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:
Sep. 23, 2003
Filed:
Jul. 14, 2000
Richard Gordon Boyatt, III, Lexington, KY (US);
Larry Steven Foster, Lexington, KY (US);
Danny Wayne Peters, Lexington, KY (US);
Robert Flynt Strean, Lexington, KY (US);
Lexmark International, Inc., Lexington, KY (US);
Abstract
An assembly for limiting axial motion of a shaft, such as a roller, in an imaging apparatus having a frame, a drive system including a helical drive gear, a shaft supported by the frame and a driven helical gear attached to the shaft and positioned to engage the helical drive gear, wherein driving the driven helical gear in a first rotational direction results in an axial thrust of the shaft in a first axial direction. The assembly includes a thrust member which has an engagement end and a mounting end. The engagement end has a first cross-sectional dimension and the mounting end has a second cross-sectional dimension that is larger than the first cross-sectional dimension. The thrust member is positioned to be co-axial with the shaft and is coupled to at least one of the shaft and the driven helical gear. A thrust bracket is mounted to the frame. The thrust bracket has a contact surface that is engaged by the engagement end of the thrust member when the driven helical gear is driven in the first rotational direction.