Hydraulic tensioner with cantilever shipping spring

A hydraulic tensioner (10) comprising:

• a housing (12) having a hollow longitudinal sleeve (14), the housing (12) defining a fluid passage in fluid communication with an interior aperture of the hollow longitudinal sleeve (14);
• a piston (16) received in the aperture of the hollow longitudinal sleeve (14) for longitudinal movement between an extended position and a retracted position, the piston (16) and hollow longitudinal sleeve (14) defining an expandable fluid chamber between the housing (12) and the piston (16), the piston (16) having a spring-retention groove (32) formed on a nose end (26) of the piston (16);
• a tensioner spring (36) within the aperture of the hollow longitudinal sleeve (14) biasing the piston (16) toward the extended position with respect to the hollow longitudinal sleeve (14);
• and
• a cantilever spring (20) attachable to the housing (12), the cantilever spring (20) having a first end (22) attachable to the housing (4012) and a second end (24) releasably engageable with the spring-retention groove (32) of the piston (16) for retaining the piston (16) within the hollow longitudinal sleeve (14), the second end (24) of the cantilever spring (20) disengageable with the spring-retention groove (32) allowing longitudinal movement of the piston (16) outwardly with respect to the housing (12) when operating in a working environment.

A method for assembling a hydraulic tensioner (10) for an endless loop power transmission member, the method comprising:

• connecting a hollow longitudinal sleeve (14) with respect to a housing (12) to define an aperture in fluid communication with a fluid passage (39);
• inserting a tensioner spring (36) into the aperture of the hollow longitudinal sleeve (14);
• inserting a slideable piston (16) into the aperture of the hollow longitudinal sleeve (14) for movement between an extended position and a retracted position to define an expandable fluid chamber between the housing (12), hollow longitudinal sleeve (14) and the piston (16), the piston (16) biased by the tensioner spring (36) toward the extended position;
• and
• attaching a cantilever spring (20) to the housing (12), the cantilever spring (20) having a first end (22) attachable to the housing (12) and a second end (24) releasably engageable with the piston (16) for retaining the piston (16) within the aperture of the hollow longitudinal sleeve (14) of housing (12) against urging of the tensioner spring (36), the second end (24) of the cantilever spring (20) disengageable with the piston (16) allowing movement of the piston (16) outwardly with respect to the housing (12) during operation in a working environment.