Patent Application
20210146508
Industrial bolting applications often include inaccessible fasteners. One such application is found on the Komatsu 980 Mining Truck 1 which includes rock service, tubeless, radial tires 2 having standard size of 59/80 R63 mounted on five piece flange rim assemblies 10, 1118 mm×1600 mm×140 mm (44″×63″×5.5″) in size. Tires 2 are rated at 758 kPa (110 psi) cold inflation pressure. A typical total tire weight comes to 32585 kg (71,838 lbs)! See Rim assemblies 10 include an inner, lower circumferential array of inaccessible fasteners 11 each requiring 1800-1900 ft·lbs. of torque, surrounded by an outer, higher circumferential array of fasteners 12. See
There is no room for conventional tooling to reach fasteners 11. A known tightening solution 50 requires use of a reaction fixture 51 shaped like a cross with a drive shaft extension 52. Known solution 50 reacts off of bolt heads on each side of reaction fixture 51 of a third circumferential array of fasteners 13 quite far from fasteners 11. This flawed solution puts excessive strain and side load on the system due to the positioning and angle ∠50 of a socket 53, reaction fixture 51 and drive extension 52. Reaction points 55 and 56 are removed a distance H50 from fasteners 11. Substantial risk of drive shaft extension 52, tool 40 and internal tool gearing failures and reaction fixture 51 slippages are characteristic of known solution 50. See
This application discloses an apparatus 100 for use with an electrically, hydraulically and/or pneumatically driven torque tool for tightening or loosening inaccessible threaded fasteners including a drive extension assembly 110, a reaction assembly 120 and a socket assembly 130. Advantageously the present invention uses an external reaction member which holds on to two (2) or four (4) adjacent studs while turning a fastener with an extended drive ball and socket joint connection. It more efficiently distributes/reduces the side loads and system strains from the reaction forces on the bolts by bringing the reaction point much closer to the fastener being turned. It allows for a plurality of fastener approach angles and is adaptable to a plurality of fastener obstructions. It's relatively lightweight, easy to maneuver from fastener to fastener and overall user friendly. Compared to known tightening solution 50, apparatus 100 is a stable, secure, solid and compact system with no twisting or tendency to creep or crawl of off the reaction points.
Referring to
During operation, apparatus 100 is assembled and coupled to, for example, a HYTORC pneumatic torque multiplier (not shown). Components of drive extension assembly 110 are inserted into reaction tube 121. Specifically, drive extension 111 is connected to drive connector 112 at one end and hex ball 113 of drive extension 111 is connected to flank drive socket 131 at another end. These items are supported and kept concentric to the system via drive guide bushing 114 and shroud support sleeve 115. Flank drive socket 131 is attached to hex ball 113 by retaining rings 135 and 136.
Reaction plate 122 is coupled to reaction tube 111 via SHCSs 129 and transfers the tool's equal and opposite reaction force to a plurality of studs of outer, higher circumferential array of fasteners 12. Thread protector sleeves 124 of reaction plate 122 prevents marking or damage to the studs. Dirt shield 126, attached to reaction tube 111 and held in place by drive guide bushing 114, seals off components of the system to improve safety and reduce foreign matter from getting on the internal drive contents.
Another embodiment of the present invention is shown in
Another embodiment of the present invention is shown in
It will be understood that each of the elements described above, or two or more together, may also find a useful application in other types of constructions differing from the types described above. The features disclosed in the foregoing description, or the following claims, or the accompanying drawings, expressed in their specific forms or in terms of a means for performing the disclosed function, or a method or process for attaining the disclosed result, as appropriate, may, separately, or in any combination of such features, be utilized for realizing the invention in diverse forms thereof. Note that there may be slight differences in descriptions of numbered components in the specification.
While the invention has been illustrated and described as embodied in a fluid operated tool, it is not intended to be limited to the details shown, since various modifications, structural and component changes, size and materials changes, etc., may be made without departing in any way from the spirit of the present invention.
Without further analysis, the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist of the present invention that others can, by applying current knowledge, readily adapt it for various applications without omitting features that, from the standpoint of prior art, fairly constitute essential characteristics of the generic or specific aspects of this invention.
When used in this specification and claims, the terms “comprising”, “including”, “having” and variations thereof mean that the specified features, steps or integers are included. The terms are not to be interpreted to exclude the presence of other features, steps or components.
This application either claims priority to and/or is either a continuation patent application or a continuation-in-part application of the following commonly owned and/or co-pending patent application, an entire copy of which is incorporated herein by reference: U.S. Application Ser. No. 62/519,231, having Filing Date of 14 Jun. 2017, entitled “APPARATUS FOR TIGHTENING THREADED FASTENERS”.
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/US2018/037462 | 6/14/2018 | WO | 00 |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62519231 | Jun 2017 | US |
