Thrust bearings and bevel gears arrangement of marine propulsion unit
AssigneeYamaha Hatsudoki Kabushiki Kaisha
InventorKenichi Hayasaka
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A bevel gear transmission for a marine outboard drive having hydraulically actuated clutches for selectively coupling oppositely rotating bevel gears to a shaft to affect either forward or reverse drive. The bevel gears are each supported on the shaft by thrust bearings and are on the outer sides of the bevel gears and are urged into engagement with the thrust bearings by coil compression springs that also act to release the respective clutches. As a result of this arrangement, a constant lash is maintained between the bevel gears regardless of whether they are transmitting a driving thrust or not.
Claims18
In a bevel gear transmission for transmitting drive between a first shaft rotatable about a first axis and a second shaft rotatable about a second axis, a first bevel gear on said first shaft, a second bevel gear enmeshed with said first bevel gear and on said second shaft, said first bevel gear being movable axially relative to said first shaft, a thrust bearing engaged with one side of said first bevel gear, and a coil compression spring having wound coils extending around an axis and defining opposite ends adapted to be loaded in compression for providing an expansion force along said axis, said coil encircling said first shaft so that said spring axis is coaxial with said first shaft, one end of said spring being operatively engaged with the other side of said first bevel gear for urging said one side of said first bevel gear axially into engagement with said thrust bearing under the expansion forces of said coil spring.
A bevel gear transmission for transmitting drive between a first shaft rotatable about a first axis and a second shaft rotatable about a second axis, a first bevel gear on said first shaft, a second bevel gear enmeshed with said first bevel gear and on said second shaft, said first bevel gear being axially movable relative to said first shaft, a thrust bearing engaged with one side of said first bevel gear, a coil compression spring operatively engaged with the other side of said first bevel gear for urging said one side of said first bevel gear into engagement with said thrust bearing, and clutch means for selectively coupling said first bevel gear for rotation with said first shaft, said clutch means including a hydraulic actuating piston for actuating said clutch means.
In a bevel gear transmission for transmitting a reversing drive between a first shaft rotatable about a first axis and a second shaft rotatable about a second axis, a first bevel gear on said first shaft, a second bevel gear enmeshed with said first bevel gear and on said second shaft, a third bevel gear rotatably journalled on said first shaft and enmeshed with said second bevel gear on a diametrically opposite side from said first bevel gear, said first and said third bevel gears being axially movable relative to said first shaft, a first thrust bearing engaged with one side of said first bevel gear, a second thrust bearing engaged with one side of said second bevel gear, first spring means operatively engaged with the other side of said first bevel gear for urging said one side of said first bevel gear into engagement with said first thrust bearing, second spring means operatively engaged with the other side of said third bevel gear for urging said one side of said third bevel gear into engagement with said second thrust bearing, first and second clutch means for selectively coupling said first and said third level gears for rotation with said first shaft, said clutch means including a pair of hydraulic actuating pistons for actuating the respective clutch means.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.