Endplay adjustment mechanism for colinear shafts
First Claim
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1. A power transmission apparatus comprising:
- a housing defining first and second bearing seats;
a colinear shaft assembly including a first shaft defining a third bearing seat, and a second shaft defining a fourth bearing seat;
a first bearing assembly disposed between said first and third bearing seats for supporting said first shaft for rotation relative to said housing about a rotary axis;
a second bearing assembly disposed between said second and fourth bearing seats for supporting said second shaft for rotation relative to said housing and said first shaft about said rotary axis; and
an endplay adjustment assembly coupled to said first shaft and which engages said second shaft, the axial position of said endplay adjustment assembly relative to said first shaft is adjustable for causing relative axial movement between said first shaft and said second shaft.
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Abstract
An endplay adjustment mechanism for a co-linear shaft assembly. More specifically, the co-linear shaft assembly includes an input shaft and a mainshaft aligned along a common longitudinal axis. A threaded adjuster plug and a thrust bearing are interdisposed between the input shaft and the mainshaft to permit relative longitudinal positioning therebetween. Accordingly, after the shaft assembly has been assembled into a power transmission device, the threaded adjuster plug is tightened to effectively increase the length of the co-linear shaft assembly, thereby eliminating any excess endplay of the shafts relative to the housing of the power transmission apparatus.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A power transmission apparatus comprising:
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a housing defining first and second bearing seats;
a colinear shaft assembly including a first shaft defining a third bearing seat, and a second shaft defining a fourth bearing seat;
a first bearing assembly disposed between said first and third bearing seats for supporting said first shaft for rotation relative to said housing about a rotary axis;
a second bearing assembly disposed between said second and fourth bearing seats for supporting said second shaft for rotation relative to said housing and said first shaft about said rotary axis; and
an endplay adjustment assembly coupled to said first shaft and which engages said second shaft, the axial position of said endplay adjustment assembly relative to said first shaft is adjustable for causing relative axial movement between said first shaft and said second shaft. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A power transmission apparatus having a co-linear shaft assembly, said power transmission apparatus comprising:
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a first housing having a first housing bearing seat formed therein;
a first shaft having a first shaft bearing seat formed on an outer surface thereof, and a bore formed therethrough to define an inner surface;
a first bearing assembly operably disposed between said first housing bearing seat and said first shaft bearing seat to rotatably support said first shaft in said first housing;
a second housing adapted to be releasably secured to said first housing, said second housing having a second housing bearing seat formed therein;
a second shaft disposed along a common longitudinal axis with said first shaft, said second shaft having a second shaft bearing seat formed on an outer surface thereof;
a second bearing assembly operably disposed between said second housing bearing seat and said second shaft bearing seat to rotatably support said second shaft in said second housing;
a third bearing assembly operably disposed between said inner surface of said bore in said first shaft and an end segment of said second shaft to rotatably support said second shaft in said bore of said first shaft; and
an endplay adjustment assembly disposed in said bore and coupled to said first shaft, said endplay adjustment assembly being adjustable along said longitudinal axis to longitudinally position said first shaft relative to said second shaft. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A power transmission apparatus equipped with a co-linear shaft assembly, said power transmission device comprising:
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a first housing having a first housing bearing seat formed therein;
a first shaft having a first shaft bearing seat formed thereon and a pilot bore formed therethrough with an inner surface having a threaded segment and a non-threaded segment;
a first bearing assembly operably disposed between said first housing bearing seat and said first shaft bearing seat to rotatably support said first shaft in said first housing;
a second housing adapted to be releasably secured to said first housing, said second housing having a second housing bearing seat formed therein;
a second shaft aligned on a common longitudinal axis with said first shaft and having a second shaft bearing seat formed thereon;
a second bearing assembly operably disposed between said second housing bearing seat and said second shaft bearing seat to rotatably support said second shaft in said second housing;
a third bearing assembly operably disposed between said non-threaded segment of said pilot bore in said first shaft and an end segment of said second shaft to rotatably support said end segment of said second shaft in said pilot bore of said first shaft;
an adjuster plug having external threads that are meshed with said threaded segment of said pilot bore; and
a thrust bearing engaging said adjuster plug and said end segment of said second shaft. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification