A VARIABLE SPEED GEAR.
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A Resume of Recently Published Patent Specifications.
THE specification of J. C. W. Humfrey, C. P. Sandberg and 0. F. A. Sandberg, No. 273,382, relates to a form of variable or stepped gear in which all gears are always in mesh, each gear and the coupling of the two parts of the shaft being provided with a free-wheel clutch which can be engaged or disengaged at the will of the driver. The lower view is a sectional one, showing the general arrangement, where it will be seen that a shaft leading from the engine enters the box and is provided with a hollow part into which the shaft leading to the transmission is spigcded. A layshaft lies parallel to the main shaft, and so far the arrangement is common practice.
The main feature of the invention appears to lie in the method of clutching and declutching the various gears and shafts so that they can be made to become driving members or free members at will. The upper view is s sectional one showing the arrangement of the clutch, the upper member representing the main shaft and the lower one representing the layshaft. The gearwheel on the upper shaft is provided with a recess somewhat resembling that of a Timken bearing, whilst on the shaft is a hardened cone, slidable, but keyed or splined to the shaft, whilst the gearwheel is freely mounted on the shaft. The space • between the two conical., members is filled with rollers set At an ' angle, so that should one of the conical members revolve relatively to the other in one direction the rollers would tend to draw the cones together, whilst if revolved in the opposite direction they would tend to move apartfrom each other. The tendency to run together is employed as a means for causing one member to drive the other, as when once the rollers are allowed to contact between the conical faces they grip with a force that is sufficient to trans mit)
mit the drive of tbe vehicle. A spring is employed to bring the conical members towards each other, and a selector fork is employed to draw them apart. The rollers are of parallel form and, as they lie askew on their cones, it is necessary that the face of the outer cone should be slightly convex, whilst that of the inner one should be slightly concave. Various means are .described for operating the clutches by means of special selector rods.
An Air Cleaner.
AN air cleaner which contains little novelty is shown in the specification of General Motors Research Corporation of U.S.A., No. 273,353. The principle adopted appears to be the well-known plan of introducing air into a cylindrical chamber by allowing it to be drawn through a stationary wheel containing helical vanes, as shown in the right-hand lower view. This sets the air spinning round the inside of the chamber and following a screw-like course. Centrifugal force compels the heavier particles, such as dust, to fly towards the outer walls of the chamber, and as they can only find an outlet when they reach the sump shown, they are deposited there. The air, when it meets the end of the chamber, is drawn to the only outlet, which is the tube shown on the right, which leads to the carburetter.
To prevent the air from entering the carburetter while still in a state of spinning, a correcting vane is provided, the first part of which is formed screwlike and in the same direction as the air is spinning. This -vane gradually becomes a straight plane, so, as the air passes along it on its journey to the carburetter, it travels axially.
A New Feature in Chain Tracks.
CHAIN tracks as used in creeper vehicles have always been found to wear out unduly soon owing to the severe stresses to which they are 81113jected. To remove one of these stresses is the object of the patent of the Stock \Motorpflug Aktiengesellschaft, of Berlin, No. 263,159.
In the present case the shoes are formed in the usual manner, with a single eye at .one end and a. double eye at the other end. The holes in the double eye are formed inthe normal way, so that rotary movement of the pin can take place in its hole, but in the case of the single eye the hole is formed with one side flat,. as shown in the upper view. The pin has a fiat place on one side which bears against the flat in the hole, so that tilting of one, shoe in relation to another can take place without stressing either the shoe or the pin.
A Bellows-operated Hydraulic Brake.
THE use of bellows instead of pistons fitting in their cylinders appears to be one of the features of the brake which is described in specification No. 270,730, by Maurice Charles, of Courbevide, France. The fulcrum pins in which the shoes swing are mounted diametrically opposite to each other, so that when the drum revolves in the direction of the arrow a certain amount of self-assisted action comes into play. Bellows are provided which receive their motion from the pressure of a fluid acting on the outside and transmitted to them by the pipe system
shown. The specification does not • mention any particular -purpose for which this brake is destined to be used, but we should imagine that it would be only useful on front wheels, where braking in one direction is what
is usually aimed at.