CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN GEARING MACHINERY
Year: 1847

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EDWARD
JOHNSON COALE ATTERBURY, of Leeds, in the County of York, Merchant, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Tenth day of March, in the tenth year of Her reign, did, for
Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said Edward
Johnson Coale Atterbury, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and
authority, that I, the said Edward Johnson Coale Atterbury, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, and such others as I, the said Edward Johnson
Coale Atterbury, my executors, administrators, or assigns, should at any time
agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times during the
term of years therein mentioned, should and lawfully might might make, use,
exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-
Tweed, an Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN GEARING MACHINERY,"
being a communication from a Foreigner residing abroad; in which said
Letters Patent is contained a proviso obliging me, the said Edward Johnson
Coale Atterbury, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, par-
ticularly to describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, and to cause the same to be
inrolled in Her Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months

page_text: next and immediately after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent,
as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and
at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Edward Johnson Coale Atterbury, do hereby declare that the nature of the said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, is par-
ticularly described and ascertained in and by the following description thereof,
reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the letters and
figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
This Invention of "Certain Improvements in Gearing Machinery," which has
been communicated to me by my foreign correspondent, relates to an improved
mode of constructing differential gearing, which may be applied to machinery
of various descriptions. The ordinary mode of constructing differential
gearing for driving machinery at different speeds, according to circumstances,
consists in employing either two cones or conical barrels, or two sets or series
of pullies of different diameters, when cords or bands are used for transmitting
the motion, or when cords or bands are dispensed with, then sets or pairs of
toothed or friction wheels must be used, which are put in and out of
gear when
required. All these plans of constructing differential gearing for driving
machinery at varied speeds are open to objection, especially when the change
of speed is required to be instantaneous, as is the case in many delicate
manufacturing operations. The object of the present Invention is to ob-
viate or remove these difficulties, without producing others of equal magnitude
and importance, and the mode adopted by the Inventor of the present plan to
effect this object consists in mounting a number or series of conical toothed
wheels on a shaft, in such a manner that the whole series, when placed together,
may form the frustrum of a cone, having its sides cogged or toothed, and each
wheel may be allowed to revolve on or with the shaft independent of the con-
tinuous ones, when required. These conical wheels are driven by or are made
to drive another toothed wheel, mounted on a shaft, which is placed parallel to
the toothed surface of the wheels on the other shaft, and the shaft which
carries the single driving wheel is furnished throughout a portion of its length
with a feather which passes through the boss of the driving wheel, so that the
latter may be slidden along the shaft when required, and will always revolve
therewith. But in order that the improvement may be clearly understood,
1 have shown in the accompanying Drawings the best means with which
I am acquainted of carrying out the Invention. Figure 1 is a plan view, and
Figure 2, a side elevation of the Invention, as applied to an ordinary lathe,
but it will be obvious to any person conversant with machinery in general,

page_text: may
that this improved plan of constructing differential gearing may, with certain
modifications, be applied to any machinery where such gearing or occasional
changes in the driving speed are required. a, a, a, is the driving shaft, which is
actuated in any convenient manner, and is furnished throughout a portion of
its length with a feather b. A sliding toothed wheel cis mounted on this shaft a,
in such a manner that when it is required to change the speed of the machine
the wheel c may be slidden along the shaft with facility by means of the fork-
piece d, which is secured to the sliding rod e, and embraces the lower half of a
grooved pulley, which is cast on or is attached to the sliding toothed wheel c.
The other shaft g, on which the cone wheels 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6, are mounted,
is properly the main shaft of the machine to be actuated, but it will be evident
that it I made to act as the driving shaft, and the shaft a as the main shaft
of the machine to be actuated. The cone wheel 1 is fixed upon the shaft g,
and therefore always revolves with it, but the other five are mounted on the
shaft in such a manner that each may revolve independent of the others. The
shaft g is fluted, as seen in the detached sectional view, Figure 3, at that part
where the cone wheels are mounted, and each of the wheels 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6,
are furnished with palls or clicks h, are seen in the cross section, Figure 4,
which take into the teeth of flukes of the shaft g, and therefore cause the
wheels to be carried round by the latter in one direction, but allow of the
wheels either stopping or revolving in the opposite direction when not in gear
with the driving wheel of the shaft a. Now, supposing that this shaft a, and
its toothed wheel c, is driven at a regular and uniform speed by means of a
band passing over a pulley i, as seen in Figure 4, or in any other convenient
manner, it will be easily understood that the speed of the shaft g may
be varied by merely moving the wheel c along the shaft a, by means
of the sliding rod e and fork d. It will be seen that in moving the wheel c
along its shaft, in order to change the speed of the machine, the wheel c must
during its passage be for a moment in gear with two of the conical wheels
2 and 3, of the shaft g, as shewn by the red lines in Figure 1; and as these
two wheels 2 and 3 are of different diameters, and have a different number
of teeth, it will be evident that they cannot revolve at equal speed, although
mounted on the same shaft, and that if they were both rigidly fixed on the
shaft the teeth of one of the wheels must give way upon attempting to drive
both at the same time with one driving wheel c. In order, therefore, to
obviate this difficulty, the wheels 2, 8, 4, 5, and 6, by being connected to their
shaft by means of palls or clicks, as already described, are allowed to move in
a retrograde motion when required, so that when the pall or click of one
wheel 2 is engaged in the indentations or ratchets of the shaft
and thereby
9,

page_text: drives the latter round the adjoining wheel 3 (if at the same time in gear with
the driving wheel c), makes a gradual motion round the shaft g while being car-
ried round, so that the speed of the peripheries of the two wheels 2 and 3, one
being fixed and the other loose on the shaft, may be in due proportion, the
wheel of the smaller diameter making a greater number of revolutions within
a given time than the larger one, so as to make up for the difference in the
diameter or circumference of the two wheels. If the driving wheel c is
slidden farther along the shaft a the same thing takes place, for, while two
other wheels are in gear with the driving wheel c, the small of the two will
be made to gradually revolve round the shaft at the same time that it
is revolving with it. Of course, this only occurs for a few seconds, that
is, while the change from one wheel to another is taking place; but if by
accident the driving wheel c should remain in gear with two of the cone wheels
for any length of time, no inconvenience can arise or derangement of the
machinery take place, as the smaller cone wheel will always accommodate
itself in speed to the other, which could not be the case if both wheels were
rigidly fixed on the shaft. The arrangement of gearing machinery above
described, and shewn in Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4, will be found particularly
applicable and convenient for all purposes connected with cotton and other
manufactures where instantaneous variations in speed are occasionally required,
and where it is not requisite that the gearing should be made to revolve in
both directions; but when the improved gearing is to be applied to purposes
where the shaft is required to revolve in either direction, as will be the case
when applied to a propeller for propelling vessels, then some arrangements
must be made whereby a reverse motion may be obtained. In order to enable
the apparatus to act in whichever direction the shaft is made to revolve, some
means must be employed to prevent the cone wheels from moving round on the
shaft, and this object is effected by introducing a bar or rod in a groove made
in the shaft g, and causing this bar to move laterally and catch against each of
the cone wheels by means of stop-pieces, and thereby hold the said wheels fast,
and prevent them from turning on the shaft, when the latter is made to
revolve in the opposite direction.
Figure 5 is a sectional representation of the means I adopt to lock the
cone wheels to the shaft g, when required. A long deep groove is cut along
the shaft for the purpose of receiving a rod or bar i, i, which is provided with
a number of stop-pieces corresponding to the number of the loose cone wheels,
as seen in Figure 5, and more clearly in the detached view Figure 6. These
stop-pieces project from the shaft, and as the rod or bar i may be slidden laterally
along the groove, the stop-pieces may be brought in front of the banking pieces

page_text: at the end or tail of the palls or clicks h, h, as seen best in Figure 7, and will
therefore prevent them from moving round, except in conjunction with the shaft;
one end of the rod or bar i is made to project through the hub of the first or last
cone wheel, and may be moved laterally by hand in any convenient manner.
Supposing this apparatus to be adapted to the propeller shaft of a steam vessel,
the cone wheels may be driven round in one direction for going forward, but
when the motion of the propeller is to be reversed, as when the vessel is to be
backed, then the rod i must be first slidden laterally in order to bring the stop-
pieces against the banking pieces at the tail of the palls h; the shaft g may then
be made to revolve in either direction, and will carry round with it the cone
wheels which then become locked to it, but when it is required to alter the
speed of the propeller shaft, the cone wheels must all be unlocked or dis-
connected from the shaft g; and in order to do this the rod or bar i must be
drawn back so as to release the cone wheels and leave them free as before, to
revolve round the shaft g in one direction. When the change of speed has
been effected, the cone wheels may, if required, be again locked, so that the
shaft g may at all times be ready to revolve in either direction.
Having now described the Invention that has been communicated to me as
aforesaid, and also the best means with which I am at present acquainted for
carrying the same into effect, I would observe, in conclusion, that I do not
intend to confine myself rigidly to the construction or arrangement of all the
parts, as alterations may doubtless be made in some of the minor details
without departing from the nature and object of the improvement. And I
would also observe, that I do not intend to limit the application of the appara-
tus to any particular purposes, nor do I intend to claim the exclusive right of
mounting a series of toothed rings or wheels of various diameters on the same
shaft, which may be driven at various speeds, by causing a pinion or wheel on
the driving shaft to gear into the teeth of the said rings or wheels on the first-
mentioned shaft. But that which I consider to be new, and therefore wish to
claim as the Invention secured to me by the herein-before in part recited
Letters Patent, is,―
First, a gearing apparatus applicable to any and all purposes where differen-
tial or varying speeds are required, and by which the speed of the machine or
shaft to which it is applied may be instantaneously changed without stopping
the said machine or shaft to make the required alteration, such apparatus
consisting of a series of bevilled toothed wheels, of different diameters and
number of teeth, mounted on one shaft in such a manner as to form a toothed
cone, in which each of the said wheels may be made to rotate, independent of
the others, and drive or be driven by the shaft on which they are mounted.

page_text: Second, the means above shewn of applying the herein described apparatus
the purposes of propelling vessels.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edward Johnson Coale Atterbury, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Seventh day of September, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-seven.
EDWARD JOHNSON COALE (L.s.) ATTERBURY.