Patent ID: 8328541

Claim:
A rotational to linear displacement conversion mechanism comprising: an assembly including a plurality of driver discoidal elements ( 101 , 123 , 164 ) and a plurality of driven discoidal elements ( 102 , 122 , 166 ) mounted alternately on a common central axis to form an interleaved stack, each discoidal element having a ramped surface ( 105 - 108 , 155 - 157 ), the ramped surfaces of adjacent elements being complementarily shaped and opposed so that, when in contact and completely interengaged, the discoidal elements form a stack of minimum length; coupling means ( 128 , 129 , 131 , 132 ) for coupling the driver discoidal elements for rotation together about the axis by an externally applied force while permitting them to translate along the axis; a driven element mounting means wherein said driven elements are mounted in such a way as to permit translation of the driven elements along the common axis while preventing rotation of the driven elements about the common axis, whereby a rotational displacement of the driver elements by the externally applied force causes the elements to separate by camming action of the interengaged ramp surfaces so as to produce an extension of the stack corresponding to the cumulative separations of the driver and driven elements; and resilient bias means ( 190 ) for restoring the assembly to its minimum length in the absence of the externally applied force.