Continuously variable transmission
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A transmission comprising:
- a first rotatable disc mounted coaxially about a longitudinal axis of the transmission;
a plurality of tiltable balls placed angularly about the longitudinal axis and in contact with the first rotatable disc;
a second rotatable disc mounted coaxially about the longitudinal axis and in contact with the plurality of tiltable balls;
an idler placed radially inward of, and in contact with, the plurality of tiltable balls, wherein the idler is nonrotatable relative to the longitudinal axis; and
a cage operably coupled to the plurality of tiltable balls, the cage adapted to rotate freely without transferring power.
11 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A variable speed transmission having a plurality of tilting balls and opposing input and output discs is illustrated and described that provides an infinite number of speed combinations over its transmission ratio range. The use of a planetary gear set allows minimum speeds to be in reverse and the unique geometry of the transmission allows all of the power paths to be coaxial, thereby reducing overall size and complexity of the transmission in comparison to transmissions achieving similar transmission ratio ranges.
-
Citations
20 Claims
-
1. A transmission comprising:
-
a first rotatable disc mounted coaxially about a longitudinal axis of the transmission; a plurality of tiltable balls placed angularly about the longitudinal axis and in contact with the first rotatable disc; a second rotatable disc mounted coaxially about the longitudinal axis and in contact with the plurality of tiltable balls; an idler placed radially inward of, and in contact with, the plurality of tiltable balls, wherein the idler is nonrotatable relative to the longitudinal axis; and a cage operably coupled to the plurality of tiltable balls, the cage adapted to rotate freely without transferring power. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
-
-
5. A method of transferring mechanical power, the method comprising the steps of:
-
providing a transmission comprising; a first rotatable disc mounted coaxially about a longitudinal axis of the transmission; a plurality of tiltable balls placed angularly about the longitudinal axis and in contact with the first rotatable disc; a second rotatable disc mounted coaxially about the longitudinal axis and in contact with the plurality of tiltable balls; an idler placed radially inward of, and in contact with, the plurality of tiltable balls, wherein the idler is nonrotatable relative to the longitudinal axis; and a cage operably coupled to the plurality of tiltable balls, the cage adapted to rotate freely without transferring power; operably coupling the first rotatable disc to a power input; and operably coupling the second rotatable disc to a load. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 10)
-
-
8. A transmission comprising:
-
a first rotatable disc mounted coaxially about a longitudinal axis of the transmission; a plurality of tiltable balls placed angularly about the longitudinal axis and in contact with the first rotatable disc; a second rotatable disc mounted coaxially about the longitudinal axis and in contact with the plurality of tiltable balls, wherein the second rotatable disc is adapted to rotate freely without transferring power; an idler placed radially inward of, and in contact with, the plurality of tiltable balls, wherein the idler is nonrotatable relative to the longitudinal axis; and a rotatable cage operably coupled to the plurality of tiltable balls. - View Dependent Claims (9, 11, 12)
-
-
13. A method of transferring mechanical power, the method comprising the steps of:
-
providing a transmission comprising; a first rotatable disc mounted coaxially about a longitudinal axis of the transmission; a plurality of tiltable balls placed angularly about the longitudinal axis and in contact with the first rotatable disc; a second rotatable disc mounted coaxially about the longitudinal axis and in contact with the plurality of tiltable balls, wherein the second rotatable disc is adapted to rotate freely without transferring power; an idler placed radially inward of, and in contact with, the plurality of tiltable balls, wherein the idler is nonrotatable relative to the longitudinal axis; and a rotatable cage operably coupled to the plurality of tiltable balls; operably coupling the first rotatable disc to a power input; and operably coupling the rotatable cage to a load. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16)
-
-
17. A method of transferring mechanical power, the method comprising, the steps of:
-
providing a transmission comprising; a first rotatable disc mounted coaxially about a longitudinal axis of the transmission; a plurality of tiltable balls placed angularly about the longitudinal axis and in contact with the first rotatable disc; a second rotatable disc mounted coaxially about the longitudinal axis and in contact with the plurality of tiltable balls, wherein the second rotatable disc is adapted to rotate freely without transferring power; an idler placed radially inward of, and in contact with, the plurality of tiltable balls, wherein the idler is nonrotatable relative to the longitudinal axis; and a rotatable cage operably coupled to the plurality of tiltable balls; coupling the first rotatable disc to a load; and coupling the rotatable cage to a power input. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20)
-
Specification