improvements in Apparatus for the Transmission of Power or
Motion.
THOMAS DRAKE HOLLICK of 26 Shore Road Hackney London E. and WILLIAM
EDWARD RICKARD of 14 Strafford Street Millwall E. Engineers, do hereby declare
the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
An arm for actuating a silent feed or our roller apparatus as described hereafter is
preferably pivoted in a guide at one end and at the other end is attached to the silent
feed or roller apparatus-At a convenient point in the said arm or in the guide a
suitable slot is provided so that a bar or link can pass through it, preferably at about
right angles to it. The bar or link is pivoted at a suitable point preferably on a guide
which is adjustible towards and from the aforesaid arm-Or the guide on which the
arm is pivoted may be adjustible towards and from the point where the bar or link is
pivoted.
The adjustment being so that it brings the centres on which the bar or link and the
arm are respectively pivoted, nearer together or farther apart as may be required-
The movement is given to the arm to actuate the silent feed or roller apparatus by
moving the bar or link backwards and forwards, that is, by oscillating it about its
pivot, the power being given to the arm for actuating the silent feed, at the slot
through which the bar or link passes.
It will be seen that the nearer the pivoted points approach each other the smaller
will be the travel of the arm and consequently there will be greater leverage and less
travel on the arm, that is, greater power and less speed. The bar or link may bo
actuated from a first moving shaft from which we wish to take our power by any
convenient means such as a connecting rod from a crank or eccentric and the like-
Great reduction of speed is obtainable by the use of this apparatus and it is very
suitable for electric tram cars, electric railways, cranes, winches and a variety of
purposes It affords a flexible connection between the driven shaft and the driving
shaft and also gives great variations in the reduction of speed at pleasure by adjusting
the relative positions of the pivoted points in the bar or link and the arm. The
apparatus may be stopped by bringing the pivoted points in the bar or link and the

page_text: arm opposite each other or by moving the silent feed or roller apparatus out of gear
and the direction of motion of the driven shaft may be reversed by having a double
silent feed motion to work in opposite directions or our roller apparatus which may
be thrown in or out of gear as follows: A shaft which we wish to drive has a collar
free to revolve on it preferably in one with an arm, or the collar may be free to revolve
round a wheel or disc.
The collar has a groove in it parallel with the axis of the shaft but circumferentially
inclined towards the shaft at both ends and from it in the middle, so that a roller
which is just loose between the top of the groove in the collar and the shaft when the
roller is opposite the part of the curve which inclines from the shaft, will jam between
the collar and shaft and grip the shaft when moved either way, that is, to where the
groove inclines towards the shaft. Power being applied to the arm of the collar will
cause the collar to take the shaft round with it-The system of levers we have
described gives a backwards and forwards motion to the arm of the collar so that
when going forward the collar takes the shaft with it and when going backwards the
roller will not grip-While the arm is going backwards the shaft may be carried on
by another similar arrangement or by double set of arms on to the silent feed or by
momentum it may have acquired.
By moving the roller one way the driven shaft will revolve one way, when it the
middle the shaft is free and will stop and by moving it to the opposite and the shaft
will revolve the other way-Either one or more grooves may be used and either
curved one way only or both ways or opposite ways and one or more arms may be
used for actuating the silent feed or roller apparatus and they may be pivoted to the
same point or otherwise and actuate the silent feed or roller apparatus from top
bottom or sides.

page_text: Improvements in Apparatus for the Transmission of Power or
Motion.
We THOMAS DRAKE HOLLICK, of 26, Shore Road, Hackney, E. Engineer, and
WILLIAM EDWARD RICKARD, of 14, Strafford Street, Millwall, E. Engineer, do
hereby declare the nature of our invention and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, and accompanying drawing, (that is to say):
―
Our invention relates to apparatus for transmitting power or motion, as for instance
where it is required that a driving shaft set in revolution by any suitable power shall
set in revolution at a different speed another shaft actuating machinery of any kind,
and more especially to the apparatus for such purpose for which we applied for Letters
Patent dated November 2nd A.D. 1886 and numbered 14,087.
has
In the specification of the said Letters Patent we described and claimed an arrange-
ment in which the shaft which it is desired to drive is turned truly cylindrical or
a cylindrical disc fixed or formed upon it, so that a loose concentric collar or ring
can fit and turn freely upon it, this ring having one or more excentric grooves formed
in its interior circumference parallel to the axis of the shaft, in which grooves are
fitted rollers or friction pieces arranged so that if the ring or collar be moved round
in one direction it will revolve without moving the shaft, whilst if turned in the
opposite direction the shaft will be gripped and will be turned round with the ring or
collar. A backward and forward oscillating movement of the ring or collar is
produced by excentrics, cranks, cams, or other equivalent means actuating arms or
levers attached to the rings or collars.
Our present invention has for its objects novel methods of construction and arrange-
ment by which the speed of the driven shaft relatively to that of the driving shaft
can be instantly varied as desired, or the rotation of the former can be stopped or its
direction reversed without interfering with the movement of the driving shaft.
For this purpose we use an arm for actuating the arm or lever upon the ring or
collar just described, such actuating arm being preferably pivotted in a guide or to
a radius link at one end and connected at the other end to the lever or arm upon the
ring, or to the ring itself.
At a convenient point in the actuating arm a slot or guide is provided through
which a bar or link can pass freely, preferably at about right angles. This bar or
link is pivotted at or near one end in a guide along which it can be made to pass as
desired so that the pivotted end of the link can be brought nearer to or further from
the actuating arm.
Or instead of this arrangement the point at which the actuating arm is pivotted
may be brought nearer to or further from the pivot upon which the end of the link
turns.
A connecting rod from a crank or excentric upon the driving shaft is pivotted at its
outer end to the end of the link opposite to the pivot upon which the latter turns.

page_text: It will be seen that the nearer the pivot upon which the link turns is brought to
the guide through which it passes in the actuating arm, the less will be the recipro-
cating movement of the latter, until if the pivot is made to coincide with the centre
of the actuating arm the latter will cease to reciprocate and the ring or collar will
cease to drive the shaft round which it is fitted.
On the other hand the further the pivot upon which the link turns is brought from
the guide through which it passes in the actuating arm, the greater will be the move-
ment of the latter, until if the centre to which the connecting rod is pivotted is made
to coincide with the centre of the actuating arm the length of the reciprocations of
the latter will be equal to the stroke of the driving crank or excentric, the leverage
upon the ring or collar being in this case less and the speed of the driven shaft
greater.
By adjusting, therefore, the position of the pivot upon which the link turns, the
ring or collar can be made either to cease to reciprocate and to drive the shaft, or it
can he made to drive the latter at its highest speed but with the least power.
At any intermediate point the leverage or power is increased and the speed lessened
or vice versa as may be desired, without the movement of the driving shaft being
interfered with. This facility for varying the relative speed and power is especially
applicable to cases where heavy weights have to be set in motion, as for instance in the
case of tramcars, which can be started slowly but with the maximum of power, the
speed being increased and the power applied diminished when the tramcar has been
started. In cases where electricity is used as a motive power, the apparatus and
method of operation is especially applicable.
The accompanying drawing is in illustration of our invention, figure 1 being a
side view, and figure 2 a plan showing one form of the apparatus and its mode of
operation.
a is the driving shaft made to revolve at a high speed by electricity or other power.
d is a crank or excentric of short stroke upon the shaft a which revolves in suitable
bearings b, b.
The shaft c which is the driven shaft (as for instance the driving axle of a tramcar)
is provided with a disct, a ring or collar s, inclined recess u, and roller or friction
piece v, as described in the specification of our former Letters Patent already herein-
before referred to. m is the actuating arm pivotted at one end at to an arm upon
the ring or collars, and having its other end at n working in a guide or (as shewn in
the drawing) pivotted to a radius link o turning upon a centre p.
The actuating arm m is shewn in two pieces (figure 2) bolted together so as to
form an eye at 7 which fits freely upon the centre of a cylindrical guide & having
end flanges through slots in which pass (at about right angles) the two bars or
links g, g¹, the ends of which at h, h¹, are provided with pivots working in fixed
guides or connected to levers and a handle (not shewn in the drawing) so that they
can be raised or lowered and adjusted in any desired position. The upper ends of the
links g, g', are firmly connected together and held at i and they are also provided
with pins or studs at ff, upon which are fitted and turn the outer ends of the forked
connecting rod e, the other end of which is fitted upon the crankpin d, as already
described.
It will be seen that by the method of construction shewn, the links g, g', can be
lowered until the pins ff' coincide with the centre of the actuating rod m, in which
case the point will have a reciprocating stroke equal to the throw of the crank or
excentric d, or they can be raised until the centres h, h¹, coincide with the centre of
the actuating rod m, in which case the point will have no reciprocating movement,
and the shaft c will cease to be driven, whilst at any intermediate point the point
will have a proportionally longer or shorter reciprocating movement, and the shaft c
a greater or less speed of rotation, the speed of the driving shaft a remaining always
the same.
The lever or apparatus by which the links gg' are raised and lowered may
be connected to a brake lever operating a brake, in such manner that when the shaft c
ceases to be driven, in the manner described, the brake comes simultaneously into
operation.

page_text: Where such variations of speed are not required, the connecting rod e may be
connected directly to the arm upon the ring or collar s, as shewn in dotted lines in
figure 1.
In order to reverse the direction of rotation of the shaft c when desired, without
interfering with the rotation of the driving shaft a, the novel methods of arrangement
shewn in figures 4, 5, and 6, may be used, Figure 4 being a side view, figure 5 a
plan, and figure 6 a front view.
These
The friction roller is provided at its ends with pivots turning in bearings in the
upper end of plates or arms r,, which turn freely upon the shaft c.
arms a, a, have projections y, y', below (or in other convenient position) which are
connected by the link to a lever A turning upon a centre B carried by the recipro-
cating ring or collar s, the end of the lever A having a handle C by which the
arms y y can be turned in either direction so as to bring the roller or friction piece v
toward either end as may be desired of the inclined recess u (as indicated in dotted
lines in figure 4)-The lever A is made elastic so as to allow a sufficient amount of
movement backward and forward to the roller v, whilst the handle C remains fixed in
the desired position.
It is evident that as the position of the roller or friction piece is adjusted near one
or other end of the double inclined recoss u, so the shaft e will be made to revolve in
one or other direction accordingly whilst in its central position the shaft will not be
driven in either direction. The handle may be placed at any convenient distance, as
shewn in dotted lines in figure 4, and the roller or friction piece is always
maintained in a position exactly parallel with the shaft c.
We prefer to fix an elastic catch to the ring or collars, as indicated at 2¹ figure 4,
the catch having three notches which fit upon a pin or stud at the lower end of the
levers y, y', so as to retain them sufficiently firmly in either of the positions to which
they have been moved by the handle Cas described. In this case the lever A need
not be elastic as first described.
Instead of one two or more recesses and rollers or friction pieces may be used
in the rings; and two or more discs and rings s with recesses and rollers or friction
pieces may be used upon the shaft c and rollers or friction pieces coming into
operation alternately.
Where two or more of the improved apparatus are so used upon the same shaft, we
connect together the devices described for starting, stopping, reversing, and varying
the speed of the shaft, so that they are actuated by a single handle.
A great reduction in the speed of the shaft c relatively to that of the driving shaft a
can be obtained by the use of our improved apparatus, and it is very suitable for
electric tramcars, or boats, electric railways, cranes, and for other purposes of the
like kind.
It affords a flexible connection between the driven and driving shafts, with facility
for obtaining great variation in the relative speed between the two.
The apparatus may be arranged in any convenient position, as may be found most
convenient; and we do not confine ourselves to the precise forin and arrangement of
the several parts which may be varied more or less to suit varying circumstances, but
having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said invention,
and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim is :-
1. In apparatus for communicating rotary motion from one shaft to another by
means of a ring or collar s, inclined recess u and roller or friction piece c, the com-
bination of the actuating bar m, pivotied transverse link or bar passing through a
slot or guide in the bar m, reciprocating connecting rod pivotted to the transverse
link or bar, and means of raising or lowering the pivotted transverse link or bar, all
arranged and operating substantially as and for the purpose described, and illustrated
in figures 1 and 2.
2. The method of construction, consisting of the actuating bar m, having a central
eye fitting upon the cylindrical guide k, the links or bars 9, g', fitting in slots in the

page_text: guide k, and pivotted below to guides or levers by which they can be raised or lowered,
and above to the end of the reciprocating connecting rod e, in such manner that either
the centres ff, or h, h, can be brought as desired to the centre of the actuating
bar m, substantially as and for the purpose described, and shewn in figures 1 and 2.
3. In combination with the disc t, ring or collar s. inclined recess u and roller or
friction piece v, the plates a, x¹, turning upon the shaft c and carrying the roller or
friction piece v, the connecting link clastic lever A pivotted upon the ring s, and the
adjustable handle C, all substantially as and for the purpose described, and shewn in
figures 4, 5, and 6.
4. In combination with the plates y y¹, connecting link, and lever A, the elastic
catch, for retaining sufficiently firmly the plates y, y', in their desired position,
substantially as described and indicated in figure 4.