To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Frederic J. Ball, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the borough of Brooklyn, in the city and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Reversing Mechanism, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to an improvement in reversing mechanism, and has for its object to provide certain new and useful improvements in the construction, form, and arrangement of the several parts whereby a very simple and effective mechanism is provided in which the constant rotary movement of a shaft in one direction is caused to impart a rotary movement to a power-transmitting sleeve at varying speeds in the same direction or at a predetermined speed in a reverse direction at pleasure with a minimum amount of friction.

A further object is to provide a construction which provides a rotary driving-shaft, a power-transmitting sleeve, a pair of drums, and a train of gearing connecting the shaft, drums, and sleeve, the said train of gears being entirely housed within one of the drums.

A further object is to provide a device of the above character in which independently-operated brakes are provided for the two drums and a clutch is provided for locking one of the drums to the shaft.

A practical embodiment of my invention is represented in the accompanying drawings, in which -

Figure 1 represents an end view of my improved reversing mechanism.

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal central section through the same, showing the gears in side elevation, the parts being in the position which they assume when the clutch is in operation for driving the power-transmitting sleeve in the same direction and at the same speed as the same speed as the rotary driving-shaft.

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal central section taken through the mechanism, including the trains of gearing.

Fig. 4 is a transverse section taken in the plane of the line A A of Fig. 2 looking in the direction of the arrow.

Fig. 5 is a transverse section taken in the plane of the line B B of Fig. 2 looking in the direction of the arrow, and Fig. 6 is a transverse section taken in the plane of the line C C of Fig. 2 looking in the direction of the arrow.

1 designates the rotary driving-shaft, which may be caused to rotate continuously in one direction from any suitable source of power. (Not shown herein.)

A power-transmitting sleeve 2 is mounted to rotate freely upon the shaft 1, and it may be provided with a suitable driving sprocket or gear 3 for use in transmitting motion at the different speeds to any desired point.

Hollow drums are loosely mounted upon the driving-shaft 1 and have geared connections with the said shaft and power-transmitting sleeve, as will be hereinafter more specifically described. One of the hollow drums comprises a web 4, connecting its hub 5 with its peripheral rim 6, which hub 5 is mounted directly upon but independent of the driving-shaft 1. The other drum comprises two end walls 7 and 8, connected at their peripheries by the rim 9 and having hubs 10 and 11, which are mounted to loosely rotate upon the sleeve 2 and the hub 5, respectively.

The power-transmitting sleeve 2 has fixed thereto a spur-gear 12 within the closed hollow drum. The hub 5 of the open end drum has fixed thereto a spur-gear 13, located within the closed hollow drum. The rotary driving-shaft 1 has fixed thereto a spur-gear 14, located within the said closed hollow drum intermediate the gears 12 and 13.

A stud-axle 15 is mounted in the end walls 7 and 8 of the closed drum, upon which axle are mounted three spur-gears 16, 17, and 18, which are fixed to rotate together and which intermesh with the spur-gears 12, 14, and 13, respectively, of the power-transmitting sleeve, the rotary driving-shaft, and the open drum.

A suitable brake 19 is arranged in position to arrest and release the closed drum, and a suitable brake 20 is arranged to arrest and release the open drum.

The open drum may be locked to and released from the rotary drive-shaft by means of a clutch constructed and arranged as follows: The inner member of the clutch comprises a split ring 21, a hub 22, keyed to the shaft, and a end, plate 23, connecting the base of the split ring with the hub. This split ring is normally contracted to bring its outer wall away from the inner face of the peripheral rim of the open drum. The means which I have shown for forcing the ends of the split ring 21 apart to cause it to clutch the peripheral rim 6 of the open drum comprises a cam 24, interposed between the ends of the split ring, having a stem 25, mounted to rock in the end plate 23, and a rocking-arm 26, fixed thereto, the free end of which arm is controlled by a longitudinally-sliding cam-sleeve 27 on the shaft 1. The movement of the cam 24 may be accurately adjusted by means of a set-screw 28 in the free end of the arm 26, the inner end of which set-screw bears against the sliding cam-sleeve 27, above described.

In the form shown in the accompanying drawings I have shown two sets of spur-gears 16, 17, and 18, carried by stud-axles 15, mounted in the closed drum diametrically opposite each other, so as to accurately balance the drum and to also distribute the wear between the said two sets of gears.

The gears shown in the accompanying drawings are proportioned as follows: The gear 12, carried by the power-transmitting sleeve 2, is provided with thirty teeth. The gear 16, with which it intermeshes, is provided with thirteen teeth. The spur-gear 14, keyed to the shaft, is provided with eighteen teeth, and the spur-gear 17, with which it intermeshes, is provided with twenty-five teeth. The spur-gear 13, keyed to the hub of the open drum, is provided with twenty-eight teeth, and the gear 18, with which it intermeshes, is provided with fifteen teeth.

While the above is the proportion of the several gears, as shown in the accompanying drawings, it is to be understood that by varying the relative sizes of the gears to a limited degree the speed of the power-transmitting shaft may also be varied with respect to the driving-shaft.

The Operation of the mechanism is as follows: If the two drums are released by their brakes 19 and 20 and the clutch is operated to lock the open drum to the driving-shaft, the power-transmitting sleeve 2 will be driven in the same direction and at the same speed as the driving-shaft, irrespective of the proportion of the gears within the closed hollow drum. If the closed hollow drum is arrested by operating the brake 19 and the brake 20 and clutch are released from the open drum, the axis of rotation of the gears 16, 17, and 18 will be held stationary and the power-transmitting sleeve will be driven in the same direction as the shaft, but at a different speed. In the proportion of gears shown in the accompanying drawings the speed of the sleeve under these conditions will be about one-third the speed of the shaft. If the open drum is arrested by operating the brake 20 and the brake 19 and clutch are released, the gears 16, 17, and 18 will be caused not only to rotate on their own axis but also to rotate bodily around the axis of the shaft, thus driving the power-transmitting sleeve in the reverse direction to the direction of the shaft. In the proportion of gears shown in the accompanying drawings the reverse speed of the sleeve will be about one-eighth the forward speed of the shaft.

It will be seen that the structure as herein above described is extremely simple, one in which the trains of gearing are balanced to insure an even running of the power-transmitting sleeve, and one in which the said trains are located entirely within the closed hollow drum, thus permitting a complete lubrication of the gears without the necessity of carrying oil in both of the drums. It will also be seen that the open drum is operated upon both by the brake and by the clutch, thus rendering the mechanism very compact, as well as simple in operation. It will, furthermore, be seen that by this construction I am still enabled to utilize spur-gears entirely, thus doing away with the necessity of running a spur-gear into an internal gear, which, it is well known, requires a considerable amount more friction than that required between two spur-gears. This use of spur-gears, furthermore, materially simplifies the cost of the mechanism, as spur-gears are cheaper to cut by a very great margin than internal gear.

What I claim is -

1. In a change-gear, the combination with the driving-gear and driven gear, of intermediate speed-reducing gears between said driving-gear and driven gear, and means to impart a circular motion to the axis of said intermediate speed-reducing gears about the axis of said driven gear, whereby the effective driving speed of said driven gear may be reduced or reversed according to the speed of the circular movement of the axis of said speed-reducing gears.

2. In a change-gear, the combination with the driving-gear and driven gear, of intermediate speed-reducing gears between said driving -gear and driven gear mounted on an axis adapted to be moved in an arc about the axis of said driven gear, means to impart a circular motion to the axis of said intermediate speed-reducing gears about the axis of said driven gear, and a device to control said means to impart said circular movement, whereby the effective driving speed of said driven gear may be reduced or reversed according to the speed of the circular movement of the axis of said reducing-gears.

3. In a change-gear, the combination with the driving-gear and driven gears, of intermediate speed-reducing gears between said driving and driven gears mounted on an axis adapted to move in an arc about the axis of said driven gear, a speed-controlling gear, power-transmitting connections between said speed-controlling gear and the intermediate gears, and a device to control said speed-controlling gear and thereby impart a circular motion to the axis of said intermediate gears about the axis of said driven gear.

4. In a change-gear, the combination with the driving and driven gears, of intermediate speed-reducing gears between said driving and driven gears mounted on an axis adapted to move in an arc about the axis of said driven gear, a speed-controlling gear, power-transmitting connections between said speed-controlling gear and the intermediate gears, a device to control said speed-controlling gear and thereby impart a circular motion to the axis of said intermediate gears about the axis of said driven gear, and a clutch device between for connecting said speed-controlling gear with the axis of the intermediate gears.

5. In a change-gear, the combination with the driving and driven gears, of intermediate speed-reducing gears between said driving and driven gears mounted on an axis adapted to move in an arc about the axis of the driven gear, a device to control the circular movement of the axis of said intermediate gears, a speed-controlling gear, power-transmitting connections between said speed-controlling gear and the intermediate gears, and a brake device to hold said speed-controlling gear against rotation on its axis and thereby impart a circular movement to the axis of said intermediate gears.

6. In a change-gear, the combination with the driving and driven gears, of intermediate speed-reducing gears between said driving and driven gears mounted on an axis adapted to move in an arc about the axis of the driven gear, a brake device to control the circular movement of the axis of said intermediate gears, a speed-controlling gear, power-transmitting connections between said speed-controlling gear and the intermediate gears, a clutch for connecting said speed-controlling gear with the axis of the intermediate gears, and a brake device to hold said speed-controlling gear against rotation on its axis and thereby impart a circular movement to the axis of said intermediate gears.

7. In a change-gear, the combination with the driving and driven gear, of a frame adapted to rotate about the axis of said driving and driven gears, a brake device to control the rotation of said frame, a speed-controlling gear provided with a brake, and a set of gears carried by said rotary frame and connected together and engaging respectively with said driving-gear, driven gear and speed-controlling gear.

8. In a change-gear, the combination with a power-shaft, a driving-gear carried thereby, a driven gear mounted on said shaft, a frame adapted to rotate about said shaft, a speed-controlling gear mounted on said shaft and provided with a brake device, and a set of power-transmitting reducing-gears carried by said frame and connected together and engaging respectively with said driving-gear, driven gear, and speed-controlling gear.

9. In a change-gear, the combination of a power-shaft, a driving-gear carried thereby, a driven gear mounted on said shaft, a frame adapted to rotate about said shaft, a set of power-transmitting speed-reducing gears between said driving and driven gears carried by said frame, means to rotate said frame about said shaft, and a brake to control the rotation of said frame.

10. In a change-gear, the combination of a driven gear, a speed-controlling gear, differing from the driven gear in the number of teeth, intermediate gears between the driven gear and controlling-gear having a driving connection with the power-shaft and mounted on an axis adapted to revolve about the axis of the controlling-gear, and means to hold said controlling-gear against rotation, whereby said speed of said driven gear maybe changed or reversed according to the difference in the number of teeth in the driven gear and controlling-gear.

11. A speed-changing mechanism comprising driving and driven members, a shaft and a rotatable means in which it is mounted to move planetarily around the axis of said members and to turn on its own axis, a rotatable controlling member, gears on the planetary shaft and gears engaging therewith on the driving and driven members and on the controlling member, and means for holding the said controlling member from rotation.

12. A speed-changing mechanism comprising driving and driven members, a shaft and a rotatable means in which it is mounted to move planetarily around the axis of said members and to turn on its own axis, a rotatable controlling member, gears on the planetary shaft and gears engaging therewith on the driving and driven members and on the controlling member, clutching means for connecting the driving and driven members, and means for holding the said controlling member from rotation.

13. In combination, a rotary driving-shaft, a power-transmitting sleeve, two drums, externally-toothed spur-gears fixed to the shaft, one of the drums and the sleeve, externally-toothed spur-gears carried by the other drum fixed to rotate together and intermesh with the first-named gears and means for arresting one or the other of the drums to cause the shaft to drive the sleeve in the same or reverse direction.

14. In combination, a rotary driving-shaft, a power-transmitting sleeve, two drums, externally-toothed spur-gears fixed to the shaft, one of the drums and the sleeve, externally-toothed spur-gears carried by the other drum fixed to rotate together and intermesh with the first-named gears, means for arresting one or the other of the drums and a clutch for locking one of the drums to the shaft.

15. In combination, a rotary driving-shaft, a power-transmitting sleeve, two drums and a train of gears for connecting the shaft, drums and sleeve comprising six gears, and means for arresting one or the other of the drums to cause the shaft to drive the sleeve in the same or the reverse direction.

16. In combination, a rotary driving-shaft, a power-transmitting sleeve, two drums and a train of gears located entirely in one of the drums comprising six gears for connecting the shaft, drums and sleeve and means for arresting one or the other of the drums to cause the shaft to drive the sleeve in the same or reverse direction.

17. In combination, a rotary driving-shaft, a power-transmitting sleeve, two drums, externally-toothed spur-gears fixed to the shaft, one of the drums and the sleeve, and two sets of intermediate externally-toothed spur-gears arranged diametrically opposite each other within the other drum for connecting the shaft, drums and sleeve and for balancing the drum, and means for arresting one or the other of the drums for causing the shaft to drive the sleeve in the same or the reverse direction.

18. In combination, a rotary driving-shaft, a power-transmitting sleeve, a closed drum, an open drum, a train of gearing located entirely within the closed drum for connecting the shaft, drums and sleeve, brakes arranged to engage the peripheral walls of the drums for arresting one or the other of the drums and a clutch arranged to engage the inner face of the peripheral wall of the open drum.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention I have signed my name, in presence of two witnesses, this 28th day of January, 1902.

FREDERIC J. BALL

Witnesses:

FREDK. HAYNES

C. S. SUNDGREN