Patent Publication Number: US-8528450-B2

Title: Auxiliary tool for assembling and disassembling spark plug

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to an auxiliary tool for assembling and disassembling a spark plug, and more particularly to an auxiliary tool for assembling and disassembling a spark plug which can increase the conveniences of rotation operation by a flexible extender. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Nowadays, automobiles and motorcycles have become essential and convenient vehicles for daily life. Generally, the power source of the automobiles and the motorcycles is mainly an engine (i.e. internal combustion engine), wherein a spark plug used in the engine is one of the most important key components. When the spark plug malfunctions, the operation of the engine will be unstable, and even the engine can not work. Therefore, when repairing the engine of the automobile or motorcycle, it is a routine to assemble and disassemble the spark plug. For the reason, the manufacturer of the vehicles, such as automobiles and motorcycles, generally attach a assembling and disassembling tool of the spark plug when the vehicles is sold out, so that it is convenient for a driver to repair the spark plug, in order to keep the engine normally working. 
     However, there are some problems existing in the conventional assembling and disassembling tools of the spark plug. As shown in  FIG. 1A , a perspective view of a conventional assembling and disassembling tool of a spark plug is illustrated. The conventional assembling and disassembling tool  90  is a hollow sleeve, wherein the lower end of the assembling and disassembling tool  90  has a socket part  91  which is formed with a polygonal inner space, and the upper end thereof has a rotating portion  92  which is formed with two pair of correspondingly through holes  921 . When repairing a spark plug (not-shown), the socket portion  91  is used to cover on the spark plug, and then a turning rod  93  inserts into a pair of the through holes  921  of the rotating portion  92  to rotate the assembling and disassembling tool  90  by the turning rod  93 , so as to assemble or disassemble the spark plug from the engine for carrying out the maintenance of the spark plug. Although the conventional assembling and disassembling tool  90  can achieve a purpose of assembling and disassembling the spark plug, the assembling and disassembling tool  90  is cylindrical and has a limited length. When there are other devices or equipments disposed around the spark plug (such as a cylinder head), the space for assembling and disassembling operation may be limited, and thus it causes that the above-mentioned assembling and disassembling tool  90  can not reach the top of the spark plug to smoothly cover the spark plug. Furthermore, it is also difficult for an operator to execute the assembling and disassembling operation to manually rotate the spark plug in the limited space. 
     In addition, Taiwan Utility Model Patent No. M297291 discloses an assembling and disassembling device for a spark plug of a vehicle, as shown in  FIG. 1B . The assembling and disassembling device  80  comprises a sleeve  81 , a turning rod  82  and a pin  83 . The lower end of the sleeve  81  has a socket portion  811 , and the upper end thereof is formed with a pair of engagement grooves  812  and a pair of through holes  813  disposed beside the engagement grooves  812 . One end of the turning rod  82  is a turning portion  821 , and the other end is a join portion  822  which has a join hole  823 . The pin  83  inserts through the through holes  813  of the sleeve  81  and the join hole  823  of the turning rod  82 . The main function of the pin  83  is to connect the turning rod  82  and the sleeve  81  in a vertical or straight manner. When the turning rod  82  and the sleeve  81  is vertical to each other, It can shorten the height of the assembling and disassembling device  80  which thus can be extended into a long and narrow space around a spark plug  71  of an engine  70  (as shown in a top view of  FIG. 1C ), so that the socket portion  811  of the sleeve  81  can smoothly cover the spark plug  71 , and then it can loosen and disassemble the spark plug  71  by turning the turning rod  82 . 
     However, although the above-mentioned assembling and disassembling device  80  solves the problem that it is difficult to insert into the engine  70  for rotation operation, there is a long and narrow space around the spark plug  71  of the engine  70 . Thus, when using the assembling and disassembling device  80  to turn the spark plug  71 . It will take a long time form beginning for loosing the spark plug  71 , the operator only can manually rotate an extreme small angle once. As a result, it costs a lot of time to initially loosen the spark plug  71  to finally completely detach the spark plug  71  from the engine  70 . As a result, it increases the time for rotation operation of assembling and disassembling the spark plug  71 , and substantially lower the convenience of repairing the engine. 
     Therefore, it is necessary to provide an auxiliary tool for assembling and disassembling a spark plug to solve the problems existing in the conventional technology. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     A primary object of the present invention is to provide an auxiliary tool for assembling and disassembling a spark plug, which has a flexible extender connected between a spark plug sleeve and a handle, so as to turn the spark plug by the handle on the outside of the engine. Because the rotation operation of the auxiliary tool can not be limited by the limited space of the engine and peripherals thereof, the operational convenience of rotation operation can be enhanced and the operation time of assembling and disassembling the spark plug can be shortened. 
     A secondary object of the present invention is to provide an auxiliary tool for assembling and disassembling a spark plug, which is provided with an elastic clamping block disposed in an inner top of the spark plug sleeve for elastically clamping a metal head or ceramic body of the spark plug. Thus, the spark plug can be temporarily fixed in the spark plug sleeve during assembling and disassembling the spark plug, so that it can increase the convenience of assembling and disassembling the spark plug. 
     A third object of the present invention is to provide an auxiliary tool for assembling and disassembling a spark plug, which has at least one guiding portion formed on an outer peripheral surface of the spark plug sleeve, so as to cooperate with a guiding member to cover the spark plug sleeve onto the spark plug, so that it can increase the convenience of assembling and disassembling the spark plug. 
     To achieve the above object, the present invention provides an auxiliary tool for assembling and disassembling a spark plug, which is used to assemble and disassemble a spark plug of a vehicle engine, characterized in that: the auxiliary tool comprises: 
     a spark plug sleeve used to cover the spark plug and rotate the spark plug; 
     a flexible extender having flexibility, wherein the flexible extender has an output end fixed on a top surface of the spark plug sleeve; and 
     a rotating end portion disposed at the other end of the flexible extender opposite to the output end; 
     wherein an outer peripheral surface of the spark plug sleeve is provided with at least one guiding portion; the rotating end portion transfers a rotation force from the flexible extender to the spark plug sleeve, so as to indirectly turn the spark plug. 
     In one embodiment of the present invention, the output end of the flexible extender is formed with at least one rivet joint to fix on the top surface of the spark plug sleeve. 
     In one embodiment of the present invention, the auxiliary tool further comprises a handle, one end of the handle has an installation hole, and the installation hole is correspondingly engaged with the rotating end portion, so as to turn the rotating end portion. 
     In one embodiment of the present invention, an inner top portion of the spark plug sleeve further comprises an elastic clamping block, and a center of the elastic clamping block has an axial hole to elastically clamp a metal head of the spark plug. 
     In one embodiment of the present invention, an inner top portion of the spark plug sleeve comprises an elastic clamping block, and a center of the elastic clamping block has an axial hole to elastically clamp a ceramic body of the spark plug. 
     In one embodiment of the present invention, the outer peripheral surface of the elastic clamping block is provided with a groove, and an inner peripheral surface of the spark plug sleeve is provided with a flange corresponding to the groove. 
     In one embodiment of the present invention, the guiding portion is located between an open end of the spark plug sleeve and the flange of the inner peripheral surface of the spark plug sleeve. 
     In one embodiment of the present invention, the auxiliary tool further comprises a guiding member which guides the guiding portion by pushing or pulling. 
     In one embodiment of the present invention, the guiding portion is a through hole, a recess, or an annular groove. 
     In one embodiment of the present invention, the guiding member is a rod or a noose. 
    
    
     
       DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1A  is a perspective view of a conventional tool for assembling and disassembling a spark plug; 
         FIG. 1B  is a perspective view of another conventional tool for assembling and disassembling a spark plug; 
         FIG. 1C  is an operational top view of the conventional tool for assembling and disassembling a spark plug in  FIG. 1B ; 
         FIG. 2  is a perspective view showing an auxiliary tool for assembling and disassembling a spark plug according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 3A  is a side view and a bottom view showing an auxiliary tool for assembling and disassembling a spark plug according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 3B  is a cross-sectional view and a bottom view showing an auxiliary tool for assembling and disassembling a spark plug according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 4A  is an operational top view of the tool for assembling and disassembling a spark plug according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 4B  is an operational side view of the tool for assembling and disassembling a spark plug according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 5  is an operational cross-sectional view of the tool for assembling and disassembling a spark plug according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention; and 
         FIG. 6  is an operation schematic view of the tool for assembling and disassembling spark plug according to another preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     The foregoing objects, features and advantages adopted by the present invention can be best understood by referring to the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments and the accompanying drawings. Furthermore, the directional terms described in the present invention, such as upper, lower, front, rear, left, right, inner, outer, side and etc., are only directions referring to the accompanying drawings, so that the used directional terms are used to describe and understand the present invention, but the present invention is not limited thereto. 
     Referring now to  FIGS. 2 to 5 , a perspective view showing an auxiliary tool for assembling and disassembling spark plug according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention is illustrated in  FIG. 2 , wherein an auxiliary tool  10  for assembling and disassembling a spark plug is used to assist an assembling and disassembling operation of a spark plug  40  of a vehicle engine, and more particularly applied to an assembling and disassembling operation within a limited engine space around the spark plug  40 . The auxiliary tool  10  comprises: a spark plug sleeve  11 , a flexible extender  12  and a rotating end portion  13 , wherein the auxiliary tool  10  can be used with a handle. The spark plug sleeve  11  is a hollow tube having an open end and provided with an open portion  11   a  and a top surface  11   b , wherein the spark plug sleeve  11  is used to cover the spark plug  40  to turn/rotate the spark plug  40 . The flexible extender  12  is a flexible rod body having flexibility, wherein the flexible extender  12  has an output end  12   a  mounted with the top surface  11   b  of the spark plug sleeve  11 , and the other end thereof is mounted with the rotating end portion  13 . 
     Referring to  FIGS. 3A and 3B , the construction of the auxiliary tool  10  is described more detailed, wherein  FIG. 3A  is a side view and a bottom view showing an auxiliary tool for assembling and disassembling a spark plug according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention; and  FIG. 3B  is a cross-sectional view and a bottom view showing the auxiliary tool for assembling and disassembling a spark plug according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention; For a need of illustration,  FIGS. 3A and 3B  have different view direction,  FIG. 3B  is a side view of  FIG. 3A . Meanwhile, referring to the bottom view thereof to clarify there view directions. 
     As shown in  FIGS. 3A ,  3 B,  4 A,  4 B and  5 , the shape and size of the spark plug sleeve  11  corresponds with the to-be-covered spark plug  40 . Generally, the spark plug  40  has a hexagonal turning portion  41  on an outer peripheral surface thereof, so that the spark plug sleeve  11  can cover the turning portion  41 . Although the cross-section of the spark plug sleeve  11  of the auxiliary tool  10  according to present invention is a hexagonal hollow tube, the present invention is not limited thereto. The spark plug sleeve  11  also can be designed to any shape which can fit that of the spark plug  40 , such as ring-spanner like or other polygonal shape. 
     In addition, the outer peripheral surface of the spark plug sleeve  11  is provided with at least one guiding hole  111 , each of which can be a through hole or a recess. The guiding hole  111  is used to assist the spark plug sleeve  11  to cover the spark plug  40 . An inner top portion of the spark plug sleeve  11  comprises an elastic clamping block  112 . Preferably, the elastic clamping block  112  is made of rubber. An outer peripheral surface of the elastic clamping block  112  is provided with a groove  112   a , and the inner top portion of the spark plug sleeve  11  is provided with a flange  11   c  corresponding to the groove  112   a , wherein the flange  11   c  is engaged with the groove  112   a , so as to fix the elastic clamping block  112  in the inner top portion of the spark plug sleeve  11 . A center of the elastic clamping block  112  has an axial hole  112   b , which is used to elastically clamp on a metal head or ceramic body of the spark plug  40 , so that the spark plug  40  is clamped by the elastic clamping block  112  and positioned in the spark plug sleeve  11  without separation by accident. Operations of the spark plug sleeve  11  will be described more detailed hereinafter. 
     Furthermore, the flexible extender  12  preferably comprises a steel cable  121  therein and a hose  122  covering the steel cable  121 , the steel cable  121  can be bent alone the axial direction thereof. In addition, the steel cable  121  preferably comprises an inner longitudinal steel cable  121   a  and an outer ring-like steel cable  121   b . By combining the longitudinal steel cable  121   a  with the ring-like steel cable  121   b , the steel cable  121  has better strength of the steel cable and better rotating performance of delivering a rotation force. Besides, one end of the flexible extender  12  preferably is formed at least one rivet joint by point riveting means for be fixed on one end of the spark plug sleeve  11 . Thus, whatever the rotation direction of the steel cable  121  is, the flexible extender  12  can transfer the rotation force from the other end thereof to the spark plug sleeve  11  without losing rotation force, to prevent from separation of the spark plug  40  or consumption of the rotation force. The hose  122  is made of rubber or plastic, it is used to protect the longitudinal steel cable  121   a  and ring-like steel cable  121   b  of the steel cable  121 . 
     Referring to  FIGS. 3A and 3B , the rotating end portion  13  is formed on the other end of the flexible extender  12  opposite to the output end  12   a . No matter what degree the flexible extender  12  is bent to, the rotating end portion  13  can be turned to indirectly rotate the spark plug sleeve  11  through the steel cable  121  of the flexible extender  12 . Furthermore, the auxiliary tool  10  preferably uses with a handle  20  (as shown in  FIG. 2 ). One end of the handle  20  has an installation hole  21 . The installation hole  21  can correspondingly engage with the rotating end portion  13 , so as to turn the rotating end portion  13  by the handle  20 . The rotating end portion  13  according to the preferred embodiment of present invention cooperates with a type of handle  20  which has a structure capable of being shared with a combination type screwdriver (cabinet tip and Phillips head tip). The rotating end portion  13  is provided with at least two protrusions  131  on it&#39;s outer peripheral surface, the at least two protrusions  131  can be engaged into the installation hole  21  of the handle  20 , so as to fix the rotating end portion  13  in the handle  20 . 
     Referring to  FIGS. 4A ,  4 B and  5 , the operation of the auxiliary tool  10  for assembling and disassembling a spark plug will be described more detailed, wherein  FIG. 4A  is an operational top view of the tool for assembling and disassembling a spark plug according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention; and  FIG. 4B  is an operational side view of the tool for assembling and disassembling a spark plug according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention. In addition,  FIG. 5  is an operational cross-sectional view of the tool for assembling and disassembling a spark plug according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
     As shown in  FIGS. 4A and 4B , a configuration of a vehicle engine with a limited operational space is illustrated. A vehicle engine  30  is provided with at least one of the spark plug  40  thereon, the space surrounding the spark plug  40  is formed with a protrusion  31  formed by other parts of the vehicle engine  30 , such as a radiator fins of a cylinder head, wherein the protrusion  31  looks like a “U” shape from a top view, and an oil tank  50  is disposed above the vehicle engine  30 . The auxiliary tool  10  for assembling and disassembling a spark plug according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention is used to assist the assembling or disassembling operation of a spark plug  40  of the vehicle engine  30  of a vehicle (automobile or motorcycle). 
     As shown in  FIGS. 4A ,  4 B, and  5 , when executing a disassembling operation of the spark plug  40 , steps of the disassembling operation are described, as follows: Firstly, pre-loosening the spark plug  40  by using a conventional wrench (as shown in  FIG. 1B ), and then removing the conventional wrench. Then, using the auxiliary tool  10  for assembling and disassembling a spark plug of the present invention, wherein a rod  60  (such as a rod of a combination type screwdriver) is used to insert into the guiding hole  111  of the spark plug sleeve  11  to push the spark plug sleeve  11  by inserting the rod  60  into the guiding hole  111 , so as to guide the spark plug sleeve  11  to cover the top of the spark plug  40 . Thus, the rod  60  and the guiding hole  111  can increase the operational convenience of covering the spark plug  40  at the initial stage of the disassembling operation. Referring to  FIG. 5 , the outer peripheral surface of an intermediate portion of the spark plug  40  has a turning portion  41 , and the spark plug sleeve  11  has a hexagonal hollow tube having the open end, wherein the shape and size of the spark plug sleeve  11  corresponds to that of the spark plug  40 . Thus, the spark plug sleeve  11  can sleeve on the turning portion  41  of the spark plug  40 . The hole  112   b  of the elastic clamping block  112  disposed on the inner top portion of the spark plug sleeve  11  can elastically clamp the metal head (not-shown) of the spark plug  40 . Meanwhile, the flexible extender  12  is bent outward to be curved. 
     Then, engaging the installation hole  21  of the handle  20  with the rotating end portion  13 , and to manually turn the handle  20  outside the vehicle engine  30 , so as to transfer the rotation force to the spark plug sleeve  11  and the spark plug  40  by the flexible extender  12  without losing the rotation force. That is, turning the handle  20  and the rotating end portion  13  by an external rotation force, so as to actuate the flexible extender  12  to axially turn by itself for thus driving the spark plug sleeve  11  to simultaneously turn. The pre-loosened spark plug  40  is indirectly turned until the spark plug  40  is wholly separated from a spark plug seat  32  of the vehicle engine  30 . When the spark plug  40  is separated from the spark plug seat  32  of the vehicle engine  30 , the spark plug  40  will be not separated from the spark plug sleeve  11  by accident because of the spark plug  40  is clamped by the elastic clamping block  112  of the spark plug sleeve  11 . Thus, it can increase the operational convenience of disassembling operation of the spark plug  40  in the final disassembling stage. 
     On the other hand, when executing the assembling operation, the spark plug  40  is firstly inserted into the spark plug sleeve  11 , and then the rod  60  is inserted into the guiding hole  111  of the spark plug sleeve  11 , wherein the spark plug  40  fixed in the spark plug sleeve  11  is easy to be aligned with the spark plug seat  32  of the vehicle engine  30  with the help of the rod  60 , so as to smoothly turn the spark plug  40  into the spark plug seat  32 . Meanwhile, the flexible extender  12  is bent outward to be curved. Then, the handle  20  is correspondingly engaged with the rotating end portion  13 , and the handle  20  outside the vehicle engine  30  is turned, so as to transfer the rotation force to the spark plug sleeve  11  and the spark plug  40  through the flexible extender  12  without losing the rotation force. Then, the spark plug  40  is indirectly turned into the spark plug seat  32  of the vehicle engine  30 . Finally, the auxiliary tool  10  is removed, and the conventional socket wrench is used to turn the spark plug  40  to be tightly and stably positioned on the vehicle engine  30 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 6 , an operational view of the auxiliary tool for assembling and disassembling spark plug according to the other preferred embodiment of the present invention is disclosed. The embodiment in  FIG. 6  is similar to the embodiment in  FIG. 5 , but the difference therebetween is that the embodiment in  FIG. 6  has no guiding hole  111  (as shown in  FIG. 5 ), but has an annular groove  111 ′ which is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the spark plug sleeve  11  and defined by the flange  11   c  in the spark plug sleeve  11 , so that the annular groove  111 ′ can be used as at least one guiding portion. Meanwhile, a noose  60 ′ is used as a guiding member, and the spark plug sleeve  11  can cover the spark plug  40  with the help of the noose  60 ′. 
     In the present invention, it is not limited by the form of the guiding portion and guiding member. Only if the cooperation of a guiding portion and a guiding member can provide the effect of guiding the spark plug sleeve  11  to cover the spark plug  40 , the guiding portion and the guiding member can be used in the present invention. As shown in  FIGS. 5 and 6 , the guiding hole  111  or the groove  111 ′ is one type of guiding portion; and the rod  60  or the noose  60 ′ is one type of guiding member. It can guide the spark plug sleeve  11  to cover the spark plug  40  by the cooperation of the guiding portion and guiding member. 
     As described above, in comparison to the conventional tool for assembling and disassembling spark plug which is not easy to be extended into the limited space around the engine for rotation operation and thus wastes the time of assembling or disassembling the spark plug  40 , the auxiliary tool  10  for assembling and disassembling a spark plug according to the present invention uses the flexible extender  12  to connect between the handle  20  and the spark plug sleeve  11 , so as to turn the handle  20  outside the engine  30  to indirectly turn the spark plug  40 . Because the rotation operation of the auxiliary tool  10  can not be limited by the limited engine space, the operational convenience of rotation operation can be effectively increased and the operational time of assembling and disassembling the spark plug  40  can be effectively shortened. 
     The present invention has been described with a preferred embodiment thereof and it is understood that many changes and modifications to the described embodiment can be carried out without departing from the scope and the spirit of the invention that is intended to be limited only by the appended claims.