Abstract:
A tool for assessing rotatable objects in an engine by selectively imparting a rotation to a chosen number of the rotatable objects that includes an engagement member, a shaft portion, and a motor as a rotation source. In the preferred embodiment, the engagement member mounted on a first end of the shaft engages the rotatable object. A support member means is mounted on a second end of the extendable member or on the shaft. A rotation source is used to impart rotation on shaft and engagement member and thus to the rotatable object to be rotated as may be required to facilitate for the testing and adjustment procedures to be performed upon the rotatable member.

Description:
FIELD OF INVENTION 
     The tool relates generally to an apparatus to test rotatable objects. In a preferred form, the present tool relates to an apparatus to assess rotatable objects in an engine. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The disclosed tool is used to engage a selected, rotatable object encountered by those working on machinery. Often, these rotatable objects are difficult to selectively rotate. For example, in an automobile engine, a pulley may need to be rotated to identify which individual pulley is failing or exhibiting signs of failure. However, these pulleys are difficult to reach, are interconnected by belts and are not independently powered. Therefore, it is very difficult to independently test each pulley. Currently, one must attempt to either have the engine running and thus powering all the connected pulleys or attempt to rotate the pulleys by hand. The first approach causes the pulleys to rotate at operational speeds but confounds identifying a specific problem due to noise and movement from the engine and other components. In addition, it is dangerous as the person attempting to identify the problem must do so near or even touching a motor in operation. The second is difficult because operation speeds cannot be reached, and it often is difficult to reach the pulleys themselves in confined spaces. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The disclosed tool addresses these problems by being powered independently from the engine, which reduces noise, interference and danger. It also is able to rotate objects at high speeds, which allows testing using operational speeds to accurately and realistically test for problems. This allows the tool&#39;s user to isolate and identify problems easier and more quickly than conventional methods. 
     The tool consists of an engagement member that engages the object to be tested. Preferably, this is a drum made from material that is durable but will not harm the tested rotated object, for example, an elastomeric compound. This engaging member rotates, and once in contact with the rotatable object to be tested, it imparts a rotation to the object. The engaging member is attached to a shaft with a locking interconnect to a rotation source that powers the rotation. This rotation source may be separate from the engagement member, such as compressed air driven devices such as a die grinder or it may be integrally connected into one device. The speed at which the tool may rotate may be variable, or it may be static. In some situations, it will be important to be able to vary the speed, but in others, it may not be. Therefore, the tool may be built to be variable. 
     This rotation source originates the rotation that rotates the engaging member. In between the two, there may be an extension means or a stabilization means or both. The extension means may be fixed, such as a solid metal shaft, or collapsible, such as a telescoping shaft. Either allows the engaging member to reach objects to be tested that would otherwise be difficult to reach by hand or traditional methods. 
     The stabilization means may be as simple as a handle to allow a person to guide the engaging means or a more static structure that attaches to another structure that could allow testing to be done for a longer duration or create a permanent structure for the tool to be housed and used by a person. For example, the support structure could clamp to an automobile&#39;s frame. In another, it is an independent, free standing structure. 
     A person using the tool to test a rotatable object would first remove any obstacles known to hinder rotation but not be part of the test. For example, if a person wants to test a singular pulley in a series of pulleys interconnected by a belt, the person must remove the belt. However, if the entire pulley system is to be tested, the belt would remain in place. 
     Next, the person would position the tool such that the engaging member is in contact with the rotatable object to be tested. The engaging member may already be rotating before contact or the rotation may begin after contact. Then, the engaging member imparts rotation to the tested object. The tested object will then rotate at a speed directed by the person. This allows the person to observe the rotation of the tested object, as well as any consequences of that rotation, allowing the user to isolate any problems. The person then may move on to the next object to be tested. 
     By having an extension means, the engagement member can reach rotatable objects not normally able to be reached. In many instances, the rotatable object is located in a position that is difficult to reach by current means and also difficult to determine what is occurring while the motor is operating. This tool allows this difficultly-placed object to be tested. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective side view of the device 
         FIG. 2  is a perspective side view of the device with a cut away 
         FIG. 3  is a plan cross-sectional view of the device. 
         FIG. 4  is a plan side view of the device as attached to the power source and engaging a rotatable item. 
         FIG. 5  is a plan side view of another embodiment of the device. 
         FIG. 6  is a plan side view of the device with stand. 
         FIG. 7  is a perspective side view of another embodiment of the device. 
         FIG. 8  is a front plan view of the device and rotatable item connected by a belt. 
         FIGS. 9A and 9B  is a perspective side view of another embodiment of the device with a telescoping shaft.  FIG. 9A  shows the flexible shaft and  FIG. 9B  shows a flexible and telescoping shaft. 
         FIG. 10  is a perspective side view of another embodiment of the device with a telescoping shaft with phantoms showing the shaft telescoped in. 
         FIG. 11  is a perspective side view of one embodiment of the device, this embodiment having a spherical engagement member. 
         FIG. 12  is a perspective side view of one embodiment of the device, this embodiment having a toothed disk engagement member. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     The tool is used to impart rotation to a selected, rotatable item. The tool has an engagement member  30  that imparts rotation onto the selected item  423 . The engagement member  30  can be in a variety of forms including, but not limited to, a solid drum as shown in  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 3 , a smooth drum ( FIG. 6 ), grooved drum ( FIG. 5 ), or any other suitable shape that an average person skilled in the arts would recognize as functional. 
     The engagement member  30  rotates due to a rotation source  321  imparting a rotation. Once the rotation source  321  imparts rotation on the shaft  20  which then transfers to the engagement member  30 , the engagement member  30  then can cause rotation in a selected item  423  either through direct contact as shown in  FIG. 4  or through an intermediary such as a belt  18  as shown in  FIG. 8 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 7  the rotation source  321  can be housed closer to or inside the engagement member  30  and is directly powered either through an independent or internal power source or external power source. The rotation source may also be external and similar to a drill as in  FIG. 4  or die grinder or other compressed air or motor driven devices. 
     It may be preferred that the engagement member  30  is attached to shaft  20  in order to reach certain selected items. The elongated member  20  may be between the engagement member  30  and the rotation source  321  as shown in  FIG. 4 , or it may be used to extend the tool as it is shown in  FIG. 7  where the rotation source  321  and engagement member  30  are housed together. In either case, the shaft may include, either in whole or in part, a flexible section  40  to allow the tool to reach even more difficult to access items as shown in  FIG. 5 . 
     In addition, the shaft  20  may be sheathed in a housing cover  22  as shown in  FIG. 2  and  FIG. 3 . This housing cover  22  helps prevent unintended items such as the operator&#39;s clothing, hair, or jewelry from becoming ensnared in the rapidly rotating shaft  20 . The shaft  20  continues to rotate, but the housing cover  22  need not rotate at all, or the housing cover  22  may simply stop rotating once something comes into contact with it. This housing cover  22  also allows the shaft to be rested on another object or even held as shown in  FIG. 6  while the tool is in use. 
     In another embodiment, the rotating tool contains an engagement member, a shaft portion having a central longitudinal axis, and a motor encased in a housing. The shaft portion has a first end connected to the engagement member, and a second end connected to a rotary mechanism. The motor provides power to rotate the rotary mechanism. The rotary mechanism contains an output member that rotates the shaft. Additionally, the rotating tool contains a locking interconnect. This locking interconnect locks the engagement member to the shaft. 
     In a preferred embodiment, the motor can vary the speed of rotation of the engagement member. The motor may have variable speed using any means known to those of ordinary skill in the art. For example, the motor vary the power provided to the rotary mechanism using a variable resistor. 
     In a preferred embodiment, the locking interconnect locks the engagement member to the shaft using a locking means known to those of ordinary skill in the art, wherein said locking interconnect locks or unlocks the engagement member without tools. This locking interconnect allows a quick release of the engagement member so that it may be swapped for other engagement members without using tools. 
     The shaft  20  could be cylindrical as shown or the cross-section could be other shapes such as rectangular, hexagonal or other polygonal shapes. The engagement member  30  could be shown in  FIG. 1  as a solid drum with two opposing conical shapes with a flattened center allowing the taper of the conical sections to provide the user with a variety of speed ratios for testing and aids in tool placement in more or less confined spaces. However the engagement member  30  could be formed into other shapes including a simple cylinder as seen in  FIG. 7  a grooved cylinder as in  FIG. 6 , or a sphere, gear or sprocket as in  FIG. 12  as a person reasonably skilled would determine as best fitting the situation.  FIG. 2  shows the housing cover  22  partially removed showing the shaft  20  as continuing through housing cover  22  attached to the engagement member  30 . 
     In  FIG. 2  and  FIG. 3 , optional components are shown. At the proximal end of the shaft  38  and attachment means  36  and a spacer  28 . This spacer  28  may also be a means to help distribute force imparted by the attachment means on the engagement member  30 . These help keep the engagement member  30  in place. The proximal end of the shaft  20  may be threaded depending on the attachment means  36  chosen. Although the attachment means  36  shown are nuts on a threaded tip  38  of the shaft  20 , it is by no means limited to that as any number of attachment means  36  can be determined as functional by one skilled in the art. The housing cover  22  has spacers  24  on each end in order to reduce wear and tear on the cover due to the rotation of the rotatable item. These spacers  24  may be bearings or other means to reduce friction between the housing cover  22  and the shaft  20 . However, such spacers are not required. There may also be attachment means  26  such as washers with nuts on either end of the housing cover  22  to prevent movement of the housing cover along the shaft  20 . Again, such attachment means are not required, but each will assist in reducing harm to the housing cover  22  and engagement member  30 . 
       FIG. 3  shows removable attachment means  36 , which allows the engagement member to be removed and, thus, replaceable. The fasteners located on a threaded tip  38  of the shaft  20  also allow the engagement means  30  to be replaced with variable sizes and shapes while the rest of the tool remains the same. The shown removable attachment  36  means again is by no means limited to that as shown as any number of removable attachment means can be determined as functional by one skilled in the art. 
     In  FIG. 4 , the engagement member  30  is shown as a solid drum with several facets. The first is a centered flattened section  32 , and the second are two conical sections  34 . The conical sections  34  allow more contact between the engagement member  30  and the rotatable item  423 . This allows the engagement member more control and even a longer reach. This choice of facets allows the operator more functionality and choice, but it is not necessary. A cylinder such as in  FIG. 7  is functional even if it may wear more at the proximal tip due to more use. 
       FIG. 5  shows a flexible section  40  in the shaft  20  and housing cover  22  to allow the shaft to bend so that the engagement member  30  may reach into otherwise inaccessible areas. 
       FIG. 6  shows the device in a stand  12  with a clamping means  10  and stabilization means  14 . The stand  12  allows the device to be used hands-free. The clamping means  10  connects to the housing cover  22  and the stabilization means  14  interfaces with another object to allow the stand  12  to be stable during use. The stabilization means  14  could be legs as shown or it could be another clamping means to allow clamping to a stable object such as an automobile frame. In addition, the feet  16  could be supplemented with suction cups or adhesive to allow a better connection for more stability. 
       FIG. 8  shows the device being used with a belt  18  intermediary between the engagement member  30  and another rotatable item  433 . This allows the device to impart rotation even to items for which it may not be able to have direct contact. For this, the engagement member  30  as seen in  FIG. 7  or  FIG. 5  allow for the least chance of slippage of the belt  18 . 
       FIGS. 9A and 9B  shows a preferred embodiment, wherein the shaft is telescoping and flexible. The telescoping shaft may be composed of a plurality of shaft components, each of which has a different radius, allowing the shaft components to collapse into each other and extend from each other in order of radius.  FIG. 10  shows a preferred embodiment with a telescoping shaft, wherein the shaft is composed of an outer shaft component with a large radius  42  and an inner shaft component with a small radius  44 . The shaft components may lock into an extended position using any means known to those of ordinary skill in the art. For example, a pin attached to a spring  46  may slide into a notch  48  in the outer shaft in order to lock the shaft components in place.