Patent ID: 8365880

Claim:
In a slack adjuster for a fluid-actuated brake comprising a housing enclosing a piston cylinder, a piston and a tubular linkage extending from said piston for actuating a brake, a push rod extending into said tubular linkage, and means for clutching the tubular linkage and push rod when driven in a brake actuating direction, said slack adjuster comprising a collet applying a squeezing force on said actuator rod, a retraction stop face and a forward stop face, said stop faces fixed relative to the housing, the improvement comprising: said collet having a tubular skirt section having a tube axis and an enlarged ring section at one end of the tubular skirt section, said enlarged ring section having opposed axial stop faces that are generally perpendicular to the tube axis, said opposed axial stop faces each having a notch therein that defines a conical or beveled surface facing the tube axis; said forward stop face having a conical or beveled surface arranged to engage the conical or beveled surface on one stop face of the collet when the collet carried by the actuator rod reaches the forward stop face; said retraction stop face having a conical or beveled surface arranged to engage the conical or beveled surface on the other stop face of the collet when the collet carried by the actuator rod reaches the retraction stop face; and the conical or beveled surfaces being configured so that when they engage, the force of the collet on the push rod is reduced.