Throttle shaft assembly and method of attachment
AssigneeSiemens Canada Limited
InventorsJames K. Vanderveen, Dan Pannunzio
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method and apparatus is provided for the attachment of a throttle shaft to a throttle body. A throttle shaft, a spring, and a cap retainer, are temporarily assembled as a throttle shaft subassembly. A set of locking members extend from the cap retainer to engage a set of locking surfaces adjacent the throttle shaft to retain the spring in tension. The cap retainer fits onto a boss extending from the throttle body and is lockable thereto by a set of fingers which are received into engagement recesses located on the boss. As the shaft subassembly is guided into the throttle body, the cap retainer is rotated by the engagement surfaces and the locking members are disengaged from the locking surfaces to at least partially unload the spring to mount the shaft.
Claims19
A throttle assembly comprising:
- a throttle body having an airflow passage defining a longitudinal axis and a bore intersecting said airflow passage and defining an axis of rotation that is transverse to said longitudinal axis;
- a throttle shaft member having a body portion for receiving rotational input to move between an idle position and various operable positions, and a shaft portion extending outwardly from said body portion along said axis of rotation and receivable within said bore;
- a spring securable to said throttle shaft member to return said body portion to said idle position once the input is removed;
- and
- a cap retainer securable to said spring and having a lock member engageable with said body portion to selectively lock said cap retainer to said throttle shaft member.
A method of assembling a throttle shaft to a throttle body comprising the steps of:
- (a) securing a resilient member to the throttle shaft with a retainer;
- (b) locking the retainer to the shaft to form a throttle shaft subassembly;
- (c) inserting a shaft portion of the throttle shaft subassembly into the throttle body;
- (d) rotating the retainer with respect to the throttle body to at least partially unload the resilient member;
- and
- (c) unlocking the retainer from the shaft.
A throttle shaft assembly comprising:
- a body portion;
- a shaft portion extending outwardly from said body to define a longitudinal axis;
- a retainer having a locking member for engaging a locking surface on said body portion to lock said retainer to said body portion;
- a resilient member having a first attachment portion secured to said body and a second attachment portion secured to said retainer wherein said retainer is rotated about said longitudinal axis to engage said locking member with said locking surface to retain said resilient member in a state of tension and prevent relative motion between said resilient member and said body when said retainer is locked to said body portion.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.