Spring-latched connection for torque transmitting shaft
AssigneeBal Seal Engineering, Inc.
InventorRob Sjostedt
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A winch is provided for taking or winding ropes, cables, and the like. The winch has a drum, a lower crown, a rope groove and an upper crown having a socket which has a fluted cavity. The fluted cavity is configured to cooperate with a pin of a winch handle, which when turned rotates the drum. In an embodiment, the fluted cavity has a groove having a canted coil spring positioned therein. The pin on the winch handle has a groove placed to correspond with the depth of the groove when placed into the socket. The combination allows the winch handle to latch to the winch and to resist unintended separation between the two.
Claims20
A rotary application assembly for torque transmission comprising a rotatable flange and a socket having an opening extending through the rotatable flange:
- said socket comprising a plurality of fluted surfaces and a groove intersecting each of the fluted surfaces and having a canted coil spring positioned therein;
- wherein said groove comprises a bottom surface and two side surfaces and said rotatable flange being rotatable by a shaft having corresponding fluted surfaces.
A winch comprising a drum having an upper crown and a socket, said socket comprising a plurality of fluted cavities and a groove intersecting each of the fluted cavities and having a canted coil spring positioned therein, said groove comprising a bottom surface and two side surfaces.
A method for transmitting a torque from a first component to a second component comprising:
- inserting a shaft through a flange and into a socket, wherein said socket comprising fluted surfaces and a groove intersecting each of the fluted surfaces and said shaft comprising fluted surfaces and a groove;
- rotating said shaft and said flange;
- and
- wherein a canted coil spring is positioned between the groove of the shaft and the groove of the socket.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.