Adjustable Joints
AssigneeIngersoll-Rand Company
InventorSanjeev Kumar
Life of this patent
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Abstract
In at least one illustrative embodiment, an adjustable joint comprises a housing, a pair of wedges arranged in the housing, and a threaded fastener engaged with at least one of the pair of wedges. The housing may include a first cavity that is sized to receive a spherical end of a shaft and a second cavity that is sized to receive a tube. The pair of wedges may be arranged between the first and the second cavities. The threaded fastener may be configured to (i) move the pair of wedges away from one another when rotated in a first direction and (ii) move the pair of wedges toward one another when rotated in a second direction opposite the first direction.
Claims20
An adjustable joint comprising:
- a housing formed to include a first cavity that is sized to receive a spherical end of a shaft and a second cavity that is sized to receive a tube;
- a pair of wedges arranged in the housing between the first and second cavities;
- and
- a threaded fastener engaged with at least one of the pair of wedges and configured to (i) move the pair of wedges away from one another, when the threaded fastener is rotated in a first direction, and (ii) move the pair of wedges toward one another, when the threaded fastener is rotated in a second direction opposite the first direction.
An adjustable joint comprising:
- a housing formed to include a first cavity;
- a shaft having a spherical end, the spherical end being received in the first cavity;
- a pair of wedges arranged in the housing;
- and
- a fastener engaged with at least one of the pair of wedges and configured to (i) move the pair of wedges away from one another to permit movement of the shaft relative to the housing and (ii) move the pair of wedges toward one another to cause the pair of wedges to exert a clamping force on the spherical end of the shaft to resist movement of the shaft relative to the housing.
A method of repositioning an adjustable joint comprising a housing including a first cavity receiving a spherical end of a shaft and a second cavity receiving a tube, a pair of wedges arranged in the housing between the first cavity and the second cavity, and a threaded fastener engaged with the pair of wedges, the method comprising:
- rotating the threaded fastener in a first direction to move the pair of wedges away from one another;
- repositioning at least one of the shaft and the tube relative to the housing;
- and
- rotating the threaded fastener in a second direction, opposite the first direction, to move the pair of wedges toward one another to cause the pair of wedges to exert clamping forces on the spherical end of the shaft and on the tube.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.