Patent ID: 8678471

Claim:
An in-line jack comprising: a tubular body with first and second ends, the tubular body extending along a longitudinal axis; an extendable shaft disposed within the body and reciprocally movable along the longitudinal axis relative to the body; a drive assembly mounted to the first end of the body, the drive assembly extending substantially along the longitudinal axis, the drive assembly adapted to selectively move the shaft with respect to the body over a range of travel between a retracted position, in which a distal end of the shaft is disposed a first distance from the first end of the body along the longitudinal axis, and a retracted position, in which the distal end of the shaft is disposed a second distance from the first end of the body along the longitudinal axis, the second distance being greater than the first distance, the drive assembly including a jack screw assembly attached to the body and the shaft and adapted to selectively move the shaft relative to the body along the longitudinal axis in a retracting direction so that the shaft moves toward the retracted position and an extending direction so that the shaft moves toward the extended position, a drive shaft operably arranged with the jack screw assembly to move the jackscrew assembly, a planetary gear system adapted to rotate the drive shaft, and a motor operably arranged with the planetary gear system and adapted to selectively drive the planetary gear system to rotate the drive shaft; wherein the motor, the planetary gear system, and the drive shaft are adapted to selectively move the jack screw assembly such that the extendable shaft is selectively movable with respect to the tubular body in the extending direction and the retracting direction; and wherein the jack screw assembly, the drive shaft, the planetary gear system, and the motor are concentrically arranged about the longitudinal axis.