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A belt tensioning device for an endless drive belt for a vehicle accessories drive system. A sheet metal bracket is adapted to be mounted on an engine in a stationary position adjacent the drive belt and has a lever plate pivotally mounted thereon. An idler pulley is rotatably mounted on the lever p

A belt tensioning device for an endless drive belt for a vehicle accessories drive system. A sheet metal bracket is adapted to be mounted on an engine in a stationary position adjacent the drive belt and has a lever plate pivotally mounted thereon. An idler pulley is rotatably mounted on the lever plate and is movable into belt tensioning engagement by coil springs mounted on the bracket and engaged with the lever plate. A pair of pockets is formed in the bracket, each of which has an inclined surface which extends upwardly toward the lever plate. A camming block formed of a friction material is movably mounted in each pocket. Each block has an angled surface which is slidably engaged with the inclined surface of the pocket and has a planar coupling surface which frictionally engages the lever plate. The friction blocks provide a damping force on the lever plate when the lever plate attempts to move in the non-belt tensioning direction. Coil springs are mounted in the pockets and exert a biasing force against the camming blocks to move the blocks along the inclined surfaces of the pockets and into engagement with the lever plate. The springs maintain a predetermined coupling force between the blocks and lever plate throughout the life of the camming blocks and drive belt.

대표청구항 ▼

A belt tensioner construction for tensioning an endless drive belt of a drive system for vehicle accessories, said tensioner construction including: (a) bracket means adapted to be mounted on a vehicle engine adjacent the drive belt, said bracket means having an engine-mounting flange at one end and

A belt tensioner construction for tensioning an endless drive belt of a drive system for vehicle accessories, said tensioner construction including: (a) bracket means adapted to be mounted on a vehicle engine adjacent the drive belt, said bracket means having an engine-mounting flange at one end and a spring-mounting flange at the opposite end; (b) first spring means mounted on the bracket means, said first spring means having a cup-shaped housing and a pair of compression coil springs mounted in the housing with said housing being mounted on the spring-mounting flange of the bracket means; (c) lever means pivotally mounted on the bracket means and biased by the first spring means in a belt tensioning direction; (d) rotatable pulley means mounted on the lever means and movable into tensioning engagement with the drive belt upon pivotal movement of the lever means by the first spring means; (e) friction means operatively engageable between the bracket means and lever means to retard pivotal movement of the lever means in a direction opposite to the belt tensioning direction; and (f) plunger means pivotally mounted on the lever means and operatively engaged by the coil springs which bias the plunger means and lever means in the belt tensioning direction.