Patents Represented by Attorney Frank S. Troidl
  • Patent number: 5611732
    Abstract: Two semi-annular members form an annular coupling. Each semi-annular member has a flexible center. A semi-annular shoe extends from each axial end of the flexible center. The shoes are bonded to the flexible center. The circumferential ends of the shoes have an axially extending cut-out embedded in the flexible center.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 7, 1995
    Date of Patent: March 18, 1997
    Assignee: TB Wood's Incorporated
    Inventor: Suresh S. Tirumalai
  • Patent number: 5465804
    Abstract: A power steering pump and air conditioning compressor are axially aligned. Power from the power steering pump is provided to the air conditioning compressor through a coupler. The coupler has two axially spaced flexible discs separated by a spacer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 25, 1994
    Date of Patent: November 14, 1995
    Assignee: T. B. Wood's Sons Company
    Inventor: John S. Malik
  • Patent number: 5304101
    Abstract: A bushing and hub assembly are clamped together and clamped on a shaft by passing screws through an annular flange provided on the hub and into threaded openings in the bushing. The outside of the bushing is tapered and the inside bore of the hub has a taper which mates with the tapered outside of the bushing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 27, 1992
    Date of Patent: April 19, 1994
    Assignee: T. B. Wood's Sons Company
    Inventor: Lewis E. Baer
  • Patent number: 5025240
    Abstract: The apparatus is used to make a magnet with a plurality of magnetic pole pairs. One or more pole pairs is formed by the apparatus as an initial step. Thereafter, additional pole pairs are formed by moving the apparatus with respect to the body to be magnetized or moving the body to be magnetized with respect to the apparatus. The apparatus is constructed so that previously magnetized portions of the magnetizable body are not demagnetized or significantly altered by the magnetization of adjacent parts of the magnetizable body.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 30, 1989
    Date of Patent: June 18, 1991
    Assignee: The Torrington Company
    Inventor: Mark E. La Croix
  • Patent number: 4988219
    Abstract: Rolling bearing assembly with sensor device of the type comprising at least one fixed ring, one rotating ring, rolling elements placed between said rings, a coding element co-rotating with the rotating ring, and a sensing element forming a unit with the fixed ring, characterized in that the coding element is placed in a circular groove on the face of a disk rotating in front of the sensor element mounted on the face of another, stationary disk.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 22, 1990
    Date of Patent: January 29, 1991
    Assignee: The Torrington Company
    Inventor: Fernand Peilloud
  • Patent number: 4987415
    Abstract: A high resolution encoder having a relatively high number of magnetic pole pairs with a magnetic flux strength sufficient for use in high resolution applications. Magnetic pole pair spacing varies from about 0.010 inch to about 0.050 inch with each magnetic pole pair having a magnetic flux in the range of about 2 gauss to about 700 gauss at a distance of 0.036 inch at a temperature of +20 degrees centigrade. This high resolution encoder is especially well-suited for use with magnetically encoded targets in sensor bearings.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 18, 1989
    Date of Patent: January 22, 1991
    Assignee: The Torrington Company
    Inventors: A. John Santos, Michael C. Brauer
  • Patent number: 4979834
    Abstract: A shaft has rolling member bearings, a compression spring acting to urge the bearings toward the shallow groove in one end of the shaft and a ring fitting round said end, with a portion extending into the groove so that the spring force acts on the ring to assist in retaining the ring in the groove. In order to assist the retention of the ring in the groove, the ring may be provided with a chamfered surface on the outside of the ring at its end which is fitted to the groove. The groove may be axially longer than the ring portion extending into the groove so that the ring can move relative to the shaft. This is advantageous when, for example, tightening a steering wheel onto the shaft against the ring.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 27, 1990
    Date of Patent: December 25, 1990
    Assignee: The Torrington Company
    Inventor: Gerald A. Speich
  • Patent number: 4960333
    Abstract: An antifriction bearing assembly comprises a stationary outer race and a rotatable inner race with two annular rows of rolling elements between the races. A sensor assembly is mounted in the outer race so as to position a sensor between the races and the two rows of rolling elements, and an encoder is mounted on the inner race between the rows of rolling elements. Several sensor assembly and encoder configurations are included.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 16, 1989
    Date of Patent: October 2, 1990
    Assignee: The Torrington Company
    Inventors: Bradley D. Faye, James A. Hilby, Denis Alff, Christian Hajzler
  • Patent number: 4948277
    Abstract: An encoder is mounted on a seal of a bearing having a fixed ring and a radially spaced rotating ring. The encoder ring has circumferentially separated teeth on one of its radial surfaces which embed into an elastomer portion of the seal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 13, 1989
    Date of Patent: August 14, 1990
    Assignee: The Torrington Company
    Inventor: Denis Alff
  • Patent number: 4946295
    Abstract: A bearing with a rotating ring and a radially spaced fixed ring is mounted in the bore of a housing. A seal extends radially across the annulus between the bearing rings. An information sensor support is mounted in the housing and located adjacent one axial end of the bearing. The information sensor mounted in the information sensor support faces the seal. The seal has an axial portion with circumferentially separated holes. The axial portion extends toward the information sensor. The annular information sensor support has an axial portion extending toward the seal. This axial portion has a plurality of circumferentially separated radially extending retainers which pass through the seal holes and into an annular groove formed on the inside surface of the fixed ring.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 13, 1989
    Date of Patent: August 7, 1990
    Assignee: The Torrington Company
    Inventor: Christian Hajzler
  • Patent number: 4940936
    Abstract: An antifriction bearing assembly has rolling elements and a magnetic encoder ring housed in an outer ring with two portions which can have different diameters. A sensor is removably attached to the outer ring in alignment with the encoder ring. Various seal assembly configurations may be used to seal the bearing while accommodating the sensor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 24, 1989
    Date of Patent: July 10, 1990
    Assignee: The Torrington Company
    Inventors: John M. Grillo, James A. Hilby, Vern V. Fleet, Cameron G. Gardella, Gary J. Hill
  • Patent number: 4934841
    Abstract: A polymer cage of this invention comprises two annular end rims connected by multiple crossbars. This cage can be used in conjunction with metallic roller elements and bearing components to provide an improved wheel radial bearing. The cage is designed to provide improved lubricant flow through the bearing, and the cage can be manufactured by axial draw molding techniques.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 12, 1988
    Date of Patent: June 19, 1990
    Assignee: The Torrington Company
    Inventor: E. F. De Vito
  • Patent number: 4927275
    Abstract: The hydrodynamic bearing assembly may be either a journal bearing or a thrust bearing. Bearing pads are located adjacent a shaft when a journal bearing or adjacent a collar on a shaft when a thrust bearing. The bearing pads are located on equalizing pads, two bearing pads for each equalizing pad. An elastomeric layer is disposed between the bearing pads and the equalizing pads.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 23, 1988
    Date of Patent: May 22, 1990
    Assignee: The Torrington Company
    Inventor: James L. Lawson
  • Patent number: 4919549
    Abstract: The spindle has a sleeve about a fixed shaft. Swing-type bearing pads are attached to the fixed shaft. The bearing pads are lubricated by flowing a lubricant through primary and secondary lubricating holes located in the fixed shaft.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 30, 1989
    Date of Patent: April 24, 1990
    Assignee: The Torrington Company
    Inventors: James L. Lawson, Ronald A. Peterson
  • Patent number: 4919003
    Abstract: A manually controlled ball is rotatable in any direction at variable speeds to operate a pair of perpendicular rotatable shafts. Each shaft is rotated at a speed of and direction dependent upon the direction and speed of rotation of the manually operated ball. An encoder disk is mounted on each shaft. The direction and speed of the disk rotation is translated into electrical signals.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 31, 1986
    Date of Patent: April 24, 1990
    Assignee: The Torrington Company
    Inventors: James L. Lawson, David C. Harris
  • Patent number: 4915512
    Abstract: One thrust race of a two-race thrust bearing has a magnetic field sensor mounted on a lip extending axially from the outside diameter of the thrust race. The other thrust race has a magnetic field source. The race with the magnetic field source rotates; the race with the sensor is fixed. The number of times alternate magnetic poles on the rotating thrust race is sensed by the sensor per unit of time indicates the speed of the rotating thrust race.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 24, 1989
    Date of Patent: April 10, 1990
    Assignee: The Torrington Company
    Inventors: James A. Hilby, Alfred J. Santos
  • Patent number: 4914387
    Abstract: A magnetic sensor bearing utilizes an adaptive threshold circuit for signal processing in order to compensate for external factors such as temperature, stress, aging, and external magnetic fields which all affect a fixed reference signal used with a comparator. As the magnetic sensor's output signal drifts due to these external factors, the adaptive threshold circuit causes the reference signals to drift in a complementary manner so that the magnetic sensor bearing continues to function properly in spite of the external factors.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 4, 1988
    Date of Patent: April 3, 1990
    Assignee: The Torrington Company
    Inventor: A. J. Santos
  • Patent number: 4910847
    Abstract: A cage and roller assembly in a hardened thrust bearing race is restrained within the race by heating a plurality of circumferentially widely separated parts of the race lip to soften the lip parts and bending the softened parts over the cage of the cage and roller assembly. An apparatus for assembling the thrust bearing includes a pair of electrodes located to apply a current through the lip to soften the lip and a form punch which is constructed to bend the softened part of the lip over a cage and roller assembly to an acute angle with respect to the rest of the lip.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 31, 1989
    Date of Patent: March 27, 1990
    Assignee: The Torrington Company
    Inventors: Carl R. Christenson, Richard L. Alling
  • Patent number: 4911034
    Abstract: A shaft slides within a tube. A relatively high-rate leaf spring is positioned to exert its force against the outer surface of the shaft. The leaf spring provides optimal sliding force between the shaft and the tube with minimum friction, while also functioning to minimize rotational lash. Indents located on the exterior surface of the tube are directed radially inward to further minimize rotational lash.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 2, 1988
    Date of Patent: March 27, 1990
    Assignee: The Torrington Company
    Inventors: David Kulczyk, John E. Dackow
  • Patent number: RE33888
    Abstract: Axially spaced cams and bearing rings mounted on a tube are permanently secured to the tube by circumferentially spaced projections on the tube extending into grooves formed on the inside surfaces of the cams and bearing rings.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 31, 1991
    Date of Patent: April 21, 1992
    Assignee: The Torrington Company
    Inventors: Michael J. Hartnett, Robert Lugosi, James Rollins, John P. Cook, Jeffrey A. Clark