The present invention pertains to a device for tensioning a screw, for example to be used for tensioning screws for tightening parts of gas internal combustion engines.
It is well known to tighten screw connections by means of applying a predetermined torque or via a predetermined angle of rotation. In particular for tightening large screws, for instance bigger than M20 screws, the above-mentioned methods are often not accurate enough. Moreover, for large screws, the resulting forces on the contact surfaces of the nut and the part to be tightened by the screw connection are that big that damage of the surfaces occur.
To overcome the aforementioned drawbacks, it is known to tighten a screw connection by tensioning the screw. In this regard, it is known to tension screws by means of hydraulic screw tensioning devices. Such a screw tensioning device is known from WO 2017/016654 A1, which comprises a screw pulling member to be connected to a screw, and a support member. By applying a hydraulic fluid in a piston-cylinder arrangement, the screw pulling member is displaced with respect to the support member leading to tensioning of the screw. The oil pressure for such devices has to be relatively high, for example between 1500 bar and 2000 bar. Hydraulic oil is compressible above 1000 bar, wherein for example known hydraulic oils comprise a volume reduction about 20% at 1000 bar. Accordingly, a lot of compression energy is stored in the oil while tensioning the screw and, hence, in the device. Furthermore, the device has to be connected to a high-pressure pump via a high pressure hose such that in the system containing the hydraulic screw tensioning device, the hose and the pump, and a high amount of oil including a big amount of compression energy is present. Hence, in case of damage of the device or breaking of the screw this high amount of compression energy is released suddenly, which may lead to serious, life-threatening danger for an operator of the hydraulic screw tensioning device and can result in serious damages of the parts to be tightened or the surroundings.
To minimize the above mentioned risks, it is known to use mechanical screw tensioning devices having a wedge mechanism. Such wedge mechanism screw tensioning devices are e.g. known from SU 92949 A1, U.S. Pat. No. 4,391,431 A1 or SU 1248790 A2. These devices comprise a support member against which a wedge is slidable perpendicular to a longitudinal axis of the screw to be tightened, and a correspondingly shaped second wedge which is part of a screw pulling member. By tensioning an actuator screw, the wedges are displaced with respect to each other such that the screw pulling member is displaced in the longitudinal axis of the screw to be tensioned. Based on the angle of the wedge mechanism relative to the material axis of the screw, the force applied by the actuator screw is multiplied by force/stroke conversion. Thus, a relatively high tensioning force can be applied on the screw to be tightened by means of a relatively small dimensioned actuator screw. The force/stroke conversion of these wedge mechanisms is constant, such that the size of the screws to be tensioned by these devices is limited because when tensioning big screws, e.g. M35, M36 or M40 screws, a relatively high force has to be applied onto the actuator screw.
Starting from the prior art, it is an objective to provide a device for tensioning a screw which overcomes the above-mentioned drawbacks.
This objective is solved by means of a device for tensioning a screw with the features of claim 1. Preferred embodiments are set forth in the present specification, the Figures as well as the dependent claims.
Accordingly, a device for tensioning a screw is proposed, containing a screw pulling member comprising an engagement section for engagement with a thread of a screw to be tensioned and further containing a toggle lever mechanism for displacing the screw pulling member relative to a part to be tightened.
The present disclosure will be more readily appreciated by reference to the following detailed description when being considered in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:
In the following, the invention will be explained in more detail with reference to the accompanying Figures. In the Figures, like elements are denoted by identical reference numerals and repeated description thereof may be omitted in order to avoid redundancies.
In
The toggle lever mechanism 4 comprises a first lever member 40 and a second lever member 41, an engagement member 81 which engages with an actuator screw 80 of the actuator unit 8, and a support pin 84 which engages with the actuator screw 80 and which is supported against the guide 7. Furthermore, the device 1 comprises an optional distance piece 9 which is to be placed around a nut 30 of the screw 3.
As can be also seen in
The engagement member 81 is rotatably supported in the first lever member 40. The support pin 84 is rotatably supported at the guide 7. The actuator screw 80 engages with the engagement member 81 with a thread of the actuator screw 80 and is supported against the support pin 84 in the longitudinal direction of the screw 80 via its head 85. Both the engagement member 81 and the support pin 84 are rotatably supported perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the actuator screw 80.
The support member 6 supports the toggle lever mechanism 4 against the part to be tightened 5, wherein in this embodiment the distance piece 9 is arranged between the support member 6 and the part to be tightened 5. As can be seen with regard to the pivot axes 42, 43, 44, the toggle lever mechanism 4 is in a pivoted state in which the second pivot axis 43 is spaced apart with the distance D from the longitudinal axis A of the device 1, which, in this embodiment, at the same time is the longitudinal axis of the screw 3 to be tensioned and the pulling direction. Both, the first pivot axis 42 and the third pivot axis 44 intersect with the longitudinal axis A.
The contact areas of the contact surfaces 46 between the support member 6 and the first lever member 40, the first lever member 40 and the second lever member 41, and the second lever member 41 and the screw pulling member 2 are each at least double the size of a cross section of the screw 3. Furthermore, the contact surfaces 46 each comprise a friction-reducing coating.
In
In the following, the functioning of the mechanical force multiplying tensioning device 1 according to the first embodiment is described. In the first step, the nut 30 is screwed onto the screw 3, until it rests on a surface of the part to be tightened 5. Afterwards the distance piece 9 is placed around the nut 30 and onto the part to be tightened 5. Then, the device 1 is placed above the screw and the screw pulling member 2 is brought in engagement with a thread of the screw 3 by rotation of the device 1 about its longitudinal axis A, resulting in a setup as shown in
In a next step, the actuator screw 80 is turned until a predetermined starting tension force is applied onto the screw 3. Determination of the tension force applied on the screw 3 via the device 1 can be achieved by e.g. measuring the stress in the support member 6, e.g. by attaching one or more strain gauges on to the support member 6, by which, after an initial calibration, the force, stress and elongation of the screw 3 can be calculated. Alternatively, other ways of detecting stress, elongation etc. of at least one of the parts of the device 1 can be applied. Detecting stresses or elongation is per se well known. After the starting tension force is reached, the nut 30 is rotated until it makes contact with the surface of the parts to be tightened 5. Thereby, a predetermined starting point is achieved.
In a further step, the actuator screw 80 is further rotated until a second tension force on the screw 3 is reached. After that, the nut 30 is rotated about a predetermined amount of rotations, whereby the nut 30 is displaced towards the part to be tightened 5 about a predetermined distance.
Rotation of the nut 30 is achieved by placing a key (not shown) through a window or notches (not shown) in the guide 7. The latter is known, e.g. from SU 929429 A1.
After rotation of the nut 30, the actuator screw 80 is released and the device 1 is removed. The screw 3 now comprises a predetermined tension, and thus the screw connection is tightened with a predetermined stress level.
For rotating the actuator screw 80, a lever 86 is attached to the screw 80. The lever 86 may further comprise a torque measuring device (not shown) which is per se known.
Due to provision of the connection member 45, the second pivot axis 43 is split into two second pivot axes 43′ and 43″.
By rotating the actuator screw 80 in a clockwise direction, the connection members 45 are displaced towards each other, which results in a displacement of the screw pulling member 2 along the longitudinal axis A away from the parts to be tightened 5. Thereby, the screw 3 can be tensioned as described with respect to the first embodiment.
Furthermore, the actuator screw 80 comprises a head 85 with a hexagon socket (not shown).
It will be obvious for a person skilled in the art that these embodiments and items only depict examples of a plurality of possibilities. Hence, the embodiments shown here should not be understood to form a limitation of these features and configurations. Any possible combination and configuration of the described features can be chosen according to the scope of the invention.
This is particular the case with respect to the following optional features which may be combined with some or all embodiments, items and/or features mentioned before in any technically feasible combination.
A device for tensioning a screw may be provided, which may contain a screw pulling member comprising an engagement section for engagement with a thread of a screw to be tensioned and further containing a toggle lever mechanism for displacing the screw pulling member relative to a part to be tightened.
It has been found that by means a toggle lever mechanism for displacing the screw pulling member relative to a part to be tightened, using a hydraulic fluid which could become compressed may not be necessary any more. Furthermore, by the toggle lever mechanism, a force/stroke conversion may be provided which may differ with the position orientation of the toggle lever mechanism. In other words, the ratio of the resulting force applied on the screw to be tensioned by the screw pulling member via the toggle lever mechanism and the force applied on the toggle lever mechanism for generating the above-mentioned resulting force may raise with decreasing pitch of the toggle lever mechanism with respect to a longitudinal axis of the screw to tensioned. A possible consequence may be that also big screws, e.g. M35, M36 or even M40 could be tensioned to the required extent by a relatively small force applied upon the toggle lever mechanism. In addition, by means of the toggle lever mechanism, the tension on the screw may be set relatively exact, which could be advantageous for e.g. screws tightening a piston rod or a cylinder head of a stationary gas combustion engine.
Moreover, also for tensioning and subsequently tightening big and very big screws up to M40 and bigger, there may be no need for providing a hydraulic system. Thus, user safety may be significantly increased. The device according to the embodiment above furthermore may facilitate service and maintenance of e.g. gas combustion engines in the field, as the necessity of setting up a whole hydraulic system for tensioning the screws of the engine may be eliminated. As a possible consequence, also the necessary man hours and thus the operating costs may be decreased significantly, as merely a single operator may be able to operate the device and a second worker operating the high-pressure pump may not be needed anymore.
It might be advantageous to provide save and rigid support of the toggle lever mechanism against the part to be tightened. In this regard, according to an aspect, the device further may comprise a support member for supporting the toggle lever mechanism against the part to be tightened.
According to another aspect, the toggle lever mechanism may comprise a first lever member and a second lever member, wherein the first lever member may be at a first side pivotably connected with the support member and at a second side pivotably connected with a second side of the second lever member, and the second member may be pivotably connected with the screw pulling member at a first side of the second lever member. By this structure, an exponentially increasing force/stroke conversion ratio may be provided. That is, with increasing angle enclosed by the first lever member and the second lever member, thus the angle between the longitudinal axis of the screw and the first lever member and second lever member, respectively, the multiplication of force applied via the toggle lever mechanism may be increased due to its changing kinematics.
A very accurate force multiplication may be achieved, when according to another aspect, the first lever member may be pivotable relative to the support member about a first pivot axis and pivotable relative the second lever member about a second pivot axis, and the second member may be pivotable relative to the screw pulling member about a third pivot axis, wherein preferably the first, second and third pivot axis could be aligned parallel to each other.
As it could be advantageous to further increase the accuracy of the device, according to another aspect, the device further may comprise a guide for guiding the screw pulling member in direction of a pulling axis defined by the guide. The pulling axis may correspond to the longitudinal axis of the screw to be tensioned.
In another aspect, the toggle lever mechanism may comprise an actuator unit, wherein the actuator unit may be configured to define a position of the first lever member and/or the second lever member. Thereby, among others, the amount of tensioning, with other words the elongation of the screw can be set very accurate by means of the actuator unit.
When the actuator unit may be a lever arm rigidly connected to the first lever member or the second lever member, an operator for instance merely would have to apply a relatively small force onto the lever arm for creating a tensioning force via the screw pulling member onto the screw to be tensioned.
In another aspect, the actuator unit may comprise an actuator screw, preferably a jackscrew, in engagement with an engagement member, wherein the actuator unit may be configured so that a rotation of the actuator screw causes pivoting of the first lever member and/or the second lever member. Thereby, for instance, the tensioning force can be applied very accurate as it may be in direct relation with the torque and the angle of rotation, respectively, applied onto the actuator screw.
Among others, a very simple, compact and at the same time rigid structure could be accomplished when according to another aspect, the engagement member may be arranged at the first lever member, the second lever member or a connection member pivotably connecting the first lever member and the second lever member, wherein preferably the actuator screw may be rotatably supported at the guide and/or the support member.
Alternatively, the actuator screw may be rotatably supported at the first lever member, the second lever member or a connection member pivotably connecting the first lever member and the second lever member, wherein the engagement member may be arranged at the guide and/or the support member.
For instance a particularly rigid and compact structure of the device could be attained when the support member and the first lever member may comprise complementarily formed, arc-shaped contact surfaces forming a pivot hinge for enabling pivoting of the first lever member about the support member and/or wherein the first lever member and the second lever member may comprise complementarily formed, arc-shaped contact surfaces forming a pivot hinge for enabling pivoting of the first lever member and the second lever member relative to each other, and/or wherein the screw pulling member and the second lever member may comprise complementarily formed, arc-shaped contact surfaces forming a pivot hinge for enabling pivoting of the second lever member about the screw pulling member.
According to another aspect, the support member and the first lever member may be connected via a bolt connection, and/or wherein the first lever member and the second lever member may be connected via a bolt connection, and/or wherein the screw pulling member and the second lever member may be connected via a bolt connection. Bolt connections are per se well known and thus easily to design and form.
Among others for ensuring persistence of the device and/or avoiding damages due to excessively high compressive stress in the parts of the device, according to another aspect, a contact area of the contact surfaces or a contact area of the bolt connections may be at least double the size of a cross section of a screw for which the engagement section is configured to engage with.
When the contact surfaces or the surfaces of the parts forming the bolt connections may comprise a friction-reducing coating, wear and damages due to friction could be significantly reduced or even substantially avoided.
According to another aspect, the toggle lever mechanism may comprise two pairs of first and second lever members, wherein the two pairs may be arranged on opposite sides with respect to the engagement section. Thereby, a force on the device lateral to the pulling direction and tensioning direction, respectively, could potentially be minimized or even completely avoided, as the directions of the lateral forces acting on the first pair and the second pair may oppose each other and, as a result, may compensate each other. An accordingly designed device, thus, could comprise a very simple structure.
According to another aspect, the actuator screw may be supported on both pairs, wherein preferably the actuator screw may be rotatably supported at the first pair and the second pair may comprise the engagement member, or the actuator screw may be rotatably supported at the second pair and the first pair may comprise the engagement member, or both pairs each may comprise an engagement member, wherein the actuator screw may comprise a first threaded section engaging with the engagement member of the first pair and a second threaded section having a pitch opposite to the pitch of the first threaded section engaging with the engagement member of the second pair. Thereby, the pairs and the actuator screw also may have the function of a guide for the screw pulling member.
According to another aspect, the toggle lever mechanism may be arranged on a side of the support member facing away from a contact part of the support member making contact with the part to be tightened. This may lead to a very simple and rigid structure of the device.
With reference to the Figures, a device 1 for tensioning a screw 3 is suggested, containing a screw pulling member 2 comprising an engagement section 20 for engagement with a thread of a screw 3 to be tensioned, and a toggle lever mechanism 4 for displacing the screw pulling member 2 relative to a part to be tightened 5.
The device 1 as mentioned above is applicable for tightening screws, in particular for tightening large screws, for instance bigger than M20 screws. The device can be engaged with a thread of a screw to be tightened, and then, the toggle lever mechanism can be operated such that the screw pulling member tensions the screw. Afterwards, a nut engaging with the thread of the screw can be rotated towards a part to be tightened. After loosening the toggle lever, a tightened screw connection is provided. The device as mentioned above is in particular applicable for tightening screws tightening a piston rod or a cylinder head of a stationary gas combustion engine.
Hence, using a hydraulic fluid which could become compressed is not necessary for tensioning a screw to be tightened any more. Also, service and maintenance of e.g. gas combustion engines in the field can be facilitated, as the necessity of setting up a whole hydraulic system for tensioning the screws of the engine may be eliminated.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
1809348.4 | Jun 2018 | GB | national |