Machine element or mechanism – Gearing – Rotary bodies
Patent
1996-11-13
1999-01-26
Herrmann, Alan D.
Machine element or mechanism
Gearing
Rotary bodies
411226, F16H 2524, F16H 5712
Patent
active
058627073
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is directed to fine-mechanical adjusting devices and especially an adjusting device in which adjustment is performed by rotating an adjusting part with external threads inside a sleeve with internal threads. This type of adjusting device is commonly used in optical applications, for example, in which the position of a lens, an optical fiber or some other optical component must be precisely adjusted.
It is common knowledge that distance adjustment by means of threaded parts is problematic due to backlash in the threads, and that adjusting accuracies of one micrometer are obtainable with the most expensive manufacturing methods. However, in practical applications, it has proved to be very difficult to reach such accuracies at reasonable cost. Therefore, distance adjustment based on other technologies, such as thermal expansion or piezoelectric elements, often must be used to reach adjusting accuracies of one nanometer in, for example, optical applications requiring very accurate adjustment, such as laser measuring devices. Adjustment realized with a piezoelectric element, for example, requires an electronic unit connected to the element, raising the cost of the realization.
Therefore, it would be quite desirable if a simple, inexpensive solution for distance adjustment based on threaded parts were available, making it possible to obtain adjusting accuracies of 0.001 mm or even better, and offering backlash-free adjustment, sufficient adjusting sensitivity and good directional stability during adjustment. In many cases, said adjustment would replace a more complicated and costly adjustment, and said adjustment is also needed as a course adjustment in applications using even finer adjusting methods for final adjustment. The object of the present invention is to present said adjustment solution based on threaded parts.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The fine-mechanical adjusting device according to the present invention, which includes a first part having internal threads, a second part having external threads that screws into the first part and projects from the first part when the first and second parts are screwed together, a third part having internal threads that screws onto the part of the second part that projects from the first part, and a first seating surface of the first part and a second seating surface of the third part, which first and second seating surfaces face each other, is characterized in that a protruding elastic ring is fastened to the first seating surface or third seating surface, the general shape of the ring being a circle located around the axis of the adjusting device, on a plane perpendicular to the axis, with the center point of the circle on the axis, and correspondingly, the second seating surface or first seating surface contains seating parts, whose shape and size are formed so as to fit together with the part of the elastic ring that projects beyond the seating surface of the elastic ring, so that when the third part is screwed to bring it closer to the first part, the seating parts align with the elastic ring, squeezing it and changing its shape so that the elastic ring keeps the third part in place and aligned with the first part, and the ring exerts a force on the first and third parts in the direction of the axis of the adjusting device.
Two main applications of the adjusting device according to the present invention are presented in the following. In the first application, the first part is a body, the second part is an adjusting part that screws on the body and the third part is a clamping part that screws on the adjusting part toward the body. In the second application, the second part is the body, the first part is the adjusting part that screws on the body and the third part is the clamping part that screws on the body toward the adjusting part. In a preferred embodiment, the elastic ring is fastened to the seating surface of the first part, and the seating parts are located on the seating surface of the third part, or
REFERENCES:
patent: 1742722 (1930-01-01), Olsson et al.
patent: 2734394 (1956-02-01), Chauvel
patent: 2982145 (1961-05-01), Orner
patent: 3062070 (1962-11-01), Beatty et al.
patent: 4864884 (1989-09-01), Klinkenberg
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