4-jaw self-centering chucking system

Abstract

The present invention is directed to a chucking system. The body of the chucking system preferably houses cam plates which may be driven manually by an independent worm shaft, or hydraulically by a piston/gear rack in lieu of a worm shaft. A face plate preferably houses four master jaws. The jaws may be engaged to the cam plates by pins. The jaws may be moved inward and outward preferably by rotation of the cam plates due to the ascending/descending slope of the slots in the cam plates. Each set of two jaws may be driven independently of the other because of the two separate cam plate mechanisms. The top cam plate is preferably held concentrically to the bottom cam plate by a needle bearing. The entire cam plate may “sandwich” pivot on a center tube which may be anchored in the base of the body and the top face plate.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.