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US 7,086,304 B2Granted
Roller cam assembly
OwnerRichard N. Ballardinventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A transmission comprises a pair of drive shafts, one an input shaft and the other an output shaft, wherein one of said shafts is attached to a toothed cam having a trochoidal profile and the other drive shaft is attached to a roller ring having a plurality of cylindrical roller shafts aligned to mesh with said toothed cam and thereby permitting the transfer of torque from one shaft to the other.
Claims20
A non-orbital, non-epicyclic transmission, comprising:
- (a) a first shaft, said first shaft comprising a first axis;
- (b) a roller ring rigidly attached to said first shaft, the roller ring comprising:
- (i) a member having a ring circumference defining an outer perimeter of said member, said ring circumference encircling a ring center,
- (ii) a plurality of roller pins attached to said member, wherein said roller pins are equidistantly circumferentially spaced relative to each other, wherein each roller pin has a pin axis, wherein each pin axis is equidistantly positioned at a first distance from said first axis, and
- (iii) a ring pitch circle having a ring pitch circle radius and a ring pitch circle circumference, wherein said ring pitch circle is centered on said first axis,
- wherein said roller ring is configured to rotate unitarily with said first shaft, said first axis providing an axis of rotation for said roller ring and said first shaft, wherein said ring center lies along said first axis;
- (c) a second shaft, said second shaft comprising a second axis;
- and
- (d) a cam rigidly attached to said second shaft, the cam comprising:
- (i) a cam pitch circle, and
- (ii) a plurality of teeth, said teeth having a trochoidal profile, wherein said teeth are configured to mesh with said roller pins,
- wherein said cam is configured to rotate unitarily with said second shaft, said second axis providing an axis of rotation for said cam and said second shaft, wherein each of said teeth has at least one radially outermost point with respect to said second axis;
- wherein said roller ring and said cam are configured to transfer torque from one of said shafts to the other of said shafts via interaction between said roller pins and said teeth.
10 more elements
A rack and pinion transmission, comprising:
- (a) a first shaft, said first shaft comprising a first axis;
- (b) a pinion comprising a roller ring rigidly attached to said first shaft, the roller ring comprising a member and a plurality of roller pins attached to the member, wherein said roller pins are equidistantly circumferentially spaced relative to each other, wherein each roller pin has a pin axis, wherein each pin axis is equidistantly positioned at a first distance from said first axis, and wherein said roller ring is configured to rotate unitarily with said first shaft;
- and
- (c) a rack comprising a plurality of teeth, said teeth having a curtate trochoidal profile, wherein said teeth are configured to mesh with said roller pins;
- wherein said rack and said pinion are configured to transmit force between said first shaft and said rack via interaction between said roller pins and said teeth.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.