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:
Aug. 19, 1997
Filed:
May. 12, 1995
Applicant:
Inventors:
Steven L Bivens, Kankakee, IL (US);
Ralph G Nedbal, Orland Park, IL (US);
Assignee:
Illinois Tool Works Inc., Glenview, IL (US);
Attorney:
Primary Examiner:
Assistant Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
A47B / ;
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
312331 ; 31233427 ;
Abstract
A gear damper includes anti-ratcheting means for preventing disengagement between a gear of the damper and a mating gear rack when a sliding or rotating tray is moved or rotated in and out of a stationary housing. The gear damper further includes mounting means so as to permit the gear damper to move floatingly in a direction perpendicular to the gear rack as a toothed wheel gear follows the gear rack. As a result, the distance between the toothed gear of the damper and the gear rack is held substantially constant so as to eliminate ratcheting and gear skipping.