Patent ID: 7296492

Claim:
A Geneva mechanism for providing intermittent motion, comprising: a drive gear adapted to receive rotational input, the drive gear having a drive cam structure and a set of drive teeth, the drive cam structure including a cam recess region-and a drive cam-bearing surface; and a driven gear having a driven cam structure and a set of driven teeth, wherein the driven cam structure includes at least two bearing surface regions and a cam lobe portion; wherein the driven cam structure is adapted to engage the drive cam structure and align the set of drive teeth with the set of driven teeth to position the set of drive teeth to engage the set of driven teeth for selective transmission of the rotational input; wherein the driven gear has an engaged configuration, in which the driven teeth engage the drive teeth to cause the driven gear to counter rotate relative to the drive gear, and further wherein the driven gear has at least two non-rotating configurations, in which the drive cam structure and the driven cam structure are adapted to prevent the driven gear from rotating; wherein, when the gear system is in the engaged configuration, the cam lobe portion engages the cam recess region and aligns the drive teeth and the driven teeth for rotational engagement, and further wherein, when the gear system is in either of the non-rotating configurations, one of the bearing surface regions slides along the drive cam-bearing surface forming a contact area as the drive gear rotates, preventing the driven gear from rotating; and wherein the cam recess region includes alignment guide surfaces adapted to guide the cam lobe portion into the cam recess and align the drive teeth and the driven teeth for engagement, and further wherein the cam recess region includes extended drive teeth formed by a portion of the set of drive teeth, which are longer axially than a remaining portion of drive teeth of the set.