Patent ID: 6913557

Claim:
A power transmitting apparatus comprising: a vertical input shaft; a sun gear provided on a lower portion of said input shaft; a plurality of planetary gears meshing with said sun gear; a flat gear support member disposed under said planetary gears for rotatably supporting thereon said planetary gears; an output shaft extending downward from said gear support member in axial alignment with said input shaft; a ring gear surrounding said planetary gears; a casing surrounding said ring gear, planetary gears, gear support member and sun gear, said ring gear being rotatably mounted on said casing, lubricating oil being stored to a predetermined level in said casing; and a brake unit interposed between said casing and said ring gear for braking said ring gear, wherein, when said brake unit is in a braking state, power input via said input shaft is transmitted to said output shaft with a reduced speed, while, when said ring gear is in a non-braking state to allow said ring gear to run idle, the power input via said input shaft is prevented from being transmitted to said output shaft, wherein said flat gear support member has an outer diameter greater than a pitch circle of said ring gear, and the lubricating oil stored in said casing has a surface level set below said ring gear but above said gear support member.