Patent US3977258A successfully refreshed from Google Patents.
US3977258A
Expired / Lapsed
US
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Traverse mechanism
Assignee: Individual
•
Filing: 1975-01-27
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Granted: 1976-08-31
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Expires: 1995-01-27
Abstract
Abstract An automatically reversing traverse mechanism cooperable with a rotating shaft, comprising a base, a roller mounted on the base for simultaneous turning and swiveling movement, and engageable with the shaft, and a unique yieldable biasing means which urges the roller by means of a snap movement to either of two oppositely disposed, extreme angular positions. As the shaft is rotated, the angularly disposed roller and base automatically undergo reciprocative movements in a path parallel to the axis of the shaft. The traverse mechanism includes a novel operating means which substantially instantaneously swivels the roller from its one extreme position to its other extreme position in response to movement of the base past a predetermined point. The operating means includes a fixed abutment located at a predetermined point along the shaft, and an arm rotatably carried by the base, which engages the abutment and subsequently undergoes turning movement. This turning movement is made to effect a substantially instantaneous turning movement of a second arm on which the roller is carried, thus accomplishing the swiveling of the latter from one extreme position to another. Due to the snap action which swivels the roller, the rate of traversal axially along the shaft is very constant and does not suffer from a reduction in speed immediately before the reversal in direction of the base. An additional abutment is disposed opposite to and acts like the first, thereby to enable the mechanism to undergo reciprocating movement. Means are also provided for counting the number of traversals and for automatically shifting the two abutments after a predetermined count, thus enabling the length of the reciprocating stroke to be varied in accordance with a predetermined pattern.
Inventors
- 👤 Gordon L. Bauer
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-05 08:35
CPC Classifications
B; B65; B65H; B65H54/00; B65H54/02; B65H54/28; B65H54/2848; B65H54/2854; B65H54/2857; B65H54/2866; F; F16; F16H; F16H19/00; F16H19/02; F16H19/025; Y; Y10; Y10T; Y10T74/00; Y10T74/18; Y10T74/18056
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 25
Claim 1
Independent Claim
157 words
A reversing traverse mechanism for engagement with a rotating shaft, comprising in combination: a. a base, b. a roller, c. means mounting the roller on the base for turning movement about its axis and for swiveling movement about another axis, and d. operating means for automatically instantaneously swiveling the roller from one extreme angular position to an opposite extreme angular position in response to traversing movement of said base and roller along the shaft, said operating means including yieldable means comprising a metal spring for biasing said roller to either of said two oppositely-disposed extreme angular positions and including an arm connected with said roller mounting means and pivotally movable with the roller about said other axis, and a second arm pivotally mounted on the base for movement about said other axis, said spring being connected between said arms and tending to bias them from dead-center positions toward oppositely-disposed extreme rotary positions with respect to one another.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
157 words
A reversing traverse mechanism for engagement with a rotating shaft, comprising in combination: a. a base, b. a roller, c. means mounting the roller on the base for turning movement about its axis and for swiveling movement about another axis, and d. operating means for automatically instantaneously swiveling the roller from one extreme angular position to an opposite extreme angular position in response to traversing movement of said base and roller along the shaft, said operating means including yieldable means comprising a metal spring for biasing said roller to either of said two oppositely-disposed extreme angular positions and including an arm connected with said roller mounting means and pivotally movable with the roller about said other axis, and a second arm pivotally mounted on the base for movement about said other axis, said spring being connected between said arms and tending to bias them from dead-center positions toward oppositely-disposed extreme rotary positions with respect to one another.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
41 words
A mechanism as in claim 1, in combination with: a. a smooth-surfaced rotating shaft, b. said roller comprising an annulus through which the shaft passes, the inner surface of said annulus engaging said shaft along a limited area of its periphery.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
78 words
A mechanism as in claim 1, in combination with: a. a smooth-surfaced rotating shaft, b. said roller comprising an annular bearing assemblage having an inner race and an outer race, said inner race defining an opening in the assemblage, c. said shaft passing through said opening, d. said inner race being of larger diameter than said shaft and engaging the latter along a limited peripheral area, e. said outer race constituting a part of said roller mounting means.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
20 words
A mechanism as in claim 2, and further including: a. spring means biasing said roller into engagement with said shaft.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
61 words
A mechanism as in claim 1, and further including: a. additional rollers, b. means mounting said additional rollers on the base for turning movement about their respective axes, and for swiveling movement about other axes, respectively, and c. linkage means connecting all of said rollers for effecting simultaneous swiveling of said additional rollers in response to swiveling of said first-mentioned roller.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
111 words
A mechanism as in claim 5, wherein: a. said additional rollers are disposed on opposite sides of said first-mentioned roller and engage the shaft at points thereon along a line substantially diametrically opposite the point engaged by said first-mentioned roller, whereby the net force of the first mentioned roller on the lateral surface of the shaft opposes the oppositely directed forces of the additional rollers on the shaft, b. the swiveling of said first-mentioned roller being in a direction opposite to that of said additional rollers, such that all of the rollers tend to move the base in the same direction along the axis of the shaft as the latter rotates.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
34 words
A mechanism as in claim 6, wherein: a. said linkage means comprises a slide plate carried on said base, and b. pins carried by said roller mounting means and engageable with the slide plate.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
52 words
A mechanism as in claim 1, and further including: a. a housing connected with said base and having openings to receive the shaft, and b. end bearings carried by the housing in the openings thereof, engageable with the shaft to rotatably carry the same, c. said roller being enclosed in said housing.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
158 words
A reversing traverse mechanism for engagement with a rotating shaft, comprising in combination: a. a base, b. a roller, c. means mounting the roller on the base for turning movement about its axis and for swiveling movement about another axis to either of two extreme positions, and d. operating means for automatically instantaneously swiveling the roller from one extreme angular position to an opposite extreme angular position in response to traversing movement of said base and roller along the shaft, said operating means including yieldable means comprising a metal spring for biasing said roller to either of said two oppositely-disposed extreme angular positions, including an arm connected with said roller and adapted to swivel the latter, said spring being connected with said arm for urging the roller from a dead-center position to either of its extreme positions, and further including a reversing member movable on the base and connected with said spring for effecting actuation of said arm.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
158 words
A reversing traverse mechanism for engagement with a rotating shaft, comprising in combination: a. a base, b. a roller, c. means mounting the roller on the base for turning movement about its axis and for swiveling movement about another axis to either of two extreme positions, and d. operating means for automatically instantaneously swiveling the roller from one extreme angular position to an opposite extreme angular position in response to traversing movement of said base and roller along the shaft, said operating means including yieldable means comprising a metal spring for biasing said roller to either of said two oppositely-disposed extreme angular positions, including an arm connected with said roller and adapted to swivel the latter, said spring being connected with said arm for urging the roller from a dead-center position to either of its extreme positions, and further including a reversing member movable on the base and connected with said spring for effecting actuation of said arm.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
60 words
A mechanism as in claim 9, wherein: a. said reversing member is rotatably mounted on the base, and b. a stationary abutment cooperable with said reversing member for automatically actuating the latter and substantially instantaneously shifting said arm and roller from one extreme position to the other in response to traversing movement of the base and roller along the shaft.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
51 words
A mechanism as in claim 10, wherein: a. said operating means further includes a second stationary abutment cooperable with said reversing member to reversely move the same and thereby reverse the movement of the base and roller so as to enable these to undergo reciprocating movement with respect to the shaft.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
25 words
A mechanism as in claim 10, wherein: a. the spring comprises a coil having laterally projecting ends connected respectively to said reversing member and arm.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
62 words
A mechanism as in claim 11, and further including: a. a counter device for counting the number of reverse traverse movements of said base, b. said abutments being adjustable to different positions, and c. means controlled by said counter device for automatically shifting said abutments further apart after a predetermined number of reverse traversing movements has been counted by said counter device.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
128 words
A mechanism as in claim 13, and further including: a. manually operable means for adjusting said abutments to different positions, b. means interconnecting said abutments for simultaneous movement in opposite directions either toward or away from one another, c. electrically powered means connected with said interconnecting means to actuate the latter, and d. a limit switch disposed on the frame and electrically connected with said powered means, e. said limit switch being engageable by one abutment when the two abutments are manually adjusted so as to approach one another, whereby engagement of the limit switch with said one abutment momentarily actuates said electrically powered means in a direction opposite to that of the manual adjustment, thereby to indicate that a predetermined position of the abutment has been reached.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
82 words
A mechanism as in claim 13, and further including: a. means interconnecting said abutments for simultaneous movements in opposite directions either toward or away from one another, b. said interconnecting means comprising a rotatable threaded shaft, c. a cam disposed on said shaft, d. a switch connected with said electrically powered means and operable by said cam to de-energize said powered means after a predetermined partial revolution of said threaded shaft, e. said counter constituting a control of said electrically powered means.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
60 words
A mechanism as in claim 1, and further including: a. additional rollers, b. means mounting said additional rollers on the base for turning movement about their respective axes, and for swiveling movement about other axes respectively, and c. means connecting all of said rollers for effecting simultaneous swiveling of said additional rollers in response to swiveling of said first-mentioned roller.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
22 words
A mechanism as in claim 16, wherein: a. said means connecting all of said rollers comprises gears carried respectively by said rollers.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
33 words
A mechanism as in claim 1, and further including: a. a cooperable stop means on said base and roller mounting means, for limiting swiveling movement of said roller to oppositely disposed extreme positions.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
46 words
A mechanism as in claim 18, wherein: a. said cooperable stop means comprises said arm connected with the roller mounting means, said arm having substantial abutment shoulders, and further comprises a resilient shoulder fixed on said base and cooperable with said abutment shoulders of the arm.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
37 words
A mechanism as in claim 19, wherein: a. the resilient shoulders comprise a rubber bar, and b. said base having a rigid backing member engaged with said rubber bar to limit the yielding action of the latter.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
58 words
A mechanism as in claim 1, and further including: a. an adjustable abutment member cooperable with said roller mounting means for effecting gradual swiveling of the same and said roller at a predetermined point in the path of travel of the roller along the shaft, thereby to halt the traversing movement of said roller at said predetermined point.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
54 words
A mechanism as in claim 1, and further including: a. means responsive to traversing movement of the mechanism and operable throughout a substantial portion of travel thereof for effecting a gradual swiveling movement of the roller to thereby alter the speed of traverse along its path of travel in accordance with a predetermined pattern.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
39 words
A mechanism as in claim 22, wherein: a. said means for effecting gradual swiveling movement comprises a stationary control bar, and b. means cooperable with said control bar and connected with said roller mounting means for swiveling the roller.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
US2940322A
Cited
USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 1979-08-31 | 1980-03-01 | 1980-08-31 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 1983-08-31 | 1984-03-01 | 1984-08-31 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 1987-08-31 | 1988-03-01 | 1988-08-31 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |