Idler wheel with tapered shaft

Details Idler wheel with tapered shaft Idler wheel with tapered shaft

1994-04-29

1995-08-08

Footland, Lenard A.

Bearings

Rotary bearing

Resilient bearing surface

384296, F16C 2702

Patent

active

054392950

ABSTRACT:
An idler wheel assembly is provided which is particularly suitable for manufacture and assembly in mass production. The assembly includes an idler wheel which has a tapered shaft that is sized to closely mate with a similarly sized and shaped bore in a support member. At the distal end of the tapered shaft is one or more resilient retention features which secure the shaft within the bore, yet enables the shaft to freely rotate within the bore such that the idler wheel can be rotated relative to its support member. The shaft, retention features and bore are sized such that the adequacy of the assembly can be determined in-process due to the tendency for the idler wheel to become dislodged from its support member during subsequent handling unless the retention features are properly deployed as a result of the tapered shaft being completely assembled with its bore. Additional features of the invention are that minimal resistance to installation will occur only at the very end of installation, during which time the retention features pass through the minimum diameter of the bore, and that the moldability of the idler wheel as a one-piece unit is enhanced by the tapered shapes of the shaft and its corresponding bore.

REFERENCES:
patent: 3986751 (1976-10-01), Diderich
patent: 4749286 (1988-06-01), White
patent: 4750886 (1988-06-01), Portelli et al.
patent: 5263778 (1993-11-01), Jordens et al.

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