Measuring and testing – Dynamometers – Responsive to force
Patent
1991-04-05
1995-01-03
Wooden, Donald O.
Measuring and testing
Dynamometers
Responsive to force
73862625, 73862637, G01L 512
Patent
active
053775520
ABSTRACT:
A linear bearing assembly having a load compensating ball bearing array whose rolling friction increases when a sufficiently large load is applied thereto. The design of the ball bearing array permits the assembly to achieve desired torque, efficiency, end play, and static load characteristics with a high tolerance to manufacturing variations in size, surface condition, and other ball bearing characteristics. In one preferred embodiment, the assembly has an initial rolling friction until the force applied to the ball bearings exceeds a transition load, and then has an increased rolling friction after application of the transition load to the ball bearings. This step-wise increase in rolling friction is achieved by packing large, compressible ball bearings with smaller ball bearings in the race of the linear bearing assembly. When a low initial load is applied to the bearings, the large bearings bear the entire load. When the load on the bearings is sufficiently increased, the large bearings compress, thereby transferring a portion of the load to the smaller bearings. The inventive assembly can function as a load sensor if the large bearings have a large (or infinite) electrical resistance and the smaller bearings have a lower resistance. When the large bearings compress in response to a transition load, the small bearings come into electrical contact with a pair of electrically conductive members, thereby closing an electrical circuit or otherwise producing a measurable change in an electrical characteristic of such a circuit.
REFERENCES:
patent: 2478510 (1949-08-01), Stolpe
patent: 4667521 (1987-05-01), Fuss et al.
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