A gear change mechanism coupling a pair of shafts employs a planetary gear
set comprising a sun gear fast with a first of the shafts, planet gears
in a planet carrier, and an annulus or ring gear, the latter being fixed.
A selector hub slidable on the other of the shafts has sets of radially
spaced dogs to engage with corresponding dogs on the planet carrier and
sun gear respectively, so as to couple the shafts at two different ratios
depending on the axial position of the selector hub. This results in a
more axially compact package than conventional dog clutch gear changers.
In an alternative embodiment a reversing mechanism is provided by fixing
the planet carrier and engaging the selector hub with the sun gear or
annulus depending on its axial position.