Shifting gear system and method
AssigneePolaris Industries Inc.
InventorsTy Warner, Todd Zinda
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Embodiments of the invention facilitate shifting by reducing forces on certain shifting components and includes a snowmobile comprising a chassis, an engine supported by the chassis, a drive train operatively connected to the engine, the drive train comprising a reverse sprocket assembly functionally coupled to an upper sprocket assembly, a jackshaft rotatable within the upper sprocket assembly, and a pinion operatively connected to the jackshaft and selectively positionable axially along the jackshaft to a first position that engages the upper sprocket assembly to translate the snowmobile in a forward direction or to a second position that engages the reverse sprocket assembly to translate the snowmobile in a reverse direction.
Claims42
A snowmobile comprising:
- a chassis;
- a drive train operatively connected to an engine supported by the chassis, the drive train comprising;
- an upper sprocket assembly;
- a reverse sprocket assembly functionally coupled to the upper sprocket assembly;
- a jackshaft rotatable within the upper sprocket assembly;
- and
- a pinion operatively connected to the jackshaft and selectively positionable axially along the jackshaft to a first position that engages the upper sprocket assembly to translate the snowmobile in a forward direction and to a second position that engages the reverse sprocket assembly to translate the snowmobile in a reverse direction.
A snowmobile drive train comprising:
- a reverse sprocket assembly;
- an upper sprocket assembly functionally coupled to the reverse sprocket assembly;
- a lower sprocket assembly functionally coupled to the reverse sprocket assembly, the lower sprocket assembly being functionally coupled to a drive shaft;
- a jackshaft rotatable within the upper sprocket assembly;
- a pinion operatively connected to the jackshaft and selectively positionable axially along the jackshaft to a first position that engages the upper sprocket assembly to translate the snowmobile in a forward direction and to a second position that engages the reverse sprocket assembly to translate the snowmobile in a reverse direction;
- a shifting assembly to selectively position the pinion axially along the jackshaft;
- and
- a braking assembly functionally coupled to the drive train.
A method of shifting a snowmobile comprising:
- providing a snowmobile comprising a drive train operatively connected to an engine, the drive train comprising a reverse sprocket assembly functionally coupled to an upper sprocket assembly and a lower sprocket assembly, a lower sprocket assembly functionally coupled to a drive shaft, a jackshaft rotatable within the upper sprocket assembly, and a pinion operatively connected to the jackshaft;
- and
- selectively positioning the pinion axially along the jackshaft to a first position that engages the upper sprocket assembly to translate the snowmobile in a forward direction or to a second position that engages the reverse sprocket assembly to translate the snowmobile in a reverse direction.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.