Improved Clutch Apparatus for Driving Machinery.
Year: 1890

page_text: Date of Application, 3rd July, 1890
Complete Specification Left, 3rd Apr., 1891-Accepted, 16th May, 1891
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improved Clutch Apparatus for Driving Machinery.
I, MAURICE HIPPOLYTE CHARLES WASHINGTON FARJASSE of re
Labordère 8, à Neuilly-sur-Seine (Seine) France, Engineer, do hereby declare the
nature of this invention to be as follows:-
As is well known, all clutch apparatus consists of two separate parts either of
which may be connected to a shaft, a pulley, a toothed wheel &c., the one being the
driving part, the other the driven part which parts are coupled together or
uncoupled according as the driven part requires to be set in motion or not.
According to my present invention I construct a coupling of a cord, metal band or
similar device attached at one end to the driving part and coiled round the driven
part and having its other end attached to a loose ring on the latter. For facility
of description I will call the "driving end" of the coil the end fixed to the driving
part, and the "clutch end" the end fixed to the loose ring which I will call the
clutch ring."
"
Assuming in the first instance the case of a shaft to be driven through the said
clutch from a pulley. To the pulley is attached the driving end of the cord or
band, which is coiled round the shaft and has its clutch end attached to a "clutch
ring on the shaft, the driving end being by preference passed through an eye on
the pulley and twisted into a loop, so that the length of the cord can readily be
adjusted. In the case where the pulley is to be driven by the shaft, the driving
end of the coil is attached to an eye on a ring on the shaft, which ring is by
preference adjustable and is secured in position by a setting screw; the pulley has
its boss extended in cylindrical form to the ring of the shaft and the cord is coiled
round the cylindrical extension and has its other end attached to the brake ring
which is loose on the cylindrical extension.
In both the above arrangements the action is the same; when it is not desired to
impart motion to the driven part, the driving end of the cord merely drags round
the coil and the clutch ring without imparting motion to the driven part. If
motion is to be imparted to the latter on the other hand, this is effected by applying
a force to the ring in a direction resisting its rotation by the drag of the driving end
of the cord, whereupon the coil in tightening upon the driven part will cause this
to be carried round by frictional contact. The requisite force may be applied to
the clutch ring either by a brake strap or by a cord loop hung loose over a groove
on the ring and pressed tight on it by a treadle or lever. On releasing the pull on.
the brake strap or loop the coil will again slacken, and the driven part will cease.
revolving.
In applying the clutch for connecting together two lengths of shafting, the
driving shaft has, as in the last named arrangement, an adjustable ring or collar
secured at its extreme end by a setting screw and having the driving end of the
cord attached to it, while the cord is coiled round the driven shaft which projects
beyond its bearing up to the end of the driving shaft and has the loose
clutch ring at a certain distance from the end; or the driven shaft may have a
socket shaped extension fixed on its end, into which projects the extreme end of the
driving shaft so as to rotate loosely therein, the coil and clutch ring being situated
on the outer surface of the socket. In all the above arrangements the cord or
band is by preference made with tapering section, as the power which it is required
to transmit gradually decreases from its driving end towards the clutch end.
The said clutch apparatus is applicable with advantage to all machinery, wherein
a tool or other device has to be driven at intervals, the motion being capable of
being imparted very gradually from a shaft driven at high speed, according as the
гр.

page_text: resisting force is applied more or less gradually to the brake ring. It is also
applicable with advantage as a safety clutch, as the motion being imparted by
frictional contact, the clutch can give way under sudden increases of the driving
speed or of the resistance opposed. It also enables a single loose pulley to be
employed in place of a fast and loose pulley for driving a machine, and thus avoids
the shifting of the belt. It may also be employed with advantage in the case of
twin engines driving one and the same crank shaft, the shaft being divided between
the two engines and the two parts coupled together by the said clutch, so that when
the one engine has its steam shut off the other engine can drive its length of shaft
without imparting motion to the other shaft and engine.
.
When the clutch is applied to fans, sewing machines, &c. the coil of the rope or
band can be protected against dust or contact with other objects by providing it
with a casing formed in one with or fixed to the clutch ring; this casing also
prevents the cord from uncoiling beyond a certain extent. When applying the
clutch to a sewing machine shaft or other shaft driven by treadles, it offers the
advantage that the shaft can either be driven directly by power through the clutch
or by the treadles, the clutch being also applied by means of a treadle.
When applying the clutch to winches cranes &c. for raising and lowering; the
mainshaft is provided with two such clutches, one through which it is driven by the
motor engine for raising and another by which it can impart motion to a brake
wheel for lowering, both clutches consequently operating in opposite directions.
When using a metal band for the clutch in place of a rope, it is preferred to make
it of a triangular cross section with rounded edges.
Dated this 3rd day of July 1890.
ABEL & IMRAY,
Agents for the Applicant.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improved Clutch Apparatus for Driving Machinery.
I, MAURICE HIPPOLYTE CHARLES WASHINGTON FARJASSE of rue Labordère
8 à Neuilly-sur-Seine, Seine, France, Engineer, 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:
As is well known, all clutch apparatus consists of two separate parts either of
which may be connected to a shaft, a pulley, a toothed wheel &c., the one being the
driving part, the other the driven part which parts are coupled together or
uncoupled, according as the driven part requires to be set in motion or not.
According to my present invention I construct a coupling of a cord, wire, metal
band or similar device attached at one end to the driving part and coiled round the
driven part and having its other end attached to a loose ring on the latter. For
facility of description I will call the "driving end" of the coil the end fixed to the
driving part, and the driven or "clutch end "the end fixed to the loose ring which
I will call the "clutch ring."
I will proceed to describe by way of example various modes of carrying out my
said invention, with reference to the accompanying drawings.
I will first describe the application of the invention to the case of a shaft driven
by a pulley as shewn in sectional elevation at Fig. 1 and in cross section on
line mn at Fig. 2.
To the pulley P is fixed the driving end x of the cord or band which is coiled
round the shaft A. and is fixed by its driven or clutch end to the clutch ring B,
which is loose on the shaft A. This ring B is shewn detached in front view at
Fig. 3 and in cross section at Fig. 4, the latter figure shewing how the driven end
is secured to the ring B by rivetting or otherwise. The driving ende, instead of
being fixed to the pulley P itself is by preference secured in a slightly bevilled
groove g formed in the projecting flange of the sleeve M as shewn more clearly
y

page_text: in the perspective view of this piece at Fig. 7, the sleeve M being bolted against
the boss of the pulley. Or the band may be secured to a pink fixed in a boss lon
the flange of M as shewn in the perspective view at Fig. 8 and in the front view
at Fig. 9.
3
Fig. 5 shews a sectional view of an arrangement in which the pulley is driven by
the shaft A in this case the driving end is fixed to the shaft A, for example, by
means of a ring C fixed by means of a setting screw or key; the cord wire or band?
is coiled round the extended boss D of the loose pulley and its driven end y is fixed
to the clutch ring B loose on the sleeve D. In both cases the action is the same;
the cord wire or band r pulled by the driving part revolves on the driven part,
drawing the clutch ring B round with it, without acting on the driven part, the
stiffness of the cord, wire or band being sufficient to keep it out of contact with the
latter. But if the rotation of the ring B be impeded, the cord will be tightened, and
the tension, increasing with the extent to which the cord is coiled round the driven
part, will cause the cord to grip the latter to such a degree as to drag it round with
the driving part.
For impeding or stopping the rotation of the clutch ring B on the driven part, I
simply pass round a groove a of the ring a small cord 6 which, when a 'slight tension
is applied thereto, produces the required resistance to the rotation of B; the tension
of the small cord as also the extent to which it embraces the ring B determines the
strain put upon the cord r.
As soon as the strain on the cord b ceases, the cord r will uncoil again slightly,
owing to its stiffness, and will thus at once release the driven part again.
It will be seen that the above described clutch apparatus will only act up to a
certain strain, as should the resistance offered by the driven part be greater than
the frictional grip of the cord r, the latter would slip round.
The resistance offered to the rotation of the ring B may be obtained otherwise
than as described, for example by means of frictional brake apparatus as shewn at
Fig 10; with this arrangement an automatically controlled clutch might be readily
obtained, that is to say, it may be made to maintain a constant speed of the driven
part notwithstanding variations in the speed of the driving part. For this purpose
the brake blocks s are carried by the driven part, being for example attached to
one end of levers pivotted at c to such part P and connected at their other end by
springs d to a ring E loose on the shaft A, so that the blocks s are pressed against
the clutch ring B with a force determined by the pressure exerted by the springs d,
the tension of which may be accurately regulated by shifting the ring E in one
direction or the other by means of a forked lever. Thus the frictional contact
between the blocks s and the clutch ring B may be so adjusted as either to prevent
any dragging round of the clutch ring upon the boss of the pulley P by the
cord r, in which case the pulley would revolve at the same speed as the shaft, or the
the friction of s may be such as to allow of B being dragged round more
or less upon the boss by r, so that P will only revolve at a speed proportional to the
degree of slip. Should now, in either of the above cases, the speed of the shaft A
increase, tending to increase the speed of P, the increased centrifugal action on
the blocks s will cause their grip on the ring B to be reduced, and consequently
there will be an increased slip, so that the increased speed of A will not be imparted
to P.
Thus the speed of the pulley P can be regulated by adjusting the position of the
ring E as described.
The above described clutch apparatus presents the following advantages.
1. It only requires a very small effort for putting and keeping the clutch in action,
such effort being simply made to cease for disengaging the clutch.
2. The clutching action is a gradually increasing one, with instantaneous
release.
3. The driven part has no direct connection with the driving part when put in
gear its action is automatic.
4. All shocks in throwing in and out of gear are avoided.

page_text: The apparatus may be used under various conditions, such as for a safety clutch
for detaching the shafting from the motor when required, or for connecting or
disconnecting two lengths of shafting.
In the arrangement shewn at Fig. 1, in which the pulley P drives the shaft, the
band r acts on a sleeve e keyed on the shaft A by a key f. The apparatus is
arranged so as to be thrown in gear by a very slight pull upon the small cord b, the
parts being thrown out of gear as soon as this pull ceases. Under these conditions
it will be seen that it is possible to effect the throwing out of gear from a distance
by an electro magnetic or pneumatic or other device acting on the cord b. Thus
Fig. 11 shews an electro magnetic arrangement for this purpose.
In this arrangement the small cord 6 is attached to a lever o pivotted at p and
having a hook which hooks on to the hooked end gl of the pivotted armatures of
an electro magnet t. When a current is sent through the coils of the latter, it
attracts the armature s which is thus disengaged from the hook 9 of lever o, and
this being now free to turn into the dotted position, the pull on the cord b ceases,
and the clutch is put out of gear.
This arrangement dispenses with fixed pullies as the loose pulley serves also as
the fast one, and the load on the shaft is consequently diminished to a corre-
sponding extent, and the wear and tear of the driving strap consequent on shifting
it from the fast to the loose pulley is also avoided.
Fig. 6 shews a similar arrangement to Fig. 1 in which the shaft A drives the
pulley P, the only difference being that the spring band is coiled in the contrary
direction so that the action upon the clutch ring B causes the band to uncoil and
in expanding, to apply itself to the inner surface of the boss of the pulley P so as to
carry this round by frictional contact, as before.
Fig. 12 shews a perspective view of a spring band which itself forms
part of the sleeve C which is fixed on the shaft as at Fig. 6, the inner
diameter of C being made to correspond with that of the shaft, while the
inner diameter of is made larger; r may be made a solid tube in the
first instance, and be then cut into the helical band form shewn. The throwing
in gear of such clutch apparatus being very gradual, it is particularly suitable for
working machines in which sudden strains occur, such as cutting and punching
machines, so as to avoid rupture or straining of the working parts; it is also
applicable with advantage for heavy working machinery such as rolling and
crushing mills, in which if sudden strains, stopping the motion more or less,
occur, the clutch apparatus will in such cases give way and prevent damage being
done.
As before stated, the tension and grip of the cord or band being proportional
to the tension applied to the cord b, the transmission of any desired amount of
energy or speed from a motor engine, developing a greater energy or speed, can be
obtained by varying the tension on b, so that various machines working at different
speeds can by this means be driven direct from one and the same driving shaft, and
machines such as sewing machines, can at will be worked by treadles or by power,
by simply throwing such a clutch apparatus in or out of gear by exerting or
releasing the pull on the small cord thereof, by a treadle or otherwise.
The clutch apparatus can also be applied with advantage to winches, cranes, and
the like as shewn at Fig. 13 and to an enlarged scale at Fig. 14.
The motor drives the winch through a clutch Y for raising the load; the dis-
engaging of the clutch is effected automatically on stopping the rotation of the
crank shaft by releasing the pull on the cord of the clutch ring.
A second clutch Z acts upon a pulley or sleeve fixed to the framing on which is
mounted loose the clutch ring S, the cord being coiled on the sleeve in the contrary
direction to that of the other clutch, so as to constitute a brake when the shaft is
turned in the contrary direction, the load can therefore not descend so long as the
clutch ring S of Z is held by straining its cord; on releasing this cord, the load
can descend, which is effected without the rotation of the crank handles as the
toothed wheel of the clutch Y is loose on its shaft.

page_text: When applied to electro motors, the clutch apparatus permits of these being
started without any load, and then, on the requisite speed being obtained, applying
the load gradually.
For machines used for electric lighting, the regulating clutch apparatus may
either be controlled directly or through a suitable electric transmission.
Instead of controlling the clutch ring B by means of a cord bas described, a
device such as is shewn at Figs. 15 and 16 may be used, consisting of an elastic
double wire coil & passing round the ring B and having its ends formed with eyes
to which is connected by links uu a pulling corde, so that on applying a tension
to this cord the coil is tightened on the ring B, as indicated by dotted lines at
Fig. 16.
The bottom of the groove a of the ring B is provided with a leather covering a,
Figs. 15 and 17, secured only at one end by a screw y, the rotation being in the
direction of the arrow Fig. 17.
Figs. 18 and 19 shew a similar arrangement in which the ring B has a recessed
groove a and in which the wire coil is expanded and pressed against the outer
circumference of the groove when a pull is exerted on the cord v as shewn in full
lines at Fig. 19; the dotted lines indicate the position of the ends of the loop
when this is retracted on the pull being released for throwing the clutch out of
gear.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is:
1. A. clutch apparatus consisting of a cord wire or band of metal or, other
suitable material having its one end fixed to the driving part and coiled round the
driven part, the other end being attached to a ring loose on the driven part, so that
on impeding the rotation of such ring, the coil will be tightened upon the driven
part so as to carry it round with the driving part, substantially as described.
2. The application of the clutch apparatus referred to in the preceding claim to
the driving of a shaft by a pulley, the cord or band whose driving end is fixed to
the pulley, being coiled round the shaft and having its driven end attached to a
clutch ring loose on the shaft, substantially as described.
3. The application of the clutch apparatus referred to in the first claim, to the
driving of a pulley by a shaft, the cord or band whose driving end is fixed to the
shaft being coiled round the extended boss of the pulley loose on the shaft and
having its driven end attached to a clutch ring loose on such boss, substantially as
described.
4. The application of the clutch apparatus referred to in the first claim as safety
clutch by which the transmission shaft of a motor is connected to the various
working devices of an installation, substantially as described.
5. The application of the clutch apparatus referred to in the first claim to the
driving of working machines that can also be driven by treadles, the application or
throwing out of gear of the motive power to such machines being effected by simply
pulling or releasing the cord acting on the clutch ring, substantially as described.
6. The application of the clutch apparatus referred to in the first claim to the
driving of working machines subject to sudden reductions of speed, so that
on such reductions of speed occurring the driven part of the clutch will slip on its
shaft and will thus avoid rupture, substantially as described.
7. In clutch apparatus such as is referred to in the first claim, the arrangement
wherein the clutch ring is acted upon by frictional brake blocks so arranged on the
driven part that, on an increase of speed taking place, the centrifugal action on the
brake blocks will reduce the frictional contact, and will thus control the speed
of the driven part, substantially as described.
8. In the clutch apparatus referred to in the preceding claim, acting on the brake
blocks by means of springs the pressure of which can be controlled so as to regulate
the speed of the driven part, substantially as described,

page_text: 9. In clutch apparatus such as is referred to in the preceding claims, controlling
the motion of the clutch ring by means of an elastic wire coil, acted upon by a
pulling cord either so as to be contracted upon an open groove of the ring or to be
expanded against the outer circumference of a hollow groove thereon, for restricting
the rotation of the ring, substantially as described.
10. In clutch apparatus such as is referred to in the preceding claims, controlling
the cord, wire, or band acting on the clutch ring by an electro magnetic device
operated by an electric current from a distance, substantially as described.
11. The application of the clutch apparatus referred to in the first claim to a
winch, crane, or other hoisting machinery in such manner that the hoisting motion
is imparted to the first motion shaft from the driving shaft through a clutch
apparatus, which is thrown out of gear on stopping the driving shaft, the descent of
the load being controlled by a second clutch apparatus on the first motion shaft,
acting as a brake, substantially as described.
12. The various constructions of clutch apparatus herein described with reference
to the accompanying drawings.
Dated this 3rd day of April 1891.
ABEL & IMRAY,
Agents for the Applicant.