Patent ID: 7329197

Claim:
A self-aligning pulley assembly that is caused to rotate by the temporarily varying and occasionally misaligned forces exerted by a cable which acts on said assembly, wherein said cable is defined to be misaligned when the plane of the forces exerted by said cable lies at a herein defined angle ψ to the plane that is perpendicular to the resulting rotational axis of said assembly, said assembly comprising: a shaft having a rotational axis and an exterior surface, said shaft exterior surface having a portion that is spherically shaped, a pulley having a perimeter and a central opening, said opening having an interior surface configured so as to allow said pulley to be mounted on said shaft portion having said spherical shaped exterior surface, a means for locking said shaft and said pulley together such that they rotate together while also enabling said pulley to tilt from side to side at a said angle ψ under the temporarily varying action of said cable, and wherein said assembly is given said self-aligning property by further configuring said pulley such that there is absent any other structural piece in contact with said pulley which could restrain said tilting motion of said pulley.