Improved Clutch Mechanism for the Driving Gear of Auto-motor Vehicles.
Year: 1899

page_text: Date of Application, 19th July, 1899
Complete Specification Left, 18th Apr., 1900-Accepted, 30th June, 1900
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improved Clutch Mechanism for the Driving Gear of Auto-motor
Vehicles.
I, JULES LOUIS DIDIER, of 26, Parc "Montretout, Saint Cloud, (Seine et Oise),
France, Merchant, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
The ordinary dog or toothed clutches employed for operating the variable speed
gear of auto-motor tricycles, "voiturettes," and similar power operated vehicles
necessarily produce shocks in changing from one speed to the other owing to the
clutches being suddenly thrown into and out of action.
The object of this invention is to obviate this objection by the employment of a
special arrangement of clutch in combination with friction gear mounted upon
the wheel shaft, and which can be applied to all existing tricycles.
In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 represents a horizontal section and
Figure 2 an end elevation of the arrangement. Figure 3 is an elevation and
Figure 4 a vertical section of a modified arrangement of the variable speed gear.
In the drawings a is the wheel shaft upon which is mounted a toothed wheel b
loose upon the hub c of the balance-gear d. The wheel b is provided with a hollow
truncated friction cone c engaging with a truncated cone f fast on shaft a but
capable of sliding thereon with the aid of a clutch fork J. The friction cones are
held in contact with each other by springs h.
The toothed wheel is in constant gear with pinions loose on the motor
shafts j, but which are capable of being connected to said shafts by means of
clutches whose dogs or teeth are caused to engage in notches m in said pinions
by means of fork . When it is desired that the motor shaft ; should act on
the balance gear dit is simply necessary to put clutch k into gear with pinion o
by shifting fork n, and thereby drive toothed wheel by means of shaft through
pinion i.
In the example shown two motors are employed but it will be understood that
my arrangement may also be applied in the case of a single motor.
In the modified arrangement of a two speed gear illustrated in Figures 3 and 4
two toothed wheels a made in one with a hollow friction cone e run loose on
the balance gear and are geared with pinions i, ' of different diameters mounted
loose on motor shaft j. Either of these pinions alternately may be connected
with motor shaft j by means of a lug which is caused to drop into the one or
the other of recesses by the sliding motion of a rod 22 attached to the clutch k.
When it is desired to change the speed the cone e is first put out of gear so as to
render the toothed wheels a loose and thus permit of one of the pinions i, i
being thrown into gear without shock, after which the cone c is again thrown
into gear whereby a progressive starting or a gradual augmentation or diminu-.
tion of speed is obtained as desired.
It is to be understood that three (or more) toothed wheels may be mounted
upon the cone and three (or more) pinions be placed on the motor shaft, so as to
obtain three (or more) different speeds.
ני
In the case of a voiturette the motor shaft would be directly operated by
means of a crank on starting, and in the case of a tricycle the cone would be

page_text: operated by means of a sprocket wheel driven by an endless chain from the
pedal.
Dated this 19th day of July 1899.
A. M. & WM. CLARK,
Chartered Patent Agents, 53, Chancery Lane, London.
Improved Clutch Mechanism for the Driving Gear of Auto-motor
Vehicles.
I, JULES LOUIS DIDIER, of 26, Parc Montretout, Saint Cloud, (Seine et Oise),
France, Merchant, 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: —
The ordinary dog or toothed clutches employed with the variable speed gear of
auto-motor tricycles, "voiturettes," and similar power operated vehicles produce
shocks in changing from one speed to the other owing to the clutches being of
necessity thrown into engagement suddenly.
This invention has for object to obviate this objection and it consists in a
special arrangement of friction clutch gear mounted upon the driving wheel
shaft. This improved driving gear can be applied to all existing tricycles.
In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 represents a horizontal section and
Figure 2 an end elevation of one arrangement of gear. Figure 3 is an elevation
and Figure 4 a vertical section of a modified arrangement embodying variable
speed driving gear. Figure 5 shows another modification. Figure 6 is a longi-
tudinal section, and Figure 7 an end elevation of a further modification of the
driving gear.
In the drawings a is the driving wheel shaft upon which is mounted a toothed
wheel bloose upon the hub c of the balance gear . The wheel is provided
with a hollow truncated cone c forming one member of a friction clutch and
engaging with a corresponding truncated cone f forming the other member of
the clutch fast on shaft a but capable of being slid thereon by means of a fork g.
The cones of the clutch are held in frictional engagement with each other by
springs h.
The toothed wheel b is in constant gear with pinions which are loose on the
motor shafts j, but may be connected to said shafts by means of clutches k
operated by forks n and having dogs or teeth which are adapted to engage in
notches m in said pinions. When it is desired that the motor shaft should
drive the balance gear dit is only necessary to put clutch k into gear with pinion i
so as to cause toothed wheel b to be driven by means of shaft through pinion i.
In the example shown there are supposed to be two motors but the arrange-
ment may be used in the case of a single motor.
In the modified arrangement embodying a two speed gear illustrated in
Figures 3 and 4 two toothed wheels of different diameters are in one with a
hollow friction cone e which forms the female member of the friction clutch and
is loose on the balance gear and are respectively in gear with pinions i, i of
different diameters mounted loose on the motor shaft j. The one or other of these
pinions may be coupled with the motor shaft by means of a lug ¹ which is
caused to enter the one or other of recesses by the sliding motion of a rod n
attached to a grooved collar k engaged by fork n. When it is desired to change
the speed the cone f is first disengaged so as to render the toothed wheels a b
loose and permit of one of the pinions i, being thrown into gear without shock,

page_text: after which the cone f is again engaged whereby a progressive starting or a
gradual augmentation or diminution of speed is obtained as desired.
It is to be understood that there may be three (or more) toothed wheels on the
clutch and three (or more) pinions on the motor shaft, so as to obtain three (or
more) different speeds.
In the case of a "voiturette" the motor shaft would be directly operated by
means of a crank at starting, and in the case of a tricycle the clutch cone would
be operated by means of a sprocket wheel n¹ driven by an endless chain from the
pedal shaft.
In the modification represented in Figure 5 the pinion, which is mounted to
run loose on the motor shaft has internal teeth capable of engaging with the
teeth of a pinion y fast on shaft c. On the feather connecting the shafts ; and v
is a luge serving to hold pinion z on motor shaft j. By sliding shaft by means
of the fork so as to cause pinion to engage with pinion, the gear will be
adjusted for high speed, and by shifting pinion y into a position between wheels a
and b, the gear will be disengaged, while by bringing pinion y into gear with
wheel the gear will be adjusted for low speed, the large pinion being loose.
In Figures 6 and 7 is shown an arrangement of gear in which all friction of
the parts is avoided. a is the driving wheel shaft. is a toothed wheel loose
on hub c. d is the balance gear. e is the female friction cone and f is the male
cone, the cones being of reversed conicity to the arrangements previously
described and being pressed into engagement by springs and disengaged by
means of a fork g, pivoted at point 1 and carrying two rollers 2 which bear against
the end 3 of the cone f so as to force the cone forwards.
The engagement of the clutch is automatic under the action of springs h, and
their disengagement is effected by the fork g.
It is to be understood that the forms, details accessories, and dimensions of the
improved clutch gear may be varied without in any way affecting the principle
of the invention.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what
I claim is: —
1. Driving gear for motor tricycles and similar power operated vehicles in
which the balance gear d is capable of being driven by the motor shaft by
engagement of a clutch k with the pinion i so as to drive the toothed wheel
from shaft through pinion ¿ as hereinbefore described and illustrated in
Figures 1 and 2.
2. Two-speed driving gear of the kind specified in the preceding claim com-
prising two toothed wheels a b fast with the hollow cone e (as shown in Figures 3,
4, 6 and 7) and two pinions i, i fast on shaft but capable of being thrown the
one or other into gear with the corresponding wheel whereby two different speeds
may be obtained as described and illustrated in Figures 3 and 4.
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3. The modified driving gear of the kind specifie in the preceding claims com-
prising a pinion y fast on a sliding shaft so that by shifting the shaft in the
one direction said pinion is engaged with the wheel for high speed, through
a pinion loose on shaft j, or by shifting said shaft in the other direction the
pinion is either put into gear with the low speed wheel b, or placed in a posi-
tion intermediate of wheels a and b so as to disengage the gear, as herein
described and illustrated in Figure 5.
Dated this 18th day of April 1900.
A. M. & WM. CLARK,
Chartered Patent Agents, 53, Chancery Lane, London.