CN110546405B - Timing belt tensioner with improved structure - Google Patents
Timing belt tensioner with improved structure Download PDFInfo
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- CN110546405B CN110546405B CN201880027266.1A CN201880027266A CN110546405B CN 110546405 B CN110546405 B CN 110546405B CN 201880027266 A CN201880027266 A CN 201880027266A CN 110546405 B CN110546405 B CN 110546405B
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Abstract
In one aspect, a tensioner for an endless drive member is provided and includes a shaft and base unit, a tensioner arm, a pulley, and a tensioner spring. The shaft and base unit are mountable stationary relative to the engine and include fastener apertures for fasteners. The tensioner arm is pivotable about a tensioner arm axis relative to the shaft and the base unit. A pulley is rotatably mounted to the tensioner arm for rotation and is engageable with the endless drive member. The tensioner spring is positioned to urge the tensioner arm in a first direction relative to the shaft and the base unit. The tensioner spring includes a plurality of coils arranged in a generally helical fashion about a longitudinal axis and radially spaced from each other and generally increasing in distance from the axis in the longitudinal direction.
Description
The present application claims the benefit of priority from U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No.62/491,469, filed on day 28 of 2017, and U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No.62/568,097, filed on day 4 of 2017, both of which are incorporated herein in their entirety.
Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to tensioners, and in particular to tensioners that operate to tension a synchronous endless drive member, such as a timing belt on an engine.
Background
Tensioners are known devices for maintaining tension in a belt (e.g., timing belt) or other endless drive member that is driven by an engine and used to drive a particular component such as a camshaft. Tensioners typically include a shaft and base unit mounted to an engine, a tensioner arm pivotable relative to the base about a pivot axis, a pulley mounted to the arm for engagement with a belt, and a spring acting between the base and the arm to drive the arm into the belt. The direction into the belt (i.e., the direction in which the spring drives the arm) may be referred to as the direction toward the free arm position (i.e., toward the position that the tensioner arm would reach if the tensioner arm were stopped without the belt). This is the direction of decreasing the potential energy of the spring. As the belt tension decreases, the tensioner arm typically moves in that direction. The direction away from the belt (i.e., the direction against the biasing force of the spring) may be referred to as the direction toward the load stop position and is the direction in which the potential energy of the spring increases. As the belt tension increases, the tensioner arm typically moves in that direction. It is known to provide damping on a tensioner to assist the tensioner arm against being thrown off of the belt (e.g., timing belt) during sudden increases in the tension of the belt, which may cause the tensioner arm to suddenly accelerate toward a load stop position. However, in at least some applications, it would be beneficial to provide a tensioner that is improved (e.g., more compact) than some other tensioners.
Disclosure of Invention
In one aspect, a tensioner for an endless drive member is provided. The tensioner includes a shaft and base unit that can be mounted stationary relative to the engine, a tensioner arm, a pulley, a bushing, and a tensioner spring. The shaft and base unit include fastener apertures to allow fasteners to pass through to fixedly connect the shaft and base unit to the engine. The tensioner arm is pivotable relative to the shaft and the base unit about an arm pivot axis. The tensioner arm has a first axial arm end and a second axial arm end. The tensioner arm has a radially outer surface that includes a pulley bearing surface, and the radially outer surface extends from a first axial arm end to a second axial arm end without any radial protrusion at all. The pulley is rotatably supported on a pulley bearing surface of the tensioner arm for rotation about a pulley axis offset relative to the tensioner arm axis, wherein the pulley is engageable with the endless drive member. The bushing is positioned radially between the shaft and base unit and the tensioner arm to radially support the tensioner arm on the shaft and base unit. The tensioner spring is positioned to urge the tensioner arm in a first direction about the tensioner arm axis.
In another aspect, a tensioner for an endless drive member is provided and includes a shaft and base unit mountable to be fixed relative to an engine, a tensioner arm, a pulley, a bushing, a tensioner spring, and a dampening carrier. The shaft and base unit include fastener apertures to allow fasteners to pass through to fixedly connect the shaft and base unit to the engine. The tensioner arm is pivotable about a tensioner arm axis relative to the shaft and the base unit. The pulley is rotatably mounted to the tensioner arm for rotation about a pulley axis offset relative to the tensioner arm axis. The pulley is engageable with an endless drive member. The bushing is positioned radially between the shaft and base unit and the tensioner arm to radially support the tensioner arm on the shaft and base unit. The tensioner spring is positioned to urge the tensioner arm in a first direction about the tensioner arm axis. The tensioner spring is a torsion spring having a first end and a second end and a plurality of coils positioned between the first end and the second end. The first and second ends are urged by the shaft and base unit and the tensioner arm, respectively, during torque transmission between the first and second ends to radially extend the coil. The dampening carrier includes a spring end engagement slot positioned to retain the second spring end. The damping carrier further includes a radially inner damping surface thereon. The second spring end and the radially inner damping surface are oriented relative to each other such that tangential forces from the tensioner arm at the second spring end on the tensioner spring cause reaction forces on the radially inner damping surface by the shaft and the base unit, thereby creating frictional damping during movement of the tensioner arm relative to the shaft and the base unit about the arm pivot axis.
In yet another aspect, a tensioner for an endless drive member is provided and includes a shaft and base unit, a tensioner arm, a pulley, and a tensioner spring. The shaft and the base unit can be mounted stationary relative to the engine. The shaft and base unit include fastener apertures to allow fasteners to pass through to fixedly connect the shaft and base unit to the engine. The tensioner arm is pivotable about a tensioner arm axis relative to the shaft and the base unit. The pulley has an annular drive member engagement surface engageable with the annular drive member. The pulley may be rotatably mounted to the tensioner arm for rotation about a pulley axis that is offset from the tensioner arm axis by an offset distance that is less than a radius of the pulley at the annular drive member engagement surface. The tensioner spring is positioned to urge the tensioner arm in a first direction relative to the shaft and the base unit. The tensioner spring includes a plurality of coils spaced apart from one another by a coil-to-coil gap. The spacing between any two adjacent coils of the plurality of coils to enter the tensioner spring is less than the width of each of the plurality of coils to prevent the tensioner spring from tangling with another identical tensioner spring.
In yet another aspect, a tensioner for an endless drive member is provided and includes a shaft and base unit, a tensioner arm, a pulley, and a tensioner spring. The shaft and base unit are mountable stationary relative to the engine and include fastener apertures to allow fasteners to pass through to fixedly connect the shaft and base unit to the engine. The tensioner arm is pivotable about a tensioner arm axis relative to the shaft and the base unit. The pulley may be rotatably mounted to the tensioner arm for rotation about a pulley axis offset relative to the tensioner arm axis. The pulley is engageable with an endless drive member. The tensioner spring is positioned to urge the tensioner arm in a first direction relative to the shaft and the base unit. The tensioner spring includes a plurality of coils arranged in a generally helical fashion about a longitudinal axis and radially spaced apart from one another and generally increasing in distance from the axis in the longitudinal direction.
In yet another aspect, a tensioner for an endless drive member is provided and includes a shaft and base unit, a tensioner arm, a pulley, and a tensioner spring. The shaft and base unit are mountable stationary relative to the engine and include fastener apertures to allow fasteners to pass through to fixedly connect the shaft and base unit to the engine. The shaft and base unit includes a base and a shaft separate from the base and having the base mounted thereon. The shaft has an axis and has a first axial shaft end and a second axial shaft end. The shaft has a radially outer surface that includes an arm bearing surface and extends from a first axial shaft end to a second axial shaft end without any radial protrusions at all. The tensioner arm is pivotally supported on an arm support surface of the shaft for pivotal movement about the tensioner arm axis. A pulley is rotatably mounted to the tensioner arm for rotation about a pulley axis offset relative to the tensioner arm axis, wherein the pulley is engageable with the endless drive member. The tensioner spring is positioned to urge the tensioner arm in a first direction relative to the shaft and the base unit. The tensioner spring has a first end, a second end, and a plurality of coils positioned between the first end and the second end. The first end is positioned to transmit torque with the base and the second end is positioned to transmit torque with the tensioner arm.
In yet another aspect, a tensioner for an endless drive member is provided and includes a shaft and base unit, a tensioner arm, a pulley, and a tensioner spring. The shaft and base unit are mountable stationary relative to the engine and include fastener apertures to allow fasteners to pass through to fixedly connect the shaft and base unit to the engine. The shaft and base unit includes a base and a shaft separate from the base and having the base mounted thereon. The shaft has an axis and has a first axial shaft end and a second axial shaft end. The shaft has a radially outer surface that includes an arm bearing surface and extends from a first axial shaft end to a second axial shaft end without any radial protrusions at all. The tensioner arm is pivotally supported on an arm support surface of the shaft for pivotal movement about the tensioner arm axis. The pulley is rotatably mounted to the tensioner arm for rotation about a pulley axis offset relative to the tensioner arm axis, wherein the pulley is engageable with the endless drive member. The tensioner spring is positioned to urge the tensioner arm in a first direction relative to the shaft and the base unit. The tensioner spring includes a plurality of coils arranged about a longitudinal axis such that the coils are radially offset from one another and axially stacked on one another. The plurality of coils includes a radially outermost coil and at least one inner coil. The tensioner arm and at least one of the shaft and the base unit have a spring limiting surface. As the tension in the endless drive member increases, the tensioner spring is progressively locked by the coils progressively expanding into engagement with each other and the radially outermost coils progressively expanding into engagement with the spring limiting surface.
In yet another aspect, a tensioner for an endless drive member is provided and includes a shaft and base unit, a tensioner arm, a pulley, and a tensioner spring. The shaft and the base unit can be mounted stationary relative to the engine. The shaft and base unit include fastener apertures to allow fasteners to pass through to fixedly connect the shaft and base unit to the engine. The tensioner arm is pivotable about a tensioner arm axis relative to the shaft and the base unit. The pulley is rotatably mounted to the tensioner arm for rotation about a pulley axis offset relative to the tensioner arm axis, wherein the pulley is engageable with the endless drive member. The tensioner spring is positioned to urge the tensioner arm in a first direction relative to the shaft and the base unit. The tensioner spring includes a plurality of coils arranged about a longitudinal axis such that the coils are radially offset from one another but axially stacked on one another. The plurality of coils includes a radially outermost coil and at least one inner coil. The tensioner arm and at least one of the shaft and the base unit have a spring limiting surface. Radial extension of the plurality of coils is prevented by engagement of the plurality of coils with the at least one spring limiting surface when the tension in the endless drive member increases to a selected tension.
In yet another aspect, a tensioner for an endless drive member is provided. The tensioner includes a shaft and base unit, a tensioner arm, a pulley, a tensioner spring, and a damping carrier. The shaft and the base unit can be mounted stationary relative to the engine. The tensioner arm is pivotable about a tensioner arm axis relative to the shaft and the base unit. The pulley is rotatably mounted to the tensioner arm for rotation about a pulley axis that is offset relative to the tensioner arm axis. The pulley is engageable with an endless drive member. The tensioner spring is positioned to urge the tensioner arm in a first direction about the tensioner arm axis. The tensioner spring is positioned to urge the tensioner arm in a first direction about the tensioner arm axis. The tensioner spring is a torsion spring having a first spring end and a second spring end and a plurality of coils positioned between the first spring end and the second spring end. The shaft and base unit are positioned to receive torque from the first spring end and the tensioner arm is positioned to receive torque from the second spring end. The dampening carrier includes a spring end engagement slot that retains one of the first and second spring ends. The dampening carrier also includes a first dampening surface thereon. The first spring end, the second spring end and the first damping surface are positioned relative to each other such that the damping carrier pivots during force transfer between the tensioner arm and the shaft and the base unit by the tensioner spring to drive the first damping surface into a complementary second damping surface on either of the tensioner arm and the shaft and the base unit that receives torque from the other of the first spring end and the second spring end.
In yet another aspect, a method of assembling a shaft cover to a shaft for a tensioner is provided, the method comprising:
providing a shaft having a cylindrical body, the shaft having a first axial shaft end and a second axial shaft end;
providing a shaft cover;
disposing a shaft cover over one of the first and second axial shaft ends, wherein the shaft cover has a plurality of staking apertures exposing the one of the first and second axial shaft ends, wherein the shaft cover further includes a staking shoulder positioned proximate to but spaced apart from the other of the first and second axial shaft ends;
inserting a rivet protrusion into the rivet aperture to engage with the one of the first axial shaft end and the second axial shaft end; and
the one of the first axial shaft end and the second axial shaft end is deformed using the staking protrusions such that the one of the first axial shaft end and the second axial shaft end protrudes radially to the staking shoulder, thereby locking the shaft cover to the shaft.
In yet another aspect, there is provided a tensioner for an endless drive member, the tensioner comprising: a shaft and base unit mountable to be fixed relative to the engine block; a tensioner arm pivotable about a tensioner arm axis relative to the shaft and the base unit; a pulley rotatably mounted to the tensioner arm for rotation about a pulley axis offset relative to the tensioner arm axis, wherein the pulley is engageable with the endless drive member, wherein the pulley has a swept volume; and a tensioner spring positioned to urge the tensioner arm in a first direction about the tensioner arm axis, wherein the tensioner spring is a torsion spring having a first spring end and a second spring end and a plurality of coils located between the first spring end and the second spring end, wherein a diameter of the plurality of coils decreases from one of the first spring end and the second spring end to the other of the first spring end and the second spring end, wherein one of the first spring end and the second spring end is positioned to transmit torque into the shaft and the base unit and the other of the first spring end and the second spring end is positioned to transmit torque into the tensioner arm, wherein the tensioner spring is positioned substantially entirely within a swept volume of the pulley.
Drawings
FIG. 1 is a front view of an engine having an endless drive arrangement including a tensioner according to an embodiment of the present disclosure including a first damping member and a second damping member;
FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of the portion shown in FIG. 1;
FIGS. 3 and 4 are exploded perspective views of the tensioner shown in FIG. 1;
FIG. 5 is a side cross-sectional view of the tensioner shown in FIG. 1;
FIG. 6 is a side cross-sectional view of a spring that may be included in the tensioner shown in FIG. 1;
FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the spring shown in FIG. 6;
FIG. 8 is a prior art spring;
FIG. 9A is a perspective view of a shaft from a shaft and base unit that is part of the tensioner shown in FIG. 1;
FIG. 9B is a side cross-sectional view of the shaft shown in FIG. 9A;
FIG. 10A is a perspective view of a shaft cover from a shaft and base unit that is part of the tensioner shown in FIG. 1;
FIG. 10B is a side cross-sectional view of the shaft cover shown in FIG. 10A;
FIG. 11 is a perspective view of a tensioner arm from the tensioner shown in FIG. 1;
FIG. 12 is a perspective view of a dampening carrier from the tensioner shown in FIG. 1;
FIG. 13 is a plan view of an alternative tensioner spring to the damping carrier shown in FIG. 12 and the tensioner spring shown in FIG. 6; and
FIGS. 14-16 are plan views of a tensioner spring that may be used in a tensioner that, in operation, radially expands with increased tension in an endless drive member;
FIG. 17 is a perspective view of the shaft and shaft cover;
FIG. 18 is a perspective view of the shaft and the second cover;
fig. 19A to 19C illustrate a method of staking the shaft cover shown in fig. 17 to the shaft shown in fig. 17.
Detailed Description
A tensioner 100 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown in fig. 1, and the tensioner 100 includes one or more of the following features: the one or more features reduce the overall height of the tensioner 100 as compared to not including any of these features, and the one or more features improve the manufacture of the tensioner 100. Tensioner 100 may be configured to maintain tension in an endless drive member 103 on engine 101. The endless drive member 103 in the example shown in fig. 1 is a timing belt, however, the endless drive member 103 may be any other suitable synchronous endless drive member as follows: the synchronous ring drive transmits rotational power from the crankshaft 104 of the engine 101 to one or more drive components, such as, for example, to a pair of camshafts 105a and 105b. For convenience and readability, the endless drive member 103 may be referred to as a belt 103 or as a timing belt 103, however, it should be understood that any suitable endless drive member may be used.
Fig. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of the tensioner 100 itself. Fig. 3 and 4 are exploded perspective views of the tensioner 100. Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view of tensioner 100.
An overview of the components included in tensioner 100 is described below. After providing an overview, selected features will be described in more detail. Referring to fig. 2-5, tensioner 100 includes a shaft and base unit 114, a bushing 116, a tensioner arm 118, a pulley 120 that rotates on tensioner arm 118, a tensioner spring 122, and a dampening carrier 124.
The shaft and base unit 114 may include a shaft 114a, a base 114b, and a shaft cover 114c that are separate from each other but integrally connected by any suitable method, such as, for example, by staking as further described below. The shaft and base unit 114 can be mounted stationary relative to the engine 101 by any suitable method. For example, the shaft and base unit 114 can be directly mounted to an engine block as shown in fig. 1 via threaded fasteners 119, which threaded fasteners 119 can be, for example, bolts that pass through fastener apertures 130 in the shaft and base unit 114 into the block of the engine 101. The fastener aperture 130 may be formed by a proximal fastener aperture portion 130a in the shaft 114a (fig. 6) and a distal fastener aperture portion 130b in the shaft cover 114c. The shaft 114a (and the shaft and base unit 114 As a whole) also includes a central shaft axis As. As can be seen in fig. 5, the fastener aperture 130 itself extends along a fastener aperture axis Af that is offset relative to the central shaft axis As. This offset allows the position of the shaft and base unit 114 to be adjusted during installation of the tensioner 100 onto the engine 101 (the shaft and base unit 114 is controlled to be proximate to the belt 103 by pivoting the shaft and base unit 114 toward or away from the belt 103).
The shaft not having radial projections
Referring to fig. 9A and 9B, fig. 9A and 9B illustrate a shaft 114a from the shaft and base unit 114. In the illustrated embodiment, the shaft 114a has a first axial shaft end 170 and a second axial shaft end 172, and has a radially outer surface 174 that is completely free of any protrusions. In other words, radially outer surface 174 is free of any shoulder or similar portion. The radially outer surface 174 includes an arm bearing surface, shown at 175, which arm bearing surface 175 is the portion of the radially outer surface 174 that supports the tensioner arm 118. Thus, as opposed to prior art shaft and base units which must be fitted in chucks on the machine to give the shaft and base unit a proper surface finish, the surface 174 can provide a proper surface finish for engagement with the sleeve 116 via the process of the surface 174 passing between the rollers. The surface finish helps ensure that surface 174 is impregnated with the proper amount of polymer from the bushing so that there is good sliding contact between surface 174 and bushing 116.
In the illustrated embodiment, the shaft 114a includes an arm support portion 176 and a shaft bottom portion 178, the arm support portion 176 being cylindrical and having an arm support surface 175 thereon, the shaft bottom portion 178 being located at the first axial shaft end 170. Shaft bottom 178 has proximal fastener aperture portion 130a. The shaft 114a is open at a second axial shaft end 172. Shaft cover 114c (shown in fig. 10) covers second shaft end 172 and includes flange 180 and distal fastener aperture portion 130b. The shaft cover 114c is movable on the second axial shaft end 172 to a position where the distal fastener aperture portion 130b is aligned with the proximal fastener aperture portion 130a to form the fastener aperture 130.
Shaft cover mounted to the inside of a pivot shaft
The shaft cover 114c includes an axial projection 186, the axial projection 186 having a radially outer locating surface 187 thereon, the radially outer locating surface 187 engaging a radially inner surface 188 of the shaft 114a at the open second axial shaft end 172.
Shaft cover 114c includes a tool receiving area 190, which tool receiving area 190 receives the following tools: the tool allows the user to adjust the position of the shaft and base unit 114 relative to the engine 101, or in some embodiments, the shaft cover 114c relative to the shaft 114 a.
The flange 180 axially retains the tensioner arm 118 on the shaft 114a and may therefore be referred to as an arm retaining portion 180. It can be seen that by locating shaft cover 114c using inner surface 188 of shaft 114a instead of the outer surface, the overall height of tensioner 100 can be kept low. In contrast, if shaft cover 114c were to be positioned using radially outer surface 174 of shaft 114a, shaft cover 114c would have to include a portion that extends axially toward first axial shaft end 170 so as to have some axial overlap with radially outer surface 174 of shaft 114 a. If the arm 118 extends proximate to the second axial shaft end 172 in the example shown in the drawings, the shaft cover 114c will have an effect on the tensioner arm 118 itself. Thus, to increase some clearance, the shaft 114a would have to be made taller, which would increase the overall height of the tensioner. In contrast, by positioning shaft cover 114c on radially inner surface 188 of shaft 114a, flange 180 itself retains arms 118 and shaft 114a may be kept shorter.
Tensioner arm 118 is pivotally mounted to shaft 114a (or more generally to shaft and base unit 114) for pivotal movement about an arm pivot axis, which is central shaft axis As. The pivoting movement in the first direction D1 (fig. 1) may be referred to as movement in the free arm direction. The pivotal movement in the second direction D2 (fig. 1) may be referred to as movement in the load-stopping direction.
The arms not having radial projections
Referring to fig. 11, the tensioner arm 118 has a first axial arm end 196 and a second axial arm end 198, and further includes a radially outer surface 200, the radially outer surface 200 including a pulley bearing surface 202, and the radially outer surface 200 extending from the first axial arm end 196 to the second axial arm end 198 completely free of any radial projections. The tensioner arm 118 also includes a radially inner surface 203 defining an arm pivot axis As.
The second axial arm end 198 is on an axial projection 199 having a first circumferential side 201, the first circumferential side 201 being a free arm stop engagement surface. The shaft cover 114c has a free arm stop 207 located thereon. Movement of tensioner arm 118 in a first direction D1 (fig. 1) causes the free arm stop engagement surface to face the free arm stop.
Bushing 116 is present between radially inner surface 203 of tensioner arm 118 and arm support surface 175 and facilitates pivotal movement of tensioner arm 118 on shaft and base unit 114. The sleeve 116 may be made of any suitable material, such as any of the Stanyl TW371 (which is a nylon PA46 based material) and is provided by DSM engineering plastics Inc. (DSM Engineering Plastics B.V).
Pulley 120 is rotatably mounted to tensioner arm 118 (e.g., via bearing 121 or any other suitable means) for rotation about a pulley axis Ap that is offset relative to arm pivot axis As by a selected offset distance: the offset distance is less than the radius (shown with Rp) of the pulley 120 at the endless drive member engagement surface 150. Pulley 120 has an annular drive member engagement surface 150 that engages annular drive member 103. Pulley 120 is only one example of an endless drive member engagement member that can be mounted to tensioner arm 118 and that can engage endless drive member 103.
The bearing 121 may be provided by a plurality of rolling elements 121a (e.g., balls) and inner and outer races 121b and 121c, respectively. The inner race 121b may be a separate element typically provided on bearings, however, the outer race 121c may be formed directly in the radially inner surface of the pulley 120. This reduces the number of parts that must be manufactured.
Riveting shaft caps to shafts without protrusions
Referring to fig. 17, 18, 19A and 19B, fig. 17, 18, 19A and 19B illustrate an alternative embodiment of the shaft 114 a. In this alternative embodiment, shaft 114a is riveted to a shaft cover shown at 114 c. It can be seen that the shaft 114a has a cylindrical body 240 without axial projections. The shaft cover 114c has a plurality of staking apertures 242 about the periphery of the shaft 114a, the plurality of staking apertures 242 exposing the second shaft end 172. Shaft cover 114c also includes a staking shoulder 244 positioned proximate second (distal) end 172 but spaced apart from second (distal) end 172 toward first (proximal) end 170. To assemble shaft cap 114c to shaft 114a, shaft cap 114c is positioned over second (distal) end 172 of shaft 114 a. The rivet projection 250 is inserted into the rivet aperture 242 to engage the second end 172 of the shaft 114 a. The rivet projection 250 deforms the second end 172 such that the second end 172 protrudes radially outward onto the rivet shoulder 244, thereby locking the shaft cover 144c in place.
In some embodiments, the shaft cover 114c (fig. 20) has a staking shoulder 254 radially inward of the cylindrical body 240 of the shaft 114a, and the staking protrusion 250 deforms the second end 172 such that the second end 172 protrudes radially inward onto the staking shoulder 244. Thus, more generally, the rivet protrusion 250 may deform the second end 172 such that the second end 172 protrudes radially over the rivet shoulder 244.
A bottom cover 114d is shown on the shaft 114a instead of providing an integral member including a bottom. The bottom cap 114d includes an aperture portion 130a.
Tensioner spring to resist entanglement
Tensioner spring 122 is positioned to rotationally urge tensioner arm 118 to urge tensioner arm 118 in a first rotational direction (i.e., the free arm direction) to drive pulley 120 into timing belt 103, and belt 103 applies a force to pulley 120 against the urging of spring 122 to urge tensioner arm 118 in the load-stopping direction.
As shown in fig. 3-5, the tensioner spring 122 may be a helical torsion spring having a first end 122a and a second end 122b. The spring 122 may include a plurality of coils 123, wherein a coil is a section of the spring 122 that extends 360 degrees. In this example, referring to fig. 8B, the spring 122 has approximately three coils. The shaft and base unit 114 is positioned to receive torque from the first spring end 122a and the tensioner arm 118 is positioned to receive torque from the second spring end 122b.
During manufacture of the tensioner, it is preferable to have such manufacture performed automatically (i.e., done by a machine other than an assembler) in order to reduce the labor for producing the tensioner. However, in prior art tensioners, it was difficult for the machine to grasp the tensioner spring from the box with such a spring for insertion into the tensioner because the springs had a tendency to tangle with each other while in the box. Accordingly, assembly workers sometimes manually grasp the springs from the box, unwind the grasped springs when necessary and then insert the unwound springs into the tensioner, thus slowing down production and increasing the manufacturing cost of the tensioner.
Referring to fig. 6, fig. 6 shows a cross-sectional view of a tensioner spring 122, in some embodiments, the spacing between any two adjacent coils of a plurality of coils 123 to access the tensioner spring is less than the width of each of the plurality of coils 123 in order to prevent the tensioner spring from winding with another identical tensioner spring 122. The spacing to enter between any two adjacent coils 123 is shown at S. The width of the coil 123 of the spring 122 is shown at Wc. As can be seen, the spacing S is less than the width Wc. It will be appreciated that the spacing S is not the same as the gap between the coils 123. The gap between coils 123 is the distance between the closest points on adjacent coils 123. For the spring 122 shown in fig. 6, the gap is shown at G. Although it is useful to have the gap G smaller than the width of the coils, there is still a tendency for a coil on one spring to wedge a pair of adjacent coils into a nearby spring at intervals, depending on the shape of the coils, as the springs advance toward each other. If there are many "lead-ins" to the coil shape, the gap G may be small, but the spacing S may be large, which may facilitate wedging apart of adjacent coils.
Based on the foregoing, it has been found that by forming the springs such that the spacing S is less than the width Wc of the coils, it is more helpful to inhibit entanglement between the springs, as exemplified by springs 122 (shown separately as 122' and 122″ shown in fig. 6). In fig. 6, the identified spacing S is the maximum spacing S that exists for the springs 122. In other words, this is the worst case description. The width Wc shown is the width of the coil 123 of the spring 122 "closest to the spacing S of the spring 122'. The width of the coils 123 of the springs 122 'and 122 "may be substantially constant, or the width of the coils 123 of the springs 122' and 122" may vary along the length of the springs 122.
It should be noted that there are other optional features of the springs 122 that help to inhibit entanglement with adjacent springs 122. For example, it can be seen that the spring 122 is made of wire having a generally rectangular cross-sectional shape. Therefore, the size of the space S is relatively closer to the size of the gap G between adjacent coils 123 than a spring made of a wire having a circular cross-sectional shape.
Another optional feature is that the plurality of coils 123 are generally arranged in a generally helical fashion about a longitudinal axis (shown with Aspr) and generally increase in distance from the axis Aspr in the longitudinal direction. In other words, the spring 122 has a generally conical shape. It should be noted that the conical shape itself reduces the likelihood of entanglement, as the gap G and spacing S are generally in a radial direction, and thus penetration of the gap G or spacing S is achieved by the vertical forces acting on the springs 122' and 122 ". It should be noted, however, that the coils 123 of springs 122' and 122 "are generally helical in shape (as shown in fig. 7). Thus, the arcs of the coils 123 inhibit penetration of the coils 123 of adjacent springs, the arcs being in opposite directions. In contrast to the generally conical shaped springs shown in the drawings, springs having a generally cylindrical shape are not.
In other words, during an increase in tension in the endless drive member 103, the tensioner arm 118 is positioned to move in a second direction D2 opposite the first direction D1, and the tensioner spring 122 is positioned to extend radially away from the longitudinal axis Aspr or As in response to movement of the tensioner arm 118 in the second direction D2.
In some embodiments, another optional feature that helps prevent tanging between adjacent springs 122 is that the tensioner springs 122 are free of tangs, as shown in fig. 7. The spring 122 is sometimes referred to as an "open" spring in the sense that during movement of the tensioner arm 118 in the load-stopping direction, the ends 122a and 122b of the spring abut only the shaft and base unit 114, the surface of the tensioner arm 118, and the curved portion of the spring 122, such that the coil 123 of the spring 122 radially opens. This is in contrast to closed springs, which are commonly used in some tensioners of the prior art, and which require the ends of the springs to have tangs that hook into corresponding slots in the tensioner arm and shaft and base unit, and wherein the curved portions of the springs radially tighten the coils of the springs during movement of the tensioner arm 118 in the load-stopping direction.
When the spring is formed with a tang, there is a natural radius at the bend in the wire of the spring where the tang begins. An example of such a spring is shown at 160 in fig. 8. The spring 160 has a plurality of coils 161 and first and second ends with tangs shown at 162 on the first and second ends. At the beginning of tang 162, the radius of the bend in the spring wire provides a relatively large spacing S and is therefore easily penetrated by coils from adjacent springs.
All of these above-described features of the springs 122 help to inhibit tangling of the springs 122 with adjacent springs 122. Thus, the spring 122 may be more easily picked up from the box and inserted into the tensioner by a machine (e.g., an assembly robot), thereby facilitating automated assembly of the tensioner. It has been found that there is about 1% entanglement in the testing of the springs 122, while other springs of the prior art have been found to have entanglement exceeding 80%.
Damping carrier
Damping carrier 124 (fig. 12 and 13) retains tensioner spring 122 and provides some of the damping present in tensioner 100 (while other damping is provided by the friction fit between tensioner arm 122 and bushing 116). In this example, the damping carrier 124 includes a spring end engagement slot 204 positioned to retain the second spring end 122 b. Thus, the second spring end 122b transmits torque to the tensioner arm 118 through the wall 205 of the damping carrier 124. Wall 205 engages an arm torque transmitting surface 206 (fig. 13) on tensioner arm 118. The arm torque transmitting surface 206 may be provided on an axial projection 208 on the tensioner arm 118.
To provide damping, the damping carrier 124 includes a damping surface 210 thereon. In the example shown, the damping surface 210 is provided on a radially inner surface 211 of the damping carrier 124. In the example shown, the damping surface 210 is disposed on the axial projection 212 and has an angular width of about 120 degrees, although other angular widths, such as an angular width greater than 120 degrees, may also be used. During transmission of torque between the tensioner spring 122 and the tensioner arm 118 (shown in fig. 13), a force F is applied through the tensioner arm 118 (particularly from the torque transmitting surface 206 on the axial projection 208) into the assembly of the spring 122 and the damping carrier 124. The direction of force F may be substantially tangential to the spring 122 at the second spring end 122 b. The force F results in a certain force being transferred from the first spring end 122a into the base 114 b. The force transferred into base 114b results in a reaction force shown at F3 transferred from base 114b into first spring end 122 a.
Based on the position and orientation of forces F and F3 (and thus the position of the first end 122a and the second end 112b of the tensioner spring 122), the damping carrier 124 is pivoted about a carrier torque receiving surface shown at 209, which carrier torque receiving surface 209 engages with the torque transmitting surface 206 on the tensioner arm 118. This pivoting of dampening carrier 124 causes dampening surface 210 to engage a portion of outer surface 174 of shaft 114a, thereby creating dampening between dampening carrier 124 and shaft 114 a. This portion of the outer surface 174 may be referred to as a damping surface 177. The damping surface 210 may be referred to as a first damping surface 210 and the damping surface 177 may be referred to as a second damping surface, in this embodiment the damping surface 177 is on the shaft 114 a.
However, in an alternative embodiment, the first damping surface 210 is disposed on a radially outer surface of the damping carrier 124 and the second damping surface 177 is disposed on a radially inner surface of the shaft and base unit 114 (e.g., as part of a radially inner surface 222 (fig. 16) of an outer lip 223 of the base 114 b). In such an alternative embodiment, the dampening carrier 124, tensioner spring 122, and tensioner arm 118 may be arranged such that pivoting of the dampening carrier 124 drives the radially outer first dampening surface 210 against the radially inner second dampening surface 177, as shown in fig. 16.
In another alternative embodiment, the dampening carrier 124 may be disposed at the first end 122a of the tensioner spring 122 instead of the second end 122 b. In such embodiments, the first damping surface 210 may be disposed on one of the radially inner or outer surfaces of the damping carrier 124, while the second damping surface 177 is disposed on a complementary surface of the tensioner arm 118.
Based on the above, it can be said that the damping carrier 124 includes a spring end engagement groove (i.e., spring end engagement groove 204) that retains one of the first and second spring ends (122 a, 122 b). The dampening carrier 124 also includes a first dampening surface 210 thereon, wherein the first spring end 122a, the second spring end 122b, and the first dampening surface 210 are positioned relative to one another such that the dampening carrier 124 pivots during force transfer between the tensioner arm 118 and the shaft and base unit 114 through the tensioner spring 122 to drive the first dampening surface 210 into the tensioner arm 118 and a complementary second dampening surface 177 on either of the shaft and base unit 114 that receives torque from the other of the first spring end 122a and the second spring end 122 b.
As can be seen in fig. 13, the second spring end 122b and the radially inner damping surface are oriented relative to each other such that tangential forces (e.g., purely tangential forces, or alternatively tangential forces other than vector components of tangential forces) on the tensioner spring 122 at the second spring end 122b from the tensioner arm 118 generate a reaction force F2 on the radially inner damping surface 210 through the shaft and base unit 114, thereby generating frictional damping during movement of the tensioner arm 118 relative to the shaft and base unit 114 about the arm pivot axis As. The force F2 shown in fig. 13 is shown as a point force, however the actual force F2 is a distributed force distributed over some or all of the angular width of the radially inner damping surface 210. The point force F2 shown in fig. 13 is a mathematical representation equivalent to a distributed force. The force F3 will be applied to the tensioner spring 122 by a drive surface 212 (fig. 4) on the shaft and base unit 114 (e.g., on the edge surface of the lip 223 on the base 114 b), which drive surface 212 engages the first end 122a of the tensioner spring 122. Force F3 (fig. 13) may be tangential to tensioner spring 122 at first end 122a.
Progressive locking of springs
Fig. 14, 15A, 15B and 16 illustrate another aspect of the operation of the tensioner spring 122. More specifically, it can be seen that the coils 123 of the tensioner spring 122 are arranged about the longitudinal axis Aspr such that the coils 123 are radially offset from each other but axially stacked upon each other; in other words, the coil 123 of the spring 122 may be considered to have a generally helical arrangement, even when there is some axial offset between the coil 123 and the coil 123. As described above, the plurality of coils 123 includes the radially outermost coil 123o and at least one inner coil 123i. In the example shown in fig. 14, there are outer coils 123o, and there are 1.5 inner coils 123i. One of the tensioner arm 118 and the shaft and base unit 114 has a spring limiting surface 222 (e.g., on a lip 223) located thereon. In this example, as can be seen in fig. 5, the spring limiting surface 222 is shown as a radially inner surface of the base 114 b.
As seen in fig. 5 and 14, when there is a relatively low tension in the annular drive member 103 (fig. 1), the coils 123 may be spaced apart from each other and the outer coils may be spaced apart from the spring limiting surface 222.
As the tension in the endless drive member 103 (fig. 1) increases, the tensioner spring 122 gradually locks by the coils 123 gradually expanding into engagement with each other and the radially outermost coils 123o gradually expanding into engagement with the spring limiting surface 222. In the illustrated embodiment, the outermost coil 123o extends into engagement with the spring limiting surface 222, the next innermost coil (shown as 123i 1) extends radially into engagement with the outermost coil 123o, and the further innermost coil (which is the coil of the portion shown as 123i 2) extends radially into engagement with the coil 123i1, as shown in fig. 15B. The position shown in fig. 15B may be referred to as a load stop position. Fig. 15A shows an intermediate state in which the outermost coil 123o is stretched into engagement with the spring restricting surface 222.
The spring load rate of the tensioner spring 122 increases gradually due to the gradual engagement of the coils 123 with each other and with the spring limiting surface 222. Once all of the coils 123 are engaged with each other and with the limiting surface 222, the spring 122 provides a secure connection between the tensioner arm 118 and the shaft and base unit 114 (i.e., the spring 122 has an effectively infinite spring load rate). It should be noted that this is an improvement over tensioners where the springs are helical coil springs (i.e., having a generally cylindrical overall shape). If such a tensioner employs a limiting surface, the spring will cause its spring load rate to increase rapidly as the spring engages the limiting surface until the spring fully engages the limiting surface and provides a secure connection. A rapid increase in spring rate to infinity can lead to impact loading and ultimately failure of some components of the tensioner.
Another feature that should be noted in tensioner 100 is that in some embodiments, such as the embodiment shown in the figures, tensioner spring 122 acts as a load stop for tensioner 100 in the sense that spring 122 itself serves to limit travel of tensioner arm 118 in the load-stopping direction because, as described above, once tensioner arm 118 is sufficiently traveling, all of coils 123 of spring 122 engage each other and limiting surface 222 such that spring 122 provides a secure connection between tensioner arm 118 and shaft and base unit 114, which shaft and base unit 114 itself is fixedly connected to a fixed structure such as an engine block during use. In other words, when the tension in the endless drive member 103 is increased to a selected tension, radial expansion of the plurality of coils 123 is prevented by engagement of the plurality of coils 123 with at least the spring limiting surface 222. In the present embodiment, when the tension in the endless drive member 103 is increased to a selected tension, radial extension of the plurality of coils 123 is prevented by engagement of the plurality of coils 123 with each other and with the spring restricting surface 222.
While spring limiting surface 222 is disclosed as a radially inner surface of base 114b, it should be understood that spring limiting surface 222 may alternatively be selected as any other surface, such as a radially outer surface of shaft 114, a radially inner surface of arm 118, or any other suitable location.
It should be noted that this frictional damping force is proportional to the force (and thus torque) exerted by the tensioner arm 118 on the second spring end 122 b. This is different from the damping force provided by the bushing 116, which is proportional to the radial force of the tensioner arm 118 on the bushing 116, which is in turn proportional to the hub load on the pulley 120.
Also on the shaft cover 114c is a shaft marking 182 (fig. 2), the shaft marking 182 may be a notch on the flange 180 in the example shown. Tensioner arm 118 has an arm mark 184 thereon at an axial end. The arm flag 184 and the shaft flag 182 cooperate during installation of the tensioner 100 on the engine 101. More specifically, the installation of tensioner 100 may be performed as follows:
tensioner 100 is installed by passing fastener 119 through fastener aperture 130 and into an aperture in a component that is stationary relative to engine 101, such as an engine block. The fastener 119 is not fully tightened initially. Thus, the shaft and base unit 114 can rotate while maintaining the tensioner arm 122 in a substantially constant position with the belt 103 (fig. 1) engaged with the pulley 120 to adjust the amount of preload present in the tensioner spring 122, and in turn the amount of tension present in the belt 103 (fig. 1), when the engine 101 is shut down. The shaft and base unit 114 rotates until the shaft indicia 182 is aligned with the arm indicia 184. The fastener 119 is then tightened to hold the shaft and base unit 114 in that position. Thus, during use, when the engine 101 is off, the arm marks 184 are aligned with the shaft marks 182.
By providing a separate shaft cover 114c, the shaft 114a can be manufactured without any protruding surface 174. In contrast, prior art shaft and base units typically have a flange portion for holding the tensioner. However, it is less expensive to manufacture the shaft 114a and shaft cover 114c as separate elements mechanically connected via fasteners 119 (in any case, such fasteners 119 are required to mount the tensioner 100 to the engine 101) than to manufacture a single shaft member with an integral flange.
It should be noted that in some embodiments, the pulley 120 has a swept volume V (i.e., the volume occupied), the pulley 120 being generally shaped as a thick disk and shown in side view in fig. 19A. In some embodiments, the tensioner spring 122 is positioned substantially entirely within the swept volume V of the pulley 120 due to the generally conical shape of the spring.
The above-described embodiments are intended to be examples only and variations and modifications to these embodiments will occur to those skilled in the art.
Claims (18)
1. A tensioner for an endless drive member, the tensioner comprising:
a shaft and base unit mountable to be fixed relative to an engine, wherein the shaft and base unit includes a fastener aperture to allow a fastener to pass through to fixedly connect the shaft and base unit to the engine, and wherein the shaft and base unit includes a base and a shaft separate from the base and having the base mounted thereon, wherein the shaft has an axis and has a first axial shaft end and a second axial shaft end, wherein the shaft has a radially outer surface that includes an arm bearing surface and that extends from the first axial shaft end to the second axial shaft end and is completely free of any radial protrusions;
A tensioner arm pivotally supported on the arm support surface of the shaft for pivotal movement about a tensioner arm axis;
a pulley rotatably mounted to the tensioner arm for rotation about a pulley axis offset relative to the tensioner arm axis, wherein the pulley is engageable with an endless drive member; and
a tensioner spring positioned to urge the tensioner arm in a first direction relative to the shaft and base unit, wherein the tensioner spring has a first end, a second end, and a plurality of coils between the first end and the second end, wherein the first end is positioned to transmit torque with the base and the second end is positioned to transmit torque with the tensioner arm,
wherein the shaft comprises an arm support portion and a shaft bottom, the arm support portion being cylindrical and the arm support portion having the arm support surface thereon, the shaft bottom being at the first axial shaft end, wherein the shaft bottom has a proximal fastener aperture portion, and wherein the shaft is open at the second axial shaft end, wherein the shaft and base unit further comprises a shaft cover that covers the second axial shaft end and that includes an arm retention portion that retains the tensioner arm axially on the shaft, and the shaft cover includes a distal fastener aperture portion and is movable on the second axial shaft end of the shaft to a position that aligns the distal fastener aperture portion with the proximal fastener aperture portion to form the fastener aperture, wherein the shaft has a radially inner positioning surface at the second axial shaft end, and wherein the shaft cover has a radially outer positioning surface that engages the radially inner positioning surface on the shaft to position the distal fastener aperture portion relative to the proximal fastener aperture portion.
2. The tensioner of claim 1 wherein the tensioner arm is pivotally supported on the radially outer surface of the shaft via a bushing that is directly supported on the radially outer surface of the shaft.
3. The tensioner of claim 1 wherein the shaft cover has a free arm stop located thereon, and wherein the second axial arm end of the tensioner arm is on an axial projection having a first circumferential side that is a free arm stop engagement surface, wherein movement of the tensioner arm in the first direction causes the free arm stop engagement surface to face the free arm stop.
4. A tensioner as claimed in claim 3, wherein the tensioner arm has an arm flag on the tensioner arm at the second axial arm end, and wherein the shaft cover has a shaft flag on the shaft cover, wherein the arm flag is aligned with the shaft flag when the engine is off during use.
5. The tensioner of claim 1 wherein the pulley is a unitary member having a radially inner surface as the first ball engagement surface, and wherein the tensioner further comprises:
An inner race press-fit onto the pulley bearing surface, the inner race including a radially outer surface as a second ball engagement surface; and
a plurality of balls rotatably supporting the pulley on the inner race.
6. The tensioner of claim 1 further comprising a damping carrier comprising a spring end engagement groove positioned to retain the second end of the tensioner spring, wherein the damping carrier further comprises a radially inner damping surface thereon, and wherein the second end of the tensioner spring and the radially inner damping surface are positioned such that tangential forces on the second end of the tensioner spring move the damping carrier to frictionally engage or be in increased frictional engagement with the shaft and base unit during transmission of the torque.
7. The tensioner of claim 1 wherein the plurality of coils are spaced apart from one another by a coil-to-coil gap, and wherein a spacing between any two adjacent coils of the plurality of coils to enter the tensioner spring is less than a width of each coil of the plurality of coils to prevent the tensioner spring from tangling with another identical tensioner spring.
8. The tensioner of claim 1 wherein the plurality of coils are arranged in a generally helical fashion about a longitudinal axis and radially spaced from each other and generally increase in distance from the axis in a longitudinal direction.
9. A tensioner for an endless drive member, the tensioner comprising:
a shaft and base unit mountable to be fixed relative to an engine, wherein the shaft and base unit includes fastener apertures to allow fasteners to pass through to fixedly connect the shaft and base unit to the engine;
a tensioner arm pivotable about an arm pivot axis relative to the shaft and base unit, wherein the tensioner arm has a first axial arm end and a second axial arm end, wherein the tensioner arm has a radially outer surface comprising a pulley bearing surface, and the radially outer surface extends from the first axial arm end to the second axial arm end completely free of any radial protrusion;
a pulley rotatably supported on the pulley bearing surface of the tensioner arm for rotation about a pulley axis offset relative to the tensioner arm axis, wherein the pulley is engageable with an endless drive member;
A bushing positioned radially between the shaft and base unit and the tensioner arm to radially support the tensioner arm on the shaft and base unit; and
a tensioner spring positioned to urge the tensioner arm in a first direction about the tensioner arm axis; and
a carrier separate from but rotationally connected to the tensioner arm and the tensioner spring, wherein the carrier extends radially outward beyond the pulley bearing surface on the tensioner arm and the carrier cooperates with the shaft and base unit to at least partially enclose the tensioner spring.
10. The tensioner of claim 9 wherein the shaft and base unit comprises a base and a shaft separate from and mounted on the base, wherein the shaft has an axis and has a first axial shaft end and a second axial shaft end, wherein the shaft has a radially outer surface comprising an arm bearing surface, and the radially outer surface extends from the first axial shaft end to the second axial shaft end and is completely free of any radial protrusions,
And wherein the tensioner spring has a first end, a second end, and a plurality of coils located between the first end and the second end, wherein the first end is positioned to transmit torque with the base and the second end is positioned to transmit torque with the tensioner arm.
11. The tensioner of claim 10 wherein the tensioner arm is pivotally supported on the shaft via the bushing directly supported on the arm support surface.
12. The tensioner of claim 10 wherein the shaft comprises an arm support portion and a shaft bottom, the arm support portion being cylindrical and the arm support portion having the arm support surface thereon, the shaft bottom being at the first axial shaft end, wherein the shaft bottom has a proximal fastener aperture portion, and wherein the shaft is open at the second axial shaft end, wherein the shaft and base unit further comprises a shaft cover that covers the second axial shaft end and includes an arm retention portion that axially retains the tensioner arm on the shaft, and the shaft cover comprises a distal fastener aperture portion and is movable on the second axial shaft end of the shaft to a position in which the distal fastener aperture portion aligns with the proximal fastener aperture portion to form the fastener aperture, wherein the shaft has a radially inner positioning surface at the second axial shaft end, and wherein the shaft cover has a radially outer positioning surface that engages the radial positioning surface on the shaft to position the distal fastener aperture portion relative to the fastener aperture portion.
13. The tensioner of claim 12 wherein the shaft cover has a free arm stop located thereon, and wherein the second axial arm end is on an axial projection having a first circumferential side that is a free arm stop engagement surface, wherein movement of the tensioner arm in the first direction causes the free arm stop engagement surface to face the free arm stop.
14. The tensioner of claim 12 wherein the tensioner arm has an arm flag on the tensioner arm at the second axial arm end and wherein the shaft cover has a shaft flag on the shaft cover, wherein the arm flag is aligned with the shaft flag when the engine is off during use.
15. The tensioner of claim 9 wherein the pulley is a unitary member having a radially inner surface as the first ball engagement surface, and wherein the tensioner further comprises:
an inner race press-fit onto the pulley bearing surface, the inner race including a radially outer surface as a second ball engagement surface; and
A plurality of balls rotatably supporting the pulley on the inner race.
16. The tensioner of claim 10 wherein the carrier is a damping carrier comprising a spring end engagement groove positioned to retain the second end of the tensioner spring, wherein the damping carrier further comprises a radially inner damping surface thereon, and wherein the second end of the tensioner spring and the radially inner damping surface are oriented relative to each other such that tangential forces on the tensioner spring at the second end of the tensioner spring from the tensioner arm cause reaction forces on the radially inner damping surface by the shaft and base unit to produce frictional damping during movement of the tensioner arm relative to the shaft and base unit about the arm pivot axis.
17. The tensioner of claim 10 wherein the plurality of coils are spaced apart from one another by a coil-to-coil gap, and wherein a spacing between any two adjacent coils of the plurality of coils to enter the tensioner spring is less than a width of each coil of the plurality of coils to prevent the tensioner spring from tangling with another identical tensioner spring.
18. The tensioner of claim 10 wherein the plurality of coils are arranged in a generally helical fashion about a longitudinal axis and radially spaced from each other and generally increase in distance from the axis in a longitudinal direction.
Applications Claiming Priority (3)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| US201762568097P | 2017-10-04 | 2017-10-04 | |
| US62/568,097 | 2017-10-04 | ||
| PCT/CA2018/050508 WO2018195673A1 (en) | 2017-04-28 | 2018-05-01 | Timing belt tensioner with improved construction |
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| CN110546405A CN110546405A (en) | 2019-12-06 |
| CN110546405B true CN110546405B (en) | 2023-09-05 |
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| CN201880027266.1A Active CN110546405B (en) | 2017-10-04 | 2018-05-01 | Timing belt tensioner with improved structure |
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| CN113007296A (en) * | 2021-04-27 | 2021-06-22 | 林锋 | Torque adjusting track closing device |
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