Continuously variable transmission

摘要

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.

主权项

1. A power train, comprising:
a planetary gearset mounted on a shaft having a longitudinal axis, the planetary gearset including a planet carrier coupled to the shaft; a variator mounted coaxially with and coupled to the planetary gearset, the variator comprising
a plurality of balls, each ball having a tiltable axis about which it rotates,a cage configured to align the tiltable axes of the plurality of balls and further configured to maintain the radial and angular position of each ball in the plurality of balls,a first disc in contact with the plurality of balls, anda second disc in contact with the plurality of balls and further coupled to a case to form a rotating hub shell; and an idler in contact with the plurality of balls.