Pneumatic rotary tools include pneumatic motors that receive compressed air and convert energy from the compressed air into mechanical work. The mechanical work produced by the pneumatic motor may be converted in the form of rotary motion or linear motion. Pneumatic motors that produce rotary motion include vane-type pneumatic motors, piston pneumatic motors, air turbines, and gear-type motors.
The Detailed Description is described with reference to the accompanying figures. The use of the same reference numbers in different instances in the description and the figures may indicate similar or identical items.
For the purpose of promoting an understanding of the principles of the subject matter, reference will now be made to the embodiments illustrated in the drawings and specific language will be used to describe the same. It will nevertheless be understood that no limitation of the scope of the subject matter is thereby intended. Any alterations and further modifications in the described embodiments, and any further applications of the principles of the subject matter as described herein are contemplated as would normally occur to one skilled in the art to which the subject matter relates.
Vane-type motors, also called rotary vane motors, are a type of pneumatic motor that uses a compressed fluid (typically compressed air) to produce rotational motion to rotate a shaft. Rotary vane motors include a slotted rotor eccentrically mounted on a stator. The rotor includes radially extending vanes extending from the slots around rotor. In typical pneumatic motors, the vanes extending from the rotor reach their full extension, or open at their maximum reveal, at one point along the length of travel, for example, only when reaching one-hundred and eighty degrees (180°) of rotation from the bottom of the rotor.
In order to increase the torque produced by a pneumatic motor, either the length of the motor or the diameter of the rotor and the stator may be increased. These solutions increase the overall size and weight of the pneumatic motors and the assemblies (e.g., handheld power tools) in which they are installed.
Another way to increase the torque produced by a pneumatic motor is to use a dual lobe sliding vane motor. However, dual lobe motors require different rotors having additional vanes and work with more complex flow paths to receive and deliver the compressed fluid used to rotate the rotor.
The pneumatic motor described herein includes a stator where the arc of the stator bore allows the vanes to fully extend before reaching one-hundred and eighty degrees (180°) (e.g., with respect to a tangential point/line between the rotor and the stator) and to remain extended for a longer duration of the cycle along the rotation of the rotor. This longer period of full vane extension allows the vane to be driven and maintained at a higher pressure and force throughout the duration of an arc length, resulting in an increase in motor torque when compared to a typical pneumatic motor having a cylindrical stator.
Since the vane is fully open through a greater angle of rotation, the moment arm of the force resulting from the pressure differential (e.g., the difference in pressure from one side of the vane to the other acting at the centroid of the pressurized portion of the vane) about the axis of rotation of the rotor is greater Thus, this increase in the moment arm provided by the vanes about the axis of rotation also increases the resulting torque of the pneumatic motor. The stator bore of the pneumatic motor described herein increases the performance of the pneumatic motor without adding additional weight to the pneumatic motor. Additionally, the pneumatic motor described herein does not require a change to the flow paths leading to and from the pneumatic motor. Additionally, example embodiments of the pneumatic motor reduce the jerk of the rotor as it accelerates and decelerates.
Referring generally to
In the embodiments discussed, the power tool assembly 100 is configured to receive the compressed air from the compressed air source to actuate the pneumatic motor 120. However, in other embodiments, the power tool assembly 100 may use a different compressed fluid as a medium to rotate the pneumatic motor 120. For example, the power tool assembly 100 may be coupled to a source of compressed nitrogen or other compressed gas supplies the energy to rotate the pneumatic motor 120.
In the embodiment shown in
The power tool assembly 100 may further include a rear end plate 112 and a front end plate 114 disposed in proximity to the pneumatic motor 120 and configured to limit axial displacement of the pneumatic motor 120 within the housing 102. The rear end plate 112 and the front end plate 114 may include bearings 116 that allow the rotation of the pneumatic motor 120 around the output axis 100A. The housing 102 may include a gear set assembly (not shown) connecting the pneumatic motor 120 with the impact assembly 110.
The pneumatic motor 120 includes a stator 124 having a stator inner wall 125 that defines a stator bore 126. The stator bore 126 houses an eccentrically mounted rotor 122 having a plurality of slots 123 around the circumference of the rotor 122. The plurality of slots 123 holds a plurality of vanes 128 disposed around the rotor 122, where each one of the plurality of vanes 128 includes a vane leading edge 127. The plurality of vanes 128 extends radially from the rotor 122 and is configured to slide in and out of the respective plurality of slots 123 as the rotor 122 rotates within the stator bore 126. In example embodiments, the plurality of vanes 128 may extend from the plurality of slots 123 using the air pressure from the flow of high pressure air or may use a biasing component disposed within the plurality of slots 123, such as but not limited to springs (not shown), etc. When extended, the plurality of vanes 128 closes off the space between the rotor 122 and the stator inner wall 125. In other embodiments (not shown) the pneumatic motor 120 is an offset vane motor.
The rotor 122 is coaxial with and rotates about the output axis 100A. The pneumatic motor 120 further includes an air inlet 130, a primary air outlet 132, and a residual air outlet 134, as shown in
As used herein, descriptions which refer to angular rotation (e.g., 90°, 180°, etc.) will be understood to be an angular rotation relative to the rotor 122 depicted in
As the plurality of vanes 128 rotates over the at least one air inlet opening 142, the plurality of vanes 128 traps a pocket of compressed air between adjacent vanes that is then transported to the primary air outlet 132. Prior to being exhausted through the primary air outlet 132, the pressure of the compressed air exerts a force on the plurality of vanes 128. As the force exerted on the plurality of vanes increases, so does the resultant torque supplied by the pneumatic motor 120. As the plurality of vanes 128 continues rotating past the primary air outlet 132, and the chamber volume between adjacent vanes is reduced, there is pressure buildup of the residual air left on the chamber after the primary air outlet 132. The residual air remaining between adjacent vanes is exhausted through the at least one residual air outlet opening 144 prior to starting the rotational cycle again at the tangential line 136.
Referring to
In the embodiments shown, the stator inner wall 125 and the stator bore 126 define a dwell region 140 having a leading edge 139 and a trailing edge 141. The vanes 128 remain in maximum vane extension Rmax throughout the arc length of the dwell region. The dwell region 140 covers an arc length around the periphery of the stator bore 126 at which the plurality of vanes 128 extend and remain fully extended. The distance between the axis of rotation 100A and the stator inner wall 125 remains constant along the dwell region 140, making the dwell region 140 a constant radius arc relative to the center of the rotor 122. As each one of the plurality of vanes 128 rotates tangentially to the stator inner wall 125 along the dwell region 140, each one of the plurality of vanes 128 is fully extended along the arc length of the dwell region 140.
By defining this dwell region 140, the plurality of vanes may reach or more closely approach their full extension prior to reaching one-hundred and eighty degrees (180°) of rotation from the tangential line 136. While rotating across the arc length of the dwell region 140, the available vane surface area (e.g., the surface area across which the air pressure differential drives the vane) increases in comparison to a circular stator inner wall 125 defining a cylindrical stator bore 126. With the increased available vane surface area, the air pressure force acting on the vanes increases, even if the pressure differential across the vanes remains constant, resulting in an increased resultant motor torque.
In addition, the volume of the compressed air pockets, or chambers, created between adjacent ones of the plurality of vanes 128 and the stator inner wall 125 remains constant as each one of the plurality of vanes 128 approaches the primary air outlet 132. For this reason, the pressure in each chamber will not decrease as rapidly as it would in a cylindrical stator. Additionally, the compressed air does not need to expand as much from the point past the air inlet opening 142 to the primary air outlet 132 where each one of the plurality of vanes 128 exposes the chamber between adjacent vanes. Thus, the pressure of the chamber between adjacent vanes remains higher relative to the exhaust pressure, providing not only the increased vane area mentioned above, but also an increased pressure differential across the leading vane, which further acts to increase the force on the vane and hence the motor torque.
In example embodiments, the mean radius of the plurality of vanes 128 traveling across the arc length of the dwell region 140 is constant along the entirety of the dwell region 140. In other embodiments, the mean radius of the plurality of vanes 128 traveling across the arc length of the dwell region 140 is not constant along the entirety of the dwell region, but the mean radius of the plurality of vanes extends further out from the rotor 122 than the mean radius of vanes in a power tool without a dwell region 140. Thus, the resultant of the pressure force acts at a slightly increased radius about the axis of rotation 100A for the arc length of the dwell region 140. In this manner, the pneumatic motor 120 allows for a higher motor torque to be generated without a significant increase in the size of the motor 120 compared to typical motors without a dwell region 140 (e.g., motors with cylindrical stators).
In example embodiments, the stator 124 follows a cam profile on the stator bore 126 and the stator inner wall 125 between the point of minimum vane extension Rmin and the point of reaching maximum vane extension Rmax. The profile of the stator bore 126 and the stator inner wall 125 provides a steady or constant rise from the tangential line 136 or the zero degrees (0°) angle/position until reaching the leading edge 139 of the dwell region 140. Depending on the cam profile (rise profile, motion curve) used, the vane acceleration and the derivative of the vane acceleration, also referred to as the jerk, may change. Having the stator inner wall 125 follow a cam profile allows the plurality of vanes 128 to follow a smooth rise transition between the point of minimum vane extension Rmin at the tangential line 136 and the leading edge 139 of the dwell region 140, i.e., the point of reaching the maximum vane extension Rmax.
For example, the embodiment illustrated in
Referring to
In embodiments, the leading edge 139 of the dwell region 140 may be located between one-hundred and twenty degrees (120°) and one-hundred and forty degrees (140°) from the tangential line 136. The trailing edge 141 of the dwell region 140 may be positioned between two-hundred and twenty degrees (220°) and two-hundred and forty degrees (240°) from the tangential line 136. For example, in the embodiment shown in
It should be understood that the dwell region 140 may have an arc length longer than or shorter than ninety degrees (90°). For example, in an example embodiment, the arc length of the dwell region 140 may be forty-five degrees (45°), as shown in
In example embodiments, the primary air outlet 132 is disposed above the rotor 122 opposite to the tangential line 136 of the rotor 122 and the stator 124. For example, the primary air outlet 132 may be disposed at the one-hundred and eighty degrees (180°) position as shown in
Typically, a fastener is rotated clockwise to be fastened and rotated counterclockwise to be unfastened. In embodiments where either the leading edge 139 or the trailing edge 141 of the dwell region 140 coincides with the primary air outlet 132, the pneumatic motor 120 may be biased towards a direction of rotation (forward biased, reverse biased). For example, the embodiment shown in
In embodiments where the power tool 100 is reverse biased, the trailing edge 141 of the dwell region 140 coincides with the primary air outlet 132. For example, the trailing edge 141 of the dwell region and the primary air outlet 132 may be located at one-hundred and eighty degrees (180°) from the tangential line 136. In other embodiments (not shown), the pneumatic motor 120 may be forward biased. In a forward biased power tool 100, the leading edge 139 of the dwell region 140 may coincide with the primary air outlet 132. For example, the leading edge 139 of the dwell region and the primary air outlet 132 may be located at one-hundred and eighty degrees (180°) from the tangential line 136. It should be understood that the position of the primary air outlet 132 is an example embodiment, and the primary air outlet may be disposed at a different angle from the tangential line 136.
Referring to
As previously discussed, selecting a specific cam profile for the stator inner wall 125 between the point of minimum vane extension Rmin and the point at which maximum vane extension Rmax is reached may affect the way in which forces act on each one of the plurality of vanes 128 (vane loading). More specifically, when the pneumatic motor 120 is running at a fixed angular velocity ω (the time derivative of the rotor angle θ with respect to time, or ω=dθ/dt), the centrifugal force acting on the mass of the plurality of vanes 128 urges each one of the plurality of vanes 128 out of the respective ones of the plurality of slots 123 and into contact with the stator inner wall 125. Depending on the geometry of rise used (the cam profile), each one of the plurality of vanes 128 may rise and/or fall as their position/angle with respect to the tangential line 136 changes.
Similarly, depending on the cam profile of the stator 124, the pneumatic motor 120 may be configured to have a reduced jerk as it accelerates and decelerates the power tool 100. Jerk is the rate of change of an object's acceleration over time. Jerk is undesirable as it is associated with a resulting impact, which contributes to noise, surface wear of the plurality of vanes 128, and fatigue of the pneumatic motor 120. Since the angle of the rotor 122 changes with time at angular velocity ω, a vane radial velocity, a radial acceleration, and the radial jerk or “pulse” are defined. Different embodiments of the geometry of the stator inner wall 125 result in different rise profiles, radial velocities, accelerations, and jerks. The following equations define the derivatives of rise with respect to time. the radial velocity is:
The radial acceleration is:
The radial jerk is:
If the angular velocity ω of the rotor 122 is held constant, the radial velocity of the plurality of vanes 128 is:
The radial acceleration of the plurality of vanes 128 is:
And the radial jerk of the plurality of vanes 128 is:
Referring to
Referring to
While the subject matter has been illustrated and described in detail in the drawings and foregoing description, the same is to be considered as illustrative and not restrictive in character. In reading the claims, it is intended that when words such as “a,” “an,” or “at least one,” are used there is no intention to limit the claim to only one item unless specifically stated to the contrary in the claim. Unless specified or limited otherwise, the terms “mounted,” “connected,” and “coupled” and variations thereof are used broadly and encompass both direct and indirect mountings, connections, supports, and couplings. Further, “connected” and “coupled” are not restricted to physical or mechanical connections or couplings.
Although the subject matter has been described in language specific to structural features and/or process operations, it is to be understood that the subject matter defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above. Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed as example forms of implementing the claims.
Number | Date | Country | |
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63464402 | May 2023 | US |