ALEXANDRIA, Va., Dec. 9 -- United States Patent no. 12,492,739, issued on Dec. 9, was assigned to Mitsuboshi Belting Ltd. (Kobe, Japan).
"Automatic tensioner" was invented by Ryosuke Dan (Hyogo, Japan).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "An auto-tensioner includes: a base having a cylindrical part; an arm; a pulley around which a belt is to be wound; a friction member sandwiched between an inner circumferential surface of a cylindrical part and the arm; and a coil spring pressing the friction member against the arm in the axial direction and rotationally biasing the arm in one direction with respect to the base, in which the friction member includes: an arcuate surface, a first locking part, locked...