Patent ID: 6988597

Claim:
An actuating mechanism for a mechanical brake, the brake having a rotatable shaft rotatively supported to a frame by an intermediate member, the rotary shaft having a rotational axis, the brake comprising a friction surface, said friction surface being connected to the shaft, a brake member, said brake member being movably connected to the intermediate member, a mechanical activator, said mechanical activator being mounted, about a pivot axis extending perpendicular to the rotational axis of the rotary shaft, to said intermediate member for movement between first and second positions, one of said first or second positions moving said brake member into contact with said friction surface to impede the rotation of the shaft, said mechanical actuator being wholly on a first side of the rotational axis of the rotary shaft, a spring, means to connect said spring to said intermediate member to bias said mechanical activator in one of said first or second positions, a cavity, said cavity being in said intermediate member, said cavity being on the same first side of the rotational axis of the rotary shaft as said mechanical actuator, said cavity being displaced from said friction surface in respect to the longitudinal length of the rotational axis of the shaft, a piston, said piston being in said cavity to define a chamber, said piston moveable in said cavity in a first direction, said first direction being substantially perpendicular to the rotational axis of the shaft, connect means to connect said piston to said spring and pressurization means to pressurize said chamber to move said spring from its position biasing said mechanical activator in one of said first or second positions to the other of said first or second positions.