Patent ID: 8727922

Claim:
A tensioning apparatus for a flexible drive means, particularly a drive chain of an internal combustion engine, comprising: a housing, a tensioning piston movably guided within said housing, and an adjusting means for gradually adjusting a working stroke of said tensioning piston, said adjusting means including a locking bracket and an appertaining locking profile at the tensioning piston, said locking bracket having two clamping sections for engagement with said locking profile at said tensioning piston and a spring portion for combining said clamping sections, wherein said spring portion combines said clamping sections in a spring-resilient manner such that the clamping sections move laterally apart in a clamping plane, wherein said spring portion includes at least two bending portions and at least one torsional area in the form of a torsion bar for combining said clamping sections in the spring-resilient manner, said two bending portions radially extending outwards to the clamping sections in the clamping plane and performing a spiral spring pitch while the axis of said torsion bar being arranged at an angle to the clamping plane and performing a torsion spring pitch while the clamping sections are laterally moving apart in the clamping plane.