Patent ID: 7344471

Claim:
An automatic transmission comprising: a planetary gear train, which comprises a sun gear element, a carrier element and a ring gear element, said sun gear element being connected to an input shaft; an output shaft being disposed in parallel with a rotational axis of said planetary gear train; ring gear braking means capable of holding said ring gear element stationary; a ring-driving gear train comprising a ring-drive gear, which is connected to said ring gear element, and a ring-driven gear, which is disposed rotatably over said output shaft and meshes with said ring-drive gear; clutching means for said ring-driving gear train, which means engages or disengages said ring-driven gear to or from said output shaft; a carrier-driving gear train comprising a carrier-drive gear, which is disposed rotatably and coaxially to said carrier element, and a carrier-driven gear, which is connected to said output shaft and meshes with said carrier-drive gear; clutching means for said carrier-driving gear train, which means engages or disengages said carrier-drive gear to or from said carrier element; and clutching means for said planetary gear train, which means brings said sun gear element and said ring gear element into engagement with each other or into disengagement.