Patent ID: 6849012
Filing Date: 2005-02-01
Classification: F16H

Abstract:
1. A tensioner comprising a plunger displaceable in a bore of a housing between retracted and extended positions, the plunger projecting from an open end of the bore in the extended position and biased towards the extended position by a biasing member, a radially resilient stop member disposed in the bore between the plunger and housing and engaged in fictional contact with a first surface of either the plunger or the housing and a recess in the plunger or the housing and defined on a second surface opposite the first surface, the recess having a tapered face for engagement with a surface of the stop member, wherein the tapered face tapers radially outwardly in the direction towards the open end of the bore so that movement of the plunger relative to the housing towards the retracted position causes the tapered face to engage said surface of the stop member and to force the stop member to deform in a radial direction to a wedging position in which the stop member is wedged between the tapered face and the first surface so as to prevent further inward movement of the plunger, the recess having a second face that is engageable with the stop member when the plunger is moved out of the housing towards the extended position so as to slide the stop member over said first surface, wherein said first surface is of substantially constant diameters, wherein the stop member is generally wedge-shaped.