Belt tensioner construction

A belt tensioner construction for tensioning an endless drive belt of a drive system for vehicle accessories, said tensioner construction including:

• (a) a bracket adapted to be mounted on a vehicle engine adjacent the drive belt;
• (b) a lever pivotally mounted on the bracket and movable in a belt tensioning direction;
• (c) first and second housings mounted on the bracket in a spaced relationship, with the lever being pivotally mounted on the bracket intermediate said housings;
• (d) volute spring means mounted within each of the housings and operatively engaged with the lever, pivotally biasing the lever in the belt tensioning direction;
• and
• (e) a pulley mounted on the lever and movable into tensioning engagement with the drive belt upon pivotal movement of the lever by the volute spring means.

A belt tensioner construction for tensioning an endless drive belt of a drive system for vehicle accessories, said tensioner construction including:

• (a) bracket means adapted to be mounted on a vehicle engine adjacent the drive belt, said bracket means having a generally Z-shaped configuration terminating in a pair of end flanges;
• (b) lever means pivotally mounted on the bracket means intermediate the end flanges, and movable in a belt tensioning direction;
• (c) a pair of volute springs mounted on the bracket means and operatively engageable with the lever means biasing the lever means in a belt tensioning direction, each of said springs being mounted on a respective one of the bracket flanges;
• (d) a pair of plungers operatively engaged with and extending between a respective one of the volute springs and the lever means, with imaginary axes of the plungers being parallel to each other and perpendicular to an imaginary longitudinal axis of the lever means, and with the pivotal mounting of the lever means being located between the imaginary axes of the plungers;
• and
• (e) rotatable pulley means mounted on the lever means and movable toward tensioning engagement with the drive belt upon pivotal movement of the lever means by the spring means.

A belt tensioner construction for tensioning an endless drive belt of a drive system for vehicle accessories, said tensioner construction including:

• (a) bracket means adapted to be mounted on a vehicle engine adjacent the drive belt;
• (b) lever means pivotally mounted on the bracket means and movable in a belt tensioning direction;
• (c) spring means mounted on the bracket means and operatively engageable with the lever means biasing the lever means in a belt tensioning direction, said spring means including a pair of volute springs, each of said springs being mounted on an opposite end of the bracket means and operatively engageable with the lever means;
• (d) a pair of plungers, each plunger extending between and operatively engaged with a respective one of the volute springs and the lever means to transmit the biasing force of the volute springs to the lever means, said pivotal mounting of the lever means being intermediate the locations where each of the plungers is engaged with the lever means;
• and
• (e) rotatable pulley means mounted on the lever means and movable toward tensioning engagement with the drive belt upon pivotal movement of the lever means by the spring means.