Countershaft transmission having two forward and two reverse speeds

DETAILED DESCRIPTION I claim: 1.
In a countershaft transmission of the type including an input first shaft, an intermedidate second shaft and a third shaft, a plurality of constantly meshing gears mounted on the shafts, and clutch means for selectively connecting the gears in preselected patterns and providing two forward and two reverse speeds, the improvement comprising: the plurality of gears including a first gear on the input first shaft and rotatable therewith, and another gear connected to rotate freely on the intermediate second shaft and intermeshingly engaged directly with the first gear; the clutch means including first and second directional clutch assemblies and first and second speed clutch assemblies with each of the clutch assemblies being of an annular interleaved plate and disc construction; and one of the directional clutch assemblies being located on the input first shaft, the other one of the directional clutch assemblies and one of the speed clutch assemblies being located on the second shaft, and the other one of the speed clutch assemblies being located on the third shaft.
2.
The contershaft transmission of claim 1 wherein the input first shaft and the third shaft are respectively at the highest and lowest elevations.
3.
The countershaft transmission of claim 1 including an output fourth shaft located elevationally below the first and second shafts and elevationally above the third shaft.
4.
The countershaft transmission of claim 1 wherein the third shaft is located generally elevationally beneath the input first shaft.
5.
The countershaft transmission of claim 1 wherein the speed clutch assembly on the second shaft is a low speed clutch assembly.
6.
The countershaft transmission of claim 5 wherein the directional clutch assembly on the input first shaft is a reverse speed clutch assembly.
7.
The countershaft transmission of claim 1 wherein the plurality of gears includes a second gear connected to rotate freely on the input first shaft, a third gear connected to rotate with the second shaft, the another gear can be referred to as a fourth gear, the directional clutch on the input first shaft is effective to connect the second gear for joint rotation with the input first shaft, and the other directional clutch on the second shaft is effective to connect the fourth gear for joint rotation with the second shaft