The invention relates to a fastening assembly for clamping plate-shaped components, having at least one plastically deformable disposable sleeve which has a defined weakened area for introducing a bulge-like deformation under a pressure load on such area, at least one clamping device which has a feed rod that is connectable to the disposable sleeve, and a pressure sleeve, movable relative to the feed rod, for supporting the disposable sleeve, and having actuating means for causing an axial relative motion between the pressure sleeve and the feed rod in a first actuating step of the fastening assembly, and for causing a joint axial motion of the pressure sleeve and the feed rod in a subsequent second actuating step of the fastening assembly. The invention further relates to a clamping device and an adapter for such a fastening assembly, and a method for clamping plate-shaped components using a clamping device and an adapter of the above-mentioned type.
A fastening assembly, as described above, is known from EP 1 889 688 A1. A mechanism is integrated into the clamping element of the fastening assembly described therein, the mechanism causing a pressure sleeve to be at least substantially stationarily held in the clamping device during a first phase of the displacement motion of the feed rod for deformation of the plastically deformable sleeve, and in the second phase of the displacement motion of the feed rod for clamping the components to be connected, causing the pressure sleeve together with the feed rod to move relative to a housing of the clamping device. This mechanism includes multiple spheres which are moved on appropriately designed guide surfaces in order to cause a relative motion between the pressure sleeve and the feed rod. In addition, a ratchet is provided in the clamping device which simplifies removal of the sleeve from the rest of the fastening assembly after use. The entire clamping device is designed in such a way that all tools necessary for the actuation directly engage with the housing or the nut element of the clamping device. As a result, the clamping device, which is sometimes installed in an inverted position, has a complex design and is also comparatively large and heavy.
Accordingly, the object of the present invention is to provide a fastening assembly of the type mentioned at the outset which is lighter and more compact, and therefore easier to handle.
The foregoing object is achieved according to the invention essentially in that the actuating means are provided, at least in part, in a separate adapter which is detachably connectable to the clamping device. The invention is based on the concept of providing only the components in the clamping device which are directly required for clamping the components, while the components which perform the various motion sequences may be accommodated in a separate adapter part. The clamping device is thus much lighter and more compact. This also improves the ease of handling and further processing of the clamped components. The division of the different functions into separate components is also advantageous from an economic standpoint, since a single adapter may be used to process many clamping devices, and therefore it is not necessary to provide each clamping unit with its own actuating means.
Independently from this combination according to the invention of a clamping device and a separate adapter, the invention relates to a clamping device which is suited for use with a plastically deformable sleeve for clamping plate-shaped components. Such a clamping device has a housing which has an end-face contact surface for a component to be clamped, a nut element which is displaceably and rotatably accommodated in the housing and which has an internal thread section and engagement means for a first tool for introduction of a torque into the nut element, a feed rod which at one end has a first external thread section and at the opposite end has a second external thread section, one of the external thread sections being engaged with the internal thread section of the nut element, and a pressure sleeve which encloses the feed rod in sections and which is displaceable relative to the feed rod in the axial direction thereof. According to the invention, the feed rod of the clamping device is provided, at least in sections, with an opening in which means for transmitting and/or causing a displacement of the pressure sleeve relative to the feed rod in the axial direction thereof, and/or means for preventing rotation of the pressure sleeve relative to the feed rod, are provided. As a result of this displacement in the feed rod of the means which transmit and/or cause the relative motion between the pressure sleeve and the feed rod in the axial direction, and/or prevent rotation of these components, relative to one another, the entire clamping device is much lighter and more compact.
In a refinement of this inventive concept, it is provided that in the external thread section of the feed rod that is engaged with the internal thread section of the nut element, an axially extending opening is provided in which a pressure bolt is displaceably accommodated, and that at least one radially extending opening is provided in the feed rod which is connected to the axially extending opening and into which a pin is inserted which connects the pressure sleeve to the pressure bolt. In other words, the pressure bolt transmits a displacement motion applied by a separate component, together with the pin, to the pressure sleeve in such a way that the relative motion between the pressure sleeve and the feed rod is brought about. At the same time, the pin, which connects the pressure bolt accommodated in the feed rod to the pressure sleeve, prevents the pressure sleeve from twisting relative to the feed rod. These means for causing the relative displacement between the pressure sleeve and the feed rod, as well as the means for preventing the relative rotation between the pressure sleeve and the feed rod, particularly preferably have a symmetrical design; i.e. the pin extends in a direction perpendicular to the axial direction of the feed rod, through the entire thickness of the pressure sleeve and through the entire feed rod.
The pressure sleeve may be axially guided in the feed rod in a particularly simple manner by designing the radially extending opening in the feed rod as a slot whose length in the axial direction delimits the maximum displacement path of the pressure sleeve relative to the feed rod. At the same time, this slot prevents the relative rotation between the pressure sleeve and the feed rod. The length of the slot is dimensioned in such a way that at least one defined buckling of a sleeve which is connectable to the clamping device is caused in a first actuating step of the clamping device in such a way that a radial bulge is formed on the sleeve which engages behind a component to be clamped, and not until a second actuating step is the sleeve having the radial bulge, together with the pressure sleeve and the feed rod, moved relative to the other components of the clamping device in order to clamp the components.
Independently from the features described above, the underlying object of the invention for a clamping device of the type mentioned at the outset is also achieved in that that the pressure sleeve has a section situated between the nut element and the feed rod. This allows a particularly compact design of the clamping device, since the nut element, the pressure sleeve, and the feed rod are concentrically arranged, at least in sections. An arrangement of the pressure sleeve and nut element one behind the other, viewed in the axial direction of the feed rod, which results in a large overall length of the clamping device may thus be avoided.
According to one preferred embodiment, an elastic element, in particular a disk spring set, is accommodated in the housing, and acts on the nut element in a direction facing away from the end-face contact surface. This elastic element is thus situated in such a way that the nut element is pulled in the direction of the end-face contact surface, against the force of the elastic element in the housing, when the clamping device is actuated during the clamping of a component. If the component to be clamped undergoes settling, this may be compensated for by the elastic element without the clamping force falling below a specified value, for example. This is particularly advantageous when the clamping device according to the invention is used for adhesively bonding sandwich structures or other multilayer components, for which settling may be expected due to escape of a sealant or adhesive between the individual layers.
It is further preferred for the housing to have second engagement means for a second tool. This may be, for example, profiling at the end of the housing facing away from the end-face contact surface. In principle, however, it is also possible for the entire housing to have, for example, a polygonal contour for engagement with a second tool.
For actuating a clamping device of the aforementioned type, according to the invention an adapter is provided which is suitable for detachably connecting a driving tool for generating a torque using such a clamping device. Such an adapter according to the invention has first means for transmitting a torque as a first tool, second means for supporting a torque as a second tool, and a device for causing an axial relative motion between a sleeve and a pin accommodated therein. The adapter is particularly preferably adapted to a clamping device of the aforementioned type in such a way that the first means for transmitting a torque are able to cooperate with the nut element so that a driving tool conducts a torque into the nut element via the adapter. At the same time, the second means, which are preferably adapted to the housing of the clamping device, prevent twisting of the housing. This causes a relative motion between the nut element and the housing in a clamping device. In addition, a device is provided which is able to cause the relative motion between the feed rod and the pressure sleeve for forming a radial bulge in a plastically deformable sleeve which is connectable to the clamping device.
The adapter according to the invention thus contains several components or functional units, which in the device known from the prior art are integrated into the clamping device. The clamping device according to the present invention may thus be provided with a compact and light design. In addition, the clamping device is comparatively inexpensive to manufacture, since a portion of the functional units which are provided in the clamping device itself according to the prior art are integrated into the adapter, which is usable for a large number of clamping devices. Therefore, this division between a clamping device and an adapter also results in significant advantages from an economic standpoint. The first means and/or the second means of the adapter may each include an approximately sleeve-like element which has inner profiling for transmitting or supporting a torque. These first and second means in particular may be situated concentrically with respect to one another. It is thus possible for the adapter to be placed on the clamping device, and at the same time, for the first means to cooperate with the nut element and for the second means to cooperate with the housing.
The device for causing an axial relative motion between a sleeve and a pin accommodated therein preferably has a sleeve-like pressure adapter and a pressure bolt which is displaceably accommodated therein. A mechanism is associated with the pressure adapter and the pressure bolt, and is designed in such a way that it causes a relative motion between the pressure adapter and the pressure bolt when the pressure adapter moves axially along a displacement path segment. The relative motion which is transmittable to the feed rod and the pressure sleeve is thus generated in the adapter by means of the mechanism.
According to one particularly preferred embodiment of the invention, the mechanism includes at least one slide rail or slide surface, at least one sliding wedge which cooperates therewith, and at least one thrust wedge and/or support wedge which is/are associated with the pressure bolt and/or the pressure adapter. The pressure adapter may be designed as a sleeve in which the pressure bolt is displaceably accommodated. A thrust wedge associated with the pressure bolt as well as a support wedge connected to the pressure adapter are provided in one or more radial apertures, one or more sliding wedges being provided radially from the outside between the thrust wedge and the support wedge. When the pressure adapter is then moved in the axial direction inside the adapter, the at least one sliding wedge is pushed radially inwardly by a contour of the slide rail or slide surface, causing the thrust wedge and the support wedge to move apart from one another. This results in a relative motion of the pressure bolt in the pressure adapter. Alternatively, such a mechanism may be provided using spheres, for example as described in EP 1 889 688.
The device for causing an axial relative motion between a sleeve and a pin accommodated therein may have further means for supporting a torque. This allows the feed rod and/or the pressure sleeve to be held in a rotationally fixed manner in the housing of the clamping device, so that the rotational motion of the nut element results only in an axial motion relative to the nut element, not in rotation of the feed rod.
According to another preferred embodiment of the invention, gearing which is associated with the first means for transmitting a torque is provided in the adapter. Alternatively or additionally, connecting means may be provided for connection to the driving tool. The gearing allows the use of a conventional drive source, for example a pneumatically or electrically driven screwdriver, and at the same time allows adaptation to the ideal operating conditions for clamping components using the adapter or a clamping device.
The invention further relates to a method for clamping plate-shaped components between a clamping device and a plastically deformable sleeve, whereby the nut element, the housing, and/or the feed rod is/are detachably coupled to a driving tool by using an adapter, so that when the driving tool is actuated the nut element and the feed rod move relative to one another, as a result of which in a first step the plastically deformable sleeve is deformed while forming a radial bulge, and subsequently in a further step the radial bulge presses the plate-shaped components against the end-face contact surface of the housing of the clamping device.
The invention is explained in greater detail below based on one exemplary embodiment with reference to the drawings, which schematically show the following:
a-c show the adapter according to
A clamping device 1 illustrated in
Also provided in the housing 4 of the clamping device 1 is a nut element 10 which may be displaced within the housing 4 in the axial direction of the feed rod 6 and twisted relative to the housing 4. A disk spring set 11 is provided between the end-face contact 5 of the housing 4 and the left end face of the nut element 10 in
As is apparent from
The section of the feed rod 6 accommodated in the nut element 10 in
In its undeformed state shown in
A sleeve-like pressure adapter 25 and a pressure bolt 26 which is displaceably guided therein are concentrically situated in the drive shaft 23. The pressure bolt 26 is adapted to the size of the pressure bolt 16 of the clamping device in such a way that the pressure bolt 16 is displaceable by means of the pressure bolt 26. At the same time, the pressure adapter 25 is adapted to the right end of the feed rod 6 in
The pressure adapter 25 is accommodated in the adapter 20 so that the pressure adapter is displaceable in its axial direction. In an extension of the pressure adapter 25, a carriage 27 which likewise concentrically encloses the pressure bolt 26 is provided in the adapter 20. Two radial apertures 28 are provided in the carriage 27 which allow a thrust wedge 29, connected to the pressure bolt 26, to extend out of the carriage 27 in places. A support wedge 30 is provided in the carriage 27, opposite from the thrust wedge 29, in such a way that two radial concave free spaces result between the thrust wedge 29 and the support wedge 30 when these rest against one another (
As a result, when the pressure adapter 25 is displaced upwardly from the position shown in
As a result of the motion sequence illustrated in
Via springs 33 shown in
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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09001715.3 | Feb 2009 | EP | regional |
This application is a §371 national phase application of and claims priority to International Patent Application No. PCT/EP2010/000733 filed Feb. 5, 2010, which in turn claims priority to European Patent Application No. 09001715.3, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties for all purposes.
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
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PCT/EP2010/000733 | 2/5/2010 | WO | 00 | 10/13/2011 |