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:
Feb. 07, 2017
Filed:
Nov. 04, 2013
Sandia Corporation, Albuquerque, NM (US);
Jonathan R. Salton, Albuquerque, NM (US);
Stephen Buerger, Albuquerque, NM (US);
Kevin J. Dullea, Albuquerque, NM (US);
Lisa C. Marron, Albuquerque, NM (US);
Curt Michael Salisbury, San Ramon, NM (US);
Barry Louis Spletzer, Albuquerque, NM (US);
Sandia Corporation, Albuquerque, NM (US);
Abstract
A tilt and lock apparatus that includes a tilt servomechanism, a spiral torsion spring, a lock wheel, and a lock hook is described herein. The spiral torsion spring is mechanically coupled to the tilt servomechanism and the lock wheel (which includes an opening). When a shaft is positioned through the opening, rotation of the lock wheel is in unison with rotation of the shaft. An external surface of the lock wheel includes one or more grooves. The lock hook includes a head that engages and disengages the grooves. The lock wheel is stationary when the head engages one of the grooves and is rotatable when the head disengages the grooves. The head and the grooves are geometrically aligned when engaged to prevent creation of a force that acts to disengage the head responsive to an applied force acting on the shaft.