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US 4,936,155 AGranted
Infinite speed variation, constant power, ripple-free transmission
AssigneeUtah Transmission Corporation
InventorLaird B. Gogins
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A variable transmission having an input shaft, a lobed cam slidably splined on said shaft, and a plurality of pivotedly mounted cam followers which mechanically engage the cam is disclosed. The cam follwers are connected to an output shaft through intermediation of a one-way clutch mechanism. Each cam follower includes a steerable contact member whose orientation may be modified to induce a coaxially directioned, displacing force on the cam. The displacement of the cam effects a shifting of the transmission ratio.
Claims45
A transmission comprising:
- a housing;
- an input shaft journaled through a wall of said housing;
- an output shaft journaled through a wall of said housing;
- a cam, having at least one lobe slidably splined on said input shaft;
- at least one cam follower pivotally mounted and axially fixed within said housing, each said cam follower having a steerable roller means for engaging a surface of said cam;
- biasing means mounted on said housing for biasing said cam follower into contact with said cam;
- and
- connection means for interconnecting said cam follower and said output shaft.
5 more elements
A transmission comprising:
- an input shaft;
- a housing;
- a cam, having at least one lobe, slidably splined on said input shaft;
- at least two cam followers each having a respective steerable contact member which mechanically engages a surface of said cam;
- biasing means for maintaining contact between said cam and said contact member;
- said steerable contact member being journaled on and axially fixed to a skewed segment of a shaft journaled in and axially fixed to a respective cam follower;
- output means mechanically associated with said cam followers for transferring power from said cam followers.
4 more elements
A transmission comprising:
- a housing;
- an input shaft journaled through a wall of said housing, said input shaft, having a longitudinal axis;
- an output shaft journaled through a wall of said housing;
- a cam, having at least one lobe, slidably splined on said input shaft to be slidable thereon along said longitudinal axis;
- at least two cam followers pivotedly mounted within said housing, each of said cam followers having a contact means for engaging a surface of said cam, said contact means being a steerable roller rotatably mounted on said cam follower, said roller including control means for altering its orientation vis-a-vis said cam. said cam followers being axially fixed relative to said input shaft;
- retaining means mechanically associated with said cam for releasably retaining said cam at a selected position along a length of said input shaft;
- and connection means for interconnecting said cam follower and said output shaft.
4 more elements
A transmission comprising:
- a housing;
- an input shaft journaled through a wall of said housing;
- an output shaft journaled through a wall of said housing;
- a cam, having at least one lobe, fixedly mounted on said input shaft;
- at least one cam follower pivotally mounted and axially fixed on a concentric shaft slidably splined on said output shaft, each said cam follower having a steerable roller means for engaging a surface of said cam;
- and
- a one-way clutch connection means for interconnecting said cam follower and said concentric shaft.
4 more elements
A transmission comprising:
- a housing;
- an input shaft journaled through a wall of said housing;
- a plurality of output shafts, each journaled through a wall of said housing;
- a cam, having at least one lobe, fixed on said input shaft;
- a plurality of cam followers, each said cam follower being pivotally mounted on and axially fixed on a concentric shaft slidably splined on an output shaft within said housing, each said cam follower having a steerable roller means for engaging a surface of said cam;
- and
- one-way clutch connection means for mechanically connecting each of said concentric shafts with one or more of said cam followers, thereby providing means of transferring power from said input shaft to a plurality of output shafts;
- and
- a plurality of independent ratio control means, one said ratio control means being mechanically associated with each said cam follower for controlling a positioning of said cam follower vis-a-vis said cam.
6 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.