Patent Application
20130090045
The present invention generally relates to fasteners that secure power tool components on rotatable spindles and, more particularly, to a flange nut having at least one non-circular opening into which a shaped tool may be inserted for facilitating movement of the flange nut along the spindle either towards or away from the power tool component.
Many types of power tools include some variation of a power tool component (e.g., disc, blade) mounted on a spindle or shaft for rotation therewith to perform useful work. One type of such a power tool is an angle grinder having a grinder wheel or disk mounted on a rotary shaft for use in grinding and sanding applications. Another such power tool is a circular saw having a saw toothed disc or blade mounted on a rotary shaft for use in cutting wood or other materials. To secure the power tool component to the spindle, the component is initially mounted over the spindle so that a central bore in the component receives the spindle. A nut or other type of fastener may then be mounted onto the spindle and threaded therealong in a first direction to compress the component between the nut and a flange or other feature disposed about the spindle. The nut may also be threaded along the spindle in an opposed, second direction to allow for removal of the component (e.g., to replace a defective or broken component, to utilize a different type of component, etc.). The nut typically includes a pair of spaced apertures into which a corresponding pair of spaced pins of a spanner wrench or other similar tool may be inserted for use in rotating the nut in a desired direction.
The present use of spanner wrenches or other similar types of tools to thread a nut in a desired direction along a spindle of a power tool suffers from a number of drawbacks that could be alleviated with a simpler and more efficient arrangement. For instance, as a spanner wrench generally resides in a single plane, a user is more likely to scrape or otherwise injure the user's hand (e.g., knuckles) via contact with the nut or other portion of the power tool. Furthermore, as a spanner wrench includes a single pair of spaced pins, a user is only afforded with two wrench positions (e.g., spaced 180° apart) from which the user can apply torque to the nut. Still further, spanner wrenches are relatively more expensive than other types of wrenches available on the market today.
To address or alleviate at least some of the above-mentioned drawbacks resulting from the present use of spanner wrenches to thread a nut along a power tool spindle, disclosed herein is a flange or lock nut that may be threaded onto a spindle of a power tool and that includes at least one aperture having a cross-section that is other than circular. The non-circular aperture allows a correspondingly shaped non-circular end of a tool to be inserted therein and torqued to induce a corresponding torque of the flange nut.
In one aspect, an angle grinder is disclosed including a field case having a handle coupled to a first end thereof, a motor disposed within the field case and having a rotor extending axially therefrom, a gear case coupled to a second end of the field case opposite the handle and having a wheel spindle extending therefrom and being operatively coupled to the rotor by at least one gear, an upper flange disposed about the wheel spindle, a grinder wheel disposed on the wheel spindle for rotation therewith, and a lower flange disposed about the wheel spindle and opposite the upper flange so that the grinder wheel is disposed between the upper and lower flanges. The lower flange includes a body, an annular bore extending through the body and that threadingly receives the wheel spindle, and at least one aperture extending at least partially through the body and spaced from the annular bore. The at least one aperture has a cross-sectional shape that is other than circular.
For instance, the end of an Allen wrench (or other polygonal key) may be inserted into the at least one aperture (e.g., having a corresponding hexagonal shape) and torqued to induce a corresponding rotation of the flange nut about the spindle to move the flange nut either towards or away from the grinder wheel (i.e., due to the interaction between the non-circular aperture and the non-circular end of the Allen wrench preventing or at least limiting relative rotation between the aperture and the wrench). Use of the Allen wrench or other similar tool advantageously reduces the likelihood of injury to a user's hand during torquing of the flange nut (e.g., due to the offset nature of the Allen wrench), provides an increased number of starting positions from which the flange nut can be torqued, and the like.
Any of the embodiments, arrangements, or the like discussed herein may be used (either alone or in combination with other embodiments, arrangement, or the like) with any of the disclosed aspects. Merely introducing a feature in accordance with commonly accepted antecedent basis practice does not limit the corresponding feature to the singular Any failure to use phrases such as “at least one” does not limit the corresponding feature to the singular. Use of the phrase “at least generally,” “at least partially,” “substantially” or the like in relation to a particular feature encompasses the corresponding characteristic and insubstantial variations thereof. Furthermore, a reference of a feature in conjunction with the phrase “in one embodiment” does not limit the use of the feature to a single embodiment.
In addition to the exemplary aspects and embodiments described above, further aspects and embodiments will become apparent by reference to the drawings and by study of the following descriptions.
With reference to
As shown, the angle grinder 10 may include a housing 12 having a handle portion 14, a field case 16, and a gear case 18. The handle portion 14 may be fixedly attached to a first end 20 of the field case 16 and the gear case 18 may be fixedly attached to a second end 22 of the field case 16. The handle portion 14 may support a switch 24 and associated components, a particle separation assembly 26, and the like. The field case 16 may support a motor 28 having a rotor 30 that extends into the gear case 18 for driving one or more gears (e.g., such as gearset 32) supported therein. The rotor 30 has a spindle rotational axis. A wheel shaft or spindle 34 may extend from gear case 18 and be rotatably driven by the rotor 30 through the gearset 32. In one arrangement, the axis of rotation of rotor 30 may be generally perpendicular to the axis of rotation of the wheel spindle 34. A power tool component such as a grinder wheel 36 may be selectively attachable to the wheel spindle 34 and rotatably driven thereby. The motor 28 may also have a second spindle 38 that extends into the handle portion 14 for rotatably driving a fan 40 associated with the particle separation assembly 26.
The switch 24 may be in electrical communication with the motor 28 via one or more conductive wires (not shown) and in electrical communication with a power source via a cord 42 including a plug (not shown). For instance, the handle portion 14 may include an opening 44 through which the cord 42 may run. Furthermore, a trigger 46 may be in mechanical communication with the switch 24 for selectively supplying power to the motor 28. Mechanical actuation of the trigger 46 results in actuation of the switch 24 and thus operation of the angle grinder 10 (i.e., rotation of the grinder wheel 36 via the rotor 30, gearset 32 and wheel spindle 34).
With particular reference to
Turning now to
The flange nut 100 also includes at least one aperture 114 extending from the second surface 106 and at least partially through the body 102 (e.g., completely through the body 102 between the first and second surfaces 104, 106 as shown in
In one arrangement, the aperture 114 may have a hexagonal cross-section of any appropriate diameter (e.g., between 5-7 mm, such as at least about 6 mm) that is adapted to receive an end of hex key or Allen wrench 118 also having a hexagonal cross-section. With additional reference now to
Furthermore, and with reference now to
The flange nut 100 may include additional apertures 114. For instance, and with continued reference to
It is also envisioned that the flange nut 100 may include more than two apertures 114 (e.g., 4, 8, etc.) which can be disposed at numerous different orientations about the annular bore 110 relative to each other (e.g., 90°, 45°, etc.). Furthermore, for high torque requirements, (2) two Allen wrenches may be utilized simultaneously in two different apertures to tighten or remove flange nut 100. Additionally, while the present discussion has primarily been in relation to hexagonally-shaped apertures that are sized and shaped to receive Allen wrenches, other shapes and cross-sections of apertures that are sized to receive other types of shaped tools are also envisioned and encompassed within the scope of the present disclosure (e.g., a star-shaped aperture sized to receive a star shaped wrench, a square-shaped aperture sized to receive a ratchet wrench, etc.). In one arrangement, the flange nut 100 may include a first aperture having a first cross-sectional shape (e.g., hexagonal) and a second aperture having a second cross-sectional shape (e.g., star) to allow for the use of two different types of tools for use in adjusting the flange nut 100. In another arrangement, the flange nut 100 may include at least two apertures having the same cross-sectional shape (e.g., hexagonal) but different diameters or sizes to allow for various sized tools to be used with the flange nut (e.g., different sized Allen wrenches).
The method 200 may also include inserting 206 the end of a shaped tool (e.g., end 122 of Allen wrench 118) into a non-circular aperture 114 of flange nut 100 (e.g., see
The method 200 may also query 212 whether it is desired to replace the grinder wheel 36. In response to a negative answer to the query 212, the method 200 may return to 212 and again query whether replacement of the grinder wheel 36 is desired. It should be appreciated that one or more uses or operations of the angle grinder 10 may ensue before an affirmative answer to the query at 212. In response to an affirmative answer to the query 212, the method 200 may include inserting 214 the end of a shaped tool (e.g., the Allen wrench 118) into the non-circular aperture 114 of the flange nut 100, torquing 216 the tool in an opposed second direction (e.g., counterclockwise) to thread the flange nut 100 about the wheel spindle 34 in the second direction and move the flange nut 100 away from the grinder wheel 36, and removing 218 the flange nut 100 and the grinder wheel 36. The method 200 may then return to 202 to dispose the wheel spindle through the annular bore of another grinder wheel 36 (e.g., of the same or different dimensions and having the same or different surface features).
While this disclosure contains many specifics, these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of the disclosure or of what may be claimed, but rather as descriptions of features specific to particular embodiments of the disclosure. Furthermore, numerous other arrangements are envisioned. For instance, one or more types of kits may be provided such as a flange nut/Allen wrench kit, an angle grinder/flange nut/Allen wrench kit, and the like. Furthermore, certain features that are described in this specification in the context of separate embodiments can also be implemented in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, various features that are described in the context of a single embodiment can also be implemented in multiple embodiments separately or in any suitable subcombination. Moreover, although features may be described above as acting in certain combinations and even initially claimed as such, one or more features from a claimed combination can in some cases be excised from the combination, and the claimed combination may be directed to a subcombination or variation of a subcombination.
Similarly, while operations are depicted in the drawings in a particular order, this should not be understood as requiring that such operations be performed in the particular order shown or in sequential order, or that all illustrated operations be performed, to achieve desirable results. In certain circumstances, multitasking and/or parallel processing may be advantageous. Moreover, the separation of various system components in the embodiments described above should not be understood as requiring such separation in all embodiments, and it should be understood that the described program components and systems can generally be integrated together in a single software and/or hardware product or packaged into multiple software and/or hardware products.
The above described embodiments including the preferred embodiment and the best mode of the invention known to the inventor at the time of filing are given by illustrative examples only.
