Patent ID: 8500597

Claim:
A method of reducing the speed of a driven system driven by a plurality of power units from a high speed to a low speed, the method comprising: lowering the speed of the driven system from the high speed to a transitional speed; shifting a first multi-ratio transmission coupled to a first power unit of the plurality of power units from a high speed gear train integrating a high speed clutch to a low speed gear train integrating a low speed clutch while the speed of the driven system is maintained at or near the transitional speed; shifting a second multi-ratio transmission coupled to a second power unit of the plurality of power units from a high speed gear train integrating a high speed clutch to a low speed gear train integrating a low speed clutch while the speed of the driven system is maintained at or near the transitional speed; and restoring the speed of the plurality of power units to an optimum power unit speed, causing the speed of the driven system to be reduced to the low speed.