Dual lever clutch actuatable direction controlled drive transmission system

A drive transmission control system for drivingly coupling a rotary output drive source of a powered vehicle to a pair of rotatable driven elements independently coupled to and rotatable with respective ones of a pair of drive wheels of a powered vehicle, said drive transmission control system comprising:

• (a) a pair of right and left independently rotatable transverse drive shafts;
• (b) a pair of rotatable drive elements each fixed on and rotatable with a respective one of said right and left transverse drive shafts;
• (c) means for drivingly coupling each of said rotatable drive elements with the respective rotatable driven elements;
• (d) right and left pairs of forward and reverse drive pulleys rotatably mounted on said respective right and left transverse drive shafts and rotatable relative thereto;
• (e) drive connection means for drivingly connecting the right and left pairs of forward and reverse drive pulleys with the rotary output drive source of the powered vehicle so as to rotatably drive said forward and reverse drive pulleys of each of the right and left pairs thereof in first and second opposite rotational directions;
• (f) right and left pairs of clutches mounted to said right and left transverse drive shafts adjacent to said respective right and left pairs of forward and reverse drive pulleys, each of said clutches being deactuatable such that said clutch drivingly disengages a respective one of said forward and reverse drive pulleys of each of said right and left pairs thereof from said respective one of said right and left transverse drive shafts, each of said clutches being actuatable such that said clutch drivingly interengages said respective one of said forward and reverse drive pulleys of each of said right and left pairs thereof with said respective one of said right and left transverse drive shafts;
• and
• (g) drive direction control means movable from a neutral position in a first direction for concurrently actuating first ones of said clutches of said right and left pairs thereof so as to cause rotation of said right and left transverse drive shafts with said respective forward drive pulleys of said right and left pairs thereof and thereby cause rotation of said rotatable drive elements in said first rotational direction and therewith rotation of said rotatable driven elements and movement of the drive wheels in a forward direction, said drive direction control means being movable from said neutral position in a second direction opposite to said first direction for concurrently actuating second ones of said clutches of said right and left pairs thereof so as to cause rotation of said right and left transverse drive shafts with said respective reverse drive pulleys of said right and left pairs thereof and thereby cause rotation of said rotatable drive elements in said second rotational direction and therewith rotation of said rotatable driven elements and movement of the drive wheels in a reverse direction;
• (h) wherein said drive connection means for drivingly connecting said right and left pairs of forward and reverse drive pulleys with the rotary output drive source includes a pair of gearboxes each having an input shaft with an input sheave fixed thereon and a pair of output shafts with respective output sheaves fixed thereon, said input sheave of each gearbox being coupled to the rotary output drive source, said output sheaves of each gearbox being coupled to respective ones of said forward and reverse drive pulleys of said right and left pairs thereof on said respective right and left transverse drive shafts.

A drive transmission control system for drivingly coupling a rotary output drive source of a powered vehicle to a pair of rotatable driven elements independently coupled to and rotatable with respective ones of a pair of drive wheels of a powered vehicle, said drive transmission control system comprising:

• (a) a pair of right and left independently rotatable transverse drive shafts;
• (b) a pair of rotatable drive elements each fixed on and rotatable with a respective one of said right and left transverse drive shafts;
• (c) means for drivingly coupling each of said rotatable drive elements with the respective rotatable driven elements;
• (d) right and left pairs of forward and reverse drive pulleys rotatably mounted on said respective right and left transverse drive shafts and rotatable relative thereto;
• (e) drive connection means for drivingly connecting the right and left pairs of forward and reverse drive pulleys with the rotary output drive source of the powered vehicle so as to rotatably drive said forward and reverse drive pulleys of each of the right and left pairs thereof in first and second opposite rotational directions;
• (f) right and left pairs of clutches mounted to said right and left transverse drive shafts adjacent to said respective right and left pairs of forward and reverse drive pulleys, each of said clutches being deactuatable such that said clutch drivingly disengages a respective one of said forward and reverse drive pulleys of each of said right and left pairs thereof from said respective one of said right and left transverse drive shafts, each of said clutches being actuatable such that said clutch drivingly interengages said respective one of said forward and reverse drive pulleys of each of said right and left pairs thereof with said respective one of said right and left transverse drive shafts;
• and
• (g) drive direction control means movable from a neutral position in a first direction for concurrently actuating first ones of said clutches of said right and left pairs thereof so as to cause rotation of said right and left transverse drive shafts with said respective forward drive pulleys of said right and left pairs thereof and thereby cause rotation of said rotatable drive elements in said first rotational direction and therewith rotation of said rotatable driven elements and movement of the drive wheels in a forward direction, said drive direction control means being movable from said neutral position in a second direction opposite to said first direction for concurrently actuating second ones of said clutches of said right and left pairs thereof so as to cause rotation of said right and left transverse drive shafts with said respective reverse drive pulleys of said right and left pairs thereof and thereby cause rotation of said rotatable drive elements in said second rotational direction and therewith rotation of said rotatable driven elements and movement of the drive wheels in a reverse direction;
• (h) wherein said drive connection means for drivingly connecting said right and left pairs of forward and reverse drive pulleys with the rotary output drive source includes an endless flexible member coupled about the rotary output drive source for undergoing movement along a continuous path, and a plurality of idler sheaves rotatably mounted on a corresponding plurality of vertical shafts disposed between the rotary output drive source and said forward and reverse drive pulleys, said idler sheaves being aligned with the respective rotary output drive source and said forward and reverse drive pulleys so as to arrange said continuous path of movement of said endless flexible about said forward and reverse drive pulleys to cause rotation thereof in said first and second opposite rotational directions.

In a powered vehicle including a chassis, a pair of right and left drive wheels movably supporting said chassis and an engine mounted on said chassis and having a rotary output drive shaft, a drive transmission control system mounted on said chassis for drivingly transmitting and coupling rotary drive motion produced by said rotary output drive shaft of said engine to said right and left drive wheels so as to cause forward and reverse movement of said vehicle and also to cause right and left turning movement thereof, said system comprising:

• (a) a pair of right and left rotatable driven elements each coupled to and rotatable with one of said right and left drive wheels;
• (b) a pair of right and left transverse drive shafts rotatably mounted independently of one another to said frame;
• (c) a pair of right and left rotatable drive elements each fixed on and rotatable with a respective one of said right and left transverse drive shafts;
• (d) means for independently drivingly coupling each of said rotatable drive elements with one of said respective rotatable driven elements;
• (e) right and left pairs of forward and reverse drive pulleys rotatably mounted on said respective right and left transverse drive shafts and rotatable relative thereto;
• (f) drive connection means for drivingly connecting said right and left pairs of forward and reverse drive pulleys with said rotary output drive shaft of said engine so as to rotatably drive said forward and reverse drive pulleys of each of the right and left pairs thereof in first and second opposite rotational directions;
• (g) right and left pairs of split sheave clutches mounted to said right and left transverse drive shafts adjacent to said respective right and left pairs of drive pulleys, each of the split sheave clutches having a first part fixed on and rotatable with a respective one of said forward and reverse drive pulleys of each of said right and left pairs thereof and a second part fixed on and rotatable with a respective one of said right and left transverse drive shafts;
• and
• (h) drive direction control means movable in a first direction for frictionally engaging concurrently first ones of said split sheave clutches of said right and left pairs thereof so as to cause rotation of said right and left transverse drive shafts with said respective forward drive pulleys of said right and left pairs thereof and thereby cause rotation of said rotatable drive elements in the first rotational direction and therewith rotation of said rotatable driven elements and movement of said drive wheels in a forward direction, said drive direction control means being movable in a second direction opposite to the first direction for frictionally engaging concurrently second ones of said split sheave clutches of said right and left pairs thereof so as to cause rotation of said right and left transverse drive shafts with said respective reverse drive pulleys of said right and left pairs thereof and thereby cause rotation of said rotatable drive elements in the second rotational direction and therewith rotation of said rotatable driven elements and movement of the drive wheels in a reverse directional
• (i) wherein said drive direction control means includes
• right and left pairs of idler pulleys, and
• right and left pairs of belts respectively extending over said right and left pairs of idler pulleys and coupled over respective ones of said pairs of right and left split sheave clutches.

In a powered vehicle including a chassis, a pair of right and left drive wheels movably supporting said chassis and an engine mounted on said chassis and having a rotary output drive shaft, a drive transmission control system mounted on said chassis for drivingly transmitting and coupling rotary drive motion produced by said rotary output drive shaft of said engine to said right and left drive wheels so as to cause forward and reverse movement of said vehicle and also to cause right and left turning movement thereof, said system comprising:

• (a) a pair of right and left rotatable driven elements each coupled to and rotatable with one of said right and left drive wheels;
• (b) a pair of right and left transverse drive shafts rotatably mounted independently of one another to said frame;
• (c) a pair of right and left rotatable drive elements each fixed on and rotatable with a respective one of said right and left transverse drive shafts;
• (d) means for independently drivingly coupling each of said rotatable drive elements with one of said respective rotatable driven elements;
• (e) right and left pairs of forward and reverse drive pulleys rotatably mounted on said respective right and left transverse drive shafts and rotatable relative thereto;
• (f) drive connection means for drivingly connecting said right and left pairs of forward and reverse drive pulleys with said rotary output drive shaft of said engine so as to rotatably drive said forward and reverse drive pulleys of each of the right and left pairs thereof in first and second opposite rotational directions;
• (g) right and left pairs of split sheave clutches mounted to said right and left transverse drive shafts adjacent to said respective right and left pairs of drive pulleys, each of the split sheave clutches having a first part fixed on and rotatable with a respective one of said forward and reverse drive pulleys of each of said right and left pairs thereof and a second part fixed on and rotatable with a respective one of said right and left transverse drive shafts;
• and
• (h) drive direction control means movable in a first direction for frictionally engaging concurrently first ones of said split sheave clutches of said right and left pairs thereof so as to cause rotation of said right and left transverse drive shafts with said respective forward drive pulleys of said right and left pairs thereof and thereby cause rotation of said rotatable drive elements in the first rotational direction and therewith rotation of said rotatable driven elements and movement of said drive wheels in a forward direction, said drive direction control means being movable in a second direction opposite to the first direction for frictionally engaging concurrently second ones of said split sheave clutches of said right and left pairs thereof so as to cause rotation of said right and left transverse drive shafts with said respective reverse drive pulleys of said right and left pairs thereof and thereby cause rotation of said rotatable drive elements in the second rotational direction and therewith rotation of said rotatable driven elements and movement of the drive wheels in a reverse direction;
• (i) wherein said drive connection means for drivingly connecting said right and left pairs of forward and reverse drive pulleys with said rotary output drive shaft includes a pair of gearboxes each having an input shaft with an input sheave fixed thereon and a pair of output shafts with respective output sheaves fixed thereon, said input sheave of each gearbox being coupled to said rotary output drive shaft, said output sheaves of each gearbox being coupled to respective ones of said forward and reverse drive pulleys of said right and left pairs thereof on said respective right and left transverse drive shafts.

In a powered vehicle including a chassis, a pair of right and left drive wheels movably supporting said chassis and an engine mounted on said chassis and having a rotary output drive shaft, a drive transmission control system mounted on said chassis for drivingly transmitting and coupling rotary drive motion produced by said rotary output drive shaft of said engine to said right and left drive wheels so as to cause forward and reverse movement of said vehicle and also to cause right and left turning movement thereof, said system comprising:

• (a) a pair of right and left rotatable driven elements each coupled to and rotatable with one of said right and left drive wheels;
• (b) a pair of right and left transverse drive shafts rotatably mounted independently of one another to said frame;
• (c) a pair of right and left rotatable drive elements each fixed on and rotatable with a respective one of said right and left transverse drive shafts;
• (d) means for independently drivingly coupling each of said rotatable drive elements with one of said respective rotatable driven elements;
• (e) right and left pairs of forward and reverse drive pulleys rotatably mounted on said respective right and left transverse drive shafts and rotatable relative thereto;
• (f) drive connection means for drivingly connecting said right and left pairs of forward and reverse drive pulleys with said rotary output drive shaft of said engine so as to rotatably drive said forward and reverse drive pulleys of each of the right and left pairs thereof in first and second opposite rotational directions;
• (g) right and left pairs of split sheave clutches mounted to said right and left transverse drive shafts adjacent to said respective right and left pairs of drive pulleys, each of the split sheave clutches having a first part fixed on and rotatable with a respective one of said forward and reverse drive pulleys of each of said right and left pairs thereof and a second part fixed on and rotatable with a respective one of said right and left transverse drive shafts;
• and
• (h) drive direction control means movable in a first direction for frictionally engaging concurrently first ones of said split sheave clutches of said right and left pairs thereof so as to cause rotation of said right and left transverse drive shafts with said respective forward drive pulleys of said right and left pairs thereof and thereby cause rotation of said rotatable drive elements in the first rotational direction and therewith rotation of said rotatable driven elements and movement of said drive wheels in a forward direction, said drive direction control means being movable in a second direction opposite to the first direction for frictionally engaging concurrently second ones of said split sheave clutches of said right and left pairs thereof so as to cause rotation of said right and left transverse drive shafts with said respective reverse drive pulleys of said right and left pairs thereof and thereby cause rotation of said rotatable drive elements in the second rotational direction and therewith rotation of said rotatable driven elements and movement of the drive wheels in a reverse direction;
• (i) wherein said drive connection means for drivingly connecting said right and left pairs of forward and reverse drive pulleys with the rotary output drive source includes an endless flexible member coupled about the rotary output drive source for undergoing movement along a continuous path, and a plurality of idler sheaves rotatably mounted on a corresponding plurality of vertical shafts mounted on said chassis and disposed between the rotary output drive source and said forward and reverse drive pulleys, said idler pulleys being aligned with the respective rotary output drive source and said forward and reverse drive pulleys so as to arrange said continuous path of movement of said endless flexible about said forward and reverse drive pulleys to cause rotation thereof in said first and second opposite rotational directions.