3 ms·
> This is the same for mechanical inventions And just like with software patents, people come up with weird workarounds: > Sun-and-planet motion. The spur-gea
by vanderZwan 7y ago
> This is the same for mechanical inventions
And just like with software patents, people come up with weird workarounds:
> Sun-and-planet motion. The spur-gear to the right, called the planet-gear, is tied to the center of the other, or sun-gear, by an arm which preserves a constant distance between their centers. This was used as a substitute for the crank in a steam engine by James Watt, after the use of the crank had been patented by another party. Each revolution of the planet-gear, which is rigidly attached to the connecting-rod, gives two to the sun-gear, which is keyed to the fly-wheel shaft.
http://507movements.com/mm_039.html http://507movements.com/mm_039.html
If you look at the animation at the link, you can see it's just a crank with two extra gears attached
- im3w1l 7y ago> Note that the axle of the planet gear is tied to the axle of the sun gear by a link that freely rotates around the axis of the sun gear and keeps the planet gear engaged with the sun gear but does not contribute to the drive torque. This link appears, at first sight, to be similar to a crank but the drive is not transmitted through it. Thus, it did not contravene the crank patent. Pretty interesting stuff. Although visually similar it is actually a different principle. And we can readily tell that the arm doesn't contribute to the drive as the sun is rotating faster than the arm would drive it.