US950848A - Gasolene-engine starter. - Google Patents

Description

E. Ar; GARDNER. GAsoLBNB ENGINE STARTER. APPLIUATION FILED JULY 12,1909.

Patentsed Mar.1,1910. J'ffg /d Wllllllll",

citizen of the United States, residing in Illinois, have invented a new and useful Im- 'which is so constructed that the shaft is not required 1n its ordinary revolution to carry A lengine by the ordinary crank.

UNTTED STATES PATENT carica.

EDWIN GARDNER, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, .AS-SIGNOR OF ONE-TEN'IH T0 CHRIS- TOPI-IER BALDACCI, 0F CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

GASOLENE-ENGINE STARTER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

`latented Mar. 1, 191,0.

Application filed July 12, 1909. Serial No 507,192.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWIN A. GAnnNEma Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of provement in Gasolene-Engine Starters, of which the following is a specification.

This inventionrelates to improvements in engine starters.

The purpose of the invention isl a gasolene engine starter, of cheap, strong and durable construction, that may bc applied directly to the main shaft of the engine, or an extension thereof, of any form of gasolene or explosive engine, and at either side two or employing any counter-shafting; and

any great weight of parts; and so contrived as-not to interfere with the cranking of the These results I accomplish by means of a mechanism consisting essentiallyof a spring drum ru'nning loose from the shaft and borne on the stationary frame-work of the machine in conjunction with a two part clutch, lone member of the clutch being splined to andI revolvinoV with the shaft, and .the other member tbeing connected directly to'one end of the spring,'of which the other end spring is connected to the drinn above mentioned, this member of the clutch being also provided with a locking'device -or ratchet that permits rotation in the direction of the re .volving shaft anda prevents rotation in ythe tivopart locking or ratchetmechanism, one` member of. which is carried by said shaft and the other member of which is `carried I by the s pring drum, this latter locking mechanism being so Acontrived that the shaft member is free to'revol've at all times with i the shaft, while the drum member being Secured to the spring drum, can revolve -only with the drum, the locking being' so contrived that when thedrum revolves in the direction of ,revolution of the shaft, it will l N opposite direction; and further .in a second l carry said shaft with it, but when the drum is stationary, the.` shaft is still free to revolve in the same direction; and further, a mechanism for locking the said spring drum at will against revolution, and releasing it to permit revolution; all of which will more fully and at largeappear in the subsequent explanation, and aided by the accompany ing drawing Which forms a part of this specication.v

In said drawings, Figure 1 is a longitudinal, vertical section of my improved starter. Fig'Q is a vertical cross section of the same on the line 2-2 of Fig. l. Fig. 3 is a vertical cross section on the line 33 of Fig. 1`

Like characters ofreference made use of in the several figures indicate like parts.

In the drawing, l0 is a stationary framework. This frame-work is provided with a` bearingll for the shaft 12, su porting said shaft directly, and with other lhearings supporting said shaft indirectly, as will .appear from the drawing. Encircling this shaft is a twvo-part clutch, preferably a friction clutch', one member of which,-f13,is splined to the shaft to revolve therewith and slide thereon, and providedwith a'grooved` hubl 14 lengaged by a clutch shifter 15 connected by the rod 16 to a suit-able operating vhandle or lever, such handle not being shown in the drawing, by means of which the clutch' may be thrown into and out of engagement i at the will of the operator. The other inem; ber of the clutch, 17, iscarried on the frameworkdirectly in the bearing 18 and indi-v rectly elsewhere. rI"he latter-clutch, 17, is provided with a locking device thatpermits its revolution freely in the direction of thev revolving shaft, but prevents revolution in the opposite direction, and which locking mechanism may consist of a ratchet 19 and a pawl 20, the latter carried on the stationary frame of the machine." It will be noted that this clutch member 17 is 4provided with a' sleeve 21 extending through the spring drum 22. `And within the drum said `sleeve is ro- .vided with a hook 23 to Which-one end o the.`

. greatly I takes place, though since spring 24 is attached, the other end of said I spring being connected by a pin 25 tothe drum itself.

The result of the mechanism thus far described is that when the friction clutch, which I call the spring-winding-clutch, is operated, both parts of the clutch being thus locked to the shaft 12, the revolution of the latter now tends to wind up the spring in the drum. Butthe drinn, being itself free to revolve with the shaft, in order to actually wind the spring it isnecessary to provide some locking mechanism or means to temporarily prevent the rotation This temporary drum-locking mechanism may consist of a-brake or eccentric locking device 26, operatedY by lthe rod 27. Now .the drum being locked, the spring Will be Wound up by the rotation of the shaft and the winding gained will be held by the ratchet and gawl 19, 20, of the spring-Winding-clutch:

ince the drum locking mechanism is frictional in-its character, if the spring be over- Wound, the drum will slipfbefore breaking l the winding tak'es' but a moment of time, the operator can determine when the spring is fully wound by the resistance, and at that moment release the clutch, leaving the anism 1n action to hold the Winding that has been gained. On the other side of the drum t from said clutch isthe locking mechanism forlocking the spring drum to the shaft and thus starts the power, though the engine ha when required to apply the spring thereto, and which consists of two members, one member being connected to the spring drum and the other to the shaft. latter locking mechanism may consist of the pawl-earrying-disk 28, connected rigidly to the shaft and carrying the free swinging pawls 29; and the other member may consist of the ratchet wheel 30 rigidly connected With the spring drum. Of course, this locking mechanism may consist of lany suitable mechanism that will permit-the shaft to revolve freely in one direction while connecting the drum with the shaft when the'drum is released and brought into` action.

prefer the ratchetwheel and multiple pawl device shown in the drawing. The purpose of having several pawls operated by their own weight instead of a single springheld pawl is that these pawls may` swing freely, so that when the shaft 12 is revolving rapidly, in the normal operation of the engine, the centrifugal force of such revolul tionA may operate to carry the loose pawls out and away from the ratchet teeth to avoid the rattling and noise whichtheir engagement would otherwise cause at this is stopped, there will be at least one of the four pawls in such position that it can drop of the drum.

drum locking mech- But I connect the spring drum with the shaft to communicate the stored energv of the spring to the shaft to start the engine.

. The operation of my improved engine starter is as follows: By some means. ln' the ordinary crank or y is put into operation. Now while the shaft l2 is running in the direction of the arrow. and the spring drum lock 26 is set in the locked position to hold the said spring drum from revolution, the operator throws in the winding clutch and thus connects the sleeve 21 to revolve with the shaft 12, winding up -the spring. When the spring is fully Wound, which the operator may know by the feelin of the clutch, the clutch is released whlle the shaft 12 still continues to revolve, and leaving the spring in the wound condition, butl not attached to the shaft. And when the engine is stopped, the springl drum immediately becomes connected to the shaftv by the fall of the pawls 29 andremains in that condition for an indefinite time and for any length of time desired, the starter being now charged with the energy surrounding the engine time; While when the revolution of the shaft o ,ito'engagement with the ratchet wheel to l to seize and rotate the shaft in the proper direction as soon as the spring drum lock shall be released, nd which release can be effected at any time by the operator by means of a pull or push on the rod 27. As soon as the spring drum is released, it being locked to the shaft, revolves the said shaft engine precisely as d been cranked b v hand; and after the engine is started, the spring drum lock being again set to lock being momentaril)v applied to wind the spring, the apparatus is again charged with energy to again crank the engine. 'Of course, it will be more economical sometimes to throw in the winding clutch just about as the engine is to be stopped, thus utilizing in some degree the momentum of the car, in case of an antomobile, to aid in the winding.

Having thus described my invention, I claim :w

1. The combination with the motor spring surrounding the engine shaft, of said engin(` shaft, of a ratchet clutch device for connecting at will the inner end of the spring to the shaft for winding the same, a drum snrrounding the spring and to which its outer end is connected, a ratchet surroundingthe shaft and carried by the drinn, and a pawl plate engaging said ratchet and attached rigidly to the shaft, substantially as described. l

42. The combination w shaft, of said engine shaft, of a ratchet clutch device for connect-- ing at will the inner end of the spring to the shaft for winding the same, a drum sarrounding the spring and to which its outer otherwise.y the engine ith the mot-or spring end is connecten; a ratchet surroundingthe Shaft undcarrid by he drum, and@ paWl platefengaglng said ratchet andattached rigidly to heV shft, said pawl calfrfyi'ng' device consisting-of a paWl carrier to'which a multiplicity vof? pawls are loosely pvoted so that the 'centrifugal force will carry the ,f pawlf's free of the ratchet when the shaft is Witnesses:

H. M. MUNDAY, JOHN XV. MUNDAY.

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