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:
Jun. 04, 1996
Filed:
Aug. 10, 1994
David L Lewis, Raleigh, NC (US);
Keith Wiggins, Raleigh, NC (US);
Kennametal Inc., Latrobe, PA (US);
Abstract
A collet chuck 1 having a chuck body 3, a collet 11 disposed in the body 3, a nose ring 23 for radially compressing the collet 11, and a locknut 30 for axially moving the nose ring 23 into compressive engagement with the collet 11 is provided with a bearing assembly 45 disposed between the nose ring 23 and the collet 11 which loads compressive forces in a direction which is advantageously parallel to the axis of rotation A of the chuck. Both the locknut 30 and the nose ring 23 include flange portions 27, 43 that confront each other with opposing surfaces 47, 49 that are complementary in shape to the spherical profile of the ball bearings 50 and which traverse a line L parallel to the axis of rotation A of the chuck. The collet chuck 1 further includes O-rings 61, 65 disposed between the nose ring 23 and the locknut 30both in front of and behind the ball bearings 50 for sealing the bearing assembly 45 against dust and debris and retaining lubricant. Finally, the portion of the nose ring 23 which wedgingly engages the collet 11 to compress it inwardly is undercut with a groove 72 in order to enhance the compliance between the nose ring 23 and the collet 11, thus providing a more uniform radial compressive force around the collet 11 which in turn results in improved gripping characteristics.