Dyneer Corporation

Gary L Hitchcock

Derald H Kraft

Marc R Cadarette

Henry W Thomey

Yahya Hodjat

Dawson M Collins

A weight reduced pulley for 'K' type poly-v belt systems includes a body having an outer cylindrical surface. A plurality of raised ribs extend from said surface and run circumferentially around said surface. A plurality of trough areas are positioned between the ribs. The ribs and troughs corresponding to the location of indented and raised areas, respectively, on a poly-v belt. The ribs have a cross sectional profile extending radially traverse of the axis of rotation of the pulley, each rib being bounded by a pair of planar side walls at relative angles of 40.degree.+0.5.degree.. The side walls terminate in a 140.degree. arc having a radius of 0.5 mm, the outermost point of said arc terminating 0.96 mm inward of the intersection of the upward projections of the planar side walls or apex. The planar side walls extend radially inward at least 3.44 mm from said apex. The trough areas are bounded by the outer cylindrical surface of said pulley, said surface being 3.57 mm from said apex. The outer cylindrical surface is flattened in cross section in said trough areas and a fillet having a radius from 0.25 to 0.35 mm forms a transition between said planar side walls and said flattened surfaces. The pulley incorporates a mounting plate and has an inner cylindrical surface concentric with said outer surface. The inner cylindrical surface extends from the mounting plate to an open periphery. For a pulley having an effective diameter of 150 mm, the thickness of the pulley between the outer cylindrical surface and the inner cylindrical surface is 1.14 mm. In an alternative embodiment, the inner cylindrical surface alternative embodiment, the inner cylindrical surface is tapered towards the open periphery so that for a similar 150 mm pulley, the thickness varies from 1.14 mm adjacent the mounting plate to 0.89 mm adjacent the open periphery. The pulley is manufactured by concurrently compressing and impressing a can-like blank of hot rolled low carbon steel material with spin forming tools which impress in said material the rib and trough profiles of the pulley.

Pulley for poly-v belt

A sheet steel poly-V-grooved pulley having a special cross-sectional contour is made optionally by any one of three different cold working manufacturing procedures. Special physical properties or characteristics are developed in the pulley by the manner in which the metal in the V-groove body and single and double walled terminal flanges are cold worked. The cold working involves forming in stages of manufacturing from a cup-shaped blank to the finished pulley product a stepped inner body wall surface equivalent to a tapered surface with improved substantially uniform torque transmitting strength in the grooved body from web wall to open end. Also involved in the cold working is an increase in pulley diameter in certain portions of the finished pulley and a decrease in diameter in other portions from the diameter of the side wall of the cup shaped starting blank.

Manufacture of poly-V sheet metal pulleys and product

A tensioning device for maintaining a predetermined amount of tensioning force on an endless drive belt for a vehicle accessories drive system. A shaft is mounted in a fixed position on the vehicle engine adjacent the drive belt. A housing is pivotally mounted on the shaft and is biased by a torsional coil spring in a belt tensioning direction. The spring is located within an annular space formed by spaced inner and outer housing walls and is telescopically mounted with respect to the shaft. A lever extends generally radially outwardly from the housing and an idler pulley is mounted on an end of the lever and is moved into tensioning engagement with the drive belt by the torsion spring. One end of the spring is attached to the housing and the other end is adapted to be fixed with respect to the shaft. The spring is placed in torsion and biases the lever and housing in the belt tensioning direction. An annular-shaped elastomer member is telescopically mounted on the shaft within a central housing bore and is compressed by an end plate against the shaft and housing to provide a shock-absorbing damping effect on the housing and belt-engaging pulley.

Growing community of inventors

Massillon, OH, United States of America

Gary L Hitchcock