Title of Invention

AUTOMATIC CLUTCH CUM INSTANT TORQUE ADJUSTER

Abstract

The Equipment consisting of a Conical Clutch, having one fixed flange and another movable flange with steel balls inside, a flexible pulley, a r-igid pLtlley, and a differential gear train, when installed on a light motor vehicle will provide continLtous infinitely variable transmission ratio, and thereby aLttomatically adjust the vehicle speed instantaneously, to match the torque available,maintaining the engine speed normally within optimum range, resLtlting in considerable saving in fuel on uneven roads, less pollution, higher torqLte and better accelera- tion. The unit will also function as an automatic clutch and can bring the vehicle speed to zero, in case of over loading The option for 'Direct Drive' and 'Over Drive' provides extra mileage on normal roads.The same gear module provides for direct drive' and 'over drive' including parking facility and Reverse, withOLtt any additional gear, resulting in high transmi- ssion efficiency and excellent driving comfort.

Full Text

The equipment invented is a type of AUTOMATIC CLUTCH CUM INSTANT TORQUE ADJUSTER which when fitted on a S wheeler or 3 wheeler or similar light motor vehicle, wil1 function as an automatic clutch, and wil1 automatically adjust the speed of the vehicle, almost instantaneously, to match with the torque produced by the engine; and wil1 also proovide reverse movement of the vehicle. The equipment mainly consists of a Conical Clutch consisting of S Conical flanges. One flange is rigidly fixed on the driving shaft and another flange rotates freely around the driving shaft. The later flange can also move in and out atlong the driving shaft. The projected hub of this movable flange carries one half of a flexible 'V' pulley. The other half of the flexible pulley is freely rotating on a bronze bush fitted on the driving shaft. There are two webs welded on to this flange which can move in and out through two separate slots provided in the rigid flange. There are two numbers 6 mm. diameter holes drilled on the rigid flange in order to feed the required number of steel balIs into the two compartments on either side of the web. The holes are provided with suitable studs in order to prevent the escape of balIs while the machine running - The rigid flange has a longitudinal extension so as to prevent the escape of steel balls. There is a steady collar with a carbon ring attached on either side, which can shift the movable flange assembly inward and outward, by pushing against a steel collar on either side attached to a smal1 flange rigidly fixed on the movable flange assembly. The steady collar can be actuated by means of an external lever. The movable flange assembly has 5 positions., namely 'Normal', 'Park', 'Direct 'Over drive' and 'Reverse'. The Equipment also consists of a Differential Gear Train 5 where there is an Outer gear, one middle gear, and a p lanet carrier, all having the same axis. The 2 planet gears attached to the planet carrier ^ connect the Outer gear at the upper end ^ and the middle gear at the lower Bnd- The planet carrier is rigidly fixed on to the main shaft of the gear train ^ while the Outer gear and the middle gear rotate freely on bronze bush fixed on the main shaft. The Outer gear is connected to the drive shaft from the Engine. The middle gear is connected to the vehicle. The main shaft of the gear train has been provided with a 'V' Pulley which is connected to the flexible pulley of the Conical Clutch through a 'V' belt. When the engine starts running, the rigid flange starts rotating along with the webs which wil1 drive away the steel balIs into the periphery of the clutch. Due to the Centrifugal force, the steel balls will apply pressure on the flanges, and as a result, the movable flange will start moving outward along with the one half of the flexible pulley and thereby increasing the effective diameter of the flexible pulley, the speed of the main shaft of the gear train, and the planet carriBr as well. When the Engine does not have enough torque to maintain the vehicle speed, the Engine speed will come down and because of the reduction in speed, the centrifugal force applied by the steel balIs wi11 be reduced and the movable flange assembly wil1 move inward under the pressure of the spring in between the S halves of the flexible pulley, and thereby decreasing the effective diameter of the flexible pulley, which causes a drop in the speed of the planet cs^rrxBr - The Differential Gear Train provides an instant response to the changes in the planet carrier speed. Any Blight change in the speed of the planet carriB)" brings in a large variation in the speed of the middle gear, connected to the vehicle, as detailed below,. Assuming Nl is the speed of Middle Gear, having H*^ Teeth (Zl) N2 is the speed of Outer Gear, having 84 Teeth (IB) N3 is the speed of Planet Gear, having 30 Teeth (Z3) N4 is the speed of Planet carrier- Nl == N4 (Zl + Ze) - NS IB Zl Zl Let the minimum Diameter of the flexible pulley = 3" the maximum Diameter of the flexible pulley - 4.11" and the gear module be 8- without the differential gear train can be noted from the Table "A" above. If the vehicle can move at Sa50 RPM without the differential train, the same vehicle can operate at about 3100 RPM with the differential gear train on the same inclination. When the planet carrier speed is 1167 RPM Corresponding to the Engine speed of 1500 RPM, the flexible pulley diameter will be 3.111" and the middle gear speed wil1 be Zero. This means the Vehicle will be at the stand still position. This is the normal operating position and is designated as 'Normal'. In this position the movable flange assembly of the Conical Clutch can move up to the maximum outward position corv-esponding to the pulley diametre of 4.11".(Table A> If the load is too much and there is not enough torque available, the speed of planet carrier will automatically drop to 1167 RPM and the vehicle will come to the stand still Position. In this case the unit acts as an automatic clutch. The same situation takes place when the Brake is applied. Using an external lever connected to the 'Shift Collar' the movable flange assembly can be locked at the normal position BO that it cannot move inward or outward. This position is designated as "Park". In the 'Park' position the vehicle will be at stand still at any engine speed j, the engine can be conveniently started; and the flexible pulley diameter will be 3.111". Using the same external lever the movable flange assembly can be locked in the position , corresponding to 4500 RPM. In this position the pulley diametre will be 4" and there wil1 be no reduction in speed; The speed of the engine and vehicle will therefore be equal at any speed from 0 to 6000 RPM« This position is termed as "Direct" where there will be a direct drive between Engine and the vehicle.(Table B> Using the same external lever, the movable flange assembly can be locked at the maximum position corresponding to 5000 RPM wherein the Pulley diameter wi11 be 4«11". This position is designated as "Over Drive"« The vehicle speed in this position wil1 be higher than the Engine speed at any time (Table C). Using the same external lever, the movable flange assembly can be shifted to the maximum inward position and locked there- This is the 'Reverse Position',where in the effective diameter of flexible pulley is 3", If the engine speed is 1500 Fv'PM, the vehicle will move in the Reverse direction „ corresponding to the middle gear speed of ™187 RPti. The Reverse speed wil 1 also increase when the engine speed is increased. (Table D) The invention is more clearly described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. In sheet no:1, Fig.I is a sectional plan and Fig.11 is the side view of the Conical Clutch unit. Part I is the driving shaft connected to the drive from the engine, part E is the steel balls, part 3 is the key for fixed flange, part 4 is the web, part 5 is the key for Steel Bush, part 6 is the Fixed Flange, part 7 is the movable Flange, part 8 is the stitch weld for web on to the movable flange, part 9 is the smal1 flange fixed on the movable flange to facilitate the axial shifting of the movable flange assembly part 10 is the shift collar provided with a carbon ring on either side, part 11 is the key between flexible pulley half and the movable flange, part IS is the flexible pulley moving half, part 13 is the spring in between the £ halves of the flexible pulley, part 14 is the 'V belt, part 15 is the stationary half of the flexible pulley, part 16 is the Br on 2: e bush for the flexible pulley's stationary half, part 17 is the fixing screw for part 16, part 18 is the Bronze bush to facilitate the longitudinal movement of the movable flange assembly part 19 is the carbon ring, part SO is the steel collar connected to part 9, which will act against the carbon ring, part SI is the pivot pin on the shift collar, for connecting shift lever» Part SS is the hole drilled on fixed flange for feeding steel balls, part S3 is the slot for the movement of web, and part 24 is the screw cap for the feeding hole. In sheet no:E, Fig:III is the side view of the differential gear train and Fig:IV is the front view. Part I is the Middle gear, part S is the planet gear, part 3 is the planet carrier, part A- is the Outer gear, part 5 is the main shaft, part 6 is the Bronze bush for the middle gear, part 7 is the planet gear (bottom), part 8 is the fixing flange for planet carrier, par t 9 is the ' V' Belt (same as part l4- in Fig I of sheet no:l) connected to the Flexible pulley of the Conical Clutch assembly, and part 10 is the 'V'pulley fixed on the mainshaft- In sheet nosS, Fig«V and VI gives the three dimensional views of the Conical Clutch and differential gear train respectively . In figure V all the part nos. correspond to the same parts in sheet no:l. Part i is the driving shaft, part A- is the web p part 6 is the fixed flange, part IS is the moving half of the flexible pulley, part 14 is the 'V' belt, part 15 is the stationary half of the flexible pulley, part 84 is the screw cap for the feeding hole- In figure VI, all the part noss correspond to the same parts in sheet no:2- Part 1 is the middle gear, part 2 is the planet gear, part 4 is the outer gear, part 7 is the planet gear (bottom), part 8 is the fixing flange for planet carrier part 9 is the "V belt, part 10 is the 'V pulley on the main shaft. Advantages Since the differential gear train provides for continuous variable high transmission ratio the vehicle speed is automatically adjusted, almost instantaneously to match the torque, and the engine speed wil1 be normally maintained with in the optimum range;, resulting in better fuel efficiency on gradients, less pollution and better driving comfort. The high transmission ratio provides the vehicle higher Torque and, excel lent acceleration - Since the same gear module without any atdditional gear, provides "reverse drive' and also'Direct drive, 'Over drive', and also parking facility, the transmission efficiency is better„ The option for 'Direct Drive' provides better fuel economy while driving slow along the level road, The 'Over drive' provides higher vehicle speed keeping the engine speed within optimum range resulting in fuel economy on high speed. The provision for automatic clutch protects the vehicle against over loading.The parking facility enables the Engine to run at any speed for test purpose, while the vehicle is parked- Claim 1 A CONICAL CLUTCH CUM INSTANT TORQUE ADJUSTER for installing on a light motor vehicle, comprising a conical clutch having one fixed flange and one movable flange having S webs, and carrying steel bel1B in between; the said movable flange carrying one half of a flexible pulley, the other half freely rotating 5 the said flexible pulley being connected to the planet carrier of a differential gear train through a pulley and 'V' belt; the said differential gear train having its outer gear connected to the drive shaft from the engine and the middle gear connected to the vehicle. Claim S An "AUTOMATIC CLUTCH CUM INSTANT TORQUE ADJUSTER" substantially as here in before described and as illustrated in the accompanying complete specification.

Documents:

179-che-2003-abstract.pdf

179-che-2003-claims dupli cate.pdf

179-che-2003-claims original.pdf

179-che-2003-correspondnece-others.pdf

179-che-2003-correspondnece-po.pdf

179-che-2003-description(complete) duplicate.pdf

179-che-2003-description(complete) original.pdf

179-che-2003-drawings.pdf

179-che-2003-form 1.pdf

179-che-2003-form 19.pdf