improvements in Driving Gear for sell-proponou
Year: 1899

page_text: improvements in Driving Gear for sell-proponou
We, SOCIÉTÉ FRANCAISE D'AUTOMOBILES, of No. 1, Quai National, Puteaux,
Seine, in the Republic of France, Engineers, do hereby declare the nature of this
invention to be as follows:-
This invention relates to certain improvements in the operation of clutches
whereby wheels, which are loose upon the shaft, are, when required, made fast
thereon; such wheels being capable of no sliding motion and constantly remain-
ing in gear with other wheels keyed onto the "receiving" shaft or secured on
the case of differential gearing.
In carrying this invention into practice a series of gear-wheels are mounted
loosely upon a shaft which receives motion from the motor in a permanent
manner. These gear-wheels constantly engage with other, corresponding gear-
wheels, secured to the receiving shaft. Two clutches are placed between two
of the series of gear wheels which are thus divided into two groups or sets and
permit, whenever they are moved in the axial direction, anyone of the said gear
wheels to be coupled with the shaft. Each of the clutches is operated by means
of levers, pivotted to the casing, the opposite ends of said levers being guided
along the grooves of cam-cylinders mounted upon an additional shaft.
This arrangement is already described in the Specification of prior application
No. 634508
But in the apparatus covered by the said prior specification the cam-cylinders were
fixed to their shaft permanently. Now we have found that such an arrange-
ment was not free from certain drawbacks. It has happened at times that the
operation of the cam-shaft, which had to be carried out for the purpose of varying
the speed, was interfered with, owing to the fact that, at that precise moment,
the teeth (or respective projections and depressions) of the clutches and gear
wheels did not happen to be in proper coincidence: whereby the operation of
the said shaft was retarded and rendered difficult. It is with a view to remedy-
ing this inconvenience that we have devised the arrangement forming the sub-
ject of this present application.
The cam-cylinders are here fitted on to the additional shaft in such a manner
that they are capable of moving thereon longitudinally, whilst being fast, or
integral with such shaft, in regard to rotary motion. They are, moreover,
controlled by helical springs placed around the said shaft; one of these springs
being inserted between the two cylinders, which it tends to move apart; while

page_text: the two remaining springs bear upon the frame and have the tendency to move
the said cylinders closer together. These springs press upon the cylinders
through the medium of sockets, which are guided on the shaft by small projec-
tions engaging in grooves of pre-determined length.
Owing to this arrangement the cam cylinders have a yielding support and
are capable of performing a sliding movement of limited amplitude in either
direction. The cam-cylinders are, at their bases, maintained between fixel
rollers mounted in the frame; and notches are provided on such cylinder bases,
so that the cylinders are prevented from sliding longitudinally, in the inter-
mediate positions between the successive clutches, and are left free; the said
notches taking up their positions on a level with the rollers when they are thrown
into gear.
With such an arrangement, if, when it is desired to vary the speed, the teeth
of the two operative parts of the coupling fail to move into the proper relative
positions, it is yet feasible to turn the additional shaft and to secure it in the
position corresponding to the required variation of speed; the cam-cylinders
alone performing an axial movement; while, when the engagenrent of the clutch
becomes possible, and is effected, such cylinders are brought back to their
normal position by the springs.
The advantage afforded by this arrangement will be readily understood, as
it enables the speed to be at any time varied, and the additional shaft to be
brought to its final position without there being any resistance to overcome.
Also, two wheels at a time cannot thereby be thrown into gear, owing to the
provision of the rollers, the notches being so arranged as to ensure the discon-
nection of one cam the moment the other cam comes up to be thrown into
engagement; so that in no case can a double gearing effect be produced.
The construction of the arrangement hereinabove described may be varied
so as to suit any requirements involving no departure from the principle of the
invention.
Dated this 10th dose of Tannou
1900
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicants.
COMPIETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Driving Gear for Self-propelled Vehicles.
We, SOCIÉTÉ FRANCAISE D'AUTOMOBILES, of No. 1, Quai National, Puteaux,
Seine, in the Republic of France, Engineers, 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 certain improvements in the operation of clutches,
whereby wheels, which are loose upon the shaft, are, when required, made fast
thereon; such wheels being capable of no sliding motion and constantly remain-
ing in gear with other wheels keyed on to the receiving" shaft or secured on
the case of a differential gearing.
The accompanying drawing is a section of driving mechanism constructed
in accordance with our invention; such section being taken along the axial
line of the cam-shaft.
K L M N are gear-wheels mounted loose upon the shaft J which receives
motion from the motor in a permanent manner. These gear-wheels constantly
engage with other corresponding gear-wheels, secured to the receiving shaft,
these gear wheels and receiving shaft, however, are not shown in the drawing.

page_text: Two clutches kl and m―n, are placed between two of the gear wheels, which
are thus divided into two groups, or sets, and permit, whenever they are moved
in the axial direction, any one of the said gear wheels to be coupled with the
shaft J. Each of the clutches is operated by means of levers T, pivotted at t,
the opposite ends of said levers being guided along the grooves of cam-
cylinders U, mounted upon the shaft V.
This arrangement is already described in the Specification of prior application
No. 63458.
But in the apparatus covered by the said prior specification the cam-cylinders
were fixed to their shaft permanently. Now we have found that such an arrange-
ment was not free from certain drawbacks. It has happened at times that the
operation of the cam-shaft, which had to be carried out for the purpose of vary-
ing the speed, was interfered with, owing to the fact that, at that precise
moment, the teeth (or respective projections and depressions) of the clutches and
the gear wheels, such as K L, MN, did not happen to be in proper coin-
cidence; whereby the operation of the said shaft was retarded and rendered
difficult. It is with a view to remedying this inconvenience that we have
devised the arrangement forming the subject of this present application.
The cam-cylinders are here fitted on to the shaft V in such a manner that
they are capable of moving thereon longitudinally, while being fast, or integral
with such shaft, in regard to rotary motion. They are, moreover, controlled
by helical springs such as X placed around the said shaft V; one of these springs
being inserted between the two cylinders U, which it tends to move apart;
while the two remaining springs bear upon the frame and have the tendency to
move the said cylinders closer together. These springs press upon the cylinders U
through the medium of sockets Y, which are guided on the shaft by small pro-
jections y engaging in grooves of pre-determined length.
Owing to this arrangement the cam cylinders have a yielding support and are
capable of performing a sliding movement of limited amplitude in either
direction. The cam-cylinders are, at their bases, maintained between fixed
rollers Z mounted in the frame, and notches are provided in such cylinder
bases. The cylinders are thus prevented from sliding longitudinally while the
clutches are in the intermediate positions, that is, while they are out of gear, the
said notches taking up their positions in line with the said rollers when the
clutches are thrown into gear.
With such an arrangement, if, when it is desired to vary the speed, the teeth
of the two operative parts of the coupling fail to move into the proper relative
positions, it is yet feasible to turn the shaft V and to secure it in the position
corresponding to the required variation of speed; the cam-cylinder alone per-
forming an axial movement, while when the engagement of the clutch becomes
possible, and is effected, such cylinders are brought back to their normal
position by the springs.
The advantage afforded by this arrangement will be readily understood, as it
enables the speed to be at any time varied, and the shaft V to be brought to its
final position without there being any resistance to overcome. Also, two wheels at a
time cannot thereby be thrown into gear, owing to the provision of the rollers Z,
the notches being so arranged as to ensure the disconnection of one cam the
moment the other cam comes up to be thrown into engagement: so that in no
case can a double gearing effect be produced.
The construction of the arrangement hereinabove described may be varied so
as to suit any requirements involving no departure from the principle of the
invention.
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 :-
The improvements above described, both in the combination of the main parts,

page_text: and in the details, of mechanism for controlling friction clutches, enabling the
controlling shaft to be at any time moved to the final position, corresponding
to a given speed, whatever may be the position of the teeth (or projections and
notches) of the clutches at the time; so that two coupling or gearing effects may
in no case be produced simultaneously; substantially as described with reference
to the accompanying drawing.
Tated this 16th day of (botober 1800
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicants.