The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Oct. 22, 1991
Filed:
Mar. 21, 1990
Edward T Rude, Fairfield, CT (US);
Martin Waine, Riverside, CT (US);
General Clutch Corporation, Stamford, CT (US);
Abstract
A spring clutch for limiting lost motion during release is provided. The spring clutch includes a shaft, a helically wound coaxially mounted spring for making frictional contact with the shaft, and means, such as a tang element, for selectively applying a loosing force to at least one end of the spring for rotation thereof with respect to the shaft. The inventive spring clutch further includes means for urging the spring toward the shaft when the spring is rotatably loosened. As a result, radial movement of the spring away from the shaft is substantially prevented. The urging means may be retained by a housing coaxially mounted about the shaft and may be chosen from a boss or an auxiliary spring. Preferably, the urging means is located at about 90 degrees along the outer radial surface of the shaft from the end of the spring at which the tang element is located. In another embodiment, a core is coaxially mounted within the shaft such that the spring is located between the shaft and the core and the urging means is retained by the core.