Improvements in the Driving Gear of Self Propelled Vehicles.
Year: 1899

page_text: Date of Application, 2nd Aug., 1899-Accepted, 24th Mar., 1900
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Driving Gear of Self Propelled Vehicles.
I, ROBERT BOLTON RANSFORD, of 41, Waldegrave Road, Upper Norwood, in the
County of Surrey, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of this invention
(which has been communicated to me from abroad by La Société de Dietrich
et Cie., of Niederbronn, Alsace, in the Empire of Germany, Ironmasters,) and
in what manner the same is to be performed to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement: —
This invention has for its object a novel arrangement of disconnecting mech-
anism which allows the driver of the vehicle to put the driving belt of a motor
out of action with his foot without affecting in any way the disconnecting
hand lever it suffices to press upon a pedal and as soon as the pedal is released
the driving belt is put into action automatically.
Usually in order to change speed it has been necessary to put the driving
belt out of action then to operate a lever to change the speed and afterwards
to put the belt into action again which required three successive operations by
the same hand. With the present arrangement the belt is put out of action
by pressure of the foot upon a pedal at the same time that the change of speed
is being operated by hand.
On releasing the pedal the belt is put into action automatically by means of
a spring.
In the old arrangement it was necessary to allow between the operation of
putting the belt out of and into action a considerable space of time due to the
three operations which are made successively as has been said by the same
hand. With the present arrangement these three operations take place almost
simultaneously which does not cause a stop in the working of the motor and
consequently no shock or jerks, for the passage from one speed to another takes
place imperceptibly.
The mechanism for putting the belt out of action made in accordance with
this invention is shown in the accompanying drawings in which:
Figure 1 is a side elevation and Figure 2 is a plan.
Figure 3 shows the lever mechanism for shifting the belt from one pulley to
the other.
a is the belt shifter worked by a small connecting rod by means of a lever c
fixed upon a vertical shaft d; upon this shaft is keyed a double pulley e in each
of the grooves of which is wound a chain end f and f'. This chain fis attached
at g to a roll h having a screw socket at i. To this rod is screwed the rod j of
the hand lever by means of which the belt is put out of action by hand as
well as by the foot, the pull upon the chains being then made in the contrary
direction. is a spring tending always to keep the belt in action. / is a rod
When the pedal is
fixed at m to the chain f¹ and pivotted at a to the pedal o.
pressed down the rod is moved longitudinally and the pulley is rotated from
left to right which turns the shaft operating the levers c and band also the
belt shifter a which then causes the belt on the fast pulley to be moved on to
the loose pulley q. During this time a small bent rod r pivotted to the upper
り

page_text: part of the pulley stretches the spring one end of which is fastened to it and
the other end to the rod of the hand lever. When the pedal is released this
spring again puts the driving belt into action. To put the belt out of action
by hand, the rod jis pulled, the pedal remaining stationary; the pulley e
turns from left to right which rotates the shaft d, operating the levers c and b
and the belt shifter a, and as there is some slack in the connections of the rod
the motor remains out of gear when the lever is released, this being necessary in
order to stop the vehicle.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what
I claim is:-
The method of connecting and disconnecting the driving belt of a motor by
means of a foot lever substantially as described and illustrated in the accom-
panying drawings.