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US 2006/0037200 A1Published application
Rotary knife with improved drive transmission
AssigneeBettcher Industries, Inc.
InventorsMarinel Rosu, Jeffrey Whited
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A rotary knife with an improved drive transmission. The knife includes a tubular handle assembly, an annular blade, a blade housing, a pneumatic motor, and a drive transmission assembly. The transmission includes a drive or pinion gear, a drive shaft, and a connector assembly that inhibits axial movement of the pinion gear into the blade housing by the force of air pressure.
Claims15
A rotary knife operable from a source of high pressure air, comprising:
- a) a tubular handle assembly;
- b) an annular blade having a blade edge at a first axial end and gear teeth formed around a perimeter of a second axial end;
- c) a blade housing coupled to the tubular handle assembly that supports the annular blade for rotation about a central axis;
- d) a pneumatic motor assembly supported by the handle assembly for driving the blade;
- e) a connector assembly coupled to the pneumatic motor, the connector assembly including:
- i) a first clamping member with an inner surface of axially decreasing extent;
- ii) a second clamping member having an exterior surface of axially decreasing extent for engaging the inner surface of said first clamping member and further including a clamping surface, wherein axially pressing the second member into the first clamping member reduces the size of the clamping surface;
- f) a drive shaft clamped in the clamping the surface of the connector assembly by axially pressing the second clamping member into the first clamping member;
- and
- g) a pinion gear fixed to the drive shaft which meshes with the annular blade gear teeth to drive the annular blade upon rotation by the pneumatic motor assembly.
7 more elements
A rotary knife operable from a source of high pressure air, comprising:
- a) a tubular handle assembly;
- b) an annular blade having a blade edge at a first axial end and gear teeth formed around a perimeter of a second axial end;
- c) a blade housing coupled to the tubular handle assembly that supports the annular blade for rotation about a central axis;
- d) a pneumatic motor assembly supported by the handle assembly for driving the blade;
- e) a drive transmission assembly for transmitting drive from the motor to the annular blade, the drive transmission assembly comprising:
- i) a connector having a first end coupled an output shaft of the pneumatic motor and a second end with a concavity having an inner surface of axially decreasing extent;
- ii) a clamping member having an exterior surface of axially decreasing extent for engaging the inner surface of said connector and further including a clamping surface wherein axially pressing the clamping member into the concavity reduces the size of the inner surface;
- iii) a drive shaft clamped against the clamping surface of the clamping member by axially pressing the clamping member into the concavity;
- and
- iv) a pinion gear fixed to the drive shaft which meshes with the annular blade gear teeth to drive the annular blade upon rotation by the pneumatic motor assembly.
7 more elements
A rotary knife operable from a source of high pressure air, comprising:
- a) a tubular handle assembly;
- b) an annular blade having a blade edge at a first axial end and gear teeth formed around a perimeter of a second axial end;
- c) a blade housing coupled to the tubular handle assembly that supports the annular blade for rotation about a central axis;
- d) a pneumatic motor assembly supported by the handle assembly for driving the blade;
- e) a drive transmission assembly for transmitting drive from the motor to the annular blade, the drive transmission assembly comprising:
- i) a connector having a first end connected to an output shaft of the pneumatic motor and a second end with an inner conical surface;
- ii) a clamping member having a conical exterior surface for engaging the conical surface and further including a clamping surface, wherein axially pressing the clamping member into the conical concavity reduces the size of the cylindrical inner surface;
- iii) a drive shaft clamped in the clamping member by axially pressing the clamping member into the connector;
- and
- iv) a pinion gear fixed to the drive shaft, the pinion gear meshes with the annular blade gear teeth to drive the annular blade upon rotation by the pneumatic motor assembly.
7 more elements
A method of coupling a pinion gear to a rotary knife pneumatic motor, comprising:
- a) inserting a drive shaft of the pinion gear into an opening in a clamping member having an exterior surface of axially decreasing extent;
- b) inserting the clamping member into a concavity of axially decreasing extent defined in a member that rotates upon actuation of the pneumatic motor;
- c) axially pressing the clamping member into the concavity to reduce the size of the opening in the clamping member to cause frictional engagement between the clamping member and the drive shaft to couple the pinion gear to the rotary knife pneumatic motor.
A method of coupling a pinion gear to a rotary knife pneumatic motor, comprising:
- a) connecting a first end of a connector to a pneumatic motor drive motor;
- b) inserting a drive shaft of the pinion gear through an opening in a clamping nut;
- c) inserting the drive shaft into an opening in a collet;
- d) inserting the collet into a conical opening in the second end of the connector;
- e) tightening the clamping nut onto threads on an outer surface of the connector second end to axially press the collet axially into the conical opening to cause frictional engagement between the collet and the drive shaft to couple the pinion gear to the rotary knife pneumatic motor.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.