Gordon O. Salmela - Lexington MA Michael L. Pizzarella - Shrewsbury MA
Assignee:
Raytheon Company - Lexington MA
International Classification:
E05D 1300 F16M 1100
US Classification:
16 1C
Abstract:
A counterbalance mechanism for negating the force of gravity when moving a display cabinet shelf up or down. The mechanism has a torsion spring counterbalance on a shaft extending the width of the shelf and gears at each end of the shaft which engage travelling rack gears attached beneath each end of the shelf. The shelf includes integral guide rails rolling on four bearings attached to the stationary frame of the cabinet. The use of spiral gears compensates for the spring torque variation and provides constant tangential gear force on the shelf regardless of the vertical position of the shelf. Having gears at each side of the moving shelf joined by a common shaft minimizes side-to-side tilting.