In case of variable transmission ratio types one of these bodies of rotation (the driving wheel) is equipped with a control device (a shaft deviation angle control device) that can vary the shaft deviation angle in a certain degree with respect to the axle of the other body of revolution (the driven wheel), simultaneously maintains the same axle-to-axle distance of the two bodies of revolution. In case of vectorial transmission at the cylindrical surface of the driven wheel there are the same size and evenly spaced vector-elements all around the whole surface. These vector-elements (roller rows, slider plates or carrier idler set tractive elements) are in parallel to the axis of rotation and, simultaneously, they can turn around or be shifted laterally, respectively, independently of the rotary movement of the driven wheel that holds them. The bodies of rotation touching each other in vectorial position, in addition to the direct, external or internal coupling, can also exercise effect on each other through flexible tractive elements.

In the vectorial transmissions where there is a shaft deviation angle between the axles of the driving and driven wheel the transmission ratio is the result of the two speed vector components working on the driven wheel where the component that is perpendicular to the axis of rotation produces the rotary movement, while the axial component does not take part in the driving process, since it moves (rolling and/or shifting) axially the vector-elements, according to and depending on the shaft deviation angle between the two axles, excluding it from the driving chain. The vector-elements can separate these two components from the speed vector acting in oblique direction according to their mounting position. This means that the perpendicular component produces a lower speed ratio being shorter than the whole rotary movement of the driving wheel cylindrical surface. This way, by modifying the shaft deviation angle between the two axies it makes possible to obtain a continuously variable transmission ratio drive, since, the magnitude ratio of the two force components that are perpendicular to each other depends on the shaft deviation angle between the axles of the wheels coupled to each other. The shaft deviation angle of the driving wheel can at will be adjusted between the possible boundaries of the extremum and this way the resulting transmission ratio will also be continuously modified. The increase of the shaft deviation angle of the driving wheel slows down the speed of the driven wheel with respect to the speed of the driving wheel. The calculation of the transmission ratio and the slow-down rate pertaining to each one of the shaft deviation angles can be done according to the rules of the vector mathematics and as shown in Fig. 3.

In the usual mechanical gear boxes the transmission ratio follows a geometrical rule and it is determined by the rolling circle diameter ratio of the bodies of rotation coupled to each other. In the continuously variable ratio transmissions the active rolling circle diameter ratio can continuously be modified by sliding the touching point of the body of rotation along the envelope of one of the special shape (circular disk, cone, sphere, etc.) bodies of rotation that is touching and coupled to it. The requirement that the coupling is to be made through a point size spot, due to the operating principle, results in a weak link that makes difficult to transmit higher forces and, this way, limits its widespread use.

The basically quite different operating principle of the vectorial transmissions is favourable, first of all from this point of view, since the facility of continuously variable transmission ratio does not hinder the friction coupling of the bodies of rotation through a larger surface. Their compound units can easily be composed and can even more meet the technical requirements.

The compound vectorial transmissions can be of series or parallel coupled ones. In one of the parallel coupled designs various driving wheels are coupled side by side and/or in a circularly arranged form to the common driven wheel, where the driving wheels are connected to each other by forced coupling and their shaft deviation angles are always the same with respect to the driven wheel axle. In an other design form one driving wheel is coupled to various driven wheels. In case of series arrangement the output axle of the vectorial transmission is connected to the input axle of an other vectorial transmission unit or to some geared drive, suitably to a differential gear.

The attached nine figures show schematically the vectorial transmission drives with their most important characteristics and operating principles, almost excluding the auxiliary components that are essential for the operation, however, those are used in the usual engineering practice.

Fig. 1. shows in two positions the perspective view of the bodies of rotation, their usual shape and their situation within the vectorial transmission.

In the upper side of the figure the direct coupled driving wheel 1 and driven wheel 2 have axles aligned in parallel, the magnitude and the direction of the speed vectors 5c are equal in case of both bodies of rotation having the same diameters. In the lower side of the figure it is shown when the shaft deviation angle of the driving wheel 1 has been modified, turned around the axis 5b in a certain degree, that modifies the direction of the speed vector 5c and the effect exercised on the driven wheel 2. The speed vector of this last one is shown by the broken line.

Fig. 2. shows the cross sectional views of the various design driven wheels. The figure shows, one below the other, the various, possible types of different vector-elements mounted on three driven wheels, where the planes of intersection bisect them in parallel to and coincident with their axis of rotation.

These vector-elements are evenly spaced and mounted on the cylindrical surface of the driven wheels. The easy axial roll or shift of the vector-elements is provided by the position of the rolling vector-element axles that are perpendicular to the driven wheel axle and the guides of the sliding vector- elements that are in parallel to the driven wheel axle, respectively. This way the vector-elements on the cylindrical surface of the driven wheel can freely roll or can freely be shifted axially. On the other hand, the position of the vector- elements that are provided for the rotation of the driven wheel are in fixed position on the cylindrical surface and due to the forced coupling they can move only together with the driven wheel and perpendicularly to the former direction that is the imprescindible condition to work the transmission.

The vector-elements are basically of two kinds: rolling bodies or alternately sliding ones. The formers are rows consisting of rolling bodies 4a which altogether compose a possible uniform and closely cylindrical surface at the perimeter of the driven wheel that is coupled to the driving wheel. The rolling bodies can also be compound vector-elements, e. g. consisting of axially mounted auxiliary belts 4d with their suspending pulleys 4c. The alternately sliding vector-elements with respect to their shape can be slider plates or carrier idler set tractive elements that become shifted axially inside or over their guides on the lateral pushing effect of the driving wheel touching them during its rotary movement and after rolling out from the touching point of the driving wheel they return again into their normal position. The normal position of the vector-elements is reset by the drawingsprings 8a or, as an alternative solution, by the baffle plates provided for this purpose at the ends of the slider plates 4b but not shown here. Fig. 2. shows alike the rolling bodies, the auxiliary belts and the sliding plates, too, using them as vector elements that neutralise the lateral shifting forces. It can be observed that the axles of the rolling bodies 4a, represented by a point in the figure, are in perpendicular direction with respect to the axis of rotation 5a of the driven wheel 2. The axles of the auxiliary belt 4d pulleys 4c are in the same direction. The figure shows one of the slider plates 4b in shifted position due to the lateral pushing force, while the other is shown in normal position reset by the drawing springs found at both ends.

Fig. 3. shows the operating principle. The vectorial transmission unit can be seen in top-side view in a position when the axis of rotation 3 of the driving wheel is shifted in a"ß"angle with respect to the one of the driven wheel. The positive vector component that works on the driven wheel 2 as driving force and makes it turn around is equal to the cos"ß"x"S"product where"S"is the original speed vector of the driving wheel 1. The result of the vectorial operation depends on the angle"ß"that can be modified by the shaft deviation angle control device of the driving wheel. On the basis of the vector mathematics the speed ratio of the bodies of rotation and from this the vectorial transmission ratio can easily be calculated in case of any shaft deviation angle.

Fig. 4. shows the perspective sketch of a vectorial transmission in two state that works with a flexible tractive element, a driving belt. The left side of the sketch shows a situation when the two axis of rotation 3 of the bodies of rotation are in parallel to each other and, they are coupled to each other in a usual way through a driving belt 10. The right side of the sketch shows a situation when there is a shaft deviation angle between the two axis of rotation and the driving belt 10 describes a circular path over the cylindrical surface of the driving wheel 1. The driving belt 10 becomes slightly twisted between the two bodies of rotation and describes a spiral path over the cylindrical surface of the driven wheel 2, in contrary to the previous situation. The explanation of the vectorial transformation lies just in this effect. The angular displacement of the driven wheel 2 is smaller than the angular displacement of the driving wheel 1 during their rotation, since the spiral path described by the driving belt over its cylindrical surface is longer than the circular path described by the driving belt over the cylindrical surface of the driving wheel 1. The forced axial displacement of the driving belt over the cylindrical surface of the driven wheel during rotation, due to the spiral path, is pushing the vector-elements (not shown here) in axial direction, since the driving belt movement is not perpendicular to the vector-elements. This effect shortens the speed vector working on the driven wheel.

Fig. 5. shows a compound vectorial transmission with series connection.

The speed difference between the output axle of the drive marked"Vektor"and the original driving axle is increased by the asymmetrical design differential gear 12.

Fig. 6. shows a cross sectional view of a direct coupled vectorial transmission drive that is more detailed as before and where roller rows are used as vector-elements and the plane of intersection is perpendicular to the axis of rotation. There is a rubber layer 7b on the cylindrical surface of the driving wheel 1. Its axle is driven by a cardan drive 6b that makes possible the shaft deviation angle adjustment, too. The rubber layer 7b surface is coupled to the driven wheel 2 only through the roller row 4a vector-elements. The small dimensions of the rollers and their suitably rounded surface produces a relatively even rolling surface. The rubber cover of the driving wheel and the cylindrical surface of the driven wheel can not touch each other in the gaps between the vector-elements.

Fig, 7. shows an other variant of the previous cross sectional view. The cylindrical surface of the driving wheel 1 having a shaft deviation angle is coupled to the driven wheel 2 through larger size roller rows 4a as those in the previous figure. Due to this situation the roller rows can not represent a properly even rolling surface but this disadvantage can be compensated by the compound parallel design as shown in Fig. 8. The rollers are arranged side by side on the cylindrical surface of the long driven wheel 2 in more parallel rows with a certain angular displacement to each other that produces alternate coupling between the rubber covers of the driving wheels 1 and the driven wheel 2 crown rollers and, provides always a constant rotation. Naturally, the shaft deviation angles and the speeds of the driving wheels 1 are kept to be always the same.

Fig. 9. shows more details. The cross sectional view of the driving wheel 1 shows also the cross sectional view of one of the possible variants of the shaft deviation angle control device design. The drive of the driving wheel 1 is made through the cardan shaft 6a and, the adjustment of its shaft deviation angle is made by control lever 9b turning it around the vertical bisecting line of the sketch that is determined by the control device 9a and joint-pin 9c. The turning axis of the shaft deviation angle control coincides with the line crossing perpendicularly the axles of both the driving and the driven wheels and passes through the centre of their touching point. However, a slightly shifted shaft deviation angle turning axis would not impede the functionality. The movement of the control lever 9b can be automated with using complementary elements and this way automatic vectorial transmissions can also be designed.

Interpretation of the reference numbers: 1 driving wheel 2 driven wheel 3 axis of rotation 4a roller row 4b slider plate 4c auxiliary belt 4d auxiliary belt suspending pulley 5a axis of rotation 5b turning axis of the shaft deviation angle control 5c speed vector 6a cardan drive 6b cardan coupling 7b rubber layer 8a drawingspring 9a shaft deviation angle control device 9b shaft deviation angle control lever 9c joint-pin 10 driving belt 12 asymmetric differential drive 14a ball bearing