Transmission for single-shaft gas turbine engine

In an automobile, a single-shaft gas turbine engine having a combustor, a compressor and a turbine, a single-shaft directly connecting said compressor and said turbine;

• a hydraulic coupling having an impeller element driven from said turbine and a turbine element hydraulically driven by said impeller element;
• said hydraulic coupling having a slippage band comprising a range of speeds in which it slips at lower speeds of rotation of said impeller element corresponding to speeds at which said engine will stall;
• a reduction gear directly connected to said single shaft and having an output shaft thereof connected to said impeller element;
• a hydraulic torque converter having an impeller element connected directly to the turbine element of said hydraulic coupling to be driven thereby, a stator, and a turbine element hydraulically driven from the last-mentioned impeller element;
• said hydraulic torque converter having a slippage band comprising a range of speeds in which it slips, greater than the speeds of rotation at which said hydrualic coupling slips and corresponding to speeds at which said engine will stall;
• a forward-reverse change speed gearbox having an input shaft directly connected to the turbine element of said hydraulic torque converter to be driven thereby and an output shaft;
• said turbine developing a torque in which said engine will not stall in an upper range of speeds of said torque converter slippage band;
• at least one driving wheel;
• means drivingly connecting said wheel to the output shaft of said change speed gearbox;
• whereby in a range of lower speeds of rotation of the turbine said hydraulic coupling slips and in a range of speeds of rotation of said turbine higher than the last-mentioned range the hydraulic torque converter slips and said turbine is not loaded at stalling speeds thereof and is loaded only at speeds in which it develops a torque at which it will not stall.