Flexible injector puller

A removal tool which includes an elongated member with two attachment devices of different size located at opposing ends thereof. A slidable hammer receives the elongated member through a longitudinal bore permitting it to slide the entire length of the elongated member which is formed of a flexible material. A component, i.e. a fuel injector, is removed by coupling a chosen attachment device to the component and then applying sharp upward strokes with the slide hammer against the remaining attachment device.

TECHNICAL FIELD 
The present invention is related to a tool for the removal of objects, and, 
more particularly to a tool used for removing fuel injectors from diesel 
engine blocks. 
BACKGROUND ART 
To satisfy the need for greater efficiency and increased emission control, 
modern diesel engines have become more complex increasing the difficulty 
of removing parts for repairs or replacement. More specifically, fuel 
injectors are especially difficult to remove because of carbon buildup in 
the injector receiving cavity. Fuel injectors adhere to the inner surface 
of the injector receiving cavity due to carbon build up at the tips of the 
fuel injector. Because of the carbon build up, impulse force must often be 
applied to remove an injector causing a risk of damaging the injector or 
possibly damaging the surrounding engine components. 
In the past, conventional tools, such as a crescent wrench, were used to 
clamp and loosen an injector. These tools, however, were not readily able 
to reach injectors in obstructed areas of the engine and could therefore 
cause damage to the injector or surrounding engine components. Moreover, 
excessive carbon build up at the tip of the injector between the injector 
body and the cavity in which it is received also required more force than 
a conventional tool could provide requiring manual tapping of the tool or 
injector body with a hammer, for example, which obviously could result in 
damage. 
Tools have been manufactured to attempt to solve the problem, however, many 
are not readily adaptable to avoid obstructions encountered in the engine. 
U.S. Pat. No. 4,293,992 issued to Webb discloses a diesel fuel injector 
tool for removing an injector without damaging adjacent component parts. 
The tool utilizes a rigid member having a U-shaped injector engaging 
structure at one end. The injector engaging structure requires that the 
injector be equipped with a ridge or lip to provide a leverage point. The 
rigidity of the tool may also limit its use in certain engines due to 
obstructions. 
U.S. Pat. No. 4,561,159 issued to Schuster discloses an adaptor and fitting 
for removing diesel engine fuel injectors and for connecting an impacting 
tool. The adaptor is designed to receive a gripping member at the top of 
the injector. This gripping member may be hexagonal in shape requiring the 
adapter to be forged as such. This requires different adapters to match 
differing fuel injectors. 
U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,572,370 and 4,034,594 issued to Moeller and Morgan, 
respectively, disclose impacting tools utilizing a slide hammer to provide 
impact force. These tools, however, are rigid and exhibit the same 
problems of adaptablity around obstructions as discussed previously. 
U.S. Pat. No. 3,691,610 issued to Harding discloses a die puller for 
removing die elements in printing equipment including a flexible member 
attached to a rigid slide hammer device. This device, however, requires at 
least three points of attachment and is equipped with only one removing 
head. Harding also does not teach its adaptability for the removal of fuel 
injectors. 
Accordingly, there is a need for a removal tool which overcomes the known 
problems and provides a simple device useable at a variety of angles to 
adapt to various obstructions. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
A primary objective of the present invention is to provide a simple removal 
tool including an elongated member equipped with a weighted hammering 
device and two differently shaped attachment couplings each located at 
opposing ends of the elongated member, respectively, for attachment to 
similarly shaped objects for removal. 
Another object of the present invention is to provide a simple removal tool 
as stated above wherein the elongated member is comprised of a flexible 
material, such as steel cable, to allow removal of objects from a variety 
of angles. 
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a simple removal 
tool as stated above in which the weighted hammering device is cylindrical 
in shape having a longitudinal bore to receive the elongated member to 
permit sliding. The hammering device is further equipped with hand guards 
to protect the user while attempting to remove an object. 
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a simple 
removal tool for removing fuel injectors including an elongated flexible 
member and a weighted hammering device having a longitudinal bore for 
slidably receiving the flexible member whereby the hammering device may be 
used to impart an impulse force to an abuttment member connected to one 
end of the elongated member. Connected at the other end of the elongated 
member is an attachment coupling, internally threaded, to allow coupling 
with a correspondingly sized threaded upper portion of the fuel injector 
being removed. Further, the abuttment member may be a second attachment 
coupling of a different size than the first coupling. 
These objectives are accomplished by providing a simple removal tool which 
includes two differently sized fuel line nuts soldered to the ends of an 
elongated member. Preferably, the elongated member is made of a flexible 
material, such as steel cable, to allow the removal of a fuel injector 
from a variety of angles. A weighted hammering device receives the 
elongated member in a longitudinal bore located along the center of the 
hammering device so that the device can slide freely up or down the 
elongated member. More specifically, to remove a fuel injector from a 
combustion engine, a threaded nut is coupled with the upper threaded 
portion of a fuel injector having the same dimension as the nut. Then, the 
hammer device is slid upward to strike the threaded nut at the opposite 
end of the elongated member, imposing an impulse force to the injector. 
Sharp upward strokes are continued until the fuel injector is pulled free 
from the injector cavity. 
Other and more specific objects of the invention may be understood from the 
following Brief Description of the Drawings and Detailed Description of 
the Preferred Embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
For a clear understanding of the subject invention reference is initially 
made to FIG. 1 in which a removal tool 10 designed in accordance with the 
subject invention is illustrated. In particular, the removal tool 10 in 
FIG. 1 includes an elongated flexible member 12 and a pair of engine fuel 
line nuts 14 and 16 connected at each end of member 12. Removal tool 10 
further includes a hammering device 24 which allows application of an 
impulse force against one of the fuel nuts 14 and 16. By using a flexible 
material for elongated member 12, objects, i.e. fuel injectors, may be 
removed from a variety of angles. The many unique features of removal tool 
10 will be better understood by a detailed explanation of the components 
and their function. 
Removal tool 10 includes elongated member 12 which is a single, continuous 
component. Preferably, elongated member 12 is composed of a flexible 
material, such as steel cable. The simplicity of elongated member 12 
allows the adaptation of a variety of different attachment devices to its 
opposing ends. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, fuel line nuts 14 and 16 
are utilized to facilitate removal of fuel injectors equipped with a 
threaded upper portion which is primarily responsible for securing a fuel 
line nut to provide fuel to the injector's body. Fuel nuts 14 and 16 are 
differently sized fuel line nuts to allow removal of correspondingly 
differently sized fuel injectors. More specifically, fuel line nuts 14 and 
16 are 12 mm and 14 mm nuts, respectively, allowing use of removal tool 10 
in a majority of combustion engines equipped with axial fuel injectors. 
Fuel line nuts 14 and 16 receive the end of elongated member 12 at point 18 
and are secured to the ends by some form of attachment such as soldering 
at point 20. Preferably, a silver solder is applied to provide a superior 
hold. 
Further, FIG. 1 illustrates the inner threads 22 of fuel nut 16. Threads 22 
matingly engage the exterior threads of a correspondingly sized upper 
portion 36 of fuel injector 34 as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. The security of 
a threaded attachment between fuel nut 16 and upper portion 36 allows 
application of a sufficient force to remove fuel injector 34. 
Sufficient removal force is supplied to injector 34 by hammer device 24 
shown in FIGS. 1 and 4. Hammer device 24 is preferably cylindrical in 
shape having a longitudinal bore 26 to receive elongated member 12. The 
diameter of bore 26 is sufficiently larger than the diameter of elongated 
member 12 so hammer device 24 may freely side along member 12. Further, 
hammer device 24 includes hand guards 28 at each end to protect the users 
hands during use. Hand guards 28 can be plain washers whose outer diameter 
is greater than that of hammer device 24. The cut-away portion of hammer 
device 24 in FIG. 1 adequately shows a raised portion 30 formed around the 
periphery of elongated bore 26 wherein the inner diameter of raised 
portion 30 is equal to that of bore 26 and whose outer diameter is 
slightly less than the inner diameter of washer 28. Raised portion 30 
provides support for washer 28. Washer 28 is further secured to hammer 
device 24 by brazing washer 28 to hammer device 24 along seam 32. FIG. 4 
provides a perspective view of hammer device 24 alone. 
The use of removal tool 10 is more readily explained with reference to FIG. 
2-4. Before removal, injector 34 is secured in injector cavity 38 of 
engine head 40. A clamp 42, attached to the head 40 by a bolt 44, holds 
the injector in place during normal engine operation. As stated 
previously, simply removing clamp 42 is not enough to allow removal of 
fuel injector 34 because of carbon build-up in the area surrounding the 
injector tip 46 which adheres injector tip 46 to the interior wall of the 
injector cavity. To remove the injector, fuel line 48 is removed from the 
threaded upper portion 36 of the injector. Similarly, bolt 44 is removed 
from head 40 to release clamp 42. Next, nut 16 is threadingly engaged to 
threaded upper portion 36. See FIG. 3. The user must then grasp hammer 
device 24 and forceably slide hammer device 24 sharply upward to strike 
fuel nut 14 which is not attached to the fuel injector. Sharp upward 
strokes must be continued until the injector actually brakes free from the 
carbon build-up and can then be removed. 
As noted above, nut. 14 may be provided with a different size internal 
thread to allow the disclosed removal device to be used to remove injector 
having mating external threads of corresponding size. The flexibility of 
elongated member 12 and the ability to remove two differently sized 
objects combine to provide a removal tool which can be used in a variety 
of settings. Despite this flexibility, the disclosed removal device is 
extremely simple in design and inexpensive to manufacture. 
INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY 
The invention has particular utility in areas of maintenance and repair of 
equipment. The disclosed removal tool is ideally suited for removing fuel 
injectors from a majority of combustion engines. The disclosed removal 
tool could, however, be used for removal of a wide variety of other 
component parts.