Ratchet spring
AssigneeStanley Black & Decker MEA FZE
InventorsTseng Sheng Wang, Yu-Wei Tsai
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A spring configured to be fixed to a housing and nested within a dial that is rotatable about the spring. The dial has a plurality of spaced apart inwardly facing teeth that are adjacent the spring. The spring is configured to facilitate rotation of the dial about the spring. The spring includes a central body having at least one anchor configured to connect the spring to the housing. The spring also includes at least one arm having a first end connected to the central body. The spring also includes a second end of the arm that is connected to a bulb. The bulb can be enclosed and include an exterior surface with a node that is on distal from the central body. The node is sized to fit in a space between adjacent teeth. The enclosed bulb biases the node toward the spaces between the teeth.
Claims20
A spring comprising:
- a construction configured to be fixed to a housing and nested within a dial that is rotatable about the spring, wherein said dial includes a plurality inwardly facing teeth having a space therebetween, and wherein said spring is further configured to facilitate rotation of the dial about the spring, said construction comprising:
- a central body having at least one anchor configured to fix the spring to the housing;
- and
- at least one arm extending radially along a radial axis from the central body, the at least one arm having a first end connected to the central body and a second end connected to an enclosed bulb having an exterior surface with a node extending radially along the radial axis from the exterior surface and distal from the central body, wherein said node is sized to fit in a space between adjacent teeth and is biased by the enclosed bulb toward the spaces between the adjacent teeth.
A spring comprising:
- a structure configured to be fixed to a housing and nested within a dial that is rotatable about the spring, wherein said dial includes a plurality inwardly facing teeth having a space therebetween, and wherein said spring is further configured to facilitate rotation of the dial about the spring, said structure comprising:
- a central body having at least one anchor configured to connect the spring to the housing;
- and
- at least one arm extending radially along a radial axis from the central body, the at least one arm having a first end connected to the central body and a second end connected to a bulb having an exterior surface with a node extending radially along the radial axis from the exterior surface and distal from the central body, wherein said node is sized to fit in a space between adjacent teeth and is biased by the bulb toward the spaces between the adjacent teeth.
A spring configured for positioning within a dial having a plurality inwardly facing teeth having a space between adjacent teeth, the spring comprising:
- a spring structure configured to facilitate rotation of the dial, the spring structure including:
- a central body,
- at least one arm extending radially along a radial axis from the central body, the at least one arm having a first end extending from the central body, and
- a bulb connected to a second end of the at least one arm, the bulb having a node extending radially along the radial axis from an exterior surface of the bulb which biases the node toward the space between the adjacent teeth to dispose the b node in the space when the spring is arranged in the dial and also cause engagement of the exterior surface of the bulb with a surface of the teeth to block access to the spaces between the teeth.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.