Engine starter gearing

An engine starter drive adapted to engage an engine ring gear, said starter drive comprising:

• a power shaft;
• a hollow sleeve member mounted on said power shaft, said sleeve member being fixed to said power shaft at one end;
• a driving clutch member coaxially mounted on said hollow sleeve;
• a driven clutch member coaxially mounted on said hollow sleeve adjacent to said driving clutch member for cooperation therewith;
• said driven clutch member having a first circular groove proximate to one end;
• a control nut threadably mounted on said driven clutch member;
• a pinion gear slidably mounted on said power shaft juxtaposed said hollow sleeve member;
• a retaining cup connected to said control nut at one end and to said pinion gear at an opposite end;
• a stop collar fixedly mounted to the opposite end of said hollow sleeve member to limit the axial movement of said control nut on said driven clutch member;
• anti-drift means for preventing engagement of said pinion gear with the engine ring gear when said pinion gear is at rest;
• means, responsive to the acceleration of said pinion gear, for moving said pinion gear into mesh with the engine ring gear, said moving means transmitting torque from said driving clutch member to the engine ring gear so as to crank the engine to be started;
• and
• means, cooperating with said first circular groove, for preventing demeshing of said pinion gear from the engine ring gear below a predetermined speed of the ring gear.

An engine starter drive adapted to engage an engine ring gear comprising:

• input means;
• an annular sleeve member mounted to said input means;
• an overrunning clutch mounted to said annular sleeve member, said overrunning clutch having an annular driven clutch member and an annular driving clutch member for cooperative engagement therewith;
• a pinion gear mounted adjacent to said annular sleeve member;
• means, responsive to the acceleration of said input means, for moving said pinion gear into engagement with the engine ring gear when said ring gear rotates below a predetermined speed;
• means for rotating said pinion gear to crank the engine to be started when said pinion gear is interengaged with the engine ring gear;
• and
• means, mounted on said annular driven clutch member, for preventing the disengagement of said pinion gear from the engine ring gear below a predetermined ring gear rotation speed, said disengagement preventing means comprising a circular groove located adjacent the one end in said annular driven clutch member, said circular groove having a tapered end adjacent to said pinion gear, a sharp stepped end opposite said tapered end, and detent means, cooperating with said sharp stepped end, for preventing said detent means from withdrawing from said circular groove when the engine fires so as to accelerate said pinion gear thereby preventing said pinion gear from traversing out of mesh with the engine ring gear below said predetermined rotational speed of the ring gear.

An engine starter drive for engaging an engine ring gear, said starter drive mounted on a power shaft, said engine starter drive comprising:

• a pinion gear slidably mounted on said power shaft to cooperatively engage the engine ring gear;
• an annular sleeve member mounted on the power shaft for rotation therewith, said annular sleeve member having one end adjacent to said pinion gear;
• a driving clutch member slidably connected to said annular sleeve member for rotation therewith, said driving clutch member having a first end;
• a driven clutch member mounted on said annular sleeve member adjacent to said first end of said driving clutch member, said driven clutch member having one end and an opposite end, said driven clutch member further having a first circular groove adjacent said one end and a second circular groove adjacent said opposite end;
• clutch means, between said driving clutch member and said driven clutch member, for providing a rotational coupling therebetween in one direction of rotation and for providing an overrunning coupling therebetween in an opposite direction of rotation;
• a control nut threadably mounted on said driven clutch member;
• detent means, integral with said control nut and engaging said first circular groove, for preventing said detent means from withdrawing from said first circular groove below a predetermined rotational ring gear speed when the engine fires so as to accelerate said pinion gear;
• mean, responsive to the rotation of the power shaft, for moving said pinion gear into mesh with the engine ring gear and for transmitting torque from the power shaft to the engine ring gear so as to crank the engine to be started;
• and
• anti-drift means, cooperatively engaging said second circular groove, for preventing said pinion gear from moving axially along the power shaft into mesh with the engine ring gear when the power shaft is at rest.

An engine starter drive for engaging an engine ring gear to start the engine, said starter drive mounted on a power shaft, said engine starter drive comprising:

• a pinion gear slidably mounted on the power shaft to cooperatively engage the engine ring gear;
• an annular sleeve member mounted on the power shaft for rotation therewith, said annular sleeve member having one end adjacent to said pinion gear;
• a driving clutch member slidably connected to said annular sleeve member for rotation therewith, said driving clutch member having a first end;
• a driven clutch member mounted on said annular sleeve member adjacent to said first end of said driving clutch member, said driven clutch member having one end and an opposite end, said driven clutch member further having a first circular groove adjacent said one end and a second circular groove adjacent said opposite end;
• clutch means, interposed said driving clutch member and said driven clutch member, for providing a rotational coupling therebetween in one direction of rotation and for providing an overrunning coupling therebetween in an opposite direction of rotation;
• detent means, mounted on said driven clutch member, for cooperatively engaging said second circular groove to prevent said detent means from withdrawing from said second circular groove below a predetermined rotational speed of the engine, said detent means further cooperatively engaging said first circular groove to prevent said pinion gear from moving axially along said power shaft into mesh with the engine ring when the power shaft is at rest;
• and
• means, responsive to the rotation of the power shaft, for axially transversing said pinion gear into mesh with the engine ring gear and for transmitting torque from the power shaft to the engine ring gear so as to crank the engine to be started.