Patent ID: 8424178

Claim:
A jig for mounting a stack of Belleville springs about a shaft, comprising: a guide element in a ring plate; a Seeger ring positioned above the ring plate; an alignment element; a compression element; and springs; the shaft having a groove in a surface thereof, the springs positioned over the shaft, and the ring plate positioned next to an upper most spring; the guide element having a conical surface shaped to guide the individual springs; the alignment element having at least one axially extending pressure bar that is radially inwardly biased to urge an inner circumferences of all the springs into contact with axially aligned points on the surface of the shaft; and the compression element having an annulus shaped for compressing the springs while they are urged by the pressure bar of the alignment element against the shaft, the compression ring configured to urge the Seeger ring, the plate ring, and the springs downward during compression, such that when compressed, an outer edge of the Seeger ring is positioned in the groove of the shaft while an inner edge of the Seeger ring is positioned in the guide element of the plate ring, at least a portion of the guide element and the Seeger ring extending over the springs, such that the springs are retained in at least a partially compressed positioned via the position of the Seeger ring in both the groove of the shaft and the guide element of the plate ring after the compression element is moved away.