Patent Publication Number: US-5628400-A

Title: Holding device for receiving tools

Description:
The invention relates to a device for receiving tools. 
     A device of this type is described in the EP-311 789 B1 or in the U.S. Pat. No. 5,048,700. 
     The present invention is concerned with the method for manufacturing the receiving device in such a way that, on the one hand, a precise gauge is created for the tools inserted therein and, on the other hand, the expense of manufacturing it is kept as low as possible, so that the overall device can be manufactured economically. 
     To accomplish this task, on which the invention is based, it is proposed that the housing be manufactured in a suitable way in the shape of a shell with a wall of uniform or variable thickness, e.g. by injection molding a plastic, in such a way that this upper section of the housing is closed by a base. The housing has receiving holes for receiving the tools, e.g. a drill. Several receiving holes per measurement size can also be arranged here arbitrarily above one another and/or next to one another. The upper section of the housing and its base have outer dimensions which correspond to those of the finished receiving device. 
     The receiving holes preferably are extended by threaded bushes, which can be designed as an independent component. Steadying brackets for receiving and centering the threaded bushes can here be provided on the base plate, so that the individual components are automatically centered when they are inserted into one another. Inside the threaded bushes, adjustment screws can be provided, which form the base of the particular receiving hole and which can be screwed up or down as needed, depending on the length of the tool being received, e.g. a drill, a plug gauge, or the like. These adjustment screws can be operated either by a hex wrench or by a standard screwdriver or also by the drill itself. 
     The actual gauges can be foraged by pins which can be inserted into the recess. However, round contact bodies have the disadvantage of offering only a relatively small measurement surface since the curvature of the pin really makes available only the very small tangent surface as the actual measurement surface. 
     The invention furthermore proposes that the actual gauges be formed by plates which can be inserted into the recess. In this case, recesses are provided in these plates so as to form the two mutually opposite measurement surfaces. Here it is possible to design each of these gauges as a plate with a U-shaped recess, or to design the gauges as plates which are cut out U-shaped at the positions that coincide with the fine measurement channels, so that the gauges are connected together, and it is only necessary to insert a plate for each measurement size of several channels. In this case, the gauges suitably are manufactured of flat stock, preferably of metal. Furthermore, the plates or only the edges of the U-shaped cut-outs, which form the actual gauges, can also be hardened. 
     Another advantage of designing the gauges as plates is that the gauges can be clamped into packages, so that several of these plates can be finish-processed at the same time to the particular dimensions that are intended. At the same time, a coding to classify the plate can be provided on it, a reciprocal coding being provided on the base plate, on the housing, or on another structural part. The edges of the actual gauges are then inserted into the recesses situated in the upper section of the housing. 
     The individual threaded bushes preferably consist of hemi-shells, which are then joined for actual use. In this connection, it is therefore proposed that each hemi-shell have half of the thread on its inside, the two hemi-shells then being joined by suitable means. The hemi-shells are securely held together by appropriate means, such as clips, glue, rivets, etc. At the same time, their upper and/or lower ends are fastened on the base and/or in the upper section of the housing. 
     The invention also provides that, after all the structural parts have been. inserted, the upper section of the housing be wholly or partly filled with suitable materials, so that the important gauges will be fixed immovably. It is also possible for only the gauges themselves to be wholly or partly fixed on a structural part. 
    
    
     Embodiments of the invention will be explained below in terms of the drawings. The drawings show the following: 
     FIG. 1 shows a pictorial view of an inventive receiving device. 
     FIG. 2 is an exploded representation of the individual structural parts, some of them shown individually, to form the inventive receiving device. 
     FIG. 3 shows a section according to the Line 3--3 in FIG. 2. 
     FIG. 4 shows a section according to the Line 4--4 in FIG. 2. 
     FIG. 5 shows a section according to the Line 5--5 in FIG. 3. 
    
    
     FIG. 1 shows a holding device 10, which receives the tools 11, e.g. drills or work pieces, and which is equipped with receiving holes 1 for this purpose. Fine measurement channels 3 are associated with the receiving holes 1. A gauge, possibly also profried, is formed in each of these fine measurement channels 3 through the contact bodies 5 and 6. The gauge essentially extends over the entire height or over part of the height of the fine measurement channel 3. 
     A coarse measurement channel is designated by 9. Here, too, are situated the measurement gauges 2, possibly profried, and consisting of interacting contact bodies 5 and 6. The drill which is introduced into the coarse measurement channel 9 thus can be conducted through the coarse measurement channel 9 only if it has a nominal diameter which is smaller than the particular gauges 2 which it has reached, these gauges consisting of the contact bodies 5 and 6. The holding device 10 is equipped with a cover 34, so that the working tools can be stored free of contamination. 
     The structure of the holding device 10 appears more clearly in the following FIGS. 2 through 5. These figures show an upper section 20 of the housing, said upper section 20 being formed, for example, by injection molding or the like. The spaces for the coarse measurement channel 9, the fine measurement channels 3, and the receiving holes 1 are provided during the manufacturing process, as are the recesses 22, into which the gauges 2, which bound the five measurement channels and which are formed of the contact bodies 5 and 6, can be inserted. 
     The contact bodies 5 and 6 here can be formed of individual pins. The openings for these contact bodies are formed as socket-like receptacles, the pins here being dimensioned so that the contact bodies are indeed held but still have a certain play room in the opening. In this way, on the one hand, form shrinkages during manufacture of the upper section 20 of the housing can be compensated, and, on the other hand, the contact bodies can be fixed by appropriate auxiliary means with the help of a spacer. 
     In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 2 through 5, however, the contact bodies 5 and 6 are formed by a plate-shaped, U-shaped piece 28, whose upper end has a recess 27, and which, with this embodiment, --as a comparison with FIG. 5 shows especially clearly--now creates the gauge 2 for the coarse measurement channel 9. FIG. 5 shows the contact bodies 5 and 6, which have been formed, and which are fixed precisely in place. The U-shaped piece 28 can likewise be seen. 
     The gauges 2 for the individual fine measurement channels 3 each can be formed by a plate 26 (FIG. 2), which has recesses 27 corresponding to the individual fine measurement channels 3. In this way, the gauges 2 are formed after this plate 26 has been inserted into the corresponding recesses 22 and after it has been fixed in the upper section 20 of the housing and/or at the base plate 21. The plates 26 need not have a complete surface--as shown--but can be limited to the important regions in order to save material. In this embodiment, the plate 26 furthermore has a code 29 on its under side. As FIG. 4 shows, each code situated on each plate 26 corresponds to a reciprocal code 30 situated on a base plate 21. 
     The receiving holes 2 are also formed in the upper section 20 of the housing. They have a tubular part 23 and also threaded bushes 24, which lead as far as the base plate 21. The threaded bushes 24 are formed of hemi-shells 30 and 32. Each of these hemi-shells contains haft of the thread integrally formed therein. They can be joined to one another by clips, glue, or the like. An adjustment screw 33 can be adjusted inside the threaded bushes 24. This adjustment screw 33 forms the base of each receiving hole 1. Its height adjustment now makes possible adaptation to tools 11 of different length, a feature which is especially important for drills, because the length of the drill is shortened by the constant repointing, without the tool 11 thereby becoming unusable. 
     Steadying brackets 25 can be integrally formed on the base plate 21. These are used to receive the lower ends of the threaded bushes 24. In this way--as can be seen from FIG. 2--the upper socket-shaped part of the threaded bushes is connected to the lower end of the tubular part 23 of the receiving holes 1. The individual threaded bushes 24 are then securely fixed by the steadying brackets 25. It can also be seen here that the threaded bushes 24 are integrally adapted to several receiving holes 1, so that the device 10 is formed when the set of threaded bushes and the associated plate 26 are successively inserted. 
     FIG. 3 shows that the base plate is equipped with support feet 35 and that collets 36 are provided to fix them securely on the top side of the base plate 21. FIGS. 2 through 4 also show the swivel eyes 37 for the cover 34. 
     The actual base plate 21 preferably is screwed together with the upper section 20 of the housing, so that it can be fixed easily but permanently. 
     The threaded bushes 24, i.e. essentially the hemi-shells 30 and 32, can be equipped with lateral supports, which are oriented to or contact the plates 26, which in mm can be inserted relatively easily so as to be fixed in place. Thus, by means of these lateral supports, a pre-adjustment is achieved, which greatly facilitates mounting the individual parts. In this way, it is possible to align the individual rows of threaded bushes quite precisely in stand-alone fashion, so that, after the plates 26 and the threaded bushes 24 have been inserted, the base plate 21 can easily be placed in position, which then securely arrests the totality of all the parts.