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. 09, 1999
Filed:
Nov. 12, 1996
Paul T Carter, Salt Lake City, UT (US);
Paul K Gines, Kaysville, UT (US);
HK Systems, Inc., New Berlin, WI (US);
Abstract
An automated guided vehicle for carrying a load comprises a mast, a lift carriage, a ball screw drive assembly and a ball screw joint. The ball screw drive assembly has a lift nut and a vertically oriented ball screw. The ball screw joint operatively couples the drive assembly to the lift carriage so as to transmit upward vertical forces from the drive assembly to the lift carriage. The ball screw joint includes first, second, third and fourth shafts which permit the lift nut to move in any horizontal direction and to pivot about any horizontal axis with respect to the lift carriage. As a result, the ball screw joint advantageously prevents the transmission of horizontal forces and angular moments between the ball screw and the lift nut, thereby reducing the wearing out effects of component misalignment on the ball screw assembly.