Patent ID: 8601661

Claim:
An hydraulic tool for spreading and aligning flanges comprising: a casing-sleeve ( 1 ); a support ( 18 ) having a central threaded hole for threadedly housing the casing-sleeve ( 1 ); two tension rods ( 3 , 3 ′) displaced along the support ( 18 ), and having each a hole to be coupled to a bolt ( 4 ) which is inserted in the holes of two flanges ( 32 , 33 ) that are attached; a threaded rod ( 19 ) that one end is threadedly housed in a nut-sleeve ( 13 ) of the casing-sleeve ( 1 ), and another end is coupled to a torque casing ( 28 ); the torque casing ( 28 ) having housed therein four balls ( 23 ) fixedly and equidistantly mounted in such a way that only half of the diameter of each of the balls protrudes and a selector ( 24 ) having housed therein a plurality of spring washers ( 21 ) concentrical to an axis of the selector; at least two levers ( 26 ) attached to the torque casing ( 28 ), so that when applying a rotation force manually on the levers ( 26 ), they transmit the torque to the spring washers ( 21 ) and to the selector ( 24 ), which, through the balls ( 23 ) rotates the threaded rod ( 19 ); the threaded rod ( 19 ) upon rotating within the nut-sleeve ( 13 ) of the casing-sleeve ( 1 ) pushes a ball ( 9 ) which in turn transmits the force to a first piston ( 12 ), the threaded rod ( 19 ) is attached to the first piston ( 12 ) by a notch, the ball ( 9 ) performs the function of thrust and axial dummy bearing, the force applied to the first piston ( 12 ) which displaces hydraulic fluid from a first chamber ( 11 ), through the galleries, into a second chamber ( 29 ) that advances a second piston ( 16 ); wherein the forward movement of the second piston ( 16 ) advances a wedge ( 5 ) interchangeably attached to the end of the second piston ( 16 ), so that upon advancing the wedge ( 5 ) the wedge is introduced between the two inner faces of the flanges ( 32 , 33 ) by separating the flanges.