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. 08, 1996
Filed:
Jul. 15, 1994
Donald S Rich, Long Valley, NJ (US);
Technology Handlers, Inc., Long Valley, NJ (US);
Abstract
A clamping arrangement employs a rotatable element, such as a ball, driven by a cam to apply a biasing force to an article desired to be clamped. The ball is contained within a housing having first and second through-holes arranged substantially orthogonal to one another. An elongated cam enters through one of the through-holes, and urges the ball to protrude through the other through-hole. The ball is larger than the through-hole through which it protrudes, and therefore does not exit the housing. In one embodiment, the cam is urged into communication with the ball by the application of air pressure to a pneumatic cylinder. The air pressure can be controlled to ensure that the biasing force applied by the ball is applied gently and resiliently to avoid jarring the article to be clamped, and displacing its contents. A position sensor is employed to provide an indication of the location of the pneumatic piston. The ball, in certain embodiments, is rotated as it is urged outward of the housing, whereby a downward component of the biasing force is imparted to the article to be clamped.