Patents Examined by Stephen B. Andrews
  • Patent number: 4519266
    Abstract: A gear shift position sensing arrangement for a gear selector unit that selects the transmission gears indirectly. Magnetic sensors are arranged in the gear selector unit housing so as to be activated when a permanent magnet associated with the gear shift lever is brought into magnetic proximity therewith.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 20, 1982
    Date of Patent: May 28, 1985
    Assignee: WABCO Fahrzeugbremsen GmbH
    Inventor: Erich Reinecke
  • Patent number: 4515032
    Abstract: A drop-in shifter for a manual transmission includes an elongated base, a shift stick mounted on the base for multi-axis movement and a depending gear actuating lever. An elongated rail is supported on the base by spaced bearings for rotational and lateral shifting movement. The shift stick has a lower end pivoted to the rail. The gear actuating lever is fixed to the rail at a point spaced from the shift stick. The lever extends through the base which is bolted to the transmission. Multi-axis movement of the shift stick is translated into multi-axis movement of the gear actuating lever through the bearings and rail.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 30, 1982
    Date of Patent: May 7, 1985
    Assignee: JSJ Corporation
    Inventor: Bruce E. Olmsted
  • Patent number: 4515031
    Abstract: A fifth forward speed pinion is mounted by a bearing on the end of a countershaft that provides a space into which the bearing is fitted. A roller bearing mounted in the transmission casing supports the fifth speed pinion at the opposite end from that of the countershaft. The countershaft carries a reverse drive sprocket that is selectively connected to the countershaft by movement of a synchronizer clutch in accordance with control exercised by the vehicle operator. A reverse driven sprocket is drivably connected to the output shaft and torque is transmitted between the sprockets by a flexible, endless chain or belt.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 28, 1982
    Date of Patent: May 7, 1985
    Assignee: Ford Motor Company
    Inventor: David A. Janson
  • Patent number: 4512211
    Abstract: A spacing member 40 is of a special design for use with a differential assembly having drive gears 26 and 26, in the form of worm gears, which are operatively connected to each other through sets of transfer gears 34 and 36, having worm wheel portions 37 for meshing with respective drive gears 26 and 28. The spacing member 40 is made up of a number of pieces for ease of installation and removal and is provided with a mounting element 42 which functions to secure the spacing element in a preferred position between the innermost ends of axle segments 12 and 14. The mounting element 42 is provided with a bore 43 for receiving a journal pin 44 associated with an intermediate gear 38 position between a pair of transfer gears 34 and 36.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 15, 1983
    Date of Patent: April 23, 1985
    Assignee: The Gleason Works
    Inventor: Gene A. Stritzel
  • Patent number: 4512212
    Abstract: An automatic power transmission including a torque converter and a planetary type multiple stage gear transmission unit. The torque converter is provided with a lock up clutch for mechanically connecting the converter pump with the turbine so that the engine output torque is directly transmitted to the gear transmission unit. The engagement of the lock up clutch is controlled by the difference between the governor pressure which represents the vehicle speed and the throttle valve kickdown pressure which indicates whether or not the engine throttle valve is in or substantially in the full open position so that the lock up clutch can be engaged at a relatively low speed under a normal operation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 6, 1982
    Date of Patent: April 23, 1985
    Assignee: Aisin Seiki Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Kazuo Ishikawa
  • Patent number: 4510822
    Abstract: A continuously variable V-belt transmission comprises a hydrodynamic transmission unit including a lock-up means. A switch valve is provided which is responsive to fluid pressure in a cylinder chamber of a drive pulley, which fluid pressure being indicative of the reduction ratio of a continuously variable V-belt transmission unit. The lock-up means is engaged in response to the state of the switch valve to lock the hydrodynamic transmission unit when the reduction ratio is small. The switch valve may be responsive to stator reaction of a stator of the hydrodynamic transmission unit so that the lock-up means is released as long as the hydrodynamic transmission unit multiply torque.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 26, 1982
    Date of Patent: April 16, 1985
    Assignee: Nissan Motor Company, Limited
    Inventors: Sigeaki Yamamuro, Hiroyuki Hirano, Yoshiro Morimoto, Yoshikazu Tanaka
  • Patent number: 4509389
    Abstract: A transaxle for use in an automotive vehicle driveline having a front wheel drive comprising a torque converter and a compound planetary gear system having two simple planetary gear units adapted to provide four forward driving torque delivery paths, the highest speed ratio torque delivery path being an overdrive, the axis of the converter being located on the crankshaft axis of the vehicle engine and the torque output shaft axis being parallel to the converter axis, and clutch and brake means including overrunning clutches and friction clutches in series relationship for establishing and disestablishing the speed ratios.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 6, 1982
    Date of Patent: April 9, 1985
    Assignee: Ford Motor Company
    Inventors: Adam Vahratian, Roosevelt Maynard, Jr., Howard L. Croswhite, Po-Lung Liang
  • Patent number: 4509383
    Abstract: An improved joystick controller is disclosed in which the controller has a handle which is pivotally mounted in a base. An electrical cord carries the signal generated by the joystick controller from the base. The improvement comprises a ring and a spacer for positioning the ring spaced apart from the base. An outer housing encloses the base, the spacer and the ring with the housing having a substantially planar surface. The substantially planar surface has a radius of curvature which is greater than the outer ring of the ring. A cylindrically shaped member is mounted near the center of the planar surface. The member has a radius of curvature less than the inner radius of the ring and is positioned such that the ring passes through the member and rests on the surface. Thus, the rotation of the handle about its pivotal axis causes the cord to be wound or unwound about the spacer in the housing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 1, 1982
    Date of Patent: April 9, 1985
    Assignee: Championship Electronics (USA) Inc.
    Inventor: Gregory Y. S. Yeh
  • Patent number: 4507978
    Abstract: An inner deceleration type starter having a planetary gear has a DC motor rotary shaft and an output shaft supported by first and second bearings which overlap along a radial direction of the rotary shaft. In addition, an engaging portion of an overrunning clutch is also disposed in a space outside the first and second bearings so as to overlap the same along the radial direction of the rotary shaft, thus reducing the overall longitudinal length of the starter.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 19, 1982
    Date of Patent: April 2, 1985
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Toshinori Tanaka, Akira Morishita
  • Patent number: 4506561
    Abstract: A transmission housing for an automotive vehicle, comprises a bell housing made of light alloy and connected at its front end section to an engine block, and a lip supporting member made of steel and securely attached to bell housing front end section, along the periphery thereof, thereby preventing the bell housing from vibratingly deforming in its radial direction so as to reduce noise radiated therefrom.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 7, 1981
    Date of Patent: March 26, 1985
    Assignee: Nissan Motor Company, Limited
    Inventor: Yoshikazu Hayakawa
  • Patent number: 4503727
    Abstract: A transmission shift mechanism having straight line movement. The shift control operates a single shift rail carrying two shift forks to provide three speeds and a neutral position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 30, 1982
    Date of Patent: March 12, 1985
    Assignee: Allis-Chalmers Corporation
    Inventor: Gerardus M. Ballendux
  • Patent number: 4499790
    Abstract: A swivel head for industrial robots has two degrees of freedom, which are associated with respective spindles having intersecting axes. A first spindle serves to swivel a tool and a second spindle serves to rotate the tool. The swivel head also comprises two concentric drive shafts, which extend one in the other and carry bevel gears. One of said bevel wheels is a driving bevel gear for directly driving the second spindle by means of a bevel gear mounted on said second spindle. The other bevel gear drives a swiveling bevel gear mounted on the first spindle. In that swivel head a speed-reducing tansmission having a high reduction ratio is connected to the second spindle and serves to drive a tool carrier. The swiveling bevel gear directly carries a bearing bracket, which carries the tool shaft and intermediate gears of the transmission. The housing of the swivel head consists of a rigid part and a movable part.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 7, 1982
    Date of Patent: February 19, 1985
    Assignee: Fa.Jungheinrich Unternehmensverwaltung KG
    Inventor: Dirk Helms
  • Patent number: 4495829
    Abstract: A power drive line in which a continuously variable, nutating traction drive transmission unit (16) is combined with a single planetary set (84, 86, 88) to provide two forward modes and a reverse mode of drive line operation. A pair of transmission unit input shafts (18, 20) are alternatively coupled to a power input to the overall drive line. In one forward mode, the planet gear (86) is driven by the sun gear (84) to rotate the ring gear (88) in a relatively wide low speed range of speed ratios. In another forward mode, the transmission body (52) carrying the planet gear (86) is connected to be driven directly by the drive line power input to effect a relatively high range of output speeds for a given input speed. In the reverse mode, the body (52) carrying the planet gear (86) is held against planetary movement so that the planet gear (86) operates as a reversing idler between the sun gear input (84) and the ring gear output (88).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 23, 1981
    Date of Patent: January 29, 1985
    Assignee: Ipanema Company
    Inventor: Yves J. Kemper
  • Patent number: 4495835
    Abstract: A differential gearing assembly including a differential case 10 that mounts axle drive gears 22 rotatably engaged with axles 20 and transfer gearing 50 for cross coupling the axle drive gears. The axle ends are secured to the differential assembly by lock rings 32 received by lock ring grooves formed on the axle ends. A thrust spacer maintains the predetermined spaced apart position of the axle ends and in one embodiment 26 comprises elements 26a 26b which when joined together by a fastener 28 capture the lock rings in their installed positions on the axle ends. The transfer gearing includes transfer gears 50 rotatably coupled to each other by intermediate gearing 54. In an alternate embodiment, a thrust spacer 70 is bisected along a line defined by stepped confronting surfaces 74a, 74b, 74c to define interfitting halves 72a, 72b. Each half is configured and sized to facilitate removal through an opening defined between the intermediate gears.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 15, 1983
    Date of Patent: January 29, 1985
    Assignee: The Gleason Works
    Inventor: Vernon E. Gleasman
  • Patent number: 4495836
    Abstract: A differential has a first element operatively connected to the output shaft for driving the wheels of the vehicle and a second element operatively connected to a prime mover. The differential includes a third element operatively connected to a fly wheel. The fly wheel and prime mover are arranged to simultaneously drive said output shaft through said differential so that the speed of the vehicle may remain constant or vary regardless of the speed of the fly wheel. The fly wheel is capable of being driven by a source external of the prime mover so that the fly wheel may assist the prime mover during acceleration of the vehicle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 14, 1982
    Date of Patent: January 29, 1985
    Inventor: Max Cohen
  • Patent number: 4495838
    Abstract: Disclosed is an automatic control system for a powershift, preselect transmission (10) including a plurality of power paths (36, 38) alternately connectable between input (12) and output (20) shafts by first engaging selected ones of synchronizer clutches (42, 74, 84) associated with each of a plurality speed ratio gears (44, 46, 76, 78, 80) in each path and then alternately engaging a powershift clutch (48, 82) associated with each path. The control system includes a hydraulic logic system (118) which may be electronic and a hydraulic and shift valve system which may be electrically controlled should the logic be electronic. The control system preselects ratio gears in a nondriving path and then alternately engages the powershift clutches to switch driving connections from one path to the other. The logic system includes an improved reverse sequence valve (132) and improved shift valves (124, 126, 128).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 16, 1981
    Date of Patent: January 29, 1985
    Assignee: Eaton Corporation
    Inventor: Douglas C. Gooch
  • Patent number: 4495839
    Abstract: Disclosed is an automatic control system for a powershift, preselect transmission (10) including a plurality of power paths (36, 38) alternately connectable between input (12) and output (20) shafts by first engaging selected ones of synchronizer clutches (42, 74, 84) associated with each of a plurality speed ratio gears (44, 46, 76, 78, 80) in each path and then alternately engaging a powershift clutch (48, 82) associated with each path. The control system includes a hydraulic logic system (118) which may be electronic and a hydraulic and shift valve system which may be electrically controlled should the logic be electronic. The control system preselects ratio gears in a nondriving path and then alternately engages the powershift clutches to switch driving connections from one path to the other. The logic system includes an improved reverse sequence valve (132) and improved shift valves (124, 126, 128).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 16, 1981
    Date of Patent: January 29, 1985
    Assignee: Eaton Corporation
    Inventor: Timothy J. Morscheck
  • Patent number: 4495837
    Abstract: Disclosed is an automatic control system for a powershift, preselect transmission (10) including a plurality of power paths (36, 38) alternately connectable between input (12) and output (20) shafts by first engaging selected ones of synchronizer clutches (42, 74, 84) associated with each of a plurality speed ratio gears (44, 46, 76, 78, 80) in each path and then alternately engaging a powershift clutch (48, 82) associated with each path. The control system includes a hydraulic logic system (118) which may be electronic and a hydraulic and shift valve system which may be electrically controlled should the logic be electronic. The control system preselects ratio gears in a nondriving path and then alternately engages the powershift clutches to switch driving connections from one path to the other. The logic system includes an improved reverse sequence valve (132) and improved shift valves (124, 126, 128).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 16, 1981
    Date of Patent: January 29, 1985
    Assignee: Eaton Corporation
    Inventor: Timothy J. Morscheck
  • Patent number: 4494416
    Abstract: Cams carried by a power input shaft reciprocate a pair of yokes along perpendicular paths with the ends of each yoke coupled to a pair of oscillating arm members, all carried by a shift ring. Disposed for rectilinear travel between each pair of arm members is a gear plate. Rack gears on the gear plates impart rotation to driven gears of multiple drive assemblies, each of which assemblies includes a driving gear in mesh with an output shaft mounted gear. Rectilinear movement of the gear plates in one direction in response to arm oscillation imparts rotation to the driving gear of each drive assembly while a unidirectional clutch in each drive assembly permits overrunning of the driving gear during return travel of its associated gear plate. Infinite speed changes result from shifting the axes of arm oscillation toward or away from the gear plate ends by positioning of the arm carrying shift ring.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 13, 1982
    Date of Patent: January 22, 1985
    Inventor: Lyle B. Evans
  • Patent number: 4491035
    Abstract: A differential gear assembly that includes a differential case 12 and a pair of axle ends 18a, 20a extending into, and rotatably coupled to, side gears 22, 24 located within the case. The axles are retained by locking rings 42 that are received by locking grooves 40 formed at the extreme ends of the axle ends and maintained in position by recesses 29 formed in the side gears. The axles are maintained in operative positions by a spacing arrangement that includes an axial thrust element 62 captured in one side gear recess and an element 64 that includes both a side gear thrust portion 66 and an axle thrust portion 68 which is received and captured by the recess in the other side gear. The operative position of at least one side gear 24 is maintained by a removable spacer that comprises a bifurcated collar held together by fasteners 84.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 15, 1983
    Date of Patent: January 1, 1985
    Assignee: The Gleason Works
    Inventors: Vernon E. Gleasman, Keith E. Gleasman