Lever actuator
AssigneeFox Factory, Inc.
InventorDouglas Alexander Chalmers
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A lever actuator is described that includes: a frame; a lever movably coupled to the frame, the lever comprising a contact portion; a multi-position track disposed in one of the lever and the frame, the multi-position track being continuous and comprising a plurality of ledges defining a plurality of discrete track positions; and a follower arm coupled to the frame and the lever by way of a track pin. The track pin is movable within the multi-position track. A force applied to the contact portion of the lever causes the track pin to advance among a respective one of the ledges to a subsequent discrete track position in a first direction.
Claims20
A lever actuator, comprising:
- a frame;
- a lever movably coupled to the frame, the lever comprising a contact portion;
- a follower arm movably coupled to one of the frame and the lever;
- a multi-position track disposed in one of the lever, the follower arm, and the frame, the multi-position track comprising a continuous channel having a plurality of ledges with a plurality of ramps positioned therebetween the continuous channel having a plurality of discrete track positions;
- and
- a track pin coupled to the multi-position track by way of one of the follower arm, the frame, and the lever, wherein the track pin is movable within the multi-position track,
- wherein a displacement applied to the contact portion of the lever relative to the frame causes the track pin to advance in the multi-position track to a respective ledge among the ledges and a subsequent discrete track position in a continuous channel direction.
A lever actuator, comprising:
- a static portion, a dynamic portion movably coupled to the static portion, and a follower portion that is coupled to both the static portion and dynamic portion;
- a multi-position track disposed in one of the static portion, the dynamic portion, and the follower portion, the multi-position track comprising a plurality of ledges defining a plurality of discrete track positions, the multi-position track comprising a plurality of ramps positioned between the plurality of ledges;
- and
- a track pin movable within and biased against the multi-position track,
- wherein a first amount of displacement caused by manipulation of the dynamic portion causes the track pin to move to a subsequent one of the discrete track positions, and a second amount of displacement caused by manipulation of the dynamic portion causes the track pin to move to a preceding one of the discrete track positions.
A lever actuator, comprising:
- a frame;
- a lever movably coupled to the frame, the lever comprising a contact portion;
- a follower arm movably coupled to one of the frame and the lever;
- a multi-position track disposed in one of the lever, the follower arm, and the frame, the multi-position track comprising a continuous channel having a plurality of ledges defining a plurality of discrete track positions, and the multi-position track comprising at least a first loop and a second loop;
- and
- a track pin coupled to the multi-position track by way of one of the follower arm, the frame, and the lever, wherein the track pin is movable within the multi-position track,
- wherein a displacement applied to the contact portion of the lever relative to the frame causes the track pin to advance in the multi-position track to a respective ledge among the ledges and a subsequent discrete track position in a continuous channel direction.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.