Thrust to torque converter, particularly for coupling a reciprocating shaft to a rotary electrical generator or the like
First Claim
1. A mechanical linear-to-rotary motion converter comprising:
- a housing;
a ball bearing input screw reciprocably mounted to said housinga rotor;
a first ball bearing nut coupling said input screw through a first overrunning clutch for turning said rotor in a given sense of rotation for a first direction of movement of said screw;
a second ball bearing nut coupling said input screw through a reversing gear arrangement and a second overrunning clutch for turning said rotor in a given sense of rotation for an opposite direction of movement of said shaft;
said first and second ball bearing nuts alternately driving said rotor for continuous rotation in said given sense responsive to linear reciprocating motion of said input shaft.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A rotary-to-linear mechanical motion converter has a housing attachable to a drive engine, an input shaft reciprocable to the housing and coupled directly or through a gear arrangement to a reciprocating output shaft of the drive engine, a first drive train coupling the input shaft for turning a rotor in a given sense of rotation for a first direction of movement of the input shaft, and a second drive train coupling the input shaft for turning the rotor in the same given sense of rotation for an opposite direction of movement of the input shaft, the first and second drive trains alternately driving the rotor, as in an electrical generator, for continuous rotation in a given sense relative to the housing. In an alternate converter, both drive trains drive a rotor for only one direction of movement of the input shaft.
44 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A mechanical linear-to-rotary motion converter comprising:
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a housing; a ball bearing input screw reciprocably mounted to said housing a rotor; a first ball bearing nut coupling said input screw through a first overrunning clutch for turning said rotor in a given sense of rotation for a first direction of movement of said screw; a second ball bearing nut coupling said input screw through a reversing gear arrangement and a second overrunning clutch for turning said rotor in a given sense of rotation for an opposite direction of movement of said shaft; said first and second ball bearing nuts alternately driving said rotor for continuous rotation in said given sense responsive to linear reciprocating motion of said input shaft. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A mechanical linear-to-rotary motion converter comprising:
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a housing; a ball bearing unput screw shaft reciprocably mounted to said housing for turning a first and a second driven member in a common sense responsive to linear movement of said screw shaft; a rotor; first overrunning clutch means drivingly coupling said first member to said rotor for a first sense of rotation of said first member corresponding to a first direction of movement of said screw shaft; a central gear; reversing gear means operatively coupling said second driven member and said central gear; and second overrunning clutch means drivingly coupling said central gear to said rotor during rotation of said second driven member in said first sense but corresponding to an opposite direction of movement of said screw shaft; one of said overrunning clutches being inoperative and the other overrunning clutch baeing operative for transmitting rotational motion during rotation of either of said driven members in a sense opposite to said first sense, whereby said rotor is alternately driven through said first and second overrunning clutches in a single sense of rotation responsive to linear reciprocating motion of said screw shaft.
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10. A compact mechanical linear-to-rotary motion converter comprising:
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a housing; an input ball bearing screw shaft reciprocable to said housing, a first and a second ball bearing nut on said shaft driven in a common saense of rotation for any given direction of movement of said input shaft; a central gear on said second ball bearing nut, a ring gear concentric to said central gear, and one or more idler gears in mesh with both said central and ring gears for turning said ring gear in a sense opposite to that of said central gear; a first drive ring fixed to said first ball bearing nut and a second drive ring fixaed to said ring gear; and a plurality of roller bearings between each drive ring and a corresponding cam ring, each roller in a cam recess including a clutch wedge on one side of said recess for locking said roller against rotation relative to said cam ring and transmitting torque from said drive ring to said cam ring for one sense of rotation of said drive ring, said rollers being free to turn in said cam recesses for an opposite sense of rotation of said drive ring; whereby said cam rings are alternately driven in the same sense of rotation for either direction of movement of said input shaft. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12)
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13. A mechanical linear-to-rotary motion converter comprising:
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a housing, a threaded input shaft reciprocable to said housing, a rotor supported in said housing coaxially to said shaft; first and second threaded rollers axially spaced on said shaft driven in a common sense of rotation for a given direction of movement of said drive shaft; a coupling ring axially intermediate said rollers and fixed to said rotor; and overrunning clutch means coupling said ring to both said rollers for a single sense of rotation of said rollers, said clutch means disengaging for the opposite rotation of said rollers thereby driving said rotor in said single sense. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16)
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17. A mechanical linear-to-rotary motion converter comprising:
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a housing, an input shaft reciprocable to said housing, said shaft being treaded in opposite directions on first and second portions thereof; a rotor supported in said housing coaxially to said shaft; first and second rollers each on a corresponding one of said shaft portions and driven for mutually opposite rotation for a given direction of movement of said input shaft; a coupling ring axially intermediate said rollers and fixed to said rotor; and overrunning clutch means coupling said ring to both said rollers for a single sense of rotation of said rollers, said clutch means disengaging for the opposite rotation of said rollers thereby continuously driving said rotor in said single sense for either direction of said shaft. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20)
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Specification