Movement No. 53 presents an elegant and compact reversing mechanism that allows a single continuously rotating vertical shaft to drive a horizontal output shaft in either direction — forward or reverse — by means of a double clutch and bevel gear arrangement. The system is built around a central bevel gear on the vertical shaft that simultaneously meshes with two bevel gears mounted on the horizontal shaft. Because these two horizontal bevel gears are on opposite sides of the vertical shaft’s driving gear, they are driven in opposite directions to each other at all times — one spins clockwise while the other spins counterclockwise, continuously and simultaneously. However, both horizontal bevel gears are mounted loosely on the horizontal shaft — they spin freely without driving the shaft, as long as the clutch is disengaged. Between these two loose bevel gears sits the double clutch — a sliding element mounted on a key or feather fixed in the horizontal shaft, so it is rotationally locked to the shaft but free to slide axially. When the double clutch is slid to one side, it engages with one of the loose bevel gears and locks it to the horizontal shaft — the shaft then rotates in the direction that gear is spinning. When slid to the opposite side, it engages with the other bevel gear — now driving the shaft in the opposite direction. In the center neutral position, both bevel gears spin freely and the horizontal shaft remains stationary. This mechanism provides three states — forward, neutral, and reverse — from a single continuously running input, making it highly practical for machine tools, mills, and any industrial equipment requiring reversible output without stopping or reversing the prime mover.
53. The vertical shaft is made to drive the horizontal one in either direction, as may be desired, by means of the double-clutch and bevel-gears. The gears on the horizontal shaft are loose, and are driven in opposite directions by the third gear; the double-clutch slides upon a key or feather fixed on the horizontal shaft, which is made to rotate either to the right or left, according to the side on which it is engaged.