Abstract: A friction disc clutch including a first clutch half with radially inwardly extending outer friction plates and a second clutch half with radially outwardly extending inner friction plates interleaved with the outer friction plates. Friction material on the axially outwardly facing surfaces of the inner friction plates engage the opposing surfaces of the outer friction plates on engagement of the clutch halves. A respective Belleville spring between an inner friction plate and the next adjacent outer friction plate normally urges those plates apart sufficiently that it prevents mutual engagement of the friction plates through internal friction of the fluid in the clutch. The Belleville springs have radially external borders which connect with the outer friction plates and rotate with them and have internal borders which abut against but slide over the inner friction plates.

Abstract: The invention provides a multi-gear ratio gearbox with a reverse. The gearbox is characterized by having a very short overall length. It has an input drive shaft (11) and an output shaft (12) in coaxial relationship, two counter shafts (13 and 14) arranged in parallelism thereto and furthermore groups of gear wheels mounted on these shafts, the gear wheels in such groups being placed in three gear wheel planes. The clutches for coupling the different gear wheels with their shafts are in a common plane which for its part is between the gear wheel planes. This arrangement leads to an extremely compact design of the gearbox, more particularly as regards its axial length so that the gearbox is specially well suited for combination with a coaxial change-speed transmission on the output side. If such further transmission is an epicyclic gearing unit the overall length will be within the length range of plain transmissions as so far proposed.

Abstract: A multiple speed transmission with a plurality of shafts and gears and divided into a number of shift units. Insofar as possible, the respective corresponding shafts and gears among the shift units have substantially the same pitch dimensions. In a multi-speed, single direction transmission, there are two gear and clutch carrying shafts. A clutch in one shift unit joins a gear fixed to the shaft of that shift unit with one or the other of two gears rotatable with respect to the shaft of that shift unit. An additional gear is fixedly mounted on the shaft. The two of such shift units are engaged with different respective ones of their gears being in direct or indirect engagement. For a reversing direction transmission, an intermediate, and therefore direction reversing, gear is interposed between the gears of one interengaged set of gears. In another embodiment, a direction reversing shift unit is connected to one of the two shift units of a single direction transmission.

Abstract: Power take-off gearing for separate drives, for the propellers of an amphibious vehicle, or the like: A main drive shaft drives two separate driven shafts through respective slip clutches. Each clutch comprises a set of interleaved disks. A respective plunger selectively presses or does not press each set of disks together to drive each driven shaft at a speed dependent upon the plunger pressure. Hydraulic means which are solenoid valve controlled selectively activate and deactivate the clutch plungers, each clutch has its own control valve. A brake for both driven shafts is also activated by the solenoid valve.

Abstract: A bearing block for a boring turbine, with ball bearings having intermediate spring rings between them: the spring rings have spring deflection characteristics such that the bearings are stressed in series sequence as the cutting force changes and such that each bearing is not stressed until the previous bearing in series has been stressed; for adjusting the deflection characteristic, some rings have varying size holes through them.