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US 4,790,554 AGranted
Pulley shift assembly
AssigneeResearch Corporation
InventorJohn T. Siegwart, Jr.
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An assembly comprising a pulley sub assembly and a shift sub assembly. The pulley sub assembly includes a plurality of pulleys, each pulley includes a plurality of sections, and at least one section of each pulley is axially moveable. The shift sub assembly has a disengaged position to maintain the pulleys in normal positions, and an engaged position. With one embodiment, when the shift sub-assembly is in the engaged position, it slides a section of a first pulley from the plane thereof, into the plane of a second pulley, and then back into the plane of the first pulley. With an alternate embodiment, when the first sub-assembly is in the engaged position, it slides all of the sections of a pulley, one at a time, into the plane of another pulley.
Claims33
A pulley shift assembly, comprising:
- an elongated axle defining an axis of the assembly;
- a pulley sub-assembly mounted on the axle for rotation about the axis, and including a plurality of pulleys, each pulley including a plurality of sections, at least a first section of each pulley being axially movable relative to a second section of the pulley, the pulleys having a normal position wherein all of the sections of each pulley are co-planar, the pulleys are axially spaced apart a preset distance, and each pulley defines a respective pulley plane;
- a shift sub-assembly located adjacent the pulley sub-assembly, and including
- (i) shifting means having a disengaged position for maintaining the pulleys in the normal position, and an engaged position to slide at least the first section of each pulley the preset distance along the axle from the respective plane of the pulley and into an adjacent parallel plane, and
- (ii) return means to automatically return at least the first section of each pulley to the respective plane thereof in response to shifting said first section into said adjacent, parallel plane;
- and
- actuator means connected to the shift sub-assembly to move the shifting means from the disengaged position to the engaged position.
4 more elements
A pulley shift assembly, comprising:
- an elongated axle defining an axis of the assembly;
- a pulley sub-assembly, including
- (i) a drive hub mounted on the axle for rotation about the axis,
- (ii) a plurality of pulley mounting sectors connected to the drive hub for rotation therewith, at least a first pulley mounting sector being supported for axial sliding movement along the drive hub, and
- (iii) a plurality of pulleys, each pulley including a plurality of sections, a first section of each pulley being connected to the first pulley mounting sector for axial and rotary movement therewith, the pulleys having a normal position wherein all of the sections of each pulley are co-planar and the pulleys are axially spaced apart a preset distance,
- wherein the first pulley mounting sector includes a shift peg extending radially inward through the drive hub, and when the pulleys are in their normal position, the shift peg rotates around the axis in a normal path;
- a shift sub-assembly located adjacent the pulley sub-assembly and including
- (i) shifting means having a disengaged position to maintain the pulleys in the normal position, and an engaged position to engage the shift peg and to slide the shift peg the preset distance along the axle to thereby move at least the first section of each pulley from the plane thereof into an adjacent parallel plane, and
- (ii) return means to return at least the first section of each pulley to the plane thereof from the adjacent parallel plane;
- and
- actuator means connected to the shift sub-assembly to move the shifting means from the disengaged position to the engaged position.
8 more elements
A pulley shift asssembly, comprising:
- an elongated axle defining an axis of the assembly;
- a pulley sub-assembly, including
- (i) a plurality of pulley mounting sectors mounted on the axle for rotation about the axis, and supported for axial sliding movement along the axle, each pulley mounting sector including an upshift cam and a downshift cam,
- (ii) a plurality of pulleys, each pulley including a plurality of sections, a first section of each pulley being connected to a first pulley mounting sector for axial and rotary movement therewith, and a second section of each pulley being connected to a second pulley mounting sector for axial and rotary movement therewith, the pulleys having a normal position wherein all of the sections of each pulley are co-planar and the pulleys are axially spaced apart a preset distance;
- a shift sub-assembly located adjacent the pulley sub-assembly, and having a disengaged position for maintaining the pulleys in the normal position, and an engaged position to slide the first section of each pulley the preset distance along the axle and then to slide the second section of each pulley the preset distance along the axle, the engaged position of the shift sub-assembly including
- (i) an up-shift position to engage the upshift cam of each pulley mounting sector to slide the pulley mounting sectors one at a time the preset distance in a first axial direction along the axis, and
- (ii) a down-shift position to engage the downshift cam of each pulley mounting sector to slide the pulley mounting sectors one at a time the preset distance in a second axial direction along the axis;
- and
- actuator means connected to the shift sub-assembly to move the shift sub-assembly from the disengaged position to the engaged position.
6 more elements
A pulley shift assembly, comprising:
- an elongated axle defining an axis of the assembly;
- a pulley sub-assembly including
- (i) pulley mounting means rotatably mounted on the axle,
- (ii) a plurality of pulleys connected to the pulley mounting means for rotation therewith, each pulley including first, second, third and fourth sections, and having a normal position wherein all of the sections of the pulley are co-planar and define a pulley plane,
- wherein the first, second, third and fourth sections of each pulley are axialy aligned respectively with the first, second, third and fourth sections of the other pulleys;
- and wherein the first, second, and third sections of each pulley are axially moveable relative to the fourth section of the pulley;
- and
- a shift sub-assembly mounted on the axle and having
- (i) a disengaged position to maintain the pulleys in their normal positions,
- (ii) an up-shift position to slide the first, second, and third sections of a first pulley one at a time from the plane of the first pulley into the plane of a second, adjacent pulley, and then to slide the first, second and third sections of the first pulley together from the plane of the second pulley back into the plane of the first pulley, and
- (iii) a down-shift position to slide the first, second and third sections of the second pulley one at a time from the plane thereof into the plane of the first pulley, and then to slide the first, second and third sections of the second pulley together from the plane of the first pulley back into the plane of the second pulley;
- and
- actuator means connected to the shift sub-assembly to move the shift assembly from the disengaged position to the up-shift position, and from the disengaged position to the down-shift position.
10 more elements
A bicycle, comprising
- a frame;
- a seat connected to the frame to support a rider;
- front and back axles supported by the frame and defining front and back axes respectively;
- a front wheel mounted on the front axle for rotation about the front axis;
- a back wheel mounted on the back axle for rotation about the back axis;
- a drive sprocket rotatably supported by the frame;
- left and right crank arms connected to the drive sprocket for rotation therewith;
- left and right pedals connected to the left and right crank arms, respectively, to rotate the crank arms and the drive sprocket;
- a sprocket sub-assembly mounted on the back axle for rotation about the back axis, and including a plurality of sprockets, each sprocket including a multitude of sections, at least a plurality of sections of each sprocket being axially movable relative to a selected section of the sprocket, the sprockets having a normal position wherein all of the sections of each sprocket are co-planar and the sprockets are axially spaced apart a preset distance;
- a drive chain mounted on the drive sprocket and on one of the sprockets of the sprocket sub-assembly to rotate said sprocket sub-assembly with the drive sprocket;
- means connected to the sprocket sub-assembly and to the back wheel to transmit rotary movement thereto from the sprocket sub-assembly;
- a shift sub-assembly mounted on the back axle, and having a disengaged position for maintaining the sprockets in the normal position, and an engaged position to slide at least first and second of the axially movable sections of at least a first sprocket, one at a time, from the plane thereof, into the plane of a second, adjacent sprocket, and then to slide at least said first and second of the axially movable sections of the first sprocket together from the plane of the second sprocket back into the plane of the first sprocket to shift the drive chain from said second sprocket to said first sprocket;
- and
- actuator means connected to the shift sub-assembly to move the shift sub-assembly from the disengaged position to the engaged position.
11 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.