Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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This invention relates to tuhular flexible remQte controls having a
push-pull element movable on balls which are disposed on opposite sides of
the push-pull element and in the grooves of outer races. More particularly,
the invention involves improved means for anchoring the ends of the outer
races .
Illustrative of such a flexible remote control is that disclosed in
U. S. Pat. No. 3,218, 637 to Richoux whose anchoring member 16 for the
outer rails or races is composed of two half-shells 17 and 18. Shell 17
holds the end of one race 11 without any play, while shell 18 hoLds the end of
10 the other race 11 with a play equal to the length of its cut-out part 21. Re-
ferring to FIG. 1 of Richoux, the flexible control can be bent upwardly but
not downwardly because there is no play in the anchoring of race 11 by shell
17.
U. S~ Pat. No. 3, 287, 990 to Ellinger shows the anchoring of the
ends of outer races 21 by pins or followers 31 which cooperate with slots in
a pair of coaxial cylindrical tubes 26, 27. The Ellinger anchor permits
bending of the flexible control with either of races 21 on the outer curvature.
Besides adding to the cost of the remote control, $he coaxial tubes 26, 27 in-
crease the diameter of the end fitting which is undesirable in some instal-
20 lations.
U. S. Pat. No. 3, 580, 103 to Shreve captures the bent doglikeportion 64 of race 62 in the annular cavity 42 of his end fitting. The end 68
of Shreve's other race 66 is provided with shoe mer~ber 74 which is aYially
slidable along band member 30. Even though race o2 has no lengthwise plav~
the Shreve control can be bent with race 62 on either the inner or outer cur-
vature. However, when fixed race 62 is on the inner curvature of a large
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bend, say 180 to 210, in the flexible control, a heavy push load on band 30
may cause band 30 to curve outwardly in the space between shoe 74 and
bushing 44 with the result that one or more balls may be dislodged from the
end of retainer assembly 76. The dislodgment of any balls from a retainer
assembly can lead to ~nalfunction or even jamming of the control. Moreover,
doglike portion 64 of race 62 is an awkward and undesirable way of anchoring
race 62.
~ ccordingly, the object of this invention is to provide simplified and
inlproved anchors for the outer races of a flexible remote control which per-
10 mit bending of the control with either race on the outer curvature. Otherfeatures and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the description
which follows.
In accordance with this invention, each end of one outer race of a
flexible remote control is held by anchor means in a lengthwise fixed position
within the end fitting of the control, while each end of the other outer race is
held by anchor means slidable along the length of the end fitting. Both the
fixed and slidable anchors are slotted so that the push-pull blade of the con-
trol can move freely therethrough.
Each anchor, whether of the fixed or slidable type, may be made as
20 a unit or as a mating pair of parts. The attachment of each anchor to the end
of an o~ter race is si}nply accomplished by inserting a radial pin or lug on
the periphery of the anchor into an aperture or slot in the end of the race.
Each fixed anchor is held in a cylindrical recess within each end fitting of
the remote control. I'he cylindrical recess has a length to capture the fixed
anchor substantially without lengthwise play and a diameter to allow rotation
of the fixed anchor.
.....
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Both types of anchors may be made of various metals and plastics
Stainless s~eel, bronze and brass are preferred metals. Nylon, thermo-set
resins, fluorinated ethylene-propylene polymer, and polypropylene, with or
without fillers or fibers~ illustrate desirable plastics that can be used to
form the anchors of this invention. The fixed anchors are the anchors sub-
jected to the greatest mechanical orces. Hence, especially in heav~ duty
remote controls, the fixed anchors are preferably made of metal~ Slidable
anchors made of plastics offer the advantage of avoiding the scoring and
gouging of the metal push-pull blade which is possible when the metal blade
is repeatedly moved back and forth in contact with metal slidable anchors.
For a better understanding of the invention, the further description
thereof will refer to the accompanying drawings.
FIG. lis a longitudinal sectional view of the portion of an end fitting
of a flexible remote control, which contains a preferred embodiment of the
race anchor s of this inventi on,
FIG~ 2is a side view of the fixed anchor shown in FIG. l;
FIG. 3 is a right end view oE the anchor shown in FIG. 2;
FIG. 4is a side view of the slidable anchor shown in FIG. l;
FIG. 5is a right end view of the slidable anchor shown in FIG. 4;
FIG. 6 is a side view of a modified fixed anchor formed by a pair of
mating parts; and
FIG. 7 is a side view of a modified slidable anchor formed by a pair
of mating parts,
The portion of end fitting 10 of a flexible remote control shown ir
FIG. lis formed by two rigid cylindrical tubes 119 12 which are screwed
together at their threaded ends 130 An end of flexible cylindrical tubing 14 of
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the remote control is held in cylindrical recess 15 of tube 11 by swaging.
The clepth of recess 15 is equal to the thickness of tubing 14 so that the inside
diameters of tubing l~L and the unrecessed portion of tube 1] are the same,
The conventional components of the remote control comprise two
outer ball races 16, 17, two ball cage strips 18, 19 an~ center push-pull
blade 20. The enA of ball race 16 has slot 21 into which lug ZZ of slidable
anchor Z3 its. Anchor 23 has slot Z4 through which bLade Z0 passes. The
end of ball race 17 has slot 25 into which lug Z6 of longitudinally fixed anchor
27 fits. Fixed anchor Z7 has slot 28 through which hlade 20 passes. Anchor
10 27 is rotatably held in cylindrical recess Z9 in tube lZ. The length of recess
29, measured from male-threaded end 30 of tube 11, is such that anchor 27
is captured substantially without longitudinal play. The end of push-pu1l
blade Z0 is connected to cylindrical push-pull rod 31 which is slidable and
rotatable in tube lZ.
FIGS. 2 and 3 show that fixed anchor Z7 has a cylindrical body 32
except for the segment that has been cut off to leave a flat side 33 from which
lug 26 projects radially. Slot 28 in fixed anchor 27 is dimensioned to allow
the stroking of push-pull blade 20 freely therethrough.
FIGS. 4 and 5 show that slidable anchor 23 has a cylindrical body 34
20 except that two segments have been cut off to lea~e a flat side 35 from which
1ug 2Z projects radially and a parallel flat side 36 which is disposed in slid-
able contact with fixed outer race 17. Slot 24 in anchor 23 is dimensioned to
allow free movement of blade 20 and anchor 23 xelative to each other. Es-
pecialLy when slidable anchor 23 is made of metal, slot 24 is preferably
slightly flared outwardly at both ends to ensure that these ends do not bind
and score the faces of push-pull blade 20. Flared ends 37 of slot 2~ are best
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seen in FIG. 4. The diameter of cylindrical body 34 is such that anchor 23
can slide and rotate in tubing 14 and tube 11, both of which havc the same in-
side di amete r .
FIG. 6 shows fixed anchor 38 which is identical to fixed anchor Z7 of
FIG. 2 except that it is made of two mating parts 39, 40 which provide slot 41
between them for the passage of push-pull blade 20 therethrough. Part 40 has
a flat face for contact with one side of blade 20 and two lateral lugs 4Z pro-
jecting from that flat face; lugs 42 are disposed diametrically opposite each
other so that blade 20 can pass between thel~1. Part 39 has two lateral cut-
lO outs 43 into which lugs 42 of part 40 fit to lock mating parts 39, 40 together.
Part 40 has Lug 44 ~,vhich corresponds to lug 26 of fixed anchor 27 of FIG. 2.
FIG. 7 shows slidable anchor 45 which is identical to slidable an-
chor 23 of FIG. 4 except that it is made of two mating parts 46, 47 which
provide slot 48 between them for the passage of push-pull blade 20 there-
through. Part 46 has a fLat face for contact with one side of blade 20 and a
parallel face 51 from which lug 50 projects. L.ug 50 corresponds to lug 22
of slidable anchor 23 of FIG. 4. Parts 46, 47 are held together by two pairs
of pins 49 set in holes in parts 46, 47; one pair of pins 49 is positioned dia-
metrically opposite the other pair in the portions of parts 46, 47 which form
20 the opposite edges of slot 4~. Part 47 has a flat side 52 which corresponds
to flat side 36 of slidable anchor 23 of FIG. 4.
It is noteworthy that both the slidable anchor and the fixed anchor of
this invention give important support to the push-pull blade at spaced posi-
tions along its length where the blade is not supported by ball cage strips on
its opposite faces. The support provided by the novel anchors helps to pre-
vent bowing of the push-pull blade when it is subjected to heavy push loads.
722
Good engineering design dictates that the length of outer race 16
which is attached at each end to a slidable anchor 23 is such that when one
anchor 23 abuts fixecl anchor Z7 in one end fitting 10 and the control is bent
Z10 with outer race 16 on the outer side of $he curve~ the other slidable an-
chor 23 will still be completely within tube ll of the other end fitting 10. In
other words, the end of slidable anchor 23 which faces ball cage strips 189
19 never moves outside the end of tube 11. On the other hand, the clearance
between slidable anchor 23 and Mxed anchor 27, when the other slidable an-
chor 23 abuts the other fixed anchor 27, is such that bending the control 21~
with outer race 16 on the inner side of the curve will bring both slidable an-
chors 23 into substantially abutting relation with their respective fixed an-
chors 27. If the control is designed for a maximum bend of only 180, then
the length of outer race 16 and the clearance between slidable anchor 23 and
fixed anchor 27 will be slightly less than the corresponding dimensions for
the control designed to permit a maximum bend of 210-
Good engineering design also dictates that the maximum length of
both ball cage strips 18, 19 is equal to the distance between the ends of slid-
able anchors 23 which face each other less one-half of the design maximum
stroke of the control. For example, in a control designed for a maximum
stroke of 8 inches, both ball cage strips 18, 19 will be 4 inches shorter than
the distance between the facing ends of slidable anchors 23.
Ball cage strips 18, 19 may be of the conventional type in which the
small steel balls are held in an aligned spacecl relation by a metal strip
having a series of apertures into each of which a ball fits. Canadian Pat.
No. 927, 250 to Young discloses that the metal strip may be replaced by a
strip of flexible plastic such as tetraIluoroethylene polymer.
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Those skilleA in the art will visu~lize variations of the invention
set forth hereinbefore wi.thout departing from its spirit and scope. For in-
stance, slidable anchor 45 of FIG. 7 may omit pins 49 and have mating parts
46, 47 locked together by lugs on one of these parts fitted into cut-outs in
the other part in the manner shown in FIG. 6. Fixed a.nchox 38 may be
formed by mating parts 39, 40 without lugs 42 and cut-outs 43 or any other
means for locking parts 39, 40 together because cylindrical recess 29 in end
fitting 10 will suffice to hold parts 39, 'LO together. ~Nhile lugs 2Z and 26 on
anchors Z3 and 27, respectively, pro~ide simple and effective m.eans for
10 attaching the ends of outer races ].6, 17 thereto, other ways of making these
attachments include screwing or welding the ends of the outer races to the
anchors. Accordingly, only such limitations should be imposed on the scope
of the invention as are set forth in the appended claims.
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