Claims
- 1. A shaft coupling drive comprising:
a first shaft having a rotational axis and a free end; a second shaft having a rotational axis and a free end, the second shaft being aligned coaxially with the first shaft; a cam plate mounted on the free end of the second shaft, wherein the cam plate includes a face, and a shoulder protruding from the face; a cam on the free end of the first shaft, wherein the cam includes a face, and a shoulder protruding out of the face; a first spring biasing the free end of the second shaft toward the free end of the first shaft to urge the faces of the cam plate and cam together, wherein the shoulder of the cam plate aligns with the shoulder of the cam in only one relative rotational position; and a second spring biasing the shoulders together.
- 2. The shaft coupling of claim 1 wherein the first shaft is connected to a visual indicator.
- 3. The shaft coupling of claim 2 wherein the visual indicator is a dial.
- 4. The shaft coupling of claim 1 wherein the second shaft is operably connected to an actuator output hub.
- 5. A mechanism for reproducibly coupling a first shaft to a second shaft for coupled rotation in one rotational direction, the mechanism comprising:
a cam plate mounted to the first shaft, wherein the cam plate includes a face, and a shoulder protruding from the face; a cam mounted to a second shaft, wherein the cam includes a face, and a shoulder protruding from the face, where the shoulder of the cam is a mirror image of the shoulder of the cam plate; a first spring coupled to the first shaft, wherein the first spring urges the face of the cam plate in a first axial direction toward the face of the cam, wherein the face of the cam engages the face of the cam plate, and wherein the face of the cam is slidable in a first rotational direction over the face of the cam plate, with the first spring allowing axial displacement of the cam plate against the spring bias until the shoulders of the cam and cam plate slide over each other and interlock; and a second spring operably connected to the cam to bias the cam in a second opposite rotational direction to secure the shoulders in an interlocked relation.
- 6. The mechanism of claim 5 wherein the first shaft is coupled to a visual indicator.
- 7. The mechanism of claim 5 wherein the second shaft is connected to an actuator output hub.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S)
[0001] This application is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/713,092, filed Nov. 15, 2000, for “Actuator Drive and Display Mechanism” by Marvin D. Nelson.
Divisions (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09713092 |
Nov 2000 |
US |
Child |
10186485 |
Jul 2002 |
US |