Patent Publication Number: US-8991229-B1

Title: Tube bender

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a bender, and particularly to a tube bender. 
     2. Description of the Prior Art 
     In conventional technical field, electric appliances, vehicles or motorcycles et al. are generally provided with various kinds of tubes. The tubes usually need to be bent according to various working environments for better arrangement thereto. As a result, various kinds of benders are always applied to assist the bending tasks. Some kinds of benders are disclosed, for example, in TW M441527, TW I356740, TW M417239, TW M377263 and TW M283695. 
     Either of the benders disclosed in TW M441527 and TW I356740 has defects of large size, complex structure, difficult operation and high cost. In addition, the benders disclosed in TW M441527 and TW I356740 can be applied only to tubes with a specific size. Moreover, when there are troubles with the bender, it is time-consuming to repair or replace the damaged part(s). 
     A bender disclosed in TW M417239, TW M377263 or TW M283695 has a small size and simple structure relative to that disclosed in TW M441527 or TW 1356740, and is hand-operable. However, during the bending of a tube, it requires great bending force, has poor production efficiency and poor production quality, and can cause considerable inaccuracy and high production cost. 
     The present invention is, therefore, arisen to obviate or at least mitigate the above mentioned disadvantages. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     An object of the present invention is to provide a tube bender which can provide times of bending force and save efforts, and is simple in structure, easy to manufacture and assemble and of low production cost. Moreover, parts of the tube bender may be designed to be detachably assembled and can be replaced according to requirements, so that it has good compatibility and applicability, and it needs only to replace a single damaged part but not the whole of the tube bender, thus being convenient and economical. 
     To achieve the above and other objects, a tube bender includes a base, a rotatable member and an abutting assembly. The base has a pivot portion. The rotatable member is pivoted to the pivot portion and defines an inner space, and the rotatable member has a gear portion, a first arched groove and a holding portion. The gear portion archedly extends around the pivot portion and is located within the inner space. The first arched groove archedly extends around the pivot portion on an outer circumferential surface of the rotatable member, and the holding portion has a holding recess. As viewed in a radial direction of the rotatable member, an outmost radial position of the holding recess extends beyond an outmost radial position of the first arched groove. The abutting assembly includes an abutting chunk assembled to the base, and an arm member connected with the abutting chunk. The gear assembly includes a driving portion for being driven by a driving tool and includes a gear connected and synchronously-movable with the driving portion. The driving portion is pivoted to the arm member, and the gear engaged with the gear portion in the inner space. 
     The present invention will become more obvious from the following description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, which show, for purpose of illustrations only, the preferred embodiment(s) in accordance with the present invention. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a view showing a tube bender according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a partial breakdown drawing of a tube bender according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 3  is a partial cross-sectional view of a tube bender according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIGS. 4-6  are drawings showing a tube bender in use according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     As shown in  FIGS. 1 to 3 , a tube bender according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention is provided. The tube bender  1  includes a base  10 , a rotatable member  20 , an abutting assembly  30  and a gear assembly  40 . 
     The base  10  has a pivot portion  11 . In this embodiment, the base  10  includes a stand  12  and a plate member  13  mounted on the stand  12 . The pivot portion  11  is a pivot hole formed on the plate member  13 , and two fasteners fix the plate member  13  to the stand  12 . It is noted that the plate member  13  is optionally provided or integrally formed as a part of the stand  12 . 
     The rotatable member  20  is pivoted to the pivot portion  11  and defines an inner space  21 , and the rotatable member  20  has a gear portion  22 , a first arched groove  23  and a holding portion  24 . The gear portion  22  archedly extends around the pivot portion  11  and is located within the inner space  21 . The first arched groove  23  archedly extends around the pivot portion  11  on an outer circumferential surface of the rotatable member  20 . The holding portion  24  has a holding recess  241 . As viewed in a radial direction of the rotatable member  20 , an outmost radial position of the holding recess  241  extends beyond an outmost radial position of the first arched groove  23  and the holding recess  241  and the first arched groove  23  form a holding aperture. As a result, the holding aperture is provided for disposing of a tube  50  to be bent therethrough. Specifically, the rotatable member  20  further includes a main body  25  which defines the inner space  21 . The gear portion  22  is detachably assembled with the main body  25  so that the gear portion  22  can be replaced according to requirements (such as replaced with a gear having different number of teeth or archedly extending length, or replacing the damaged gear). Preferably, the rotatable member  20  is further provided with an angle reference portion  26  which may include, but is not limited to, marks of 0-180 degrees, for references of the bending angles of the tube  50 . In this embodiment, the holding portion  24  is detachable. More specifically, the holding portion  24  is provided as a hooked arm having the holding recess  241 . The holding portion  24  is fixed to the main body  25  via fasteners such as screws and by a side opposite to the gear portion  22 . The holding portion  24  can be replaced according to requirements (such as replaced with having different an extending length and size of holding recess according to the size of a tube to be bent, or replacing the damaged holding portion). 
     The abutting assembly  30  includes an abutting chunk  31  mounted to the plate member  13  of the base  10  and an arm member  32  connected with the abutting chunk  31 . The abutting chunk  31  has a second arched groove  311  corresponding to the first arched groove  23 , and the second arched groove  311  and the first arched groove  23  are preferably extend oppositely. Specifically, the arm member  32  connects the pivot portion  11  and the abutting chunk  31 , and the abutting chunk  31  is pivoted to the plate member  13  of the base  10  and pivotable about an axis parallel to the pivot portion  11 . The abutting chunk  31  is detachably pivoted to the plate member  13  of the base  10  via a pin  33 . As a result, during the bending of the tube  50 , the abutting chunk  31  is self-adjustable to make the preferable the second arched groove  311  and the first arched groove  23  in preferable relative positions, so that the resistance to bend the tube  50  is largely reduced and it will not damage the tube  50 . Preferably, the abutting assembly  30  is further provided with an indication portion  34  correspondable to the angle reference portion  26 . More specifically, the indication portion  34  is a window formed on the arm member  32 , with which the degrees of bending angle of the tube  50  can be seen through the window. It is noted that a side of the arm member  32  may serve as the indication portion  34 , or the indication portion  34  may be a marking lines or arrow symbol on the arm member  32 , which can cooperate with the angle reference portion  26  to provide indication of the degrees of bending angle of the tube  50 . 
     The gear assembly  40  includes a driving portion  41  for being driven by a driving tool and a gear  42  connected and synchronously-movable with the driving portion  41 . The driving portion  41  is pivoted to the arm member  32 , and the gear  42  and the gear portion  22  are engaged with each other within the inner space  21 . Specifically, the driving portion  41  includes a drive head  411  protrusive from the arm member  32  and a middle portion  412  extending from the drive head  411 . The gear  42  and the middle portion  412  are connected with each other and synchronously-movable. More specifically, the middle portion  412  is disposed sequentially through the arm member  32  and the gear  42 , and an end of the middle portion  412  is detachably and rotatably assembled to the plate member  13 , so that the gear  42  can be replaced according to requirements such as bending force for the tube  50  to be bent, replacing of a damaged gear. A gear ratio of the gear  42  to the gear portion  22  gear ratio is not greater than 1 to 4, and preferably 1 to 6, thus providing times of bending force, saving efforts and having good production efficiency. 
     Further, as shown in  FIGS. 4-6 , during the bending of a tube, the indication portion  34  is set to align with a position marked with “0” of the angle reference portion  26 , and the tube  50  is inserted between the holding recess  241  of the holding portion  24  and the first arched groove  23  of the rotatable member  20 . A driving tool such as ratchet wrench is used to drive the drive head  411  to drive the gear  42 , and the gear  42  drives the gear portion to rotate the rotatable member  20 . At the same time, the tube  50  is gradually bent via the relative movement of the abutting chunk  31  and the rotatable member  20  till the tube  50  is bent to be with a predetermined bending degrees. Since the gear ratio of the gear  42  to the gear portion  22  is not greater than 1 to 4, thus providing times of bending force, saving efforts and having good production efficiency. 
     Given the above, in the tube bender of the present invention, through the cooperation that the gear and the gear portion are engaged with each other within the inner space of the rotatable member, it can provide times of bending force and save efforts. Additionally, the tube bender is simple in structure, easy to manufacture and assemble and of low production cost. 
     Furthermore, the gear portion, the holding portion and the driving portion may be designed to be detachably assembled and can be replaced according to requirements, so that it has good compatibility and applicability, and it needs only to replace a single damaged part but not the whole of the tube bender, thus being convenient and economical. 
     Although particular embodiments of the invention have been described in detail for purposes of illustration, various modifications and enhancements may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the invention is not to be limited except as by the appended claims.