Karlsruhe

Engaging and disengaging gears

UK074

Three-wheel Bevel Gear Drive for Belt Drive Reversal

Riemenwechselgetriebe mit dreirädrigem Kegelradantrieb

Ferdinand Jacob Redtenbacher

1857-00-00

Overlall: Width x Depth x Height [305, 145, 215]

cast iron and brass on wood pedestal

For educational use only. All rights reserved by the contributor(s) and publisher(s).

General public

belt drive

This is a gear and belt drive mechanism to produce reverse motions on two of the pulley wheels. The bottom bevel gear is used to reverse the direction of motion of the left gear. One of the pulleys is connected to the right gear and the other to the left gear with a neutral pulley wheel in the middle. Such drives were common in 19th century factories where power was distributed from a central power source using belt and pulley drives. A similar mechanism can be found in the Reuleaux-Voigt catalog; Model Y03. The automobile inventor Carl Benz worked on this model together with his Professor Redtenbacher. Interestingly, a gear and belt drive was used on Benz's first automobile as can be seen in the Deutsches Museum in Munich. The University of Karlsruhe models were created by Professor Ferdinand Redtenbacher (1809-1863). Among his students were Karl Benz and Franz Reuleaux. It is now clear that many of the Reuleaux models in Berlin were based on the designs of his former professor in Karlsruhe.

Francis Moon

2005-00-00