Atwood Industries, Inc.

Atwood Mobile Products, Inc.

Bryce Joel Bulthaus

John Scott Erickson

Damon Dirk Shaw

Patrick Clint

Steven Caronna

A ball screw mechanism has an opposing thread provided by an integral male thread formed at one end of a nut received on the screw. The male thread is of a smaller form than the female thread on the screw so as to not normally be in contact therewith, but should ay loss of the balls occur with the resultant slight relative axial shift of the screw and nut, the male threads engage to limit such relative axial movement to protect connected equipment. Both the nut male and female threads may be machined from a cylindrical nut blank.

Ball screw mechanism with integral opposing thread

A low-cost, compact room slideout assembly is provided for driving a sliding element, such as a floor, and comprises at least one motor having a motor output pinion rotatable about a first axis, a drive screw operatively connected to the motor output and rotatable about the first axis, and a driving member, such an elongate ram adapted to be attached to the sliding element. The ram travels along the first axis between extended and retracted positions in response to rotation of the motor output shaft. Preferably operatively connected between the motor output shaft and the drive screw is a speed reducing gearbox with an output shaft rotatable about the first axis, and a 90 degree gearbox operatively connected to the drive screw and rotatable about the first axis. The 90 degree gearbox preferably also has a second output member which is rotatable about a second axis perpendicular to the first axis. The 90 degree gearbox can comprise a series of bevel gears. In certain preferred embodiments a pair of screws and a pair of corresponding rams may be employed, with a cross shaft connecting the first 90 degree gearbox to a second 90 degree gearbox.

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Rockford, IL, United States of America

Bryce Joel Bulthaus