Chuck for tools

Abstract: A chuck for tools comprises a main body (1) in which an axial center hole (4) and a plurality of slanting holes (5) extending radially from the center hole are formed, a plurality of jaws (2) each being slidably inserted in each slanting hole and formed, at its outer surface, with a male screw (7), a rotary member having (19) a female screw (8) in meshing engagement with the male screws and mounted in the main body so as to be permitted for only rotation, a first grip integrally (17) connected to the main body, and a second grip (23) securely connected to the rotary member (19) to cooperate therewith.

Description: This invention relates to a chuck for tools according to the preamble of claim 1. Such a tool is known from JP-U-362231. This document describes a chuck with two grips. It comprises a main body in which a drill receiving hole and a plurality of guiding holes extending radially from the drill receiving hole are formed, a plurality of gripping rods each being slidably inserted in guiding holes and formed at its outer surface with a male screw, a threaded ring consisting of two segments which are put together by means of a sleeve ring, a threaded ring having a female screw in meshing engagement with the male screws and mounted in said main body so as to be permitted for only rotation, a first grip securely connected to the threaded ring to cooperate therewith, bearing balls being interposed between the rear side of sleeve ring and the front side of a stepped portion of said main body By gripping the upper part of main body and sleeve ring the threaded ring can be rotated in relation to main body. As the threaded ring engages the male screws of the gripping rods, the rods are moved in radial direction and therefore can be adjusted to an inserted tool. A disadvantage of the chuck according to this document is, that even while provided with two grips, tools for clamping are necessary. Therefore a spanner has to be fitted on a nut-shaped polygon part of main body and a steel bar has to be inserted into horizontal holes of sleeve ring. Furthermore this chuck is mainly made of solid metal. The upper grip is formed by the main body itself, making the construction quite heavy. In addition, the sleeve ring is force-fit around the two-piece threaded ring and further in direct contact with balls. Therefore the sleeve ring has to stand axial forces of the bearing balls, radial forces of the gripping rods and forces in circumferential direction between the sleeve ring and the two-piece threaded ring. It is obvious, that this ring has to be sufficiently thick and therefore heavy. The object of the invention is to provide a chuck for tools to be operated without any mechanical means only by directly being gripped with both hands being light-weighted and small as much as possible as well as being stable and long-lasting. This problem is solved by the combination of the features of the preamble with the features of the characterizing part. In the following description of the drawings the figures 1 to 7 are outside of the scope of the invention and are shown for a better illustration of the preferred embodiments of the invention shown in figures 13 to 20. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Figure 1 is a longitudinally sectional front view illustrating a typical example of prior art chuck for tools. Figure 2 is a sectional view, taken on the line 2-2 of Figure 3 and viewed in the direction of arrow, showing a chuck for tools outside of the scope of the invention. Figure 3 is a left side view of the Fig. 2 chuck. Figure 4 is a longitudinally sectional front view illustrating a chuck for tools outside of the scope of the invention. Figure 5 is a sectional view taken on the line 5-5 of Figure 4 and viewed in the direction of arrow. Figure 6 is an enlarged sectional view illustrating a part out of the scope of the invention in clamping condition. Figure 7 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on the line 7-7 of Figure 6. Figure 13 is a longitudinal sectional front view illustrating a chuck for tools according to a first embodiment of the invention. Figure 14 is a sectional view, taken on the line 14-14 of Figure 13 and viewed in the direction of arrow, showing the second grip of the Fig. 13 embodiment. Figure 15 is a longitudinal sectional front view illustrating a chuck for tools according to a second embodiment of the invention. Figure 16 is a left side view of the Fig. 15 embodiment. Figure 17 is a sectional view, taken on the line 17 - 17 of Figure 15 and viewed in the direction of arrow, showing a buffer cylinder of the Fig. 15 embodiment. Figure 18 is a enlarged view showing a portion surrounded by line 18 in Figure 15. Figure 19 is a view showing the Fig. 18 portion placed in different operational condition. Figure 20 is a developed plan view showing part of the buffer cylinder of the Fig. 15 embodiment. DESCRIPTION OF FIGURES 1-7 AND OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION ACCORDING TO FIGURES 13-20 Figures in the accompanying drawings following Fig. 13 inclusive illustrate embodiments of the invention and in these figures, members used in common for these embodiments and similar to those of the prior art example will be designated by the same reference numerals as used in Fig. 1-7 and only the other different members will be designated by different reference numerals. In the chuck as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, a main body 1 has a rear shaft 25, and a cylindrical first grip 17 has its flat bottom integrally connected to the rear shaft 25 and its outer circumferential periphery formed with a great number of axial recesses 18. An annular groove 9 is formed in the main body 1, and in forward part of the annular groove 9, there is disposed a rotary member 19 consisting of a plurality of divided segments which are put together by means of a hoop 20 and in rearward part of the annular groove 9, there is disposed an annular seat 22. A number of bearing balls 21 are received in annular grooves respectively formed in the two members 19 and 22. The inner wall of each segment of the rotary member 19 is threaded with a female screw 8 which meshes with a male screw 7 threaded on each jaw 2, and a cylindrical second grip 23 is securely connected to the rotary member 19 through the medium of the hoop 20. The second grip 23 has its rear end which is loosely fitted in a cavity of the first grip 17, providing for a gap between grips 17 and 23, and has its outer circumferential periphery formed with a number of axial grooves 24. In this chuck, when clamping or releasing a tool T, the first grip 17 is gripped by one hand and the second grip 23 is gripped by the other hand and thereafter the two grips 17 and 23 are relatively rotated in one direction or in the direction reverse thereto. Since the female screw 8 threaded on the rotary member 19 is in meshing engagement with the male screws 7 on the jaws 2, this relative rotation causes the jaws 2 to advance or retreat depending upon the direction of rotation of the rotary member 19. Thanks to be bearing balls 21 interposed between the rotary member 19 and the seat 22 forming part of the main body 1, the rotary member 19 can be rotated lightly. A first grip 27 in the chuck shown in Figs. 4 to 7 differs from the corresponding grip of the above chuck only in that an axial small hole 28 is bored through the flat bottom near its outer circumferential edge. A main body 1 is recessed to form an annular groove 9 and provide an abutment 32 for supporting bearing balls 21 in the radial direction. A hoop 20 is applied to a rotary member 29 as in the first embodiment but in the present embodiment, the rotary member 29 is not connected to a second grip 33 through the medium of the hoop 20. The interconnection between the two members 29 and 33 is accomplished by means of a coupling member 30 in the form of an annular resilient member, as will be described hereinafter. The second grip 33 has a rearward inner circumferential surface cooperative with the rotary member 29 to support the bearing balls 21, and in a cavity defined by the rearward inner circumferential surface, a cylindrical transmission member 34 is mounted not rotatably but axially movably with respect to the second grip 33, that is, in spline fashion, for example. The coupling member 30 has a ring plate 35 and the ring plate 35 is disposed between opposing circumferential surfaces of the two members 29 and 33 as best seen in Fig. 5. Two tongues 36 integral with the ring plate 35 extend forwardly from the inner circumferential edge of the ring plate 35 at about 180° spaced circumferential positions and the ring plate 35 is recessed at diametrally opposite positions, 90° spaced apart from the tongues, to form two rearward projections 37. The tongues 36 are snugly fitted in recesses 38 formed in the second grip 33 and the rearward projections 37 are received in recesses 39 formed in the rotary member 29 when the jaws 2 clamp a tool T, as best seen in Figs. 4 and 7. The second grip 33 is formed with two sectoral recesses 40, each recess 40 having the half which makes an angle of about 60° to the center line of each recess 39. In a cavity between the transmission member 34 and the first grip 27, there is disposed a pusher member 41 having a screw 43 in meshing engagement with a rearward shaft 42 of the main body 1. The direction of threading for the screw 43 is designed to be inverse to the direction of threading for the screws 7 and 8. The pusher member 41 is formed with a small hole 44 which is axially aligned with the small hole 28 in the first grip 27, and the opposite projecting ends of a torsion spring 45 interposed between the first grip 27 and pusher member 41 are snugly fitted in the small holes 28 and 44. The tool T is clamped as shown in Fig. 4 in accordance with the present invention. In order to move the jaws 2 from their released position to the illustrated clamping position, the grips 27 and 33 are relatively rotated in one direction as in the case of the first embodiment. During this operation, as the second grip 33 rotates, the coupling member 30 having its tongues 36 snugly fitted in the recesses 38 in the second grip 33 is rotated to urge the projections 37 of the coupling member 30 against the side wall of the recesses 39 so as to eventually rotate the rotary member 29, thereby causing the screws 7 and 8 in meshing engagement with each other to advance the jaws 2 until they engage the tool T at the position illustrated in Fig. 4. During this advance of the jaws 2, the pusher member 41 is in intimate contact with the flat bottom of the first grip 27 by the action of the torsion spring 45. Subsequently, as the second grip 33 continues to further rotate in the same direction, the jaws 2 push the rotary member 29 rearwardly and a resulting force is transmitted to the bearing balls 21 and transmission member 34 to mutually press the opposing surfaces of the transmission member 34 and pusher member 41, thereby ensuring that the pusher member 41 can rotate together with the transmission member 34 in opposition to the force of the torsion spring 45 under the influence of friction due to the mutual pressing. This rotation of the pusher member 41 cooperates with the action of the screw 43 to advance the pusher member 41 to the left, before the projections 37 of the coupling member 30 climb over the side wall of the recesses 39 in the rotary member 29 (with the ring plate 35 deflected within the sectoral recesses 40) to release the rotary member 29 from coupling with the second grip 33, thereby stopping the rotation of the rotary member 29. The advance motion of the pusher member 41 is transmitted to the rotary member 29 through the axially movable transmission member 34 and bearing balls 21, so that the rotary member 29 and the jaws 2 coupled thereto through the screws 7 and 8 are advanced from solid-line position to chained-line position in Fig. 6 to strongly clamp the tool T. When releasing the thus clamped tool T, the second grip 33 is rotated in the other direction that is reverse to the previously-described direction. During this rotation, the rotary member 29 still remains to stop rotating but the action of the friction is mitigated, with the result that the pusher member 41 is assisted by the recovery force of the spring 45 to rotate in the reverse direction so as to recover its original position, thus removing the forward pushing force exerted by the pusher member 41 upon the rotary member 29. As the coupling member 30 is further rotated, the projection 37 return to the recesses 39 in the rotary member 29. With the projections 37 again received in the recesses 39, the rotation of the second grip 33 is transmitted to the rotary member 29 to cooperate with the screws 7 and 8 in meshing engagement so as to retreat the jaws 2, thereby releasing the tool T completely and returning all members to the state before clamping. In this chuck, a spring for forwardly urging the grip 33 may be inserted in a gap 46 between the outer circumferential periphery of the second grip 33 and the inner circumferential periphery of the cylindrical portion of first grip 27. Further, in order to increase friction between the opposing surfaces of the transmission member 34 and pusher member 41, a face ratchet or a friction shoe, for example, may be interposed between these surfaces. Fig. 13 and 14 show a first embodiment of the invention. In accordance with the above chuck, a rotary member 65 is formed, at its forward surface, with a plurality of (three in the figures) sectoral recesses 66 and, at its rearward surface, with an annular step 67. A second grip 68 is made of plastic and formed with sectoral projections 69 which are fitted in the recesses 66. A hoop 70 fitted in a gap between the two members 65 and 68 by press fitting extends rearwardly, terminating in a rearward end which is stopped by a chip ring 71 mounted to the inner surface of the second grip 68. Bearing balls 21 are disposed in a cavity defined by the annular step 67, the hoop 70 and a support ring 72 provided on a portion, confronting the balls 21, of a main body 1. A second embodiment as shown in Figs. 15 to 20 is a partial modification of the first embodiment and in the present embodiment, a buffer stop cylinder 75 is interposed between first and second grips 17 and 68. The buffer stop cylinder 75 has a cylindrical main body 76 which has, at its forward outer circumferential edge, a flange 77 and, at its forward innner circumferential edge, a plurality of (three in the illustration) projections 78 which are slidably inserted in recesses 24 formed in the outer periphery of the second grip 68. As best seen in Figs. 17 and 20, the main body 76 is axially cut from the rearward end thereof to form a plurality of pairs (three pairs in the illustration) of radial cuttings 79, thus providing a plurality of (three in the illustration) pawls 80 at equal angular intervals. The rearward end of each resilient pawl 80 is formed with an engaging recess 81. A cylinder wall portion 83 intervening between adjacent resilient pawls 80 is formed, at its rearward end, with serrations 82. An inner circumferential surface portion, facing the serrations 82, of the first grip 17 is formed with serrations 84 which are slidably engageable with the serrations 82. An annular projection 85 extending from the inner circumferential surface of the first grip 17 is engageable with the engaging recess 81. In both embodiments, clamping and releasing of the tool T can be effected through the same operation as in the case of the chucks shown in Figs. 1-7 and will not be described herein. In connection with the second embodiment, Fig. 18 particularly illustrates the state before clamping. The clamping operation is started from this state by relatively rotating the first and second grips 17 and 68. During this operation, the buffer stop cylinder 75 is rotated together with the second grip 68 since the projections 78 of the buffer stop cylinder 75 are in engagement with the recesses 24. After completion of clamping, the buffer stop cylinder 75 is pushed rearwards as shown at arrow in Fig. 18 so that the resilient pawls 80 are pushed down by the annular projection 85 so as to deflect downwards by their resiliency, thus permitting the projection 85 to engage the recesses 81 (Fig. 19) and the serrations 82 engage the serrations 84 to securely couple the two grips 17 and 68 together (Fig. 19). Consequently, a rotary member 65 and a main body 1 are securely coupled together to guard the rotary member 65 against becoming loose and against providing insufficient clamping even when the rotary member 65 is vibrated during working operation performed using the chuck. This state shown in Fig. 19 can be returned to the original state shown in Fig. 18 by withdrawing the buffer stop cylinder 75 in the direction of arrow in Fig. 19. Although particular preferred embodiments of the invention have been disclosed in detail for illustractive purposes, it will be recognized that variations or modifications of the disclosed apparatus are possible, which fall within the scope of the appended claims.

Claims: A chuck for tools comprising: a main body (1) in which an axial center hole (4) and a plurality of slanting holes (5) extending radially from said center hole are formed, a plurality of jaws (2) each being slidably inserted in each slanting hole (5) and formed at its outer surface, with a male screw (7); an annular rotary member having a female screw (8) in meshing engagement with said male screws (7) and mounted in said main body (1) so as to be permitted for only rotation, the rotary member consisting of a plurality of divided segments (65) which are put together by means of a hoop (70), a grip (68) securely connected to said rotary member to cooperate therewith, bearing balls (21) supporting the rear side of the the rotary member against the main body (1) characterized in that the bearing balls (21) are interposed between the rear side of the segments (65) of that rotary member and the front side of a support ring (72) at least rotatably secured to an intermediate portion of that main body (1), a further grip (17) is integrally connected to the rear end portion (25) of the main body (1) so as not to be rotatable relative to said main body, the annular ring formed by the segments (65) has at its forward surface a plurality of sectoral recesses (66), the grip (68) is formed with sectoral projections (69) which are fitted in the recesses (66), and is axially held on the rotary member by locking means (71), and for clamping or releasing a tool the second grip (17) is to be gripped by one hand and the first grip (68) is to be gripped by the other hand for relative rotation of both grips in one direction or in the direction reverse thereto A chuck for tools according to claim 1, characterized in that a buffer stop cylinder (75) is slidably mounted between said grip and said further grip (68, 17), and relative rotation between said grips is permitted, when said buffer stop cylinder is offset toward said further grip and said grips are coupled together when said buffer stop cylinder is offset toward said grip.

Inventors: SAKAMAKI IWAO, SAKAMAKI, IWAO
Applicants: YUKIWA SEIKO INC, YUKIWA SEIKO INC.
Application year: 1988
Main classification: B23B31
IPC codes: B23B31