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:
Mar. 15, 1994
Filed:
May. 05, 1992
Fuji Machine Mfg. Co., Ltd., Aichi, JP;
Abstract
A ratchet device is disclosed which includes a body, a ratchet wheel rotatably supported by the body, a feed pawl having an engaging portion engageable with teeth of the ratchet wheel, a support member for holding the feed pawl, a member for biasing the feed pawl toward the wheel teeth, and a drive device for moving reciprocating the support member between two positions to place the feed pawl alternately in its fully advanced and retracted positions, so as to rotate the ratchet wheel a predetermined angle in one direction. The ratchet device further includes a stopper member for contact with the feed pawl when the pawl is placed in the fully retracted position, to thereby prevent the engaging portion of the pawl from disengaging from the teeth of the ratchet wheel. Further, the engaging portion of the feed pawl is shaped so that it engages mutually opposed faces of the ratchet wheel when the feed pawl is in contact with the stopper member, to thereby lock the ratchet wheel against clockwise and counterclockwise rotations thereof. Also disclosed is a tape feeding apparatus which utilizes the ratchet device.