Patent ID: 8562466

Claim:
A tensioner to tension a flexible drive, comprising: a spindle having a base and a shaft extending perpendicular thereto; a bushing having an outer frustoconical surface and an inner surface complementary to the shape of the spindle shaft, the bushing receiving the shaft in the inner surface; a tensioner arm having an inner pivot surface complementary to and engaging the outer frustoconical surface of the bushing to allow the tensioner arm to pivot about a central axis of the spindle shaft, the tensioner arm further having an attachment point for a rotatable member to engage a flexible drive, the attachment point being spaced from the pivot surface; a first spring acting between the spindle and the tensioner arm to bias the tensioner arm to a first pivotal position about the spindle; a wear take up mechanism to bias the bushing along the spindle shaft towards the inner pivot surface to compensate for wear of the bushing and/or pivot surface and to create a frictional dampening force between the bushing and the tensioner arm, wherein the wear take up mechanism comprises a second spring acting between the spindle and the bushing; and a bushing guide moveable within the spindle and including at least one tab extending through a slot from within the spindle to the bushing wherein the second spring acts between the spindle and the bushing guide and the bushing guide biases the bushing towards the inner pivot surface.