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A jackshaft is an intermediate shaft used to transfer power from a powered shaft such as the output shaft of an engine or motor to driven shafts such as the drive axles of a locomotive. As applied railroad locomotives in the 19th and 20th centuries, jackshafts were typically in line with the drive axles of locomotives and connected to them by side rods. In general, each drive axle on a locomotive is free to move about one inch (2.5 cm) vertically relative to the frame, with the locomotive weight carried on springs. This means that if the engine, motor or transmission is rigidly attached to the locomotive frame, it cannot be rigidly connected to the axle. This problem can be solved by mounting the jackshaft on unsprung bearings and using side-rods or (in some early examples) chain drives.〔General Construction, Baldwin Gasoline Industrial Locomotives (Baldwin Locomotive Works Record ), No. 74, 1913; pages 7-9.〕 Jackshafts were first used in early steam locomotives, although the designers did not yet call them by that name. In the early 20th century, large numbers of jackshaft-driven electric locomotives were built for heavy mainline service. Jackshaft drives were also used in many early gasoline and diesel locomotives that used mechanical transmissions. ==Steam locomotives== The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was a pioneer in the use of jackshaft driven locomotives. While the drive axle of the first Grasshopper locomotive was directly driven by spur gears from the crankshaft, the ''Traveler'' delivered in 1833, used a jackshaft, as did all the later Grasshopper and Crab locomotives. These locomotives used step-up gearing to achieve a reasonable running speed using small diameter driving wheels. It is notable that the term ''jackshaft'' was not used by the designers of these machines. Instead, they referred to what would later be called a jackshaft as "a separate axle, about three feet forward of the front axle, and carrying cranks coupled by connecting rods to cranks on the two road axles."〔J. Snowden Bell, Chapter I: The "Grasshopper" and "Crab" Engines -- type 0-4-0, (The Early Motive Power of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad ); page 19.〕 In his 1837 patent for what became known as the ''crab'' class of locomotives, Ross Winans referred to his jackshaft as "a pinion wheel shaft", or "third axle."〔Ross Winans, Locomotive Steam-Engines, , granted July 29, 1837.〕 In a conventional steam locomotive, the crankshaft is one of the driving axles. In a jackshaft-driven steam locomotive, the crankshaft turns a jackshaft which, in turn, turns the driver. Some steam locomotives have had designs intermediate between these extremes, with crankshafts distinct from the driving axle. Phineas Davis's first B&O Grasshopper tested on the B&O in 1831 was in this class, as was the Stockton and Darlington Railway's ''Swift'' from 1836, where the crankshaft was directly between the driving axles.〔Links in the History of the Locomotive, No. XI, (The Engineer ), June 10, 1881; page 432, with a large illustration.〕 Both of these examples used vertical cylinders, with the crankshaft in the plane of the driving axles. The former used a geared drive to the first driving axle, the latter used side rods for this linkage. In the latter case, the reason inferred for using a crankshaft distinct from the driven axles was "to take the shocks of working away from the power shaft."〔Joseph Tomlinson, Address by the President, (Proceedings Institution of Mechanical Engineers ), Vol. 41 (1890); pages 181-202.〕 Several locomotives have been built with horizontal cylinders driving a crankshaft directly above the rear driving axle, with a common spring supporting both the shaft and axle so that they could move vertically together. Ross Winans designed a series of 0-8-0 locomotives starting in 1842, launching what became the B&O ''Mud Digger'' class of engines. Like the Grasshopper locomotives before them, the crank shafts on these engines were geared to the driven shafts.〔J. Snowden Bell, Chapter IV: The Eight-Wheel Connected Freight Engines -- Type 0-8-0, (The Early Motive Power of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad ) Sinclair, New York, 1912; pages 55-86, see particularly Fig. 22 on page 57.〕 In his 1843 patent, Winas referred to the crankshaft as a ''fifth shaft, or axle.''〔Ross Winas, Locomotive, , granted July 28, 1843.〕 In 1880, the Fowler Steam Plough Works of Leeds England received a patent on a similar 0-4-0 locomotive design with vertical side rods between the crankshaft and rear axle. Here, the motivation was to get the cylinders and piston rods up away from dust and dirt on an engine with diminutive drive wheels.〔402, Alfred Greig and William Beadon, (The Commissioners of Patents Journal ), No. 2770 (July 20, 1880); page 167.〕〔Roberf F. McKillop and John Browning, John Fowler Locomotives, (Sugar Cane Transport ), Light Railway Research Society of Australia, 29 Feb. 2000.〕 One such Fowler locomotive survives, an very small narrow-gauge 0-4-2T.〔Australian Sugar Heritage Centre, (), 2010.〕 Early designers of steam turbine locomotives did not understand the need for reduction gearing or sprung suspensions.〔Johann Stumpf, Locomotive with Steam-Turbine Drive, , granted May 28, 1907.〕〔Joel B. Dumas, Steam Turbine for Locomotives, , granted Dec. 5, 1911.〕 Once these problems were understood, jackshafts emerged as one alternative for linking the output gearbox of the turbine to the driving wheels. Giuseppe Belluzzo, of Italy, was granted several US patents on variations of this idea.〔Giuseppe Belluzzo, Steam Turbine Locomotive, , granted Aug. 9, 1927.〕〔Giuseppe Belluzzo, Steam Turbine Locomotive, , granted Apr. 17, 1928.〕〔Giuseppe Belluzzo, Turbine Locomotive, , granted Nov. 8, 1932.〕 Alternatives to jackshaft drives included use of a quill drive with the turbine above the drive axle, or a combination of a quill drive with a gearbox suspended horizontally between a locomotive driving axle and the turbine shaft.〔Fredrik Ljungström, Turbine-Driven Locomotive and Similar Vehicle, , granted June 14, 1927.〕〔Frank L Alben, Steam-Turbine Locomotive, , granted June 10, 1943. 〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Jackshaft (locomotive)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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