Machine element or mechanism – Control lever and linkage systems – Hand operated
Patent
1998-11-13
2000-07-11
Battista, Mary Ann
Machine element or mechanism
Control lever and linkage systems
Hand operated
745026, F16C 122
Patent
active
060856106
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The object of the present invention is an adjusting device for control cable terminals, of general application to control cables which, essentially made up of a sheathed steel cable, are widely used in the automobile industry. More particularly, the adjusting device of the invention is applicable to control cables used as a means of linkage between the gear-shift mechanism and its actuating lever.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
As is known in the art, the control cables made up of a sheathed steel cable used in the automobile industry for the transmission of thrust-traction forces, and usually known as push-pull operating cables, are frequently mounted on the vehicle in such a way that the ends of the steel cable sheath are attached to fixed points along the route of the control cable, while the ends of the steel cable have a corresponding terminal designed for detachable coupling thereof to a control device and its associated mechanism, respectively, such as the above-mentioned gear-shift lever and the corresponding gear-shift mechanism. Known, too, is the fact that such control cables generally include an adjusting device whose purpose, during fitting of the cable onto the vehicle, consists in adjusting the length of the sheathed portion of steel cable in order to achieve suitable functioning of the control cable by taking up the length tolerances of each particular vehicle. It is the usual practice to fit said adjusting device on one of the terminals of the control cable.
Essentially, the known embodiments of adjusting devices include a regulating rod linked by one of its ends to the corresponding end of the steel cable, while the other end is inserted into a housing of the terminal through which it can slide, and means which secure the position of the rod with respect to the terminal. During fitting of the cable onto the vehicle, the user generally adjusts the portion of rod housed inside the terminal, thereby adjusting the sheathed portion of steel cable, and then proceeds to secure the position of the regulating rod by actuating the fixing means.
The patent document PCT/ES97/00057 (WO 97/35118) discloses a self-adjusting device for control cable terminals comprising a main body, a regulating rod partially housed in the main body, a thrust spring working permanently under compression in such a way that the regulating rod is permanently subjected to a force acting from the outside inwards, and means for securing the position of the regulating rod.
The known embodiments of adjusting devices such as those described above share, wholly or partially, the following disadvantages. Adjustment of the sheathed portion of steel cable is implemented manually, thereby leading to an inconsistency of results which can affect the correct functioning of the control cable, while the fixing of the position reached by the regulating rod once the length of said sheathed portion has been adjusted calls for the use of a tool and therefore increases the costs of fitting the control cable onto the vehicle.
SUMMARY
An adjusting device of original structure and functioning for control cable terminals is made known hereby in order to provide a solution to the above-described problems presented by the known embodiments of adjusting devices.
The adjusting device of the invention is for control cable terminals made up essentially of a sheathed steel cable, which terminals have a main body provided with means of linkage to a control actuating device or to its associated mechanism, the adjusting device including:
on the main body, a longitudinal housing open at one of its ends, the rear end;
a regulating rod arranged in the longitudinal housing of the main body and through which the rod can slide in both directions, which rod projects permanently from the main body by one of its ends, the exterior end, attached to the corresponding end of the steel cable of the control cable, while the other end, the interior end, has a threaded retaining portion;
a thrust spring coaxially arranged with respect to
Gabas Carlos
Navo Rafael
Battista Mary Ann
Fico Cables S.A.
Striker Michael J.
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