Back to results
US 5,957,797 AGranted
Automatic change transmission utilizing continuous elastic drive belt and method
AssigneeWright State University
InventorShane Yuan Hong
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Loading patent…
Loading patent…
AssigneeWright State University
InventorShane Yuan Hong
Estimating the term…
Methods and apparatus change speeds between a drive shaft and a driven shaft during power transmission between the shafts. Fixed diameter drive and driven wheels are secured to the shafts and a continuous elastic belt interconnects the drive wheel and the driven wheel. As power is transmitted between the shafts, one side of the elastic belt extending between the wheels is placed in tension and elongated in proportion to the tension while the other side of the elastic belt is untensioned and not elongated. The elongated portion of the belt remains elongated as it passes around the wheel which is driving and the slack portion of the belt remains relaxed as it passes around the wheel which is being driven. To accommodate the elongated state of the belt, the driving wheel must go faster than the driven wheel with the speed difference being dependent upon the amount of power being transmitted between the wheels and hence the amount of elongation of the elongated portion of the belt. Preferably, the elastic belt has ribs which are separated by substantially constant distances for the relaxed separated by distances which vary in proportion to the tension placed on the tensioned portion of the belt. To reduce slippage of the belt as power is transmitted between the wheels, axial grooves sized to receive the ribs are formed around the periphery of the wheels.
Apparatus for transmitting power from a drive shaft to a driven shaft comprising:
A method for transmitting power from a drive shaft to a driven shaft comprising the steps of:
Apparatus for transmitting power from a drive shaft to a driven shaft comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.