Right Angle Transmission Desktop Model

[vascon2196]

[ame]http://youtu.be/Am9i0GV8ty0[/ame]

This will be my latest project...I saw this at the Yankee Steam Up in East Greenwich Rhod Island over the summer and had to build something like it. The OEM was Almond Manufacturing Company.

I think it will make a neat conversation piece and with a base of 6" X 6" it will sit nicely on my desk at work.

It works in SolidWorks but will in work in reality????

We shall see!

 

[aarggh]

Wow, that's doing my ehad in just watching it! Can't wait to see your progress on this engine. The tolerances would need to be exceedingly tight I assume, but how do you account for reasonance/wobble while running?

cheers, Ian

 

[vascon2196]

Well...I was actually planning on making this desktop mechanism a "hand operated" model. I just liked the right angle motion done by the vertical up-and-down motion and the rocking spheres.

I don't think it's going to be easy but I will not be able to rest until this is built.

I'll be starting it next week sometime.

 

[vascon2196]

Well I built it and it works!

As long as I loosen up some fasteners, and the main vertical shaft, and add a shim.....it works!

 

[weez]

Well done. It is definitely an unusual conversation piece.

 

[messe]

This sure looks like a "Almond drive". Not sure of the spelling. It was to replace the noisy bevel gears in line shafts and other uses. If you GOOGLE it you should get several.
Mike

 

[Cheshire Steve]

Thats entertaining, though when I google for Almond Drive all I get is a lot of addresses. I can see that being an entertaining way to drive valve gear off a crankshaft instead of bevels, though the oscillating mass in the middle presumably limits it to low speed.

 

[Brian Rupnow]

Vascon---Thats slicker than owl poop!!! Very interesting. I may have to build one to run with one of my "working" engines.---Brian

 

[vascon2196]

Slicker than owl poop! Haaaaaa!!!!

That is awesome!

I'm glad you guys liked it...it means a lot. It was modeled after the Almond right angle transmission...when I'm not on my wife's laptop I will post a video of an actual Almond transmission.

I just love how it works...and would love to see it run by an engine!!!

 

[jixxerbill]

That is neat !! I like it . Bill

 

[Rivergypsy]

Thats cool, well done - another job hits the to-do list

 

[Woodster]

Now here's a thought. Could it be possible to attach a conrod to the central pivot/bearing thing and have a 2 flywheel motor at 90 degrees? And even at different heights?
Also, has anyone noticed that this runs the flywheels in the same direction, unlike bevel gears?

 

[vascon2196]

I would love to see this thing turned into an engine!

 

[aarggh]

Brilliant job Chris, it looks awesome!

cheers, Ian

 

[vascon2196]

Here is a short video of the actual Almond transmission. They have a full size working one at the New England Wireless and Steam Museum in Rhode Island...that is what gave me the idea to build a desktop model.

[ame]http://youtu.be/oDev9bHmmR4[/ame]

 

[vascon2196]

Here is a another desktop version that is slightly different than my design...says the plans for it are on eBay.

[ame]http://youtu.be/BbpJphkmffQ[/ame]

 

[Brian Rupnow]

I bet I could do a nifty design of one of those. I'm thinking that instead of machining the ball and sockets which would be a real pig, I could use Heim ends that you can buy at an autoparts store.

 

[vascon2196]

That is a good idea Brian...not familiar with Heim bearings until I looked them up online. I think my dad has some in his collection of "stuff" back home in his cellar.

I had to use a little valve grinding compound between the brass ball and steel socket...

Anyway...I want to reduce the friction that I have currently and I still have not figured out why it binds every now and again. I added a couple of compression springs to help keep things in place and that seemed to help. I may not be square or something...something is off.

I would love to see you whip something up...you always seem to turn your SolidWorks assemblies into amazing work.

 

[aonemarine]

I think I'm going to reverse engineer that set up for a new lid lifter on my next furnace build. Very cool!

 

[Brian Rupnow]

Vascon---That design has a couple of "dead spots" in it. It needs a large inertial mass to get it over the "dead spots", similar to flywheels being used to get a single cylinder steam engine over the top dead center and bottom dead center positions. It will work great with heavy pulleys that act as flywheels, but will "lock up" on a lightweight setup with no flywheels.