Patent ID: 7114924

Claim:
A tool for use in installation of helicopter rotor blades comprising: (a) An alignment pin that is a cylindrical elongated shaft with a cross sectional diameter equal to the diameter of the helicopter blade pins it is used with in connecting helicopter blade roots with their corresponding lead lag link structures on the helicopter rotor; (b) A top end of said alignment pin shaft that has a cavity sized and configured so as to mate with the typically round or hexagonal bottom tip of the helicopter blade pins that the tool is designed to be used with and a cross bore hole through both sides of the referenced cavity in said top end of the alignment pin; (c) A bottom end that is tapered to facilitate proper alignment of the throughholes of the helicopter blade roots with the throughholes of the lead lag link structures; (d) A drive member that is a generally cylindrical shaft with bore hole and cross shaft that facilitate locking of the drive member to the alignment shaft; (e) A top end of said drive member that is sized and configured so as to be comfortable for the user to grip and turn; (f) A bottom end of said drive member that has a cavity sized to receive the top end of the alignment shaft with said drive member and its bottom cavity having a transverse bore hole and corresponding shaft capable of being inserted in and through said bore hole in a slidable manner to facilitate turning of the drive member and temporary locking of the drive member and alignment shaft together.