US 5,560,271 AGranted

Hand wheel engagement/disengagement mechanism for drive selection in a brake lathe

AssigneeHennessy Industries, Inc.

InventorShane P. Duty

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Abstract

A unique hand wheel engagement/disengagement mechanism for a brake lathe employs a single slide drive motor which drives a drive shaft that provides a power supply to multiple lead screws. The mechanism includes a hand wheel tube which has a compression spring contained within the tube. A push button is also located within the hand wheel tube. The push button has a base which captures the compression spring between the base and the end of the drive shaft. The compression spring causes pressure against the face of the base to push it away from the drive shaft when the system is in its normal, at rest position. The push button includes a shank extending between head of the push button protruding from the hand wheel tube and its base. The shank has a shoulder which reduces the diameter of the shank to create a recess within the hand wheel tube. A pin passes through diametrically opposed holes in the hand wheel, which are in registry with similar diametrically opposed holes in the hand wheel tube, and through a slot in the shank. The slot allows the button to move axially in and out of the hand wheel tube a distance of approximately 1/2" so that the drive shaft will engage one lead screw in one position and another lead screw in the other position in order to permit the machine to be changed from one configuration to another and manual adjustment in either position.

In a vehicular brake lathe including a mainframe, a spindle rotatably mounted on said mainframe, means enabling a workpiece to be mounted on said spindle, a cross feed assembly and a longitudinal feed assembly, a slide drive lead screw for driving the cross feed assembly laterally relative to said mainframe and a drum feed lead screw for driving the longitudinal assembly for longitudinal movement relative to said mainframe, a cutter assembly for finishing a wear surface on a brake drum or a brake rotor mounted on said spindle, a lead screw drive shaft, and a slide drive motor with a power output shaft connected to and driving said lead screw drive shaft, the improvement including:

a. a hand wheel engagement/disengagement mechanism connected to said lead screw drive shaft including means enabling said lead screw drive shaft to shift between two positions for selectively:
i. engaging the lead screw drive shaft a first one of either of the slidedrive or drum feed lead screws while disengaging it from or other one of the slide screw or drum feed lead screws or
ii. engaging said lead screw drive shaft with the other of either of the slide drive or drum feed lead screws while disengaging it from the first one;
b. means for selectively moving said slide drive motor power output shaft into and out of engagement with said lead screw drive shaft;
c. means causing said cutter assembly to move either laterally or longitudinally relative to said mainframe depending on which of either of the slide drive or drum feed lead screws with which the said lead screw drive shaft is engaged when said slide drive motor power output shaft is in engagement with said lead screw drive shaft;
and
d. means enabling an operator to manually adjust the position of said cutter assembly relative to said workpiece both laterally and longitudinally by turning the said handwheel when said slide drive motor power output shaft is disengaged from said lead screw drive shaft.

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Abstract

Claims6