| 摘要 |
A device for tensioning the endless drive belt for vehicle accessories. A housing is mounted in a fixed position adjacent the drive belt. A shaft assembly is slidably mounted in an axial bore formed in the housing and includes a stub shaft portion extending outwardly from the housing through a slot formed in one of the housing walls. An idler pulley is rotatably mounted on the stub shaft and is moved into tensioning engagement with the drive belt by a compression coil spring which is adjustably mounted in the housing bore by a spring guide. The spring slidably moves the shaft assembly in a belt tensioning direction within the housing bore. Concavely curved surfaces are formed in certain areas of the shaft assembly within the housing. Roller means are interposed between and are biased by a spring into a wedging relationship with the curved shaft surfaces and adjacent housing walls. The roller means permits free movement of the shaft assembly and idler pulley in the belt tensioning direction while preventing movement of the shaft assembly in the opposite nontensioning direction because of the wedging action of the roller means. In another embodiment, the shaft is operatively connected to a pivotally mounted vehicle accessory whereupon sliding movement of the shaft pivots the accessory to tension the drive belt which is engaged with the accessory pulley.
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