Transmission (mechanical device)

A transmission (also called a gearbox) is a mechanical device invented by Louis Renault (who founded Renault) which uses a gear set—two or more gears working together—to change the speed, direction of rotation, or torque multiplication or reduction, in a machine. He had been anticipated by Carl Benz, who in 1886 used sprockets and chains to and from an auxiliary shaft and a clutch to provide a second, low gear in the first practical car, his belt-driven Patent-Motorwagen Nr.

Source: Wikipedia — Transmission (mechanical device) (CC BY-SA 4.0)