Pulley with drive feature for belt installation
AssigneeCummins Inc.
InventorsDaniel Christopher Grabill, Kyle Lewis Kellar, Steven John Small
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The present disclosure provides a pulley, comprising a cylindrical wall having an outer surface with a plurality of circumferential grooves configured to receive a corresponding plurality of ribs on an inner surface of an elastic belt, a web connected to an inner surface of the cylindrical wall, a central hub connected to the web, the central hub comprises a central opening sized to be press-fit onto a drive shaft, and a drive feature configured to mate with a drive tool, thereby facilitating rotation of the pulley using the drive tool.
Claims20
A pulley, comprising:
- a cylindrical wall having an outer surface with a plurality of circumferential grooves configured to receive a corresponding plurality of ribs on an inner surface of an elastic belt;
- a web connected to an inner surface of the cylindrical wall;
- a central hub connected to the web, the central hub comprises a central opening sized to be press-fit onto a drive shaft;
- and
- a drive feature configured to mate with a drive tool, thereby facilitating rotation of the pulley using the drive tool.
A method of installing an elastic belt onto a pulley that is press-fit onto a drive shaft, comprising:
- mating, at a first location on a circumference of the pulley, a plurality of ribs on an inner surface of the elastic belt with a corresponding plurality of grooves on an outer surface of the pulley;
- coupling a drive tool to a drive feature formed on the pulley;
- and
- causing the pulley to rotate using the drive tool, thereby causing the plurality of ribs of the elastic belt to mate with the plurality of grooves of the pulley along the circumference of the pulley.
An engine, comprising:
- a crankshaft;
- a plurality of components driven by rotation of the crankshaft, each of the plurality of components comprising a pulley coupled to rotatable element;
- and
- an elastic belt coupled to the pulleys of the plurality of components;
- wherein at least one component of the plurality of components comprises a press-fit pulley that is press-fit onto a drive shaft of the rotatable element of the at least one component, the press-fit pulley comprising
- a cylindrical wall having an outer surface with a plurality of circumferential grooves configured to receive a corresponding plurality of ribs on an inner surface of the elastic belt,
- a central hub connected to the cylindrical wall, the central hub comprising a central opening sized to be press-fit onto the drive shaft, and
- a drive feature configured to mate with a drive tool, thereby facilitating rotation of the pulley using the drive tool to couple the elastic belt to the press-fit pulley.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.