Torque indicating device

Abstract

The torque transmitted through a pair of helical gears mounted on a lay shaft imposes an axial force on the lay shaft which is reflected into fluid pressure to indicate the magnitude of the torque. By journaling the lay shaft within sleeves which are also the inner races of a pair of roller bearings its axial movements are sensitively transmitted to a nonrotating piston rod mounted in ball bearings within the bore of the lay shaft. The piston is displaceable into a cylinder supplied with pressurized lubricating fluid through a valve responsive to the axial displacenent of the piston. The fluid pressure in the cylinder balances the axial force transmitted to the piston and is proportional to the transmitted torque.