Blind alignment and clamp up tool

A clamping tool for removing the gap between and temporarily clamping workpieces together for subsequent fastening and having a cable actuated toggle member for engagement with one side of the workpieces and a nut member engageable with the opposite side of the workpieces.

SUMMARY BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention relates to apparatus for temporarily clamping 
workpieces together to facilitate the subsequent, permanent securement of 
the workpieces together. 
In many structural applications it is desirable to secure workpieces such 
as structural members together by use of blind fasteners. However, 
frequently the workpieces in their prefastened condition are spaced apart 
at the desired fastening location whereby fastening can be inhibited or 
require the use of fasteners having a large grip capability. The present 
invention provides a unique clamping tool or device for temporarily 
clamping the workpieces together, thereby removing the space or gap 
therebetween and thus facilitating the application of permanent fasteners 
of a minimal or routine size for such workpieces. After the permanent 
fasteners have been installed the unique clamping device can be removed 
and used in other applications. 
In this regard the clamping tool functions somewhat as a blind fastener 
since it can be applied and removed from one side of the workpieces being 
secured without the need for access to the other side. While it is 
believed that the device of the present invention will be most 
advantageously used in applications where blind fasteners are to be 
installed it can be used to temporarily clamp workpieces together for 
other purposes including, by way of example, fastening by non-blind 
fasteners and welding. The clamping tool can also be utilized to clamp the 
workpieces together to facilitate drilling of aligned holes through the 
workpieces for fasteners to be installed or for other processing. 
Thus it is an object of the present invention to provide a unique device 
for temporarily clamping workpieces together to facilitate subsequent 
fastening. 
It is another object to provide such a clamping device which can be applied 
and removed with access only to one side of the workpieces. 
It is a general object of the present invention to provide a unique device 
for temporarily clamping workpieces together.

DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION 
Looking now to FIGS. 1-3 of the drawings, a clamping tool 10 is shown in 
assembly relationship with a pair of workpieces 12 and 14 having generally 
aligned bores 13 and 15, respectively. The clamping tool 10 includes an 
elongated pin member or support shaft 16 having an axially extending 
through bore 18. A slotted, inner end portion 20 of the support shaft 16 
has a pair of diametrically opposite slots 22, 22' which are in 
communication with the confronting portion of the through bore 18. The 
slots 22, 22' have a width W1 (see FIG. 4) for a purpose to be seen. A 
threaded portion 24 is spaced from the slotted portion 20 by a thread 
relief groove 27. The diameter of the threaded portion 24 across the crest 
of the threads is generally the same as the diameter of the generally 
smooth slotted portion 20. An opposite, outer end portion 26 is of a 
reduced diameter and has a section 28 provided with a relatively light, 
straight knurl which serves a purpose to be described. The knurled section 
28 provides a roughened surface to facilitate gripping by hand and/or a 
plier type device. 
The clamping tool 10 further includes an actuator rod 30 having a generally 
uniform diameter and of a size to be slidingly received in the through 
bore 18 of support shaft 16 with a slight clearance fit. The actuator rod 
30 terminates at its outer end in a reduced diameter, threaded portion 32. 
An enlarged knob member 34 is adapted to be threadably secured to the 
threaded portion 32 of the actuator rod 30. The knob member 34 can be 
fixed from rotation by the application a suitable plastic adhesive 
material such as the adhesive sold under the tradename LOCTITE "Red". 
An axially extending anti-rotation groove 36 is provided at the outer end 
of the actuator rod 30. The groove 36 is adapted to receive a radially 
extending set screw 38 at the outer end portion 26 of the support shaft 
16. In this way relative rotation between the support shaft 16 and 
actuator rod 30 is prevented while permitting relative axial movement 
therebetween. 
An enlarged nut member 40 has a through bore with its forward or inner end 
portion 42 having an internal thread form adapted to threadably engage the 
threaded portion 24 of support shaft 16. The nut member 40 has a 
counterbored portion 44 at its rearward or outer end adapted to be 
received over the threaded portion 24 with a slight clearance. The outer 
surface of the nut member 40 is of a hexagonal or other well known 
irregular configuration (not shown) adapted to be gripped by a standard 
wrench or tool. The counterbored portion 44 permits the clamping tool 10 
to be used with workpieces having a substantially reduced overall 
thickness from that as shown for the workpieces 12 and 14. In these 
applications the nut member 40 can be threaded onto the threaded portion 
24 from the opposite end thereby permitting the adjacent section of the 
smooth inner end portion 20 of the support shaft 16 to be received in the 
counterbored portion 44 in a clearance relationship. At the same time the 
overall length of the nut member 40 can be optimized to facilitate 
gripping and turning by hand or by a suitable tool. In one form of the 
invention, a nut member 40 can be provided having its threaded end portion 
42 with a minor or crest diameter of around 0.865 inches and a pitch 
diameter of around 0.895 inches. The counterbored portion 44 can be 
provided with a diameter of around 1.0 inches which provides clearance 
with the threaded portion 24 having a major or crest diameter of around 
0.924 inches. The axial length of the nut member 40 can be around 3.0 
inches with the axial length of the threaded portion 42 being around 1.0 
inches and the axial length of the counterbored portion 44 being around 
2.0 inches. The outer surface of the nut member 40 can be provided with a 
hexagonal shape with diametrically opposed flats being spaced around 1.75 
inches apart. Thus the nut member 40 would have an overall length 
providing a significant engagement surface area for a wrench. At the same 
time the nut member 40 with the extended counterbored portion 44 permits 
the nut member 40 and hence the clamping tool 10 to be utilized with 
workpieces, such as workpieces 12 and 14, varying in total thickness over 
a significant range. 
The clamping tool 10 includes a toggle member 46 which is of a generally 
flat, plate like construction having a generally rectangular shape. The 
toggle member 46 is of a thickness T1 (see FIG. 7) and is adapted to be 
slidably received in the slots 22, 22' with a slight clearance fit 
relative to the slot width W1. In this regard the width W1 of slots 22, 
22' is substantially less than the diameter D1 (see FIG. 4) of the through 
bore 18 and in one form of the invention was around 30% less. The toggle 
member 46 has a through bore 48 having its axis X1 at a point midway along 
its length L (see FIG. 6). At the same time, however, the axis X1 is 
located slightly off center along the width W2 of the toggle member 46. 
Each of the four end surfaces of the toggle member 46 is curved having a 
diameter generally equal to the thickness T1. The curved surfaces 
facilitate sliding relative to surfaces engaged thereby during operation 
of the clamping tool 10. A hardened, spherical ball member 50 is adapted 
to be located in the through bore 48 in toggle member 46 with a slight 
clearance fit to permit rolling therein. At the same time, the ball member 
50 and the associated bore 48 are of a diameter generally equal to the 
diameter D1 of the shaft bore 18 in support shaft 16 to provide rolling 
engagement with the bore surface. The slot 22' is provided with a radial 
bore 52 near its rearward end. The radial bore 52 is of a diameter to 
receive the ball member 50 in clearance relationship whereby the toggle 
member 46 with the ball member 50 in the ball retaining bore 48 can be 
moved through the slot 22' with the ball member 50 moving through the 
radial bore 52 until it is seated in the axial shaft bore 18. 
The toggle member 46 is operably connected to the actuator rod 30 by a 
cable 54. Looking now to FIGS. 1-4, it can be seen that the cable 54 has 
one end connected to the longitudinal end 49 of the toggle member 46 by 
way of a longitudinal bore 56 (see FIGS. 6 and 7). A set screw 58 extends 
through a transverse bore 60 intersecting the longitudinal bore 56 whereby 
the end of the cable 54 in the longitudinal bore 56 can be clamped in 
place. The longitudinal bore 56 and hence the location of the connection 
of the end of the cable 54 is rearwardly offset from the longitudinal 
center line X2 of the toggle member 46 and is even farther offset from the 
longitudinal center line X3 of the transverse ball retaining bore 48 and 
associated spherical ball member 50. Since the toggle member 46 is mounted 
on the ball member 50 for pivotal movement about the axis X1 of the bore 
48, and hence of the ball member 50, this offset provides a moment arm M 
between the connecting point of the cable 54 to the toggle member 46 and 
its axis X1 of rotation to thereby facilitate the pivotal actuation of the 
toggle member 46 by the actuator rod 30 through the cable 54. 
In this regard the opposite end of the cable 54 is connected to the inner 
end of the actuator rod 30. That end of the cable 54 is located in an 
axial bore 62 in the inner end of the actuator rod 30 and is fixed there 
by one or more set screws 64 located in a radially intersecting through 
bore. 
The cable 54 while flexible has sufficient stiffness to permit manipulation 
of the toggle member 46 by the axial movement of the actuator rod 30 
pulling and pushing on the cable 54. In one form of the invention the 
cable 54 was of a 11.times.19 stranded stainless steel cable having a 
diameter of around 0.0625 inches. 
The opposite radially outer sides of the slot 22' are chamfered to provide 
chamfered surfaces 66. The chamfered surfaces 66 along with the radius of 
curvature provided on the surface of the toggle member 46 adapted to 
engage the inside surface 70 of workpiece 12 provides clearance for the 
cable 54. This clearance inhibits the cable 54 from being caught between 
the engagement surface of the toggle member 46 and the inside surface 70 
of the workpiece 12. This can be seen in FIG. 5 which illustrates the 
clearance provided. The chamfered surfaces 66 also act as a guide for the 
cable 54. In addition the angulation of the chamfer avoids sharp corners 
and thereby provides a smoother surface for engagement with the cable 54. 
It should also be noted that the point of connection of the cable 54 to 
the toggle member 46 is offset relative to the center line T2 midway along 
its thickness T1 (see FIG. 7). This tends to locate the cable 54 somewhat 
off center from the thickness midpoint and thus further assists in 
locating the cable 54 to one side thereby positioning the cable 54 away 
from the engaging surfaces and into the clearance provided by the toggle 
member 46 and slot 22'. 
Looking now to FIG. 1, the clamping device 10 is initially placed in its 
pre-actuated condition by simply pulling, in the direction of the Arrow 
P1, on the actuator rod 30 and cable 54 to pivot the toggle member 46 to 
its reclined position in which it is generally completely within the 
confines of the support shaft 16. In this regard the width W2 of the 
toggle member 46 is generally around the outside diameter D2 of the inner 
end portion 20 of the support shaft 16. The inner end portion 20 of the 
support shaft 16 is then extended through the aligned bores 13 and 15 in 
workpieces 12 and 14 in a clearance relationship. In this condition the 
clamping device 10 and workpieces 12 and 14 are in the positions generally 
as shown in FIG. 1. Next the actuator rod 30 is pushed, in the direction 
of Arrow P2, into the through bore 18 of support shaft 16 acting on the 
cable 54 to pivot the toggle member 46 at least partially to an upright 
position as shown in FIG. 2. Now the nut member 40 is threaded further 
onto the threaded portion 24 of the support shaft 16 into engagement with 
the outer surface 68 of workpiece 14 while moving the toggle member 46 
into engagement with the inner surface 70 of the workpiece 12. Further 
threading of the nut member 40 with the toggle member 46 now in its fully 
upright position will draw the workpieces 12 and 14 together to remove the 
gap therebetween as shown in FIG. 3. The nut member 40 can be torqued onto 
the threaded portion 24 by a wrench (not shown) having a standard, 
configuration matably engageable with the outer surface of the nut member 
40. 
In the fully clamped position of FIGS. 3 and 4, the innermost end 41 of the 
toggle member 46 is in full engagement with the similarly contoured inner 
end surface 43 of the slots 22, 22'. This provides not only substantial 
bearing surfaces to react the applied loads but also provides engaged 
components having a high shear and compressive strength at these 
locations. Now with the workpieces 12 and 14 firmly clamped together they 
can be permanently secured together by standard fasteners or some other 
means such as welding. With the workpieces 12 and 14 secured together the 
clamping device 10 can be actuated in the reverse order and returned to 
its condition of FIG. 1 for removal and use in other similar applications. 
Thus a clamping device 10 of a relatively simple construction and operation 
has been provided for clamping workpieces together to facilitate their 
subsequent permanent connection. 
A modified form of the invention is shown in FIGS. 8-10 where components 
similar to like components of the embodiment of FIGS. 1-7 have been given 
the same numeral designation with the addition of the letter postscript 
"a". Unless described otherwise the like numbered components can be 
considered to be of substantially the same construction and to function 
similarly. Thus, for purposes of brevity, the details of all components 
will not be repeated, 
Looking now to FIGS. 8-10 of the drawings, the clamping tool 10a is shown 
in assembly relationship with workpieces 12a and 14a having generally 
aligned bores 13a and 15a, respectively. The clamping tool 10a includes an 
elongated, generally solid support rod 16a having a generally uniform 
maximum outer diameter. An inner end portion 20a of the support rod 16a 
has a diametrically extending through slot 22a. A threaded outer end 
portion 24a is spaced from the slotted portion 20a by a thread relief 
groove 27a. The free or outer end of the threaded portion 24a is provided 
with a plurality of flats 29a to facilitate gripping by a tool and/or by 
hand. 
An enlarged nut member 40a has a through bore with its forward or inner end 
42a having an internal thread form adapted to threadably engage the 
threaded portion 24a of support rod 16a. The nut member 40a has a 
counterbored portion 44a at its rearward or outer end adapted to be 
received over the threaded portion 24a with a slight clearance. The nut 
member 40a is of substantially the same construction and function as nut 
member 40 of FIGS. 1-7 and hence those details will not be repeated here. 
The clamping tool 10a includes a toggle member 46a which is of a generally 
flat, plate like construction having a generally rectangular shape. The 
toggle member 46a is of a thickness adapted to be slidably received in the 
slot 22a with a slight clearance fit relative to the slot width. The 
toggle member 46a has a through bore 48a having its axis X1a at a point 
midway along its length. At the same time, however, the axis X1a is 
located off center along the width of the toggle member 46a. The toggle 
member 46a has one corner 47 with a curved surface having a relatively 
large radius which in one embodiment was around 0.60 of the width of 
toggle member 46a. The curved or arcuate corner 47 facilitates sliding 
engagement relative to end surface 43a of the slot 22a engaged thereby 
during operation of the clamping tool 10a. An elongated, split spring type 
pin 51 is adapted to be located with resilient gripping, engagement in the 
through bore 48a in toggle member 46a. The support rod 16a has a pair of 
axially extending diametrically opposed guide slots 53 in quadrature with 
and which communicate with the slot 22a. At the same time, the pin 51 when 
resiliently installed in the bore 48a is of a diameter generally equal to 
the width of the guide slots 53 to provide sliding engagement therein with 
a reasonably close clearance fit. 
The toggle member 46a is operably connected to an actuator cable 54a. The 
cable 54a has one end connected by a pivot pin 55 located at and pivotally 
connected to one side of the toggle member 46a near the end 45 which is 
adapted to engage the end surface 43a of the slot 22a. 
The location of the connection of the end of the cable 54a is offset both 
widthwise and lengthwise from the center line of the pin 51. The pin 51 
being on the axis X1a is itself offset along the width of the toggle 
member 46a while being located generally centrally along its length. The 
noted offset provides a moment arm between the connecting point of the 
cable 54a and pivot pin 55 to the toggle member 46a and the pivot axis X1a 
of rotation of the pin 51 to thereby facilitate the pivotal actuation of 
the toggle member 46a by the cable 54a. A groove 57 extends axially across 
the length of the threaded portion 24a of the support rod 16a into 
communication with the through slot 22a. The location of the pivot pin 55 
and cable 54a place them at a level in line with and generally within the 
groove 57. 
Thus the actuator cable 54a and pivot pin 55 will be located in alignment 
with and within the groove 57 generally at all times. This arrangement 
literally precludes the cable 54a from being caught between the toggle 
member 46a and the inner surface 70a of the workpiece 12a during actuation 
and engagement. A snap ring 59 in a groove in the outer end of the end 
portion 20a further helps to retain the cable 54a within the groove 57. A 
second snap ring 61 is located within a groove at the outer end of the 
threaded portion 24a to maintain the cable 54a within the groove 57 
generally throughout the associated length of the support rod 16a (see 
FIG. 8). A cap 63 can be applied to the free end of the cable 54a to 
facilitate hand actuation. With this structure chamfered surfaces, such as 
surfaces 66 in slot 22' of the embodiment of FIGS. 1-7, are not required 
or provided in slot 22a and in addition the associated end surfaces of the 
toggle member 46a need not be extensively arcuately formed for clearance 
purposes as in the embodiment of FIGS. 1-7. 
The cable 54a while flexible has sufficient stiffness to permit 
manipulation of the toggle member 46a by axially pulling and pushing on 
the cable 54a. The cable 54a can be of the same construction as cable 54 
of FIGS. 1-7. 
The operation of the clamping device 10a is substantially the same as that 
of the device 10 and can be operated in the same sequence as shown and 
described in conjunction with FIGS. 1-3 by simply pulling and pushing on 
the actuator cable 54a to pivot the toggle member 46a to its desired 
positions. Similarly the nut member 40a is applied in the manner of nut 
member 40 to clamp the workpieces 12a and 14a firmly together as shown in 
FIGS. 8-10. 
With the workpieces 12a and 14a firmly clamped together they can be 
permanently secured together by standard fasteners or some other means 
such as welding or subject to other operations as desired. Upon the 
completion of the desired operation, the clamping device 10a can be 
actuated in the reverse order and returned to its deactivated condition 
for removal and use in other similar applications. 
Another modified form of the invention is shown in FIG. 11 which is 
substantially identical to the embodiment of FIGS. 8-10 except here the 
toggle member is in a fixed pivotal position in a slot through the support 
rod. Thus in the description of the embodiment of FIG. 11 components 
similar to like components of the embodiment of FIGS. 8-10 have been given 
the same numeral designation with the addition of the letter postscript 
"b". Unless described otherwise the like numbered components can be 
considered to function similarly and thus generally only the details of 
the differences in construction and operation of the clamping tool of FIG. 
11 relative to that of FIGS. 8-10 will be described for purposes of 
simplicity. 
Looking now to FIG. 11 of the drawings, the clamping tool 10b is shown in 
assembly relationship with workpieces 12b and 14b having generally aligned 
bores 13b and 15b, respectively. The clamping tool 10b includes an 
elongated support rod 16b having an inner, end portion 20b with a 
diametrically extending through slot 22b. The support rod 16b is of 
essentially the same construction as support rod 16a except as shown and 
described. Thus the support rod 16b has a threaded outer end portion (not 
shown), such as end portion 24a, which is spaced from the slotted portion 
20b by a thread relief groove (not shown) such as groove 27b. 
The clamping tool 10b includes a toggle member 46b which is generally 
identical to toggle member 46a. The through bore 48b and its axis X1b are 
substantially the same as the similarly numbered counterparts of FIGS. 
8-10. In this construction, however, the support pin 51b, which is located 
in the through bore 48b, is pivotally supported in an axially fixed 
position in the slot 22b. 
The toggle member 46b is operably connected to actuator cable 54b by a 
pivot pin 55b pivotally supported at one side of the toggle member 46b 
near the end 45b. 
An offset similar to that of FIGS. 8-10 provides a moment arm between the 
connecting point of the cable 54b and pivot pin 55b to the toggle member 
46b and the pivot axis of the support pin 51b to facilitate the pivotal 
actuation of the toggle member 46b by the cable 54b. As with the 
embodiment of FIGS. 8-19 a groove 57b extends axially across the length of 
the threaded portion 24b of the support rod 16a into communication with 
the through slot 22b with the pivot pin 55b and cable 54b located 
generally within the groove 57b. 
Snap rings such as 59b at the outer end of the end portion 20b help to 
retain the cable 54b within the groove 57b across its length. 
The cable 54b, similarly to cables 54 and 54a, while flexible has 
sufficient stiffness to permit manipulation of the toggle member 46b by 
axially pulling and pushing on the cable 54b. 
The operation of the clamping device 10b is similar to that of the devices 
10 and 10a and can be operated in the same manner as shown and described 
in conjunction with FIGS. 1-3 and thus its operation is accomplished 
simply by pulling and pushing on the actuator cable 54b to pivot the 
toggle member 46b to its desired positions. The associated nut member (not 
shown), such as 40, 40a, is threaded further onto the threaded portion 
(not shown) such as threaded portion 24b of the support rod 16b, into 
engagement with the outer surface of workpiece 14b while moving the toggle 
member 46b into engagement with the inner surface 70b of the workpiece 
12b. Further threading of the nut member with the toggle member 46b now in 
its fully upright position will draw the workpieces 12b and 14b together 
to remove the gap as shown in FIG. 11. 
With the workpieces 12b and 14b firmly clamped together they can be 
permanently secured together or operated upon as previously described 
after which the clamping device 10a can be actuated in the reverse order 
and returned to its deactivated condition for removal and use in other 
similar applications. 
While it will be apparent that the preferred embodiments of the invention 
disclosed are well calculated to fulfill the objects stated above, it will 
be appreciated that the invention is susceptible to modification, 
variation and change without departing from the proper scope or fair 
meaning of the invention.