Safety release handle apparatus

Abstract

A safety handle is provided for manually rotating a motor shaft for a stone grinding mill. One end of the handle is curved to encompass a portion of the shaft periphery. A hook at the end of the curved portion fits into the keyway of the shaft. The handle arm extends radially from the shaft with a hand grip at the end opposite the curved portion. When torque is applied to the handle in the direction of normal motor rotation, the curved portion and hook grip the shaft by rotational leverage and transmit the torque to the shaft. If the motor is inadvertently started with the handle on the shaft, inertia and gravity will cause the handle to disengage and roll off from the shaft to prevent damage and injury. The hand grip is attached to the handle so as to allow only manual rotation of the shaft in the normal motor direction. Alternately, the handle is bent transverse to its longitudinal axis to extend outward from the motor and thus enable rotation only when mounted properly on the shaft.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.