Hand-held pneumatic impact power tool

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6488102
  • Patent Number
    6,488,102
  • Date Filed
    Friday, January 5, 2001
    23 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, December 3, 2002
    21 years ago
Abstract
A hand-held pneumatic impact tool for use in fine hand working operations includes a mechanism for adjusting impacting characteristics of the device that is conveniently located and adjusted by the user. The mechanism includes an annular band protruding around the outside diameter of the body of the impact tool that may be turned for adjusting an annular ring in the bore of the tool and thus altering the distance required for the piston to reach impact collision with the anvil. The impact tool also includes a handle containing a receiving-recess and a handle-attachment unit to permit manual removal and installation of the handle. The handle-attachment unit includes more than one protruding member positioned a distance into the receiving-recess, more than one groove on the outside diameter of body and running a distance and in a direction substantially parallel with the central longitudinal axis of the body and then changes direction and rotates around the central longitudinal axis of the body a distance.
Description




BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION—FIELD OF INVENTION




The present invention relates to impact power tools and, more particularly, to an improved hand-held pneumatic impact power tool for delicate hand engraving and stone setting in the hand engraving and jewelry fields.




BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION—Description of Prior Art




An impact power tool is known from my earlier U.S. Pat. No. 6,095,256, to Lindsay, which may be used for engraving, carving and delicate stone setting operations. A type of device described in my earlier patent is incorporated herein by reference in order to help with the need for further discussion of the types of devices with which the present invention may be employed.




Although the known impact power tool mentioned above provides improved control of delicate hand-working operations not previously available, it would be desirable to provide a impact power tool with additional features to provide greater ease of use. A known embodiment disclosed in my earlier U.S. Pat. No. 6,095,256, to Lindsay, uses a unique feature to adjust the impacting characteristics of the tool. This feature is very beneficial to users, although to modify this impacting adjustment takes valuable time from the jeweler or engraver, as two setscrews need to be loosened before the user can begin to adjust.




Another embodiment disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,095,256, to Lindsay is the a feature that gives more than one placement (chosen by the user) for tubing attachment to the impact power tool. This tubing placement feature uses small plugs to plug holes that are not in use. These small plugs can be easily lost and it takes time to move the tubing attachment to the desired position.




Another feature that needs improvement is how the handles are held on bodies of power tools such as these. The handles must have an airtight seal and yet they must be easily removed for the jeweler and engraver to facilitate cleaning the bore and piston and/or to change to a different weighted piston.




Further, as is addressed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,203,417, to Glaser a power tool that permits users to easily replace the tip of the tool with an alternate tip without having to tighten and loosen a threaded connection or setscrew can speed the work for jewelers or engravers and presents an advantage. The disadvantage of the system disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,203,417, to Glaser is that users are required to fasten all tool tips into a specially designed tool carrier block that is then placed into a mating recess in the power tool. With this system, the user is still required to use a threaded setscrew to fasten the tip into the tool carrier block taking more time than desired.




OBJECTS AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION




In accordance with the present invention, a handheld impact power tool that overcomes the problems discussed above and which provides a convenient and unique mechanism for users to adjust length and speed of stroke quickly. The unique mechanism includes an annular band protruding around the outside diameter of the body of the impact power tool that may be turned for adjusting an annular ring in the bore of the impact power tool and thus altering the porting and the impacting characteristics of the impacting piston.




In accordance with the present invention, a handheld impact power tool that provides a feature for attaching air supply tubing to the power tool that may be moved around freely on the outside body of the power tool. The attachment feature includes an annular band around the outside diameter of the body of the power tool that attaches the air supply tubing. This annular band may be rotated and slid along the axis of the body to a position favored by the user.




Further, in accordance with the present invention, a handheld impact power tool that provides a handle that may be manually pushed on and turned to lock. The feature includes more than one pin fixed into the female receptacle handle. These pins are radial aligned and protruding a short distance into the inside diameter of the female receptacle. Included on the outside diameter of the body of the power tool are slots or grooves that permit the pins and handle to slide on and turn and thus tightening against an O-ring between the handle and body, thus sealing and holding the handle onto the body.




Finally, in accordance with the present invention, a handheld impact power tool that provides a simple and convenient construction method that permits quick interchangeability of tool tips. The method includes an o-ring made of a resilient material located inside of the tool holding recess for a friction fit to tool tips. The method also includes a setscrew that is friction fit so as not to vibrate within its mating threads. The screw is perpendicular to the axis of the tool holding hole and is used to index square shank tool tips that are commonly used in the jewelry and engraving fields. The screw is left slightly loosened from the shanks of the tool tips so that tool tips may be removed and replaced quickly. This setscrew may also be used to tighten a round shank tool tip permitting a secure attachment.











BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS




Embodiments of the present invention are described below with reference to attached drawing figures, wherein:





FIG. 1

is a perspective view of a hand-held impact power tool system constructed in accordance with the present invention;





FIG. 2

is a sectional view of a hand-held impact power tool constructed in accordance with the present invention;





FIG. 3

is a sectional view taken along


3





3


of

FIG. 2

;





FIG. 4

is a sectional view taken along


4





4


of

FIG. 2

;





FIG. 5

is a sectional view taken along


5





5


of

FIG. 2

, but with the handle and end cap removed;





FIG. 6

is the same view as

FIG. 2

, differing in that the piston is occupying the extreme forward position;





FIG. 7

is the same view as

FIG. 2

, differing in that the piston is occupying a slight rearward position;





FIG. 8

is the same view as

FIG. 2

, differing in that the piston is occupying a slight forward position;





FIG. 9

is the same view as

FIG. 2

, differing in that the length of stroke annular barrel is adjusted to the longest stroke and the piston is occupying the extreme forward position;





FIG. 10

is the same view as

FIG. 2

, differing in that the length of stroke annular barrel is adjusted to the shortest stroke and the piston is occupying the extreme forward position;





FIG. 11

is an elevated, isometric view of a handpiece of a hand hand-held impact power tool in accordance with the present invention.











DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT




A hand-held pneumatic impact power tool system in accordance with the present invention is illustrated in FIG.


1


. The apparatus includes an air supply line


28


, a hand operated pressure regulator assembly


20


, a foot-operated flow control valve assembly


22


, a distribution line


32


extending between the hand operated pressure regulator assembly


20


and the foot-operated flow control valve assembly


22


, an impact handpiece


26


, a delivery line


38


and reduced diameter delivery line


40


extending between the foot-operated flow control valve assembly and the handpiece, and a hand-operated flow control needle valve


24


spliced between the distribution line


32


and delivery line


38


via lines


34


and


36


.




The air supply line


28


connects the pressure regulator assembly


20


to a source of pressurized air, such as a conventional air compressor. The pressure regulator assembly


20


includes an inlet connected to the supply line


28


, an outlet connected to the distribution line


32


, and a valve for regulating air flow between the inlet and the outlet. In addition, the pressure regulator assembly


20


includes a pressure-sensing element for sensing the pressure of the air distributed from the regulator and for controlling the regulator to limit the pressure of the distributed air. A hand-operated knob


21


is connected to the pressure regulator assembly


20


for adjusting the regulated pressure distributed by the regulator. A gauge


30


is provided on the regulator to monitor the pressure being distributed.




An impact handpiece


26


, is illustrated in

FIG. 2

in accordance with the present invention and includes a body shell


62


that is fixed over the outside diameter of a body


78


that includes an outside diameter and internal cavity. An anvil


48


is fixed in position within the impact end of the internal cavity of the body


78


. An annular ring


91


is contained within the internal cavity of the body


78


that can move axially with a free sliding fit within the internal cavity. The internal cavity also accommodates a two-step piston


72


that can move axially within the internal cavity. An adjustable tubing attachment ring


100


is fit with two o-rings


98


and


106


that give an airtight, yet sliding axially and rotary fit around the body shell


62


. The tubing attachment ring


100


is provided with an airline intake port


68


. A recess


66


is provided in the inside diameter of the tubing attachment ring


100


. A body shell intake port


70


is provided in communication with the recess


66


. An air-in recess


102


is provided on the outside diameter of the body


78


that is in communication with bore intake ports


60


and


94


. Air-in recess


102


on the body


78


and recess


66


in the adjustable tubing attachment ring


100


may be viewed in the sectional view in FIG.


4


. Referring back to

FIG. 2

, a length of stroke barrel


92


and body shell


62


are provided with mating threads


58


so that the length of stroke barrel


92


may move along its axis as it is manually rotated around the body shell


62


. An o-ring


52


is provided between these parts to provide some friction so that the length of stroke barrel


92


will not vibrate or rotate accidentally during impacting usage. Referring to FIG.


2


and

FIG. 3.

, three pins


55




a


,


55




b


, and


55




c


(these could also be screws) have a secure, tight fit in the annular ring


91


and protrudes out from the annular ring into a provided slot


56


for each (only one slot is shown, and that is the slot for pin


55




a


, FIG.


2


). The slots are milled through both the body shell


62


and the body


78


. These three slots are the width of pins


55




a


,


55




b


, and


55




c


so that they provide a sliding fit to the pins. The length of the pins


55




a


,


55




b


, and


55




c


run in a perpendicular direction to the axis of the body and protrude out of body shell


62


. Referring to FIG.


2


and

FIG. 3

, three small holes


86




a


,


86




b


, and


86




c


are provided in line axially to and across from pins


55




a


,


55




b


, and


55




c


. These three holes along with three more holes


88




a


,


88




b


, and


88




c


in the length of stroke barrel


92


are used for accessing and installing pins


55




a


,


55




b


, and


55




c


. A pin recess groove


90


(FIG.


2


and

FIG. 3

) is provide in the inside diameter of the length of stroke barrel


92


. This groove


90


is the width of pins


55




a


,


55




b


, and


55




c


so it will provide a sliding fit to the pins.




The two-step piston


72


provided in the internal cavity of the body


78


divides the internal cavity into the following three chambers:




a head chamber


53


defined by the front piston face


52


, an end face


84


of the anvil


48


, and one side of the annular ring


91


. This head chamber constantly communicates with the atmosphere through exhaust ports


50


and


80


;




a central chamber


97


defined by the piston step end face


64


, the external diameter of the smaller step of the piston, and one side of the annular ring


91


. This central chamber constantly communicates with the compressed air source through intake ports


60


and


94


;




a rear chamber


113


defined by the rear piston face


108


and an end cap


112


. Depending on the position of the piston relative to the body, this rear chamber periodically communicates with a compressed air source through passage


104


, piston port


96


, and intake ports


60


and


94


, or with the atmosphere through passage


104


, piston port


96


, and exhaust ports


50


and


80


.




A tool tip recess


76


is provided to hold a tool tip in the anvil


48


and by tightening setscrew


46


. Alternately, users may adjust setscrew


46


slightly loose and square shank tool tips that are commonly used in the jewelry and engraving fields my be quickly removed and installed without having to loosen and tighten setscrew


46


. When setscrew


46


is used in this manner it functions as an index to prevent square or round shank tool tips with a flat from rotating. An o-ring


44


being formed of a resilient rubber type material is provided in the anvil in a location as depicted in FIG.


2


. This o-ring


44


provides a snug friction fit to tool tip shanks. It provides a means to hold the toot tip shanks with enough friction to hold them in recess


76


, yet the user can manually remove them easily.




A handle


114


is comfortably shaped to fit into the palm of the hand and to provide bottom clearance as the tool is used over the work. The handle


114


is permanently fixed onto an end cap


112


. The end cap


112


attaches over the body shell


62


with an airtight seal. The attachment method includes pins


74


and


110


that are permanently fixed onto and protruding slightly into the inside diameter of the end cap


112


. Two slots


73


and


109


are provided on the body shell


62


and also slightly into the outside diameter of body


78


. These two slots are the width of pins


74


and


110


providing a sliding fit. These slots run from the handle end of the body shell


62


a distance and then rotate a distance around the diameter. Slots


73


and


109


are illustrated in FIG.


5


. Note: handle


114


, end cap


112


, and pins


110


and


74


have been removed from the illustrated sectional view in FIG.


5


. To attach the handle


114


and end cap


112


, users line up pins


74


and


110


with slots


73


and


109


, the handle is pushed on and turned. End cap


112


is drawn on tightly against o-ring


75


creating an airtight seal.




Operation




The hand-held pneumatic impact power tool operates as follows. Referring to

FIG. 2

, when compressed air is introduced to the airline intake port


68


and piston


72


is in a position illustrated in

FIG. 2

, compressed air will fill the central chamber


97


via bore intake ports


60


and


94


and also the rear chamber


113


via piston port


96


and passage


104


. The air pressure in the central chamber will attempt to push the piston further to the rear of the internal cavity by pressing against the piston step end face


64


, but the air pressure in the rear chamber


113


will attempt to push the piston in the opposite direction toward the front of the cavity by pressing against the rear piston face


108


. Because the surface area of the rear piston face


108


is greater than the surface area of piston step end face


64


, the piston will shift toward the front of the cavity until the front piston face


52


collides with end face


84


of the anvil


48


, thus delivering an impact. While the piston was traveling toward the end face


84


of the anvil


48


, piston port


96


for a short time was aligned with annular ring


91


and the compressed air from the central chamber was then shut off to piston port


96


and thus to the rear chamber


113


. With continuing movement of the piston toward the end face


84


of the anvil


48


, piston port


96


became in communication with head chamber


53


permitting the air pressure that was built up in the rear chamber


113


to be released into the atmosphere through passage


104


in the piston, to the head chamber


53


, and finally out exhaust ports


50


and


80


. With the piston in this front most position now illustrated in FIG.


6


and the air pressure released out of the rear chamber


113


, the air pressure in the central chamber


97


pressing against the piston step end face


64


and together with an impacting recoil will shift the piston back to the rearward position illustrated in FIG.


2


. With the piston in this rearward position, piston port


96


is now back in communication with central chamber


68


and air pressure from bore intake ports


60


and


94


. The air pressure will again build in rear chamber


113


through passage


104


and the process is repeated, thus oscillating the piston.




Illustrations FIG.


7


and

FIG. 8

depict the idling ready-state of the impact handpiece. This idling state is similar to what is described above except the piston oscillates with a very short movement stroke and without the front piston face


52


colliding or impacting with the end face


84


of the anvil


48


. This idling state can be achieved with very short movement strokes because piston port


96


is the same width as the annular ring


91


. With this configuration the piston port


96


can move a very short distance to either side from alignment with the annular ring


91


for receiving and exhausting sufficient air pressure to oscillate the piston. The air pressure and airflow required for this idling oscillation are very low.

FIG. 8

depicts the idling state with the piston shifted to the front position and the piston port


96


in communication with head chamber


53


.

FIG. 7

illustrates the idling state with the piston shifted to the rear position and piston port


96


in communication with central chamber


97


.




Referring to

FIG. 1

, the hand operated pressure regulator assembly


20


, the foot-operated flow control valve assembly


22


, and the hand operated flow control needle valve


24


operate together supplying the needed airflow to the handpiece as follows. With an air compressor or the like supplying air pressure through the supply line


28


, the hand-operated pressure regulator


20


is adjusted to the desired pressure by turning knob


21


and viewing pressure gauge


30


. The hand-operated flow control needle valve


24


is adjusted to permit a fine flow of air between the distribution line


32


and delivery line


38


and the reduced diameter delivery line


40


and finally to the handpiece


26


. This will permit the piston to begin oscillating in an idling state within the handpiece. The hand-operated flow control needle valve


24


is adjusted so that the idling is faint with slight piston oscillation. The idling impact handpiece is now ready for impact operation. The user places the idling impact tool's graver or tool tip onto the work and slowly depresses the foot pedal of the foot-operated flow control valve assembly


22


. The piston in the handpiece will begin delivering light impacts. As the user continues to depress the foot pedal, thus increasing air pressure to the handpiece, the piston will deliver harder and harder impacts. When the user has finished an engraving or stone setting operation he or she lets up on the foot pedal and the impact tool will return to the idling oscillation ready-state.




Illustrations FIG.


9


and

FIG. 10

depict how the impacting characteristics of the handpiece can be altered by the jeweler or engraver by adjusting the length of stroke barrel


92


. In

FIG. 9

the length of stroke barrel


92


has been turned on threads


58


moving the barrel toward the handle


114


end of the handpiece. Referring to

FIG. 3

, because pins


55




a


,


55




b


, and


55




c


, are securely attached to annular ring


91


and because these pins are protruding into pin recess groove


90


in the length of stroke barrel


92


, the annular ring will therefore move longitudinally within the internal cavity of body


78


together with the length of stroke barrel


92


. Referring to

FIG. 9

, by adjusting the annular ring


91


along its axis within the handpiece by this mechanism it is possible to adjust the speed of the piston impacts and the length of strokes, which will affect the impact power range of the handpiece without air flow or pressure to do so. The location of annular ring


91


within the bore determines the central location where piston


72


oscillates. When piston port


97


is either side of alignment with annular ring


91


piston


72


will begin to receive energy to shift directions from the direction it is traveling during the oscillation cycle even though piston


72


will continue to travel in its original direction for a time through inertia. Depending on the air pressure delivered to the tool through the foot-operated flow control valve assembly, the travel distance of the piston (equal on either side of annular ring


92


) will be determined. By placing an obstacle (anvil


48


) a distance away and within reach of the oscillating piston (determined by the air pressure delivered to the handpiece) the travel distance of the piston on one side of annular ring is interrupted with an early termination of continued movement providing an impact collision between the piston and anvil. Adjusting length of stroke barrel


92


, and thus annular ring


91


rearward (towards handle


114


) the central location of the oscillating piston is moved further away from anvil


48


. In this position the piston will require more air pressure delivered by the person operating the foot-operated flow control valve in order for the piston to gain enough inertia to begin to reach and collide into end face


84


of the anvil


48


. After impact the piston will rebound or bounce to some degree from the collision. This bounce energy together with the return stroke pneumatic energy helps in the return stroke. Referring to

FIG. 10

, when length of stroke barrel


92


is adjusted in the opposite direction than just described so that annular ring


91


is moved forward (away from handle


114


) and having piston


72


in its front most position (i.e. making an impact) the air pressure and flow delivered from the foot-operated flow control valve will not need to be as great to allow the piston to deliver an impact against the anvil. This is because moving annular ring


91


(which is the central location of where piston


72


oscillates) to a closer distance to end face


84


of anvil


48


the inertia required for piston


72


to travel either side of annular ring


91


is less. With less inertia the impacts will be much lighter in force.




When the airflow is increased through the foot control (by depressing the foot control pedal) with the tool adjusted to either a short or long stroke setting the impact frequency as well as piston inertia will increase, thus delivering faster impact cycle times as well as an increase in impacting power within the range of the length of stroke setting. The foot control is used to control and meter air pressure/flow to the tool. This air pressure/flow will affect the piston oscillation within the scope of where the length of stroke adjustment is set. Adjusting the length of stroke setting to one location and fully depressing the foot control to a certain P.S.I. level will give a range of impacting speed and power. Adjusting the length of stroke setting to another location and fully depressing the foot control to the same P.S.I. level will give a different range of impacting speed and power. Physically moving the distance required for the piston to travel in order for it to collide with the anvil, increases the stroke length of the piston as well as the inertia of the piston because it has more time to gain a greater velocity before impact. Being able to adjust the annular ring


91


by simply turning length of stroke barrel


92


and thus altering the speed of impact and power ratio over all P.S.I levels provides a great benefit to the user. Jewelers and engravers can easily and quickly adjust this feature to their work requirements.




Referring to FIG.


10


and

FIG. 11

, airline intake port


68


in attachment ring


100


is where reduced diameter delivery line


40


attaches. Attachment ring


100


may be rotated about and slid longitudinally along the axis of body shell


62


on an airtight seal of two o-rings


98


and


106


, giving the user a great amount of adjustment possibilities for positioning the delivery line. In the isometric view in

FIG. 11

the attachment ring


100


is depicted as rotated to one side.




Conclusion, Ramifications, and Scope




Accordingly, the reader will see that the hand-held pneumatic impact tool provides superb control and features for helping the jeweler or engraver carry out his work more easily and quickly. Furthermore, the invention has additional advantages in that:




it provides an easily adjusted mechanism for users to adjust the length of piston stroke and impact speed of a hand-held impact power tool. The mechanism provides an annular band protruding around the outside diameter of the body of the power tool that may be turned for adjusting an annular ring in the bore of the power tool and thus altering the porting and the impacting characteristics of the impacting piston;




it provides a feature for attaching air supply tubing to the power tool that may be moved around freely on the outside body of the power tool. The attachment feature provides an annular band around the outside diameter of the body of the power tool that attaches the air supply tubing. This annular band may be rotated or slid along the axis of the body to a position favored by the user;




it provides a handle that may be manually pushed on and turned to lock. The feature provides more than one pin fixed into the female receptacle handle. These pins are radial aligned and protruding a short distance into the inside diameter of the female receptacle. Provided on the outside diameter of the body of the power tool are slots or grooves that permit the pins and handle to slide on and turn and thus tightening against an O-ring between the handle and body, thus sealing and holding the handle onto the body; and




it provides a method that permits quick interchangeability of tool tips. The method provides a resilient o-ring material located inside of the tool holding recess for a friction fit to tool tips. The method also includes a setscrew that is perpendicular to the axis of the tool holding hole and is used to index square shank tool tips that are commonly used in the jewelry and engraving fields. The screw is left slightly loosened from the shanks of the tool tips so that tool tips may be removed and replaced quickly. This setscrew may also be used to tighten it on the shank permitting a more secure attachment.




Although the invention has been described with reference to the illustrated preferred embodiment, it is noted that equivalents may be employed and substitutions made herein without departing from the scope of the invention as recited in the claims. For example:




One or more body shell intake ports


70


, bore intake ports


60


, piston ports


96


, pins


55




a


, slots


56


, exhaust ports


50


, setscrews


46


, pins


74


, or slots


73


may be substituted over the number of those illustrated in the preferred embodiment.




An equivalent may be employed by eliminating the length of stroke barrel


92


and attaching in its place a slide that does not use threads but is used by pushing it longitudinally along the handpiece axis. This slide may be a band totally around the diameter of the body, partially around the body or just a protrusion in one place on the body;




An equivalent made be used by eliminating length of stroke barrel


92


and in its place providing an element protruding from the body attached to annular ring


91


(similar to pin


55




a


). This protrusion would be used for adjusting the annular ring


91


;




The foot control valve in

FIG. 1

is illustrated with a horizontal pivoting pedal. This foot control may be replaced with any type of foot operated flow control valve;




The piston pneumatic oscillation principle in the present invention utilizes air pressure for biasing the piston in both the forward impact stroke toward the anvil and in the return stroke away from the anvil may be substituted with a pneumatic oscillation principle that utilizes air pressure for biasing the piston in one direction (either toward or away from the anvil) and a spring for biasing the piston in the opposite direction; and




The length of stroke adjustment is achieved in the invention by moving the piston's oscillation central location a farther distance or a closer distance to the fixed anvil. An equivalent embodiment may be achieved by moving the anvil closer or farther from the piston's oscillation central location or by moving both simultaneously apart or together.




Accordingly, the scope of the invention should be determined not by the embodiments illustrated, but by the appended claims and their legal equivalents.



Claims
  • 1. A hand-held pneumatic impact power tool for use in hand working operations for use with a supply of pressurized air, comprising:a body presenting a bore, the bore having a central longitudinal axis; a piston received within said bore and being shiftable relative to said body along said central longitudinal axis; an oscillation means by which said piston will oscillate back and forth a distance along said central longitudinal axis under the action of said supply of pressurized air; an anvil received within said bore; an impacting location within said bore located at a position along said central longitudinal axis where said piston and said anvil will collide; a second location within said bore defined as a location point along said central longitudinal axis where said piston just begins to receive sufficient energy for shifting directions from the direction it is traveling during the oscillation cycle even though said piston will continue to travel in its original direction for a time from inertia; an adjustable means for adjusting the distance between said second location and said impacting location; and a manual means located on a said impact power tool body for the user of the said hand-held pneumatic impact power tool to manually adjust said adjustable means.
  • 2. A hand-held pneumatic impact power tool as recited in claim 1, wherein said adjustable means is not adjusted by impact collisions between said piston and said anvil.
  • 3. A hand-held pneumatic impact power tool as recited in claim 1, wherein said adjustable means is not adjusted by metering the air pressure or air flow from said supply of pressurized air.
  • 4. A hand-held pneumatic impact power tool as recited in claim 1, wherein said manual means is in the form of an annular ring around said body and having a central longitudinal axis extending in a parallel direction with the central longitudinal axis of said body, said adjustable means being rotatable around said body.
  • 5. A hand-held pneumatic impact power tool as recited in claim 1, further comprising: a foot-operated flow control valve including an inlet port in communication with said supply of pressurized air and an outlet port, said foot-operated flow control valve is movable between an off position in which the air flow is zero and a number of on positions in which the air flow ranges from zero to the pressure of said supply of pressurized air.
  • 6. A hand-held pneumatic impact power tool as recited in claim 5, further comprising: a second flow control valve in communication with said supply of pressurized air and said body.
  • 7. A hand-held pneumatic impact power tool for use in hand working operations for use with a supply of pressurized air, comprising:a body presenting a bore and having first and second ends, the bore having a central longitudinal axis; a piston received within said bore and being shiftable relative to the body along said central longitudinal axis; an oscillation means by which said piston will oscillate under the action of said supply of pressurized air; a handle containing a receiving-recess extending in a direction parallel with the central longitudinal axis of said bore; and a handle-attachment means to permit manual removal and installing of said handle, said handle-attachment means includes more than one protruding member positioned a distance into said receiving-recess, said handle-attachment means includes more than one groove on the outside diameter of said second end and running from said second end for a distance and then changes direction and rotates around the central longitudinal axis of said body a distance.
  • 8. A hand-held pneumatic impact power tool for use in hand working operations for use with a supply of pressurized air, comprising:a body presenting a bore and having first and second ends, the bore having a central longitudinal axis; a piston received within said bore and being shiftable relative to the body along said central longitudinal axis; an oscillation means by which said piston will oscillate under the action of said supply of pressurized air; a handle containing a receiving-recess extending in a direction parallel with the central longitudinal axis of said bore; and a handle-attachment means to permit manual removal and installing of said handle, said handle-attachment means includes more than one protruding member positioned on the outside diameter of said second end, said handle-attachment means includes more man one groove on the inside diameter of said receiving-recess and then changes direction and rotates around the central longitudinal axis a distance.
US Referenced Citations (15)
Number Name Date Kind
1691372 Bayles Nov 1928 A
3393755 Glaser et al. Jul 1968 A
4030556 Phillips Jun 1977 A
4416338 Nelson et al. Nov 1983 A
4502824 Dohse et al. Mar 1985 A
4694912 Glaser Sep 1987 A
5203417 Glaser Apr 1993 A
5419403 Klemm May 1995 A
5449044 Phillips Sep 1995 A
5515930 Glaser May 1996 A
5803183 Phillips Sep 1998 A
5930899 Hartman et al. Aug 1999 A
6021574 Murray Feb 2000 A
6085850 Phillips Jul 2000 A
6095256 Lindsay Aug 2000 A
Non-Patent Literature Citations (2)
Entry
Rio Grande Tools & Equipment 1996 Catalog, Hand Engraving section of catalog, pp. 91 through 95.
Rio Grande Tools & Equipment 2001 Catalog, Hand Engraving section of catalog, pp. 258 through 265.