Appeal No. 2005-0948 Page 7
Application No. 09/922,938
it is clamped to a bottom of the support rail or rails 50. When the cam is at its bottom
dead center position, the clamping plate will be in an unclamped position with respect to
the lathe bed and the banjo will be free to move longitudinally along an elongate
opening 72 formed between the rails 50.
As shown in Figures 1 and 4 of Clay, a drive shaft 18 fits through the square
passageway 16 formed in the interior of the cam shaft 40. When the elongate drive
shaft 18 is rotated by pulling manually on a lever or handle 41, which is attached to a
projecting end portion 98 of the drive shaft 18, the rotation of the drive shaft rotates cam
shaft 40 and therefore cam 13. The resultant rotation of cam 13 actuates the linear
motion of the eye bolt causing the clamping plate 22 to move either up or down as
described above.
Clay's banjo has a base 35 with a bottom or bottom surface at 80. Ledges 14
are machined onto or otherwise formed on each side of the base 35 so that the support
block 12 is supported by the base. Block 12 is supported not by the drive shaft 18 but
by the ledges 14 located on the base 35. The cam shaft 40 is mounted such that it may
slide on the drive shaft 18 while the support block 12 is free to slide with the cam shaft
along the ledges 14. As such the entire clamping mechanism is free to slide in the
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007