IMPROVEMENTS IN SPEED CHANGING MECHANISM
Year: 1885

page_text: I, ARTHUR GEORGE MEEZE, of Redhill in the County of Surrey, Engineer,
do hereby declare the nature of my invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN SPEED
CHANGING MECHANISM" to be as follows:-
:-
The principal object of my Invention is to improve the construction of Turning
Lathes by providing a cheap, compact, and efficient means of regulating and con-
trolling the motion of the headstock mandrel, and of adapting the angular
velocity of the latter to the work in hand. To this end I entirely dispense with
the ordinary back-gear in use for a similar purpose, and simplify the construction'
of my headstock as follows:-
At a suitable point near the middle of the mandrel, I key, or otherwise securely
fasten, a small cog-wheel, and on opposite sides of this cog-wheel, I arrange a
pair of step or cone pulleys so as to turn freely and independently about the
imandrel as an axis. The face of one of these pulleys-preferably the pulley on
the right-hand side of the said cog-wheel-carries one or more, by preference
two, projecting arms which serve as axles for secondary cog-wheels or pinions
turning freely thereon and at the same time running in gear with the cog-wheel
upon the mandrel. The adjacent face of the second step pulley carries a cog-wheel
which is larger than either of the others and furnished with internal or hypocy-
cloidal teeth cut and allocated to gear with the secondary cog-wheels or pinions
described as mounted on the arms or axles which project from the face of the first
pulley. The whole is thus arranged in gear to form an epicyclic train similar to
that described by me in my specification N° 5909 of the 29th of December 1883
for a different purpose.
From the arrangement of the elements of this combination it is obvious that if
the first described pulley be driven while the second is kept fixed, the headstock
mandrel will be caused to rotate in the same direction, though not with the same
velocity, as the moving pulley: and it is also evident that if the first pulley be
fixed and the second driven, the motion of the mandrel will be retrograde. If,
therefore, both pulleys be driven in the same direction with a certain determinate
difference of velocity, depending upon the relative diameters of the cog-wheels
forming the epicyclic train, the mandrel will remain at rest. Any departure from
this fixed ratio, as, for example, an increase in the relative velocity of the first
pulley, will result in a differential motion of the mandrel, which motion may be
quick or slow as desired.

page_text: To provide for the suitable and convenient motion of the step-pulleys of the
headstock, I attach to the driving or treadle shaft of the lathe a step driving
wheel or wheels, from which, in general, I transmit motion by means of a pair of
driving belts to the pulleys of the headstock. By this device
give to each of
these pulleys an independent motion, and, by adjusting their driving belts to the
proper steps or grooves of the driving wheel, I contrive a convenient difference of
velocity between them suitable to the required velocity of the mandrel.
Normally, I use only one driving belt, and provide a suitable bolt or fastening
for locking the two loose pulleys firmly together at will, by which means they are
constrained to move as one with the headstock mandrel.
I provide also means of locking or fixing at will one of the pulleys, that it shall
not revolve while the other is left free to be driven by the belt from the driving
wheel, and in this manner I secure and control a very much greater range of
velocity in the headstock mandrel than has been hitherto possible.
The
In some cases, I may substitute for the set of epicyclic gear, in the apparatus
described above, three bevil-wheels--one attached to each of the step pulleys and
the third engaging the other two and carried by a stud projecting at right angles
from the mandrel-the whole forming a well-known differential device.
capabilities and utility of this latter arrangement are not, however, so great as
of that first described, and as it is less convenient in use I, in general, prefer to
employ for the purposes of my invention the said train of epicyclic gear.
In so far as my invention comprises a driving shaft with pulleys thereon, from
which motion and power may be transmitted by means of a pair of driving belts,
or their equivalent, to a pair of driven pulleys-or by means of one driving belt
to one driven and one fixed pulley-and thence by an arrangement of epicyclic
gear, or of differential gear, to a secondary or driven shaft, the said invention is
applicable to a variety of other useful purposes. For example, the apparatus
described may be applied as a many-speed gearing for communicating motion and
power from the pedals to the driving wheels of a velocipede. In this, and in some
other applications, I find it useful to replace the step-pulley on the treadle, or
driving shaft by a pair of pulleys, one of which runs forward loose on the shaft
and is prevented from running back by a suitable clutch. My means of driving
may obviously be employed in connection with the ordinary differential steering, or
balanced gear, as applied to velocipedes, and the pedals may be used as foot rests
when running down hill.
Another useful application of my invention is as a quick return motion for
planing and shaping machines, and the like. In this application I prefer to use a
cone clutch for keeping or holding at will the required pulley, and I cause the
lever which actuates the clutch to simultaneously force the driving belt to an
adjacent loose pulley, that the quick return may take place.
I may, however, make use of a pair of clutches so arranged that when the pulley
on the secondary shaft is fixed for the quick return, the corresponding pulley on
the primary or driving shaft is free, and vice versa.

page_text: I, ARTHUR GEORGE MEEZE, of Redhill, in the County of Surrey, Engineer, do
hereby declare the nature of my invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN SPEED CHANGING
MECHANISM" and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement:-
My invention, which may be applied as a variable speed motion to a variety of
useful purposes, relates to "Improvements in Speed Changing Mechanism."
In Sheet I. Figs. 1 and 2, and in Sheet II Fig. 3, of the accompanying drawings,
I show the means which I have devised for carrying my invention into effect in
its application to Turning Lathes.
In Sheet II, Fig. 4, I show one way in which my "Speed Changing Mechanism"
may be applied to the improvement of velocipedes; and in Figs. 5 and 6 of the
same sheet I show how my invention may be adapted to planing machines and
the like so as to obtain a quick return motion.
One of the leading objects of my invention is to improve the construction of
Turning Lathes and particularly of such Lathes as are designed for the use of
Amateurs-by providing a cheap, compact and efficient means of regulating and
controlling the motion of the headstock mandrel and of adapting the angular
velocity of the latter to the work in hand. To this end I entirely dispense with
the ordinary back-gear, in use for a similar purpose, and simplify the construction
of my headstock in the manner described below with reference to Sheet I, Figs. 1
and 2, of the drawings.
In Fig. 1, a is the frame of the headstock shown partly in section, b is the
mandrel and c the back centre, all of ordinary construction. To adapt my
invention, at a suitable point near the middle of the mandrel, b, which may if
desired be made of the traversing pattern, I key or otherwise securely fasten a
small cog-wheel, f, and on opposite sides of this cog-wheel I arrange a pair of step
or cone pulleys, d and e, so as to turn freely and independently about the mandrel, b,
as an axis. The face of one of these pulleys-preferably the pulley, e, on the right-
hand side of the said cog-wheel f,-carries one or more, by preference two
projecting arms h, h, which serve as axles for secondary cog-wheels or pinions g, g,
turning freely thereon and at the same time running in gear with the cog-wheel, f,
upon the mandrel. The adjacent face of the second step-pulley, d, carries a cog-
wheel, i, which is larger than either of the others and furnished with internal or
hypocycloidal teeth cut and allocated to gear with the secondary cog-wheels or
pinions g, g, described as mounted on the arms of axles h, h, which project from
the face of the first pulley, e. The whole is thus arranged in gear to form an
epicyclic train similar to that described by me in my Specification No. 5909 of the
29th of December 1883 for a different purpose. In Fig. 2 is shown a sectional
elevation, (on the line 1, 2,) of the essential elements of the epicyclic device; the
similar parts of which are lettered to correspond with Fig. 1.
From the arrangement of the elements of this combination it is obvious that if
the first described pulley, e, be driven, while the second, d, is kept fixed, the
headstock mandrel, b, will be caused to rotate in the same direction, though not
with the same velocity, as the moving pulley, e; and it is also evident that if the

page_text: first pulley, e, be fixed and the second, d, driven, the motion of the mandrel, b, will
be retrograde. If, therefore, both pulleys, e and d, be driven in the same direction
with a certain determinate difference of velocity, depending upon the relative
diameters of the cog-wheels f, g, i, forming the epicyclic train, the mandrel will
remain at rest. Any departure from this fixed ratio, as, for example, an increase
in the relative velocity of the pulley e, will result in a differential motion of the
mandrel, which motion may be quick or slow as desired.
The way in which I provide for the suitable and convenient motion of the
step-pulleys of the headstock is shown in Sheet II Fig. 3. To the driving or
treadle shaft b¹ of the lathe I attach a step-driving wheel or wheels, d, e, from
which I transmit motion by means of a pair of driving belts o, o¹, to the pulleys d, e,
of the headstock. By this device I give to each of these pulleys an independent
motion, and, by adjusting their driving belts to the proper steps or grooves of the
driving wheel, I contrive a convenient difference of velocity between them, suitable
to the required velocity of the mandrel.
Normally, I use only one driving belt and provide a suitable bolt or fastening for
locking the two loose pulleys firmly together at will, by which means they are
constrained to move as one with the headstock inandrel. In Sheet I Fig. 1 is
shown a device for this purpose consisting of a taper pin, k, contrived to fit a hole
of corresponding shape bored through the pulley d. One end of this pin screws
into a hole, h, in the stud axle, h, and thus firmly bolts the two pulleys & and e so
as to move as one with the mandrel. I provide, also, means of locking or fixing,
at will, one of the pulleys-for example the pulley e,-that it shall not revolve,
while the other is left free to be driven by a belt from the driving wheel; and, in
this manner, I secure and control a very much greater range of velocity in the
headstock mandrel than has been hitherto possible. A simple device for fixing
the pulley e, is a taper pin, m, inserted as shown in Fig. 1 through a partially
threaded hole, n, in the headstock frame into a conical aperture, l, in the pulley.
In some cases I use a bolt (not shown in the drawing) attached rigidly to the
frame of the headstock and contrived to be shot into the opening, j, in the pulley d.
By this means the pulley d may be prevented from rotating while the pulley e
may be driven, and thus an additional set of velocities secured. Altogether the
range of velocity possible to the mandrel of a headstock, proportioned as in the
drawings, varies from the slowest conceivable creep up to three times that obtained
in the normal way when the driving belt runs from the largest step of the main
wheel to the smallest step of the headstock pulleys.
In some cases I may substitute for the set of epicyclic gear, in the apparatus
described above, three bevil wheels-one attached to each of the step pulleys d, e, and
the third engaging the other two and carried by a stud projecting at right angles
from the mandrel b-the whole forming a well-known differential device. The
capabilities and utility of this latter arrangement are not, however, so great as of
that first described; and as it is less convenient in use, I, in general, prefer to
employ for the purposes of my invention, the said train of epicyclic gear.
A simple way in which my invention may be applied as a many-speed gearing
for communicating motion and power from the pedals to the driving wheels of a
velocipede is shown in Sheet II Fig. 4. In this, and in some other applications,
I find it useful to make the step pulleys, d', e¹, on the treadle or driving shaft, b¹,
independent of one another, and to contrive that one of them, for example, e¹, shall
be driven through some well-known form of over-running clutch, so that it shall
be free to run forward loose on the shaft while it is prevented from running back
unless the pedal shaft, b', rotate with it. In this figure I have shown no more of
the framework of the velocipede than is necessary for my immediate purpose, and
generally I may remark that in all the figures similar parts are uniformly lettered
so that the description already given of the essential parts of my invention is
applicable to all. In Fig. 4 the treadle shaft bruns through bearings in the
⚫ ordinary way and carries a pair of cranks b* 6* with pedals. The driven shaft b
carries the main wheels of the machine at its extremities. At q is shown a

page_text: transverse fou form
part of the frame
a forked lever handle, p³, by which a clutch p may be thrown in and out of gear
at will. The clutch p slides upon the shaft b with a feather and, consequently,
when the handle is thrown over so that the pins p¹ p¹ of the clutch engage the
holes, rr, of the pulley, d, the latter becomes one with the shaft. In this, which
is the normal case, the pulley e also becomes, through the gearing, keyed to the
shaft, the velocity of which is now determined by the relative diameters of d
and d. When in action the pulley e¹ must of course move faster than & and for
this the over-running clutch provides. If the clutch p be disengaged both
belts o, o, will drive the shaft, b, through the gearing, with a slow motion for hill
work. To obtain a third velocity faster than either of those obtainable in the
manner just described I provide a sliding or other equivalent bolt, s, in connection
with some part of the framework, as q, and a recess, s', in the pulley, e, into which
the projecting pin, s2, of the bolt may be shot when desired. When this is done
we may, by pedaling backwards, obtain a rapid forward motion of the wheels of
the machine. In the above described application of my invention to the improve-
ment of velocipedes the pedals are available as foot rests when running down hill
and my means of driving may obviously be employed in connection with the
ordinary differential steering or balanced gear.
Another useful application of my invention to planing machines and the like, by
which I secure a quick return motion, is shown in Fig. 5. In this application the
pulley e has a prolonged boss e* on which runs a loose pulley, t, adjacent to e. To
the outer portion of the boss a cone piece, t¹, is securely keyed and adapted to be
clutched, when required, by a cone cap, u, which slides with a feather on a pro-
jecting part of the bearings, v. Another projection of this bearing furnishes a
support, u, for a forked lever-handle u¹, which simultaneously engages both the
cone clutch, u, and, by means of the hooked piece u³, the driving belt o¹.
The shaft, b, carries a cog-wheel w, by which the rack on the table of the planing
machine is driven in a well-known way. Normally, if both belts are driving, as
shown in the figure, the cog-wheel or pinion, w, will drive the table of the machine
forward with a suitable differential velocity. When, however, the table arrives at
the end of the cut the lever u¹ may be thrown over, either by hand, or, auto-
matically in one of many known ways, so as to carry the belt, o¹, on to the loose
pulley and bring the clutch u into action. The pulley, e, being then no longer
able to revolve, and the belt o¹ rendered inoperative by its connection with the
loose pulley, the continued forward action of the belt o causes the shaft b and its
pinion w to run backwards at a high velocity for the next cut.
Sometimes I modify the above device and make use of a pair of clutches so
arranged that when the pulley on the secondary shaft is fixed for the quick return
the corresponding pulley on the primary or driving shaft is free and vice versa.
This contrivance is illustrated in Fig. 6. The loose pulley, t, Fig. 5, is here
dispensed with, but in other respects the pulley, e, has an elongated boss with
cone-piece, t¹, and clutch, u, as before. The pulley, e', instead of being one with
the driving shaft 61, runs loose thereon but may be clutched thereto by a cone-
clutch, u, feathered to the shaft and actuated by a prolongation of the same
lever that, in turning on the stud 2¹, moves the clutch u. As shown in the
drawing both clutches are out of action; but, if the lever handle, z², be drawn
down, the wheel, e¹, will be clutched to the driving shaft and both belts o o' will
be at work as above described.
If, on the contrary, the handle be forced up the pulley, e¹, will be free, and e
being clutched, so that it cannot rotate, the quick return takes place.
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
1. The construction of Speed Changing Mechanism consisting of a driving shaft
with pulleys thereon, from which motion is transmitted by means of a pair of

page_text: driving belts, or their equivalent, to a pair of driven pulleys, and thence by an
arrangement of epicyclic gear, or of differential gear, to a secondary or driven shaft,
substantially as and for the purposes hereinabove described with reference to the
drawings.
2. The construction and arrangement of headstock substantially as hereinabove
described with reference to Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings.
3. The combination and arrangement of apparatus substantially as and for the
purposes herein set forth with reference to Figs. 1, 2, and 3 of the drawings.
4. The use and arrangement of my "Speed Changing Mechanism" in combination
with the various means provided for adapting such Mechanism to and for the
several purposes described with reference to Figs. 4, 5, and 6 of the drawings,
substantially as set forth herein,