Low profile auto-locking pinch/turn adjustment knob

• US 9,182,773 B2
• Filed: 01/13/2014
• Issued: 11/10/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 01/14/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Leupold & Stevens Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Leupold & Stevens Incorporated
• Inventors: Campean, Daniel I.
• Primary Examiner(s): Abdosh, Samir
• Assistant Examiner(s): COOPER, JOHN
• Application Number:
  US14/153,949
• Publication Number:
  US 20140196351A1
• Time in Patent Office: 666 Days
• Field of Search: 421/19, 421/22, 421/25, 359/429, 359/426, 748/13.L, 745/04
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: F41G 1/38 Telescopic sights specially adapted for smallarms or ordnance telescopic sights in general G02B; Supports or mountings therefor
• CPC Class Codes: G05G 1/082 having safety devices, e.g. means for disengaging the control member from the actuated member
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 74/20474 Rotatable rod, shaft, or post

Abstract

A compact adjustment knob for an optical, mechanical, or electronic device includes a spindle supported on the device for rotation about an axis to control a setting of the device, and a releasable automatically locking lock mechanism supported on the spindle for rotation therewith. The lock mechanism includes at least one manually depressible button accessible on an outer surface of the adjustment knob and connected to an actuator shaft that extends inwardly through a drive hole in an outer side wall of the spindle so that a force manually applied to the button is transmitted by the actuator shaft to drive the lock mechanism and rotate the spindle. The lock mechanism may include a lock sleeve that is biased to a normally locked position and driven along the axis by the actuator shaft when the button is depressed.

Claims

1. An adjustment knob for adjusting an optical, mechanical, or electronic device, comprising:

a spindle supportable on the device for rotation about an axis, the spindle operatively associated with an adjustment mechanism that controls a setting of the device; and

a releasable lock mechanism supported on the spindle for rotation therewith, the lock mechanism including;

a button manually depressible in a generally radial direction from a radially outward locked position at which the lock mechanism constrains the spindle to prevent it from rotating relative to the device, to a radially inward unlocked position that releases the lock mechanism and allows the spindle to be rotated, and

an actuator shaft connected to the button and extending radially inward through a drive hole in an outer side wall of the spindle, the actuator shaft transmitting a force applied to the button to drive the lock mechanism and to rotate the spindle.

2. The adjustment knob of claim 1, wherein the adjustment mechanism includes an adjustment plunger threaded to the spindle and constrained to prevent the adjustment plunger from rotating about the axis.

3. The adjustment knob of claim 2, wherein the adjustment plunger is an adjustment screw, and further comprising a revolution indicator pin that is attached to the adjustment screw for movement therewith along the axis and visible from outside of the adjustment knob to provide a visual indication of the number of revolutions that the spindle is turned relative to an initial zero position.

4. The adjustment knob of claim 2, wherein the lock mechanism includes a lock sleeve encircling the adjustment plunger and driven by the actuator shaft for movement along the axis in response to a user depressing the button, to thereby release the lock mechanism.

5. The adjustment knob of claim 1, wherein the lock mechanism includes a lock sleeve that extends into an annular groove in the spindle.

6. The adjustment knob of claim 1, wherein the lock mechanism includes a lock sleeve that is biased in the axial direction toward the locked position by a spring that is concentric with the axis, and the lock sleeve is driven in opposition to the spring toward the unlocked position by depressing the button, and wherein the spring provides sufficient biasing to return the lock sleeve and the button to the locked position when the force is released from the button.

7. The adjustment knob of claim 1, wherein the lock mechanism includes a lock sleeve that is driven along the axis by the actuator shaft when the button is depressed.

8. The adjustment knob of claim 7, wherein the lock mechanism further includes a lock pin carried by the spindle, and the lock sleeve contacts and drives the lock pin radially outward and into engagement with a catch when the lock sleeve is in the locked position.

9. The adjustment knob of claim 7, wherein the actuator shaft contacts and slides against a tapered shoulder surface of the lock sleeve to drive the lock sleeve along the axis and release the lock mechanism.

10. The adjustment knob of claim 7, further comprising a lock spring operably interposed between the lock sleeve and the spindle to bias the lock sleeve along the axis toward the locked position.

11. The adjustment knob of claim 1, further comprising a hermetic seal between the actuator shaft and the drive hole that also provides a sliding interface therebetween.

12. The adjustment knob of claim 1, wherein the spindle and its outer side wall, including the drive hole, are formed in a monolithic structure.

13. The adjustment knob of claim 1, wherein the spindle is manually driven for rotation by forces transmitted from the button to the spindle primarily via engagement of the actuator shaft in the drive hole.

14. The adjustment knob of claim 1, further comprising a second lock-release button supported on the outer side wall of the spindle opposite the button so that the button and the second button may be pinched toward each other by a user to unlock the lock mechanism, the second lock-release button connected to a second actuator shaft that extends radially inward through a second drive hole in the outer side wall of the spindle opposite the drive hole, the second actuator shaft transmitting a force applied to the second button to drive the lock mechanism and to rotate the spindle.

15. An optical aiming device including the adjustment knob of claim 1.