Wobble gear system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10612635-B2
Application number	US-201816028351-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 5, 2018
Priority date	Jul 5, 2017
Publication date	Apr 7, 2020
Grant date	Apr 7, 2020

Abstract

A wobble gear system is provided with an arrangement of gear elements that permits a motive input to drive planet gear elements to increase the gear reduction ratio while maximizing efficiency of the wobble gear system. The wobble gear system may have eccentrically rotating or oscillating wobble elements including a wobble plate and compound planet gear elements that are non-collinear and may be driven by the motive input, increasing the realized gear ratio in a single stage without reducing efficiency. One wobble gear system embodiment may employ a plurality of ring-supported and driven compound planet gear elements with laterally offset non-collinear central axes to optimize eccentricity and enhance gear reduction ratios. The wobble gear system may be integrated with components of a vehicle drive wheel driven by an in-wheel motor to produce speeds and torques required to drive vehicles including automobiles and aircraft.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A wobble gear system arranged to produce an optimal gear reduction ratio while maximizing gear system efficiency, comprising:
a gearbox with a plurality of gear elements positioned to rotate about a gearbox central axis, comprising at least a plurality of spaced rings, a plurality of planet elements in contact with said plurality of spaced rings, and a wobble element in direct contact with at least one of said plurality of spaced rings and in indirect contact with said plurality of planet elements;
said plurality of spaced rings being arranged to rotate concentrically or eccentrically relative to said gearbox central axis and said wobble element;
said plurality of planet elements each comprising two adjacent gear sections, each of said adjacent gear sections having identical diameters or each of said adjacent gear sections having a different diameter, wherein a central axis of one said adjacent gear section is radially offset from a central axis of the other adjacent gear section so that said central axes are non-collinear; and
said a rotational gear system input comprising a source of driving power in contact with at least one of said plurality of planet elements to cause said plurality of planet elements to rotate, and an output comprising at least one of said plurality of spaced rings.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein said plurality of spaced rings comprises a first set of axially spaced rings positioned radially outwardly of said gearbox central axis and said wobble element and axially outwardly of a second set of axially spaced rings, and a selected number of said plurality of planet elements are located in supporting and driving contact between said first set of axially spaced rings and said second set of axially spaced rings.

3. The system of claim 2 , wherein said wobble element is positioned to contact said second set of axially spaced rings.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein a distance whereby said central axis of said one adjacent gear section is radially offset from said central axis of said other adjacent gear section is the same for each of said plurality of planet elements.

5. The system of claim 2 , wherein each set of said first and second set of axially spaced rings comprises two rings separated by an axial gap, and wherein one of each of said two rings contacts one of said adjacent gear sections of each of said plurality of planet elements located between said first and second set of rings and the other of said rings contacts the other of said adjacent gear sections of each of said plurality of planet elements.

6. The system of claim 3 , wherein said wobble disc is positioned to crank one or more of said plurality of planet elements.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein said plurality of spaced rings are arranged to rotate eccentrically relative to said wobble element.

8. The system of claim 1 , wherein said input source of driving power comprises a non-engine source of motive power located in an aircraft powered drive wheel.

9. The system of claim 1 , wherein said input source of driving power comprises a source of motive power located in an automobile.

10. The system of claim 1 , wherein said plurality of planet elements in contact with said plurality of axially spaced rings, and said wobble element in contact with said at least one of said plurality of spaced rings are in meshing contact through toothed surfaces or are in frictional contact through smooth surfaces.

11. The system of claim 8 , wherein said wobble gear system and said non-engine source of motive power are mounted completely within walls of one or more aircraft nose or main landing gear wheels.

12. The system of claim 1 , wherein said wobble plate supports a plurality of circumferentially spaced toothed gears, and each said gear includes an eccentrically positioned crank element.

13. The system of claim 12 , further comprising a second wobble plate spaced longitudinally from said wobble plate, wherein said crank elements on gears on said wobble plate are connected to crank elements on gears on said second wobble plate.

14. A method for transferring torque through a wobble gear system to produce an optimal gear reduction ratio while maximizing gear system efficiency, comprising:
providing the wobble gear system with a plurality of gear elements comprising at least a plurality of axially spaced rings, a plurality of planet elements spaced circumferentially about and in contact with said plurality of axially spaced rings, and a wobble element in contact with at least one of said plurality of axially spaced rings, wherein said plurality of gear elements are positioned to rotate about a central axis, said plurality of axially spaced rings rotates concentrically or eccentrically relative to said wobble element, and said plurality of planet elements comprise stepped compound planet elements with an axis of a first stepped section radially offset from an axis of a second stepped section so that the first and second stepped sections are non-collinear;
providing an input comprising a source of motive power in contact with at least one of said plurality of planet elements to produce a rotational input and providing an output comprising one of said plurality of axially spaced rings;
applying the input to the at least on one of the plurality of planet elements and causing the planet elements, the plurality of axially spaced ring elements, and the wobble element to rotate, producing eccentric rotation of at least one of said plurality of spaced rings and said wobble element so that a single rotation of the input causes a single oscillation of the wobble element and a single rotation of each of said plurality of planet elements; and
wherein said plurality of planet elements rotate at a higher speed than the wobble element or the axially spaced rings, thereby reducing a gear ratio for the wobble gear system while transferring torque through the plurality of gear elements during the eccentric rotation to the output.

15. The method of claim 14 , further comprising causing a different one of said plurality of axially spaced rings to rotate concentrically about the central axis while the one of said plurality of axially spaced rings is rotating eccentrically.

16. The system of claim 4 , wherein said distance whereby said central axis of said one planet element is radially offset from said central axis of said adjacent planet element comprises about 6.0 millimeters to about 10.00 millimeters.

17. The system of claim 4 , wherein one or more of said plurality of axially spaced rings are arranged to rotate eccentrically relative to said wobble element and a distance said one or more eccentrically rotating spaced rings are offset from said central axis is the same as said distance said central axis of said one adjacent gear section is radially offset from said central axis of said other adjacent gear section.

18. The method of claim 14 , further comprising causing the wobble element to rotate at a speed that increases or decreases a rotation of said plurality of planet elements by one rotation per orbit of the wobble element.

19. The method of claim 14 , further comprising providing a plurality of crank elements eccentric to an axis of rotation of the plurality of planet elements connected to a wobble plate, causing the wobble plate to oscillate as the plurality of planet elements rotate and the eccentric crank elements to rotate so that the wobble plate simultaneously oscillates about a concentric axis and rotates about the concentric axis and is simultane

Assignees

• Borealis Tech Ltd

Inventors

• Edelson Jonathan S

Classifications

• B60K17/046

  with planetary gearing having orbital motion · CPC title

• B60K7/0007

  the motor being electric · CPC title

• F16H1/32

  in which the central axis of the gearing lies inside the periphery of an orbital gear · CPC title

• F16H57/08

  of gearings with members having orbital motion · CPC title

• F16H2035/001

  Gearings with eccentrically mounted gears, e.g. for cyclically varying ratio · CPC title