Patent ID: 8905895
Filing Date: 2014-12-09
Classification: G01L,H02K,Y10T

Abstract:
1. A force transfer apparatus, comprising: a housing defining a cavity and including a sidewall defining an aperture in communication with the cavity; a shaft supported in the cavity of the housing for rotation about a first axis, the first axis being a longitudinal axis of the shaft; a plunger disposed within the aperture of the sidewall of the housing, the plunger having a first end and a second end, the first end of the plunger operably coupled to the shaft such that the plunger is adapted for sliding displacement along a second axis that is transverse to the first axis in response to rotation of the shaft; a retention plate disposed outside of the cavity and fixed to the sidewall of the housing adjacent to the aperture; a force sensor disposed outside of the cavity between the second end of the plunger and the retention plate, the force sensor for detecting the amount of force applied to the plunger by the rotation of the shaft; a gear set disposed between and operably coupling the shaft to the plunger, wherein the gear set comprises a planetary gear set including a sun gear fixed to the shaft, at least one planet gear meshing with the sun gear, and a ring gear meshing with the planet gear; and a bearing disposed within opposing first and second V-shaped recesses formed in a portion of the gear set and the first end of the plunger, respectively, wherein the first end of the plunger is operably connected to an outer surface of the ring gear such that a rotational force applied to the ring gear about the first axis results in a linear force being applied to the plunger along the second axis, and wherein the outer surface of the ring gear includes a flat portion in which the first V-shaped recess is defined.