oifish

This new transmission is said to improve gas mileage by 20-30mpg: http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/1,1249,635179379,00.html

AJ_92RS

Yea... it's a manual trans with a whole lotta gears (infinite??).

Big rigs have been using transmissions with a lot of gears for a couple of years, at least.

What makes this one so special?

IROCZ86

Great find, should be in the transmission forum though.

Joez88Camaro

Can we say CVT transmission?

Honda's been using for a while, no fixed gearing. Infinite possibilities for necessary gear reduction.

Apeiron

CVTs use rubber bands though, this is something different.

EvilCartman

iTrader: (1)

Should have seen the Volvo with twin belt drive Just like a go-kart, but it had 2 vacuum operated pullies and all kinds of other weird stuff. Wish I had my camera at the time.

tom3

I'm sure not smart enough to figure out how cams can evenly transmit linear power. Guy might be a genius, or a crackpot.

ME Leigh

I don't really get it either. But i guess that makes sense. How does it work? If this was really a good simple idea that worked we would have them already.

Vader

I believe "we" do. Outside the automotive world, similar transmissions have been used for decades. Initial analysis of this unit appears to reveal a striking similarity to ZeroMax industrial power transmission units. They use a reciprocating cam/lever/clutch arrangement with "infinite" range. The belt/box CVTs that Swedish Ford and Honda have recently touted as "innovative" have been in use in the U.S. since the 1930s. Similar PIV chain drives have been in use before WWII. Disc/ball speed variators are (or used to be) very commonplace infinite transmissions.

There are all manner of constant HP, constant torque, and constand speed drives in use, just not in the automotive field. And CSDs have been in use in aviation since the 1940s, using "infinite speed range" devices. Woodward, Hamilton, Sundstrand, Cleveland Gear, and many other manufacturers have made them for decades. Now, apparently, the rest of the world has caught on. My understanding is that once a vehicle is in motion at a constant rate, engine speed variation is minimal, and a well designed torque converter (a.k.a., hydrostatic variable speed drive) is used for the minor load changes at constant speed.

These "geniuses" are trying in desperation to stretch the life of a dying technology. The ultimate personal vehicle will eventually not have an internal combustion engine, but a traction servo at each wheel. Some manufactureres are already there, GM being among them.

Now, apparently, they are all the rage.