Ratcheting tool

Abstract: An inline ratcheting tool comprises a wrench body (13) pivotally connected to an end of a reciprocating power source (15), and a tool head assembly (18) attached to the opposite end of the reciprocating power source (15). The tool head comprises a plurality of rollers 128 defining a tracking means for slidably engaging a surface of the wrench body (15), a retainer ring (28) having at least two retainer grooves (44), roller drive pins (50) positioned within respective retainer grooves (44) and each biased by two coil springs (160) accommodated in a retainer body (170), a ratcheting gear (36) positioned in an aperture of the tool head and for connecting to a work piece, the ratcheting gear having a plurality of arcuate channels (42) along its perimeter with one of the drive pins received into one of the channels at a time, to achieve a ratcheting function with a 15° ratcheting movement.

Description: The present invention relates to ratcheting tools such as torque wrenches. For use in several industries, particularly of the type utilizing structural components which require the tightening down of nuts with a very large torque in the magnitude as high as 67800J (50,000 foot lbs.), there have been developed a series of type of wrenches known as torque wrenches. These are for the most part hydraulically controlled wrenches, and utilize a type of ratcheting mechanism which is quite common so that the wrench can be hydraulically operated in order to achieve the required high torque. One of the most recent types that has been developed is disclosed in U.S. Patent 4,669,338, entitled "Ratcheting Box Wrench", wherein there is utilized a standard wrench body connected to a reciprocating power head. There is included a tool head assembly having an aperture which would be placed upon the work piece. The ratcheting mechanism of the wrench includes a ratchet gear having a series of channels equally spaced around the circumference of the gear in which a series of roller drive pins can be positioned in order to provide a ratcheting motion. When the roller drive pins are in the arcuate channels, the wrench is in its drive position for rotating a nut. When the tool head assembly is ratcheted back to its original position, all of the drive pins slip into a ratcheting slot of the tool rim. The pins are held in place for the drive portion of the cycle by one spring located on one side of the roller drive pins so that the pins move into the ratcheting gear against the bias of the one spring. The drive pins are located 30° apart and, therefore, when the pins are moving from one arcuate slot to the next in order to accomplish the ratcheting function, there is what is called a 30° latchability requirement in that the handle of the tool must move 30° in order to move into the next ratcheting motion. This 30° movement by the handle is a distance which is oftentimes prohibitive in that the handle is often in a more confined area. US-A-4669338 thus provides an inline ratcheting tool comprising a ratcheting head assembly supported by a tool body and having a bore containing a ratcheting member for engaging a work piece to be tightened or loosened, the ratcheting member being coupled to the assembly by spring biased drive elements located in a groove of the assembly. According to the present invention, the drive elements are independently biased by respective springs and retainer blocks are disposed at the base of respective drive element grooves and contain passages housing the respective springs, each retainer block providing a stop to limit movement of its drive element into its groove and thus prevent crushing of the spring. In a preferred embodiment, each retainer block accommodates a pair of coiled springs for exerting force against the associated drive element for urging the drive element out of its groove into engagement with the ratcheting gear. The retainer blocks allow the springs to be coiled by the force of the drive element being returned into the groove, but to be protected against being crushed by the drive element within the slot. The preferred embodiment of the apparatus of the present invention is also designed to have a latchability of 15°, and therefore additionally solves the problem of working with the tool in a confined area. In a preferred embodiment, the tool comprises a channel for guiding the tracking head, the channel being formed between a plurality of rollers along one portion of the tracking head and the outer arcuate wall of the ratcheting gear housing for reducing the friction encountered during the movement of the tracking head. For a better understanding of the present invention and to show how the same may be carried into effect, reference will now be made, by way of example, to the accompanying drawings, in which: FIGURE 1 is an overall view of an inline ratcheting tool; FIGURE 2 is a cross sectional view of the ratcheting tool; FIGURE 3 illustrates an end view of a tracking head of the tool; FIGURE 4 illustrates an exploded view of the tool; and FIGURES 5A-5C illustrate isolated views of a drive pin mechanism in the tool. An inline ratcheting tool 10 is illustrated in Figure 1 and is shown positioned on a head 11 of a nut 12. In operation, a wrench body 13 of tool 10 engages a second nut 12 to provide a base from which the inline ratcheting tool 10 will obtain the necessary leverage in order to operate. As illustrated in Figure 1, there is further mounted on body 13 a hydraulic cylinder 15 connected at its rear end to an upper body portion 16 of body 13, and the cylinder having a piston actuated member 17 engaging a tracking head 22 of ratcheting assembly 18 (as will be discussed further) so that, as the piston moves forward and rearward from the flow of hydraulic fluid in lines 19 and 21, ratcheting assembly 18 operates to tighten nor loosen nut 12. Figures 2, 3 and 4 show the ratcheting assembly 18 comprising a tracking member or plate 24 from which the tracking head 22 extends and integral with which is a circular ratcheting gear housing or retainer 28 with a peripheral edge 30. The gear housing 28 has a circular bore 32 within which is slidably housed a circular ratcheting gear 36 having a central cutout portion 38 for accommodating the work piece. There are a plurality of arcuate ratchet channels 42 positioned equally distant apart along the outer peripheral wall 40 of gear 36, there being in the preferred embodiment a total of twelve peripheral ratchet channels 42 spaced by approximately 30° from center to center. Upper and lower rings 37 and 39 respectively (Figure 4) are attached to the body 28 by screws to maintain ratchet gear 36 in position within bore 32. The housing 28 includes at least two retainer grooves 44A and 44B cut into the body of housing 28, each of the grooves having parallel sidewalls 46 and a flat rear wall 48. Each of the grooves is of a depth to accommodate independently biased drive pins 50A and 50B each of which is a metallic pin extending within each groove 44A and 44B and of the same width as the width of housing 28, as seen in Figure 4. The drive pins 50A and 50B are of a diameter slightly smaller than the width of the retainer grooves, so that the drive pins may move in and out of each groove easily during use. Turning now to the operation of the tool, each drive pin 50A, 50B is provided with two spring members 60 positioned between the rear wall 48 of groove 44 and the drive pin 50A, 50B so that the drive pin, when fully set within each groove 44A, 44B, is set against the bias of the spring 60. In operation, the manner in which each drive pin lockingly engages between the ratchet gear 36 and the gear body 28 is illustrated by drive pin 50A in Figure 2 wherein an arcuate ratchet channel 42 has aligned itself with groove 44A and therefore spring 60 is allowed to flex and move the pin 50A from its position within the groove 44A to its position partially set within arcuate channel 42. Therefore the ratchet can move no further owing to the fact that the body of the pin 50A is lockingly engaged between gear 36 in relation to the stationary position of body 28. Likewise, when the other pin 50B is engaged in its ratcheting position, that pin 50B is totally confined within second channel 44B and spring 60 has been biased to its compressed position as seen in Figure 2. Pin 50B is held in position within groove 44B by the outer wall 40 of ratchet gear 36, i.e. that portion of the wall 40 intermediate a pair of ratchet channels 42. In the design of the relationship between the gear body 28 and ratchet gear 36, if one were to draw an imaginary vertical line 80 from the center most point of gear 36, there is a 45° angle 82 between first rectangular retainer groove 44A and second rectangular retainer groove 44B. Further, there is 30° angle relationship between each of the arcuate channels 42 formed in the ratcheting gear. Therefore, as ratchet groove 42 turns in the direction of arrow 70, ratchet gear 36 will move a distance from the point as illustrated in Figure 1 to the position in which a channel 42 will be in directly beneath pin 50B so that pin 50B may slide into that channel 42 for ratcheting. Therefore that movement will be a movement of 15° and simultaneously pin member 50A will slide out of arcuate channel 42 and will be lockingly engaged within retainer groove 44A while drive pin 50B is in the ratcheting mode. Therefore, during operation each of the pins 50A, 50B alternates in the ratcheting function, and the ratchet gear has only moved a total of 15°. Furthermore, the use of the "half moon" arcuate channels in the ratcheting gear provides that the forces placed on the pins 50A and 50B are in the direction more towards the center of the ratcheting gear and less as a tangential force along the outer surface of the gear, as found in prior art which utilized "tear drop" type channels along the wall of the ratcheting gear. In addition, the wear on the arcuate channel is reduced as opposed to the tear drop channel, and, if wear is found, the gear may be reversed so that the force is applied to the other part of the channel. Further constructional details of this embodiment will now be described. As seen in Figures 2 and 3, the tracking head 22 extends from the tracking member 24. A plurality of rollers 128 spaced apart in an arcuate fashion along the length of the body 23 of tracking member 24 define guide means which engage wrench body 13 to guide the arcuate travel of the gear housing. As illustrated, particularly in Figure 3, the rollers 128 are positioned on both faces of the tracking member 24 and are free rolling members, each pair of rollers 128 on each side of the member 24 being supported by a single axle member 129 extending through the member 24 and supporting a roller 128 at each end. The lower end (as seen in Figure 2) of the member 24 terminates at the upper wall 130 of the ratcheting gear housing 28. Therefore, as seen in Figure 3, the upper plurality of rollers 128 and the wall 130 of the lower ratcheting gear housing 28 define an arcuate space on the tracking member 24 to accommodate the travel of an arcuate rail of the wrench body therethrough during operation of the tool. The plurality of rollers 128 provide a means to reduce the friction between the body 13 and the member 24 and provides a great improvement in the overall operation of the wrench. Reference is now made to Figures 5A to 5C which illustrate how the drive pins 50A and 50B are independently spring biased. A combination of elements is used to solve several problems which might otherwise be encountered. This embodiment uses a pair of coil springs 60, each pair positioned at the base of each of the grooves 44A and 44B, and making contact with the associated drive pin and tending to urge the drive pin out of its channel for engagement with a ratchet channel 42 during operation. However, when the drive pins 50 are forced to retract into the grooves, each coil spring 60 may be required to coil or "crush" into a configuration that would reduce or perhaps eliminate its ability to recoil. Therefore, there is provided, secured to the base of each channel 44A and 44B, a retainer body 170, having a pair of bores 172 therethrough, each bore 172 of slightly greater diameter than the diameter of the spring 60 and accommodating each spring 60 therein. The thickness of each of the retainer bodies 170 is such that, when the springs 60 are extended (Figure 5B), the outer end 62 of each spring 60 extends past the outer face 174 of each retainer body 170 and exerts force upon the drive pin to position the pin into driving engagement with the ratcheting gear 36. However, when the pin 50 is required to retract into the associated groove 44 (Figure 5C), the pin can only retract until it makes contact with the outer face 174 of the retainer body 170. This manner of preventing the pin 50 from retracting any further allows the springs 60 to compress against the movement of the pin but only to a certain extent. Therefore, the springs 60 are coiled within the bores 172 of the bodies 170, but are protected from being crushed by the pins. This naturally greatly increases the life of the springs 60 and allows the pins to move within the grooves 44A and 44B more uniformly to insure proper contact with the ratcheting gear during operation of the tool. It should be noted that, to compensate for the thickness of each retainer body 170, each groove 44A and 44B would have to be channelled to an appropriate depth so that the drive pins 50 can be fully accommodated within the grooves. Because many varying and different embodiments are possible, it is to be understood that the invention is only to be limited by the scope of the appended claims.

Claims: A ratcheting tool comprising a ratcheting head assembly (18) supported by a tool body (13) and having a bore (32) containing a ratcheting member (36) for engaging a work piece to be tightened or loosened, the ratcheting member (36) being coupled to the assembly by spring biased drive elements (50A, 50B) located in a groove (44A, 44B) of the assembly, characterised in that the drive elements (50A, 50B) are independently biased by respective springs (60) and retainer blocks (170) are disposed at the base of respective drive element grooves (44A, 44B) and contain passages housing the respective springs (60) each retainer block (170) providing a stop to limit movement of its drive element into its groove and thus prevent crushing of the spring. A tool according to claim 1, wherein each retainer block (170) contains two passages (172) in which are respective coil springs (60). A tool according to claim 1 or 2 and comprising tracking means (24) having a plurality of rotatable roller elements (128) to provide low friction guide means for guiding movement of the assembly relative to the tool body. A tool according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein there are at least first and second grooves (44A, 44B) in the wall of the bore, the ratcheting member (36) comprising a plurality of arcuate ratchet channels (42) positioned along the periphery of the ratcheting member and being open towards said wall of the bore, each groove being able to locate a drive element and each of the drive elements being independently spring biased toward movement into a ratchet channel as a channel moves into alignment with a groove. A tool according to claim 4, wherein the grooves (44) are spaced apart so that only one drive element at a time will be engaged in a ratchet channel. A tool according to claim 5 and arranged so that, as one drive element (50A) engages in a ratchet channel, a second drive element (50B) is maintained in its groove. A tool according to claim 5 or 6, and arranged so that the tool has a latchability of 15° so as to be operable in a confined area. A tool according to claim 5, 6 or 7, wherein the grooves (44A, 44B) are spaced 45° apart about the axis of rotation of the ratcheting member and the ratchet channels (42) are arranged 30° apart, resulting in a 45° to 30° cross-over between the grooves and the channels. A tool according to claim 7 or 8 and arranged so that the 45° to 30° cross-over allows a 15° movement of the assembly between each ratchet position. A tool according to any one of the preceding claims and comprising hydraulic power means (15) for operating the tool.

Inventors: BERNARD OSWALD JEAN, BERNARD PAUL EMILE, BERNARD WILLIAM PETER, BERNARD, OSWALD JEAN, BERNARD, PAUL EMILE, BERNARD, WILLIAM PETER
Applicants: FRANCIS SERVICES INC, FRANCIS SERVICES, INC.
Application year: 1991
Main classification: B25B21
IPC codes: B25B21