Shifting Gears by Electricity 



It requires but one operation to shift from neutral to high gear 



CONTROL- 



IN a patent recently granted to John C. 

 Brackett, cf Copper Cliff, Ontario, a 

 mechanism is described which elec- 

 trically controls the entire range of the 

 speed of a gasoline automobile without re- 

 course to shifting the change gears by hand. 

 This control is centralized in one lever on 

 the steering-wheel, which lever 

 can be so manipulated that the 

 car can be started from neutral 

 to reverse speed or from neutral 

 to a high forward speed on the 

 high gear. 

 In prin- 

 ciple these 

 results are 

 obtained 

 by means 

 of a master 

 switch, 

 placed in 

 an e 1 e c- 

 trical cir- 

 cui t be- 

 twee n a 

 solenoid to 

 throw the 

 driving 

 clutch of 

 the auto- 

 mobile in 

 or out of 



mesh, and six other solenoids, two for bring- 

 ing the gears to neutral position and one 

 each for the reverse, low, second and high 

 speeds. These solenoids are arranged to 

 shift the ordinary change-speed gears of the 

 automobile by conventional shifter bars. 

 The master-switch is operated by means 

 of the control-lever on the steering-wheel. 

 The position of the lever is regulated by 

 means of notches on a sector on the steering- 

 wheel. These notches, corresponding with 

 those of th2 master-switch, are wired to the 

 various solenoids so that a movement of the 

 lever automatically disengages the clutch 

 by energizing its solenoid and at the same 

 time closes one of the gear-shifting sole- 

 noids. This causes the gear with which that 

 solenoid is connected by means of its 

 shifter arm to move into mesh. 



The control is centralized 

 in one lever operated 

 from the steering-wheel 



At right: The details of 

 the wiring arrangement, 

 showing the speed gears 



The control lever may also be moved 

 from neutral to high speed in one operation 

 to start the engine automatically, pick up 

 the car on first speed and then through 

 intermediate gear to high gear. This is ac- 

 complished by means of a self-starting relay 

 switch on the dash of the car and a rack 

 and pinion used in connection 

 with a toothed ring on the master 

 switch. This pinion is mounted 

 on a vertical shaft driven off the 

 lower end of the throttle control 

 bar down the center of the 

 steering column by means of 

 bevel gears. The rack is at- 

 tached to a horizontal rod 

 which is broken at one point 

 and fitted at one end with a 

 washer which acts as a piston 

 against a spring carried in a 

 cup cylinder mounted on the 

 other end. The rod is then 

 extended 

 and form- 

 ed into a 

 second 

 rack which 

 meshes 

 with the 

 toothed 

 ring on the 

 master 

 switch, the 

 latter be- 

 ing in the 

 form of a 

 vertical 

 cylinder 

 with the 

 solenoid 



contact points on the curved surface. The 

 toothed ring also has a set of interior and 

 exterior notches corresponding to those of 

 the control and solenoid contact points. 

 The rack rod with its spring cylinder 

 works in opposition to a rod connected 

 with the clutch shifter arm. This rod 

 is also fitted with washers and opposite- 

 acting contracting springs, the former car- 

 rying rollers which contact with the notches 

 on the master switch ring. 



SECOND 'REVERSE 



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