Did You Know...
...that in the early 1940s GE engineer James Wright was charged with a task of utmost importance to the war effort: develop a cheap substitute for rubber that could be used to produce tires, gas masks and a whole host of military gear. Wright tackled the task diligently -- and wound up inventing Silly Putty.
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 8142314 | Tensioner for flexible drives A tensioner in accordance with the present invention employs a spindle and a tensioner arm which are preferably manufactured by a suitable manufacturing process, such as die casting, negating a requirement for machining operations. The biasing spring of the tensione... | 03/27/2012 |
| 8142315 | Tensioner with hub load balancing feature A tensioner assembly with a drive member, a tensioner arm, a shaft, a pivot bushing, a torsion spring and a load balancing element. The tensioner arm has a hub portion, a drive member mount and an arm disposed therebetween. The drive member is coupled to the drive m... | 03/27/2012 |
| 8123640 | Belt tensioner with damping member A tensioner for tensioning a belt includes a support housing at least in part defining a spring cavity. A damping member having a first friction bearing surface is at least partially disposed in the spring cavity. An arm pivotally attached to the support housing has... | 02/28/2012 |
| 8118698 | Tensioner for an endless drive The invention relates to a tensioner (1) for an endless drive, in particular of an internal combustion engine, wherein the tensioner has base part (2) and a tensioning part (3) which can rotate relative to the former, a spring element (11... | 02/21/2012 |
| 8100793 | Vehicle belt drive torsion bar tensioner with an improved damping device A tensioner (1; 50; 60) for a vehicle belt drive, having a housing (2) defining a cavity (3) having an axis (A); at least one arm (4) fitted to the housing (2) to rotate about the axis (A); an idle pulley (5) fitted to the a... | 01/24/2012 |
| 8092328 | Dual tensioner assembly A dual tensioner assembly for a two-belt drive system including a mounting bracket, a first and second cup coaxial and integrally formed on opposite sides of the mounting bracket with a common base wall having a hub formed therein, a first and second pivot arm each ... | 01/10/2012 |
| 8075433 | Belt tensioner with damping member A tensioner for tensioning a belt includes a support housing at least in part defining a spring cavity. A damping member having a first friction bearing surface is at least partially disposed in the spring cavity. An arm pivotally attached to the support housing has... | 12/13/2011 |
| 8043180 | Tensioner for a traction mechanism A tensioner (1, 1′) for a traction mechanism such as a belt, chain or the like, with a tensioning lever (4) which can be acted on by a helical spring (2), can pivot about a stationary shaft and on which a tensioning element is provided for abu... | 10/25/2011 |
| 8038556 | Tensioning device for a traction mechanism, particularly a belt or a chain A tensioning device for a traction mechanism, particularly a belt or a chain, including a tensioning lever over which the traction mechanism is guided and on which a tensioning spring is disposed with one end thereof, the other end thereof being provided on a spring... | 10/18/2011 |
| 8038555 | One-way clutched damper for automatic belt tensioner A new asymmetrically damped tensioner is provided utilizing a bearing-ramp clutch. During normal operation, the bearing-ramp clutch enables the tensioner arm to pivot in a first direction to take up belt slack with negligible frictional damping applied to the motion... | 10/18/2011 |
| 7993226 | Clamping drive with mechanical damping for a traction mechanism drive A clamping device with mechanical damping for a traction mechanism drive is provided. The device includes a clamping arm which carries a tension roller on one end thereof and is rotatably mounted in a housing at the other end thereof via a shaft connected thereto in... | 08/09/2011 |
| 7985151 | Tensioning device of a traction mechanism drive The invention relates to a tensioning device of a traction mechanism drive, having a tensioning lever mounted on a base housing and rotatable by a pivot bearing. A coil spring is arranged coaxially to the pivot bearing. The pivot bearing comprises a bearing journal,... | 07/26/2011 |
| 7946938 | Tensioner A tensioner comprising a base, an arm engaged with the base for oscillatory movement, a torsion spring engaged with the base and the arm, the torsion spring exerting a force on the arm, a damping mechanism exerting a frictional damping force between the base and the... | 05/24/2011 |
| 7918755 | Eccentric tensioning device An eccentric tensioning device for tensioning a traction means is provided. The eccentric tensioning device includes a track roller device having a running disk and a rolling bearing, a work eccentric for supporting the track roller device, the work eccentric being ... | 04/05/2011 |
| 7887445 | Belt tensioner A tensioner for tensioning a belt includes a support housing that defines, at least in part, a spring cavity and an arm pivotably attached to the support housing. A spring is disposed in the spring cavity and is operatively connected to the arm and support housing t... | 02/15/2011 |
| 7883436 | Bi-directional tensioner An assembly for maintaining tension in a drive belt features a housing mounted on a base. The housing contains a biasing element that exerts torque on the housing to bias the housing in a radial direction. A lever arm is connected to the housing and rotates with the... | 02/08/2011 |
| 7874950 | Tensioner with reinstallation feature A tensioner enables easy and reliable reinstallation of the tensioner and belt in the field service while simultaneously making it possible to utilize a one-way clutch device to ensure continuous belt tension control without cumbersome manual alignment and/or realig... | 01/25/2011 |
| 7850561 | Tensioning device for a traction element drive with an improved axial-bearing arrangement Tensioning device (1) for a traction element drive, such as a belt or chain drive, with a tensioning arm (4), which can pivot relative to a body (2) about a pivot axle (3) and on whose distal end a roller (5) supported rotatably is... | 12/14/2010 |
| 7837582 | Bi-directional belt tensioner An assembly for maintaining tension in a drive belt features a housing mounted on a base. The housing contains a biasing element that exerts torque on the housing to bias the housing in a radial direction. A lever arm is connected to the housing and rotates with the... | 11/23/2010 |
| 7819765 | Tensioner An arm (3) supporting a tension pulley (2) around which an endless torque transmitting member (B) is looped is supported by a fixed member (E) via a base member (7). A torsion coil spring (8) is interposed between the base member (7 | 10/26/2010 |
| 7699732 | Instrumented take-up unit and related control method The invention concerns a device for tensioning belts or chains that may include a fixed support; a moving element that may move relative to the fixed support and designed to be in contact with the belt or the chain; and an actuator designed to exert a permanent tens... | 04/20/2010 |
| 7686720 | Portable power take-off unit A portable power take-off unit for mounting to and dismounting from the rear of a vehicle, such as a pickup truck, providing mechanical operational power to construction and farm implements and machinery includes an engine for driving a belt and pulley assembly that... | 03/30/2010 |
| 7678001 | Apparatus for the intermittent drive of a spindle for a workpiece fixture, especially a forging machine An apparatus is described for the intermittent drive of a spindle (1) for a workpiece fixture, especially a forging machine, comprising a traction gear (7) consisting of a traction means (13) guided endlessly about a driving wheel (6) and... | 03/16/2010 |
| 7678002 | One-way clutched damper for automatic belt tensioner A new tensioner is disclosed that achieves asymmetric damping in part by using a moveable ramp plate. The moveable ramp plate is in frictional contact with the arm provides asymmetric frictional damping for the tensioner arm when the arm experiences wind-up and begi... | 03/16/2010 |
| 7588507 | Thin autotensioner An autotensioner comprises a torsion coil spring interposed between a base and a rocking arm, and a tubular bushing provided between an inside surface of the base and an outside surface of the rocking arm. The torsion coil spring pushes and biases the rocking arm to... | 09/15/2009 |
| 7497794 | Belt tensioner and method for assembly A first belt tensioner includes an arm, spring case, coil spring, and arm plate. The arm is adapted to support an idler pulley and has a hook portion. The spring case is disposed in the arm and has a first spring seat. The spring is disposed in the spring case. The ... | 03/03/2009 |
| 7442137 | Eccentric mounting and adjustment system for belt driven devices An eccentric adjustment and mounting system is useful for belt engaging engine components such as alternators or water pumps. The system includes a housing fixed to the engine, a socket rotatable in pawl-and-ratchet fashion within the housing, and a socket aperture ... | 10/28/2008 |
| 7384355 | Thin autotensioner An autotensioner comprises a torsion coil spring interposed between a base and a rocking arm, and a tubular bushing provided between an inside surface of the base and an outside surface of the rocking arm. The torsion coil spring pushes and biases the rocking arm to... | 06/10/2008 |
| 7371199 | One-way clutched damper for automatic belt tensioner A new asymmetrically damped tensioner is provided utilizing a one-way clutch connected to a tensioner arm through a frictional damper. The frictional damper is in frictional contact with the arm and the one-way clutch is coupled to the frictional damper for movement... | 05/13/2008 |
| 7367916 | Belt drive for auxiliary units of an internal combustion engine A belt drive for a secondary unit of an internal combustion engine includes a friction wheel drive having a friction wheel, a cam device for adjusting the engagement of the friction wheel to the drive wheel of the secondary unit, the cam device having a cam, a swive... | 05/06/2008 |
| 7367908 | Belt tensioning device A belt tensioning device for a continuous belt drive. The device includes a torsion spring assembly (20) with a longitudinal axis (A2) and with at least one torsion bar or torsion tube (32). The torsion spring assembly (20) can be cla... | 05/06/2008 |
| 7364522 | Pulley for power transmission belt and belt power transmission device A pulley body 5 is provided at its both sides with power transmission members 6, 6. When a flat belt 3 becomes misaligned relative to the center of the pulley body 5 and comes into contact with one of the power transmission members 6 | 04/29/2008 |
| 7363886 | Power unit To achieve improved cooling in a power unit, a first fan is coupled with an end of a crankshaft of an internal combustion engine to cool at least a cylinder of the internal combustion engine, and a second fan is coupled with another end of the crankshaft to cool at ... | 04/29/2008 |
| 7360624 | Electric power steering apparatus An electric power steering apparatus includes a speed reducing mechanism for decelerating the rotation of a rotatable shaft in an electric motor and a converting mechanism for converting the output rotation of the speed reducing mechanism into the axial movement of ... | 04/22/2008 |
| 7354363 | Magnetorheological fluid V-ribbed belt tensioner with through shaft A tensioner for a power transmitting belt is provided having a base, an arm pivotably attached to the base, a pulley rotatably attached to the arm and a spring operatively connected to the arm and the base for urging the arm in direction to tension the belt. A hydra... | 04/08/2008 |
| 7341304 | Opening/closing device for vehicle An opening/closing body for opening/closing an opening provided in a vehicle body, a pair of guide members, and a reel drum attached onto a board of a drive unit provided between both of the guide members, are provided. Respective one ends of a pair of wires are con... | 03/11/2008 |
| 7335122 | Low modulus belt for automotive applications A low modulus drive belt for an automotive accessory drive system is disclosed that allows for relatively high elongation during installation and that maintains a relatively high percentage of its install tension throughout the useful life of the belt. In addition, ... | 02/26/2008 |
| 7336462 | Alternator and starter tester protection apparatus and method An method and apparatus testing an alternator and/or starter assembly including a power source for energizing the alternator and/or starter, a computer processor for monitoring electrical current supplied to energize the alternator and/or starter wherein the compute... | 02/26/2008 |
| 7329197 | Self-aligning pulley, gear or other rotational member An improved alignable pulley or sheave assembly includes: (a) a shaft having a rotational axis and an exterior surface which has a portion that is spherically shaped, (b) a pulley having a perimeter and a central opening with an interior surface that is configured s... | 02/12/2008 |
| 7320262 | Tensioner A tensioner comprising a base having a toothed portion, a pivot arm pivotally engaged with the base, a pulley journalled to the pivot arm, a spring disposed between the base and the pivot arm for biasing the pivot arm in a first direction, a mechanism disposed on th... | 01/22/2008 |
