Abstract:
A self-gradually locking chuck for drills or similar devices particularly suitable for portable drills used in surgery. It includes a cylindrical sleeve which can be coaxially fixed to a rotating shaft, a ferrule having a conical section provided internally with lobes, a cylindrical portion at one of its ends for engagement with said sleeve and a cylindrical portion at the other end. A first mounting, perforated longitudinally by a hole, includes a central portion having locking jaws which are movable in holes in a direction convergent upon the axis of the chuck and two second mountings opposite to the central body. A spring and centering device are provided. A cylindrical ferrule is threaded to a part of the first mounting as it projects from the first-mentioned ferrule. The first mounting and ferrule move axially in relation to each other and in relation to the cylindrical sleeve in which the ferrule can be releasably secured to the cylindrical ferrule by a retaining device. The second mountings are releasably secured to the sleeve by a retaining device.

Description:
SUMMARY 
     The self-gradually locking chuck for drills and similar devices particularly suitable for portable drills for surgical use consists of a cylindrical sleeve (10,10&#39;) which can be fixed axially to the shaft of a drill, a predominantly tapering ferrule (29,29&#39;) with lobes (32,32&#39;) which can be axially engaged with the sleeve, means (23,23&#39;) for centering the tool and at least one spring (26,26&#39;) located within a hollow space (19,51) in the sleeve and a mounting (34) with a central hole (41) and holes (44,44&#39;,44&#34;) in which jaws (35,35&#39;,35&#34;) are housed, the said mounting and the said ferrule being releasably lockable together and being axially movable with respect to each other and the sleeve, and a ferrule (43,43&#39;) which can be screwed onto an externally threaded portion (38) of mounting (34) projecting from ferrule (29,29&#39;). 
     DESCRIPTION 
     The chucks currently in use for hand operated or electrical drills which may be used in surgery clamp a tool, for example a drilling bit, by means of jaws which are tightened on the tool by use of a pinion key acting on a rack on the chuck. The reverse operation must be performed in order to remove the tool from the chuck. 
     This method of tightening and opening the chuck is inconvenient and entails a considerable loss of time. 
     In fact it happens that while one hand holds the body of the drill firmly the other hand inserts the drilling bit and must leave the bit between the jaws in order to turn the locking key. The drilling bit, which is left free, may slip out of the chuck and fall, with the disadvantage that some time is lost in order to recover the bit, or may become jammed between the jaws without adopting a position which is perfectly coaxial with the axis of the chuck. 
     The need always to use a key for locking and opening lengthens the time required for changing bits, which is a serious disadvantage in particular when the drill is used for surgical purposes, for example. 
     Another defect of the chucks currently in use is that the drilling bit may slip between the locking jaws, which is particularly inconvenient when for example the drill is used in surgery. 
     This slippage is sometimes due to the fact that locking by means of the key, being unchanging and depending on the strength of the operator, may not be sufficient to ensure that the bit is firmly held when this encounters considerable resistance in the medium being drilled, and sometimes due to the fact that the bit has been locked in a position which is not perfectly coaxial with the axis of the chuck, with the result that during the initial rotations the bit tends to align itself with the chuck leaving play between bit and the locking jaws. 
     A further inconvenience is due to the fact that the chucks currently in use are particularly difficult to disassemble into their component parts, and sometimes render this impossible, thus giving rise to places in which dirt and therefore germs may lodge. We may in particular mention the rack which is engaged by the pinion key, the jaws themselves and the hollow space within which they are housed, with the result that a long and difficult sterilisation procedure is required before the drill can be used in an operating theater. 
     The object of this invention is to overcome the abovementioned deficiences. 
     The main advantages of the invention lie in the fact that the procedures for inserting or removing a tool are particularly simple and quick and do not require a locking key, ensure that the shank of the tool is always coaxial with the axis of the chuck and is gradually and automatically clamped between the jaws with the force necessary to prevent any slipping of the tool by virtue of the rotations of the chuck only. Another advantage lies in the fact that once the tool has been inserted in the chuck, it cannot fall to the ground while the drill is being handled, since it is springly secured among the jaws. 
     Furthermore, as a result of the particularly simple structure of the component parts of the self-gradually locking chuck, the chuck can easily be dismantled and sterilized before use in an operating theater. 
     Once the tool has been inserted the special symmetry of the structure of the self-gradually locking chuck increases the automatic locking when the shaft rotates in either one direction or the opposite direction. 
     A further advantage is provided by the fact that clamping of the tool does not depend on the strength of the operator but is proportional to the resistance against the rotary motion of any tool held in the self-gradually locking chuck, there being therefore no danger that the bit may slip because the grip is insufficient. 
    
    
     Further advantages will appear in the course of the following detailed description in which some of the possible embodiments of the invention are described by way of example in a non-restrictive manner and illustrated in the attached two sheets of drawings in which: 
     FIG. 1 provides a diagrammatical exploded view of a gradually self-locking chuck according to the invention in partial cross-section, 
     FIG. 2 provides a view from the base of the tapering ferrule in FIG. 1, 
     FIG. 3 provides a view from the base of a variant embodiment of the ferrule illustrated in the foregoing figure, 
     FIG. 4 provides a view of the assembled chuck in FIG. 1, in partial cross-section, in the position of maximum retraction for the insertion of a tool, 
     FIG. 5 provides a view similar to that in FIG. 4 in which the tool, once it has been inserted, is locked in the chuck through the action of a spring, 
     FIG. 6 provides a view similar to that of FIG. 5, in partly truncated form, with a variant embodiment of the jaws, 
     FIG. 7 provides a similar view to that in the foregoing figure with a second variant embodiment of the jaws, 
     FIG. 8 provides a partial view of the chuck in FIG. 1 with means for centering the tool located within the self-gradually locking chuck itself, 
     FIG. 9 provides an assembled view, in partial cross-section, of another embodiment of the invention. 
    
    
     Bearing in mind that the figures are not to one scale and that like numerical labels correspond to identical or equivalent parts it will be seen in FIG. 1 that the self-gradually locking chuck consists essentially of a sleeve (10), a ferrule (29) within which lies a mounting (34) enclosing the locking jaws which consist of spheres (35). 
     Sleeve (10), of cylindrical shape, is provided at one end (11) with a cylindrical cavity (12) which is coaxial with the chuck and into which may be inserted the shank of a drill not illustrated in the drawings. For insertion of the shank, sleeve (10) is provided with a hole (13) which cuts the axis (14) of the chuck at right angles and provides a seat for the shank (15) of a bolt with a head (16) which may be housed in recess (17). Bolt (15,16) and the corresponding hole (13,17) in sleeve (10) and on the shaft of the drill may be replaced by any known means whatsoever, such as through bolts or keys, which are capable of preventing relative rotation of the two components. 
     The other end (18) of sleeve (10) is provided with a cylindrical space (19) which is itself coaxial with the axis (14) of the sleeve and is connected at the top via bevel (20) to an annular recess (21) connected via a tapering thread (22) to the external surface of said end (18). A bush (23) for centering the tool which is to be used with the drill may be placed at the bottom of space (19). For this purpose the said bush (23) has within itself a hole (24) which tapers towards the base and externally an annular cylindrical projection (25) on which rests a cylindrical spiral spring (26) of external diameter slightly less than the diameter of space (19) so that it can extend and contract without any obstruction within the said space. 
     The ends (11,18) of said sleeve (10) have suitably bevelled external edges to prevent injury to persons or objects when it is rotated at high speed and in addition to this the chuck may be attached to any one or two speed drill, rotating clockwise or anticlockwise, or a drill of the hammer drill type, without thereby altering the essential characteristics of the invention. 
     Part (18) of the sleeve is also provided with a threaded hole (27), the axis of which cuts the axis (14) of the chuck at right angles, in order that ferrule (29) may be fixed to sleeve (10) by means of a bolt (28) with a hexagonal socket head. 
     Although not illustrated in the drawings, ferrule (29) and sleeve (10) may be secured together by means of several bolts (28) placed radially with respect to the axis (14) of the chuck, or by any known means equivalent to those described above. 
     Ferrule (29) which encloses mounting (34) and spherical jaws (35) has a hollow cylindrical rear portion (30) which can be placed over the end portion (18) of the sleeve in order to be secured by bolt (28) passing through a hole (28&#39;), a central hollow tapering portion (31) internally shaped with lobes (32), within which run spheres (35), and ends in a hollow cylindrical portion (33). 
     The external edges of the two ends of the said ferrule (29) are bevelled so as to prevent injury to persons or objects while the chuck is rotating. 
     As will be illustrated below, the shaping of the internal surface of the central part (31) plays a fundamental part in securing the bit while the chuck is rotating. 
     Mounting (34) and spherical jaws (35) are mounted within ferrule (29). 
     Mounting (34) has a posterior part (36), a central part (37) and an anterior part (38). 
     Part (36) is a hollow cylinder provided with an annular thickening (39) at its free end which moves axially within space (19) in part (18) of the sleeve. 
     Cylindrical part (38) has an internal tapering recess (40) for insertion of the posterior end of the shank of the tool, in order that the latter may subsequently be fixed. Said tapering recess (40) continues into a cylindrical hole (41) which also passes to the central (37) and posterior (36) parts of the mounting, this hole corresponding to the maximum diameter of the shank of the tool inserted into the chuck. The external surface of said part (38) is also threaded (42), and cylindrical ferrule (43) is threaded onto this. 
     Tapering part (37) forms the true enclosures for spheres (35). In addition to axial hole (41) this also has three cylindrical holes (44) placed radially and 120° apart with respect to the axis (14) of the chuck. Spheres (35) which have a diameter slightly smaller than that of the said holes (44) are located in the holes and are constantly pressed towards the axis (24) of the chuck by the surfaces of lobes (32) through the action of spring (26) and subsequently by the rotation of the chuck itself. Said mounting (34), which is partly located within ferrule (29) and partly within sleeve (10), which can move axially with respect to these, is constantly pushed towards the anterior portion of the chuck by cylindrical return spring (26). 
     Said spring (26) has one end in contact with the lower part of the annular thickening (39) in the posterior part (36) of the mounting, while its other end encloses the external part of centering bush (23) and is supported on the annular projection (25) thereof, finding its own seat in the base of space (19) in sleeve (10). 
     Ferrule (43) engages the external thread (42) of mounting (34) with its thread (45) and has an internal annular recess (46) to house section (33) of ferrule (29). 
     Ferrule (43) has the primary function of acting as a &#34;hand grip&#34; for easier grasping by the operator when the latter prepares to insert the tool in the chuck. 
     As may be seen in FIG. 1, by manual pressure on ferrule (43), which is just threaded on thread (42), mounting (34) may be made to move axially, overcoming the resistance of spring (26), until the posterior part (36) is wholly inserted within space (19) in the sleeve so that the posterior end surface (47) of central portion (37) of mounting (34) does not rest on the base of cavity (21). In this position spheres (35) are free to move within holes (44), because of the tapering shape of mounting (29), moving away from the axis (14) of the chuck, up to the maximum possible distance, possibly also as a result of the force exerted upon them by the insertion of the tool in the chuck. 
     In this way these spheres completely leave cylindrical hole (41). Tool (48), which is inserted easily through opening (40) until it reaches centering bush (23) is located with its bottom part concentric with the axis of the chuck on account of tapering hole (24). After this the operator lets go of ferrule (43) so that spring (26) expands causing mounting (34) to project with its anterior portion (38) outside cylindrical section (33). During this movement of mounting (34) spheres (35), which are drawn along in this movement, are forced by lobes (32) towards the axis (14) of the chuck so as to exert a certain pressure against the shank of tool (48). It is therefore obvious tha the tool will be perfectly coaxial with the axis of the chuck, its lower part being centered by bush (23) and its central part being secured by the three spheres (35) which act on it with a concentric force towards the axis of the chuck. In this position tool (48), although not pushed home into the chuck, remains attached to it during the handling to which the drill may be subjected before it is moved into the correct position to begin work. 
     After the tool has been inserted as described above, ferrule (43) is screwed down until the base of cavity (46) reaches section (33) of ferrule (29). 
     If the chuck is in the situation with the tool inserted but with ferrule (43) not yet screwed down, the user runs the risk that the chuck may open, releasing the too, and cause inconvenience through accidental impact against ferrule (43) or the part (38) of the mounting projecting from the ferrule. 
     When however ferrule (43) from the position described above as illustrated in FIG. 5 is screwed down onto the thread (42), mounting (34) is fixed in a specific position with respect to ferrule (29) and sleeve (10) so that the user no longer runs the risk that the chuck may be opened by an accidental impact against the ferrule which is capable of overcoming the resistance of spring (26) to push mounting (34) into the chuck, displacing spheres (35) from the locking position. 
     As will be seen particularly in FIG. 2, the tapering internal wall of ferrule (29) has recesses or lobes (32) with a cylindrical or conical surface, or, as will be seen in FIG. 3, these lobes which start at their end with a conical or cylindrical surface end up as inclined planes (32&#39;) to increase the distance between the internal wall of the ferrule and the axis (14) of the chuck and permit spheres (35) to be housed in the said lobes (32,32&#39;). 
     When the chuck is caused to rotate, spheres (35) are obliged by inertial forces, regardless of the direction of rotation of the chuck, to rise from the base of the lobes towards the three remaining sectors (32&#34;) of the tapering internal wall of the ferrule, thus coming closer to the central axis of the chuck, extering a greater compression force on the tool. Definitive locking is achieved when the tool begins work, because the friction exerted for example by the medium through which the drilling bit passes causes the spheres to rotate around the axis of the chuck, aiding them to raise along the surface of lobes (32, 32&#39;) and thus rendering the locking force on the bit proportional to the resistance against the rotary motion of the tool fitted to the chuck, thus preventing the shank of the tool from slipping because of inadequate grip. 
     With particular reference to FIG. 6, it will be noted that jaws (35&#39;) instead of consisting of spheres as in the previous figures consist of barrel-shaped rollers which can move in channels (44&#39;) of cross-section corresponding to the median cross-section of the rollers, the axes of these channels constituting the generatrices of an ideal conical surface converging towards the axis (14) of the chuck. Again in this case, as in the case of the spherical jaws, there are only three points of contact between rollers (35&#39;) and the tool, located radially at 120° around the axis (14) of the chuck. 
     With reference to FIG. 7, it should be noted that jaws (35&#34;) are constructed from rollers having an external frustoconical surface with a generatrix parallel to the axis (14) of the chuck, these jaws being able to move within channels (44&#34;) of cross-section corresponding to the median cross-section of rollers (35&#34;), the axes of these channels forming the generatrices of an ideal conical surface convering towards the axis (14) of the chuck. In this embodiment jaws (35&#34;) are in contact with the tool along three generatrices of the external surface of the jaws and not with only three points as in the foregoing embodiments. 
     It is obvious from the above that the axes of channels (44) in FIGS. 1 and 5 may also form the generatrices of an ideal conical surface which also converges towards the axis (14) of the chuck without the fundamental characteristics of the invention being thereby altered. 
     It is obvious to one skilled in the art, even though it is not illustrated in the drawings, that any chuck may be provided with several sets of jaws (35, 35&#39; or 35&#34;) spaced along the axis of the chuck and may also for example have more than three jaws. 
     With particular reference to FIG. 8 it will be noted that the means (23&#39;) consist of the tapering base (24&#39;) of space (19) which starts from an annular recess (25&#39;) in the wall of space (19), this recess forming a seat for spring (26). 
     With particular reference to FIG. 9 it will be noted that the parts forming the chuck are substantially equivalent to those in FIG. 1 even though they are identified by 10&#39;, 23&#39;, 25&#39;, 26&#39;, 29&#39;, 30&#39; and 43&#39; in order to distinguish between them. The salient difference is that ferrule (29&#39;) is not integral with sleeve (10&#39;) but is capable of movement relative to it as a result of three draw springs (26&#39;) which are anchored by one end to retaining recesses (49) integral with sleeve (10&#39;) and by the other end to recess (50) integral with ferrule (29&#39;). The latter recess (50) can be moved within cavity (51) in which the said springs (26&#39;) are housed. 
     In order to insert a tool into this type of chuck the operator must push ferrule (29&#39;) upwards in FIG. 9 overcoming the resistance of springs (26&#39;) in order to move the chuck into the position in FIG. 9. In this position ferrule (29&#39;) remains engaged with ferrule (43&#39;) by means of a releasable retaining device (52). Device (52) consists of a spring (53) having a sphere (54) at one end and its other end anchored in a cavity in the cylindrical part (33) of ferrule (29&#39;), the said cavity being bounded by a ring having an internal diameter which is less than the diameter of the sphere. As a consequence, when ferrule (29&#39;) enters the cavity in cylindrical ferrule (43&#39;) the spring is compressed by sphere (54), which is pushed by the lower internal edge of cylindrical ferrule (43&#39;), and immediately afterwards expands to press the said sphere into an annular groove having a semicircular cross-section of radius corresponding to the radius of the sphere in order to hold ferrule (29&#39;) despite the return force exerted by spring (26&#39;) when the operator releases ferrule (29&#39;) to insert the shank of a tool (48) into the chuck. 
     For jaws (35) to close again on the shank of tool (48) all that is required is that the operator should place his hand on the external tapering portion of ferrule (29&#39;) and exert a light pressure downwardly in FIG. 9 to release the sphere (54) from the annular channel in which it is houses. Springs (26&#39;) then automatically move the ferrule (29&#39;) downwards, securing and centering the shank of the tool in the chuck. 
     It should also be noted that in this particular embodiment of the chuck a check on the precise location of tool shank (36&#39;) is obtained by means of a device (55) which is entirely similar in its constituent parts to device (52) described. 
     It is obvious to one skilled in the art that these devices (52) and (55) can also be applied to the chucks illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 7 and can each be replaced by any known means capable of keeping the two parts associated with these devices together in a separable way. 
     Subsequent operations such as the screwing up and/or unscrewing of ferrule (43&#39;) and the action of jaws (35) are identical to those described previously in relation in FIGS. 1, 4 and 5. 
     Removal of the tool after unscrewing ferrule (43&#39;), is achieved by pressing ferrule (29&#39;) into the position illustrated in FIG. 9, that is to say in the position in which it engages with said ferrule (43&#39;) allowing the tool to be removed easily. 
     Although it is not shown in the drawings the chuck may be constructed so that it is electrically insulated from the drill shaft, for example by painting its component with insulating paint.