Pulley With Active Antifriction Actuator And Control

Torque actuator and associated control system minimizes effective friction of rotary bearing. Motor exerts compensating torque in response to feedback from external optical sensor. Compensation torque nearly cancels frictional torque of shaft bearings. Also useful in reducing bearing friction in gyro-scopes, galvanometers, torquemeters, accelerometers, earth-motion detectors, and balances.