The present invention relates to a piston pump, especially to a piston pump that is adapted for handheld tools such as a clamping tool.
A conventional piston pump has an oil storage bag, a driving assembly, and a piston. The driving assembly drains oil from the oil storage bag and then pressurizes the oil to push and move the piston.
Once the piston pushes against an object to be squeezed during its movement, pressure of a hydraulic oil in the piston increases gradually along with the squeezing movement. When the pressure of the oil reaches a predetermined value, which indicates that the piston has squeezed to a required extent, a safety valve is pushed and opened by the pressurized hydraulic oil, and then the hydraulic oil will flow through a safety channel and return to the oil storage bag.
However, at the moment the safety valve is opened, the pressure of the hydraulic oil will be instantaneously released to zero, so the safety valve is only opened for a moment and will instantly close again as the pressure returns to zero, and therefore the hydraulic oil actually passes through the safety valve and returns to the oil storage bag from the safety channel in only very small amount. At this time, it is necessary to further press an oil returning lever to open the hydraulic oil return channel. However, a user must keep pressing the oil returning lever until all the hydraulic oil flows back from the oil return channel into the oil storage bag, which is inconvenient to do so.
To overcome the shortcomings, the present invention provides a driving pump and a clamping tool to mitigate or obviate the aforementioned problems.
The main objective of the present invention is to provide an automatic oil return structure that automatically returns all the hydraulic oil back to the oil storage container when the pressure of the hydraulic oil reaches a predetermined value.
The automatic oil return structure includes an oil storage container, a piston, and a main body assembly. The piston is spaced apart from the oil storage container and includes an oil storage chamber. The main body assembly is mounted between the oil storage container and the piston. The main body assembly includes at least one main channel, at least one oil-plug channel, at least one oil blocking assembly, a pressure regulating channel, a controlling channel, a block controlling assembly, a communicating channel, an operating channel, a controlling assembly, a minor channel, and an oil returning channel. The at least one main channel communicates with the oil storage container. The at least one main channel communicates with the oil storage chamber of the piston via the at least one oil-plug channel. The at least one oil blocking assembly is mounted in the at least one oil-plug channel and selectively blocks the at least one oil-plug channel. The pressure regulating channel communicates with the at least one main channel. The controlling channel communicates with the pressure regulating channel. The block controlling assembly is mounted in the controlling channel and selectively blocks the controlling channel. The communicating channel communicates with the controlling channel. The operating channel communicates with the communicating channel. The controlling assembly is mounted in the operating channel, and selectively blocking the operating channel. The at least one main channel communicates with the operating channel via the minor channel. The oil returning channel communicates with the oil storage container, the operating channel, and the at least one oil-plug channel.
When a pressure of the at least one main channel is larger than a starting pressure, the pressure of the at least one main channel makes the at least one oil blocking assembly open, such that the at least one main channel communicates with the oil storage chamber of the piston; at the same time, the at least one oil blocking assembly isolates the oil storage chamber of the piston from the oil returning channel; at the same time, the block controlling assembly blocks the controlling channel and thereby isolates the pressure regulating channel from the communicating channel; at the same time, the controlling assembly blocks the operating channel and thereby isolates the oil returning channel from the minor channel.
When the pressure of the at least one main channel reaches a limited pressure, the pressure of the at least one main channel pushes the block controlling assembly away thereby the pressure regulating channel communicates with the communicating channel, and pushes the controlling assembly away thereby the minor channel communicates with the oil returning channel; at the same time, a pressure of the oil storage chamber of the piston pushes the at least one oil blocking assembly to isolate the oil storage chamber of the piston from the at least one main channel, and then the oil storage chamber of the piston communicates with the oil returning channel; the limited pressure is larger than the starting pressure.
As a result, when the pressure of the main channel reaches the limited pressure, the pressure is capable of pushing the controlling assembly away and thereby the main channel, the controlling assembly, and the oil returning channel communicate with one another, which decreases the pressure of the main channel. At the same time, the oil blocking assembly moves to isolate the main channel from the oil-plug channel, which also makes the oil storage chamber of the piston communicate with the oil returning channel, such that the oil storage chamber of the piston is capable of keeping retuning the hydraulic oil.
Other objectives, advantages and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
With reference to
With reference to
In this embodiment, one end of the main channel 31 communicates with the oil storage container 10, and another end communicates with the communicating chamber 39.
With reference to
Each one of the oil blocking assemblies 40 includes an oil blocking unit 41, an oil gasket 42, and an oil elastic unit 43. The oil blocking unit 41 is movably mounted in the first section 322 of the oil-plug channel 32, and selectively blocks the first opening 321 of the oil-plug channel 32 or the second opening 324 of the oil-plug channel 32. The oil blocking unit 41 includes an annular protrusion 410 disposed in the first section 322 of the oil-plug channel 32. A gap is formed between an outer peripheral surface of the annular protrusion 410 and an inner peripheral surface of the first section 322. Therefore, the hydraulic oil can pass through the outer peripheral surface of the annular protrusion 410 and the inner peripheral surface of the first section 322.
The oil gasket 42 is disposed in the first section 322 and movably sleeved on the oil blocking unit 41. A gap is formed between an inner peripheral surface of the oil gasket 42 and the oil blocking unit 41, and thereby the hydraulic oil can pass through the inner peripheral surface of the oil gasket 42 and the oil blocking unit 41. Besides, an inner diameter of the oil gasket 42 is smaller than an outer diameter of the annular protrusion 410, an outer peripheral surface of the oil gasket 42 abuts and fits the inner peripheral surface of the first section 322, and the oil gasket 42 selectively abuts the annular protrusion 410 of the oil blocking unit 41. Therefore, when the oil gasket 42 abuts the annular protrusion 410 of the oil blocking unit 41, the gap between the outer peripheral surface of the annular protrusion 410 and the inner peripheral surface of the first section 322 may be blocked by the oil gasket 42, and the gap between the inner peripheral surface of the oil gasket 42 and the oil blocking unit 41 may be blocked by the annular protrusion 410 of the oil blocking unit 41, hence the first section 322 is blocked and the hydraulic oil cannot flow between the two ends of the first section 322.
The oil elastic unit 43 pushes the oil gasket 42 such that the oil gasket 42 is configured to abut the annular protrusion 410 of the oil blocking unit 41.
With reference to
The block controlling assembly 50 is mounted in the controlling channel 34 and selectively blocks the controlling channel 34, which isolates the pressure regulating channel 33 from the communicating channel 35. In this embodiment, the block controlling assembly 50 includes a controlling plug 51 and a controlling elastic unit 52. The controlling plug 51 is movably mounted in the controlling channel 34 and is configured to move between two communicating openings. One of the communicating openings is formed between the controlling channel 34 and the pressure regulating channel 33, and the other communicating opening is formed between the controlling channel 34 and the communicating channel 35. With such structure, the pressure regulating channel 33 is isolated from the communicating channel 35. The controlling elastic unit 52 pushes the controlling plug 51 such that the controlling plug 51 is configured to abut the communicating opening between the controlling channel 34 and the pressure regulating channel 33, and thus the controlling plug 51 is maintained between the two communicating openings.
Then please refer to
In this embodiment, the operating channel 36 includes a first operating section 361, a second operating section 362, and a blocking opening 363. The communicating channel 35 communicates with the oil returning channel 38 via the first operating section 361, and the second operating section 362 communicates with the minor channel 37. The blocking opening 363 is located between the first operating section 361 and the second operating section 362 and thereby the first operating section 361 communicates with the second operating section 362.
The controlling assembly 60 is mounted in the operating channel 36 and selectively blocks the operating channel 36. The controlling assembly 60 includes at least one operating plug, an operating elastic unit 63, and a pushing unit 64. The operating plug is mounted in the operating channel 36 and selectively blocks the operating channel 36, and thereby the minor channel 37 is isolated from the oil returning channel 38. The pushing unit 64 is movably and operably mounted in the operating channel 36 and configured to push the operating plug to open the operating channel 36 under a user's operation. Therefore, the minor channel 37 communicates with the oil returning channel 38. The operating elastic unit 63 is configured to push the operating plug such that the operating plug is configured to block the operating channel 36.
In this embodiment, the controlling assembly 60 includes two operating plugs, which are defined as a first operating plug 61 and a second operating plug 62, respectively. The first operating plug 61 is movably mounted in the first operating section 361 and selectively moves and protrudes into the second operating section 362.
The first operating plug 61 includes an inner channel 611, a first opening 612, a second opening 613, and an annular protrusion 614 of the operating plug 61. The inner channel 611 is formed in the first operating plug 61. The first opening 612 may be formed on an end surface of the first operating plug 61 and said end surface is adjacent to the second operating plug 62, but it is not limited thereto. The first opening 612 communicates with the inner channel 611. The second opening 613 communicates with the inner channel 611 and the communicating channel 35. An outer peripheral surface of the annular protrusion 614 abuts and fits on an inner peripheral surface of the first operating section 361 and is located between the first opening 612 and the second opening 613. In other words, in this embodiment, the second opening 613 may communicate with the second opening 613 only via the inner channel 611, instead of via a space out of the first operating plug 61.
The second operating plug 62 is movably mounted in the second operating section 362 and selectively abuts the blocking opening 363. Thus, as the first operating section 361 is isolated from the second operating section 362, thereby the minor channel 37 is isolated from the oil returning channel 38. The operating elastic unit 63 abuts the second operating plug 62 such that the second operating plug 62 is configured to move toward or abut the blocking opening 363.
Moreover, the pushing unit 64 is configured to move the first operating plug 61 to protrude into the second operating section 362 and push away the second operating plug 62 under the user's operation, such that the first operating section 361 communicates with the second operating section 362 and thereby the minor channel communicates with the oil returning channel 38.
Then please refer to
With the aforementioned structures, in the present automatic oil return structure, the hydraulic oil in the oil storage chamber of the piston 20 can be continuously returned and thus a pressure of the oil storage chamber of the piston 20 can be automatically released when the pressure achieves a predetermined value, rather than returning the hydraulic oil in just a moment. Precisely, the returning is continuous until the user operates the piston 20 again or the pressures of the oil storage chamber of the piston 20 and the oil storage container 10 are balanced.
Then please refer to
When the user manipulates the piston pump, the main body assembly 30 starts to pump the hydraulic oil from the oil storage container 10 to the oil storage chamber of the piston 20. Precisely, the hydraulic oil in the oil storage container 10 may sequentially flow through the main channel 31, the oil-plug channel 32, and the oil storage chamber of the piston 20. Therefore, pressures of the main channel 31, the oil-plug channel 32, and the oil storage chamber of the piston 20 are equal to each other and keep increasing.
Then please also refer to
When the pressure of the main channel 31 is increased to achieve a limited pressure, the pressure of the piston 20 achieves a maximum pressure under the safety requirement, and thus the automatic oil return structure starts to return the hydraulic oil. Precisely, when the pressure of the main channel 31 achieve the limited pressure, the pressure of both the pressure regulating channel 33 and the minor channel 37 that communicate with the main channel 31 also achieve the limited pressure. Meanwhile, the pressure pushes away the block controlling assembly 50 and the pressure regulating channel 33 communicates with the communicating channel 35, and thereby a pressure of the communicating channel 35 also achieves the limited pressure. Then, the pressure pushes away the controlling assembly 60 and the minor channel 37 communicates with the oil returning channel 38. Precisely, if the pressure of the main channel 31 is smaller than the limited pressure, the second operating plug 62 of the controlling assembly 60 abuts the blocking opening 363 of the operating channel 36. Even if the pressures of the main channel 31 and the communicating channel 35 achieve the limited pressure, the hydraulic oil can hardly flow from the communicating channel 35 to the inner channel 611 because a diameter of the second opening 613 is much smaller than that of the communicating channel 35, which makes the hydraulic oil still capable of pushing the first operating plug 61 to move and protrude into the second operating section 362 and push away the second operating plug 62. Therefore, the blocking opening 363 is open and thus the minor channel 37 communicates with the oil returning channel 38.
Because a pressure of the oil storage container 10 is always kept at the lowest original pressure and the oil returning channel 38 communicates with the oil storage container 10, the pressure of the oil returning channel 38 is also kept at the lowest original pressure. When the minor channel 37 communicates with the oil returning channel 38, the pressures of the main channel 31, the oil-plug channel 32, the pressure regulating channel 33, and the minor channel 37 may decrease to the original pressure. However, at this moment, the pressure of the oil storage chamber of the piston 20 is still at the limited pressure, so the pressure may push the oil blocking unit 41 of the oil blocking assembly 40 to block the first opening 321 of the oil-plug channel 32 and the oil gasket 42 abuts the annular protrusion 410 of the oil blocking unit 41. In other words, the oil blocking assembly 40 isolates the oil storage chamber of the piston 20 from the main channel 31, so the hydraulic oil may not flow back to the main channel 31. At the same time, the oil storage chamber of the piston 20 communicates with the oil returning channel 38, so the hydraulic oil may flow back to the oil storage container 10 via the oil returning channel 38.
Only when the user operates and thus the pressure of the main channel 31 increases again, the oil blocking assembly 40 may keep isolating the oil storage chamber of the piston 20 from the main channel 31 but the oil storage chamber of the piston 20 communicates with the oil returning channel 38. Therefore, the hydraulic oil can continuously flow back to the oil storage container 10 until the pressures of the oil storage chamber of the piston 20 and the oil storage container 10 are balanced.
Besides, the user may take the initiative to return the hydraulic oil before the pressure of the main channel 31 achieves the limited pressure. Precisely, the user may press a pressure releasing button 65 which is linked with the pushing unit 64 of the controlling assembly 60, then the pushing unit 64 may push the first operating plug 61 to protrude into the second operating section 362 and the second operating plug 62 is pushed away. Thus, the minor channel 37 communicates with the oil returning channel 38. When the minor channel 37 communicates with the oil returning channel 38, the result is the same as the aforesaid automatic oil return process, i.e., the oil blocking assembly 40 isolates the oil storage chamber of the piston 20 from the main channel 31 but the oil storage chamber of the piston 20 communicates with the oil returning channel 38. Therefore, the hydraulic oil may flow back to the oil storage container 10 via the oil returning channel 38.
Even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the present invention have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of the structure and features of the invention, the disclosure is illustrative only. Changes may be made in the details, especially in matters of shape, size, and arrangement of parts within the principles of the invention to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed.
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