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. 15, 2000
Filed:
Jan. 27, 1998
Rick Wahl, Cedar Park, TX (US);
Andrew Moore, Austin, TX (US);
Dell USA, L.P., Round Rock, TX (US);
Abstract
The adjustable clutch hinge assembly includes a shaft, an adjustment member connected to one end of the shaft, a metal inner cone member, and a metal outer cone member. The end of the shaft to which the adjustment member is connected is inserted into an aperture in the inner cone member, which is split, to allow a decrease of the internal diameter thereof, and has protruding key features, such that a threaded portion of the adjustment member protrudes out the opposite end of the inner cone member. The inner cone member resides within the outer cone member, which has receptive features for the inner cone member and its protruding key features to prevent rotation of the inner cone member within the outer cone member. When the threaded portion of the adjustment member protruding out the end of the inner cone member is drawn through the outer cone member, an outer surface of the inner cone member is forced against an inner surface of the outer cone. This forces the inner diameter of the inner cone member to decrease, increasing the force on the shaft. The shallow pitch of the inner cone member allows relatively large displacements to produce small increases in force, making the torque applied to the shaft controllable.