BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The organization and manner of the structure and operation of the invention, together with further objects and advantages thereof, may best be understood by reference to the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals identify like elements in which:
FIG. 1 is cross-sectional view of an installed rivetless nut plate which needs to be removed;
FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of a pulling head which is in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 3 is a view showing a mandrel being pushed through a reaction cup and through the middle of the rivetless nut plate of FIG. 1;
FIG. 4 is a view showing the reaction cup being pushed against the workpiece;
FIG. 5 is a view showing the mandrel being inserted into the pulling head of FIG. 2;
FIG. 6 is a view showing a front of the pulling head being inserted into the hole in which the rivetless nut plate is installed;
FIG. 7 is a view showing the riveter, to which the pulling head is attached, being actuated causing jaws of the pulling head to grip the mandrel;
FIG. 8 is a view showing the riveter being further actuated, causing a front of the pulling head to push the rivetless nut plate out of the hole, during which time a collapsible element of the pulling head is collapsing;
FIG. 9 is a view showing the riveter being further actuated, causing the front of the pulling head to push the rivetless nut plate completely out of the hole, during which time the collapsible element of the pulling head further collapses;
FIG. 10 is a view showing the pulling head after a trigger of the riveter has been released, causing a housing of the pulling head to retract to its initial position;
FIG. 11 is a view showing the pulling head at the end of the return, at which time the jaws of the pulling head release the mandrel;
FIG. 12 is a view showing the front of the pulling head being removed from the hole in which the rivetless nut plate was installed;
FIG. 13 shows the mandrel and the reaction cup being pulled away from the workpiece and rivetless nut plate; and
FIG. 14 shows the rivetless nut plate being discarded.
DESCRIPTION
While the present invention may be susceptible to embodiment in different forms, there is shown in the drawings, and herein will be described in detail, an embodiment thereof with the understanding that the present description is to be considered an exemplification of the principles of the invention and is not intended to limit the invention to that as illustrated and described herein.
One embodiment of the present invention provides a load control mechanism which can be used in association with pull type tools. For example, the load control mechanism can provide that a riveter can be used to remove a rivetless nut plate without breaking a mandrel and without causing undue wear on components of the tool.
FIG. 1 illustrates a rivetless nut plate 10 which is installed in a hole 12 in a workpiece (i.e., parent material) 14 and needs to be removed. The rivetless nut plate 10 may be as disclosed in U.S. application Ser. No. 10/272,721 (filed Oct. 17, 2002) and Ser. No. 10/929,701 (filed Aug. 30, 2004), both of which have been incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
FIG. 2 illustrates a pulling head 16 which includes a load control mechanism which is in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. The pulling head 16 is configured for use with a power tool (i.e., a pull type tool such as a riveter) such as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,425,164, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. Such a tool is available from Textron as Hand Hydraulic Riveter Model G750A, and includes a housing and a piston for pulling. Alternatively, Textron's Lightweight CherryMax® Power Tool Model G704B may be used, or some other appropriate power tool. Operation of the pulling head 16 with regard to the power tool will be described in more detail hereinbelow.
As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the pulling head 16 includes a compressible element 18, such as a polyurethane element. This element 18 is generally cylindrical having a throughbore 20. Proximate each end 22, 24 of the compressible element 18 is a load transfer washer 26, 28. At the back end 30 of the pulling head 16 is a jam nut 32. The jam nut 32, which controls pre-load, is adjustable thereby effectively facilitating load adjustment.
The pulling head 16 includes a housing 34 housing which includes two components 36, 38 which telescope relative to each other during operation of the pulling head 16, as will be described in more detail hereinbelow. Each housing component 36, 38 is generally cylindrical having a longitudinal throughbore 40, 42. A rear housing component 36 includes an externally threaded portion 44 proximate its back end 46 for threaded engagement with the housing of a pull type tool, such as a riveter as discussed above. Proximate a front end 48 of the rear housing component 36 are two slots 50 which are configured to receive a dowel pin 52. Specifically, the dowel pin 52 extends through holes 54 provided in a sidewall 56 of the front housing component 38 as well as through the slots 50 in the rear housing component 36. As such, the front housing component 38 and the rear housing component 36 are effectively attached to each other, but can telescope relative to each other.
A front end 58 of the front housing component 38 includes an internally threaded section 60 (i.e., a front end 58 of the longitudinal bore 42 is threaded) for threaded engagement with a corresponding external threaded portion 62 of a nose insert 64. The nose insert 64 includes an extending front portion 66 which defines the front 68 of the pulling head 16, and a longitudinal throughbore 70 into which a mandrel 72 extends during operation of the pulling head 16, as will be described in more detail hereinbelow.
Inside the two-part telescopic housing 34 is a drawbolt assembly 74, which includes a drawbolt 76, a compression spring 78, a jaw follower 80, a set of jaws 82 which are configured to grip the mandrel 72 during operation of the pulling head 16, and a collet 84. The drawbolt 76 is generally cylindrical with a bore 86 provided at its front end 88 and a threaded bore 90 provided at its rear end 92. The threaded bore 90 is provided at the rear end 92 of the drawbolt 76 so the drawbolt 76 can be threaded onto a piston of the pull type tool. Additionally, an externally threaded portion 94 is provided proximate the front end 88 of the drawbolt 76 for threading into a rear end 96 of the collet 84. The collet 84 is generally cylindrical having an opening 98 in its front end 100. Like the rear housing component 36, the drawbolt 76 includes a pair of slots 102 which receive the dowel pin 52.
As shown in FIG. 5, a rear end 104 of the compression spring 78 sits in a recess 106 which is provided proximate the front end 88 of the drawbolt 76, and a front end 108 of the compression spring 78 engages a shoulder 110 of the jaw follower 80. A rear end 112 of the jaw follower 80 extends into the bore 86 which is provided in the front end 88 of the drawbolt 76, and a front, facing surface 114 of the jaw follower 80 contacts a back surface 116 of the jaws 82. But for the shoulder portion 110 of the jaw follower 80 and the front, facing surface 114, the jaw follower 80 is generally cylindrical having a longitudinal throughbore 118.
As shown in FIG. 2, the pulling head 16 may be provided as having a pair of internal jaws 82, where each jaw 82 has a tapered surface 120 for engaging a corresponding tapered internal wall 122 (see FIG. 6) inside the collet. As discussed above, the compression spring 78 is disposed between the drawbolt 76 and the shoulder 110 of the jaw follower 80. As such, the compression spring 78 tends to push the jaw follower 80, and the jaws 82 forward in the pulling head 16. The pushing of the compression spring 78 on the jaw follower 80 and the contacting engagement of the tapered surface 120 of the jaws 82 with the corresponding tapered internal wall 122 inside the collet 84, tends to force the jaws 82 closed. An inner surface 124 of each of the jaws 82 provides serrations for gripping a mandrel 72.
Although the spring bias of the jaws 82 and the engagement of the tapered surface 120 of the jaws 82 with the corresponding tapered internal wall 122 inside the collet 84 tends to force the jaws 82 closed, preferably each jaw 82 also includes a front surface 126 (identified in FIG. 7) which is tapered inwardly. When the jaws 82 are most forward in the pulling head 16, such as is shown in FIG. 5, the inwardly tapered surface 126 of each of the jaws 82 engages a corresponding tapered surface 130 (identified in FIG. 8) which is provided at the back end 62 of the nose insert 64, said engagement tending to force the jaws 82 open for easy insertion of a mandrel 72 as shown in FIG. 6. Due to the jaws 82 being effectively held open by the back end 62 of the nose insert 64, it is easier to insert a mandrel 72 into the pulling head 16, and there is reduced wear associated with doing so.
Also provided, for operation of the pulling head 16, is the mandrel 72 which has a head portion 132 which is provided at the end of a shaft 134. Ribs 136 are provided on the shaft 134 for gripping by the jaws 82. Also provided is a reaction cup 140 which is generally hollow and cylindrical, having a hole 142 large enough to receive the shaft 134 of the mandrel 72, but being too small to allow the head 132 of the mandrel 72 to pass through.
In use, initially as shown in FIG. 1, there is provided a rivetless nut plate 10 which must be removed from a hole 12 in a workpiece 14 (i.e., the parent material). As shown in FIG. 3, first the shaft 134 of the mandrel 72 is extended through the hole 142 in the reaction cup 140, and the reaction cup 140 is seated against the parent material 14, as shown in FIG. 4, such that the head 132 of the mandrel 72 contacts the reaction cup 140. As shown in FIG. 5, the shaft 134 of the mandrel 72 is inserted into the end 68 of the pulling head 16 (i.e., into the opening 70 in the nose insert 64) and the front end 68 of the pulling head 16 (i.e., the extending portion 66 of the nose insert 70) is inserted in the hole 12 in the parent material 14, in contact with the rivetless nut plate 10 as shown in FIG. 6. During this time, the jaws 82 are generally kept open as a result of the jaws 82 being spring-biased forward (viz-a-viz the spring 78 pushing on the shoulder 110 of the jaw follower 80) into contact with the nose insert 64. As discussed above, the rear end 62 of the nose insert 64 is provided with an angled surface 130 which contacts corresponding inwardly tapered surfaces 126 on the jaws 82, causing the jaws 82 to be forced open.
Then, the pull type tool (i.e., riveter) to which the pulling head is engaged (engagement with a riveter is represented in FIG. 5 using arrows 150) is actuated, causing the piston of the riveter to pull the drawbolt 76 back, causing the collet 84 to also move back. Such relative movement between the collet 84 and the jaws 82 causes the jaws 82 to slide up the tapered surface 122 in the collet 84 and grip the mandrel 72 as shown in FIG. 7, thereby applying a force which is also applied to the rivetless nut plate 10.
As the riveter continues to be actuated, the drawbolt 76 and collet 84 keep moving back in the housing 34 and the jaws 82 keep pulling on the mandrel 72 as shown in FIG. 8. As long as the force is lower than the force necessary to push the rivetless nut plate 10 out of the hole 12 in the parent material 14, the telescopic housing 34 of the pulling head 16 collapses, forcing the compressible element 18 to compress, and the force continues to build up in the compressive element 18 (i.e., the compressible element 18 continues to be compressed).
When the force built up in the compressive element 18 equals the push out force of the rivetless nut plate 10 to be removed, the collapse stops and the nut plate 10 is removed as shown in FIG. 9. Additional travel/load will only increase the load incrementally, at a known rate. When the face 152 of the nose insert is pushed against the parent material, or the nut plate riveter 10 is pushed against the back 154 of the reaction cup 140, as shown in FIG. 9, the housing 34 keeps collapsing, increasing the load slightly. However, the compressive element 18 provides that only a portion of the overall load applied by the riveter is actually applied to the active area. For example, depending on the riveter and the properties of the compressive element, out of say 3100 lbs. (depending on the riveter) applied by the riveter, only 500 lbs. (depending on the properties of the compressive element 18) is applied to the active area, keeping the parent material 14 from becoming damaged, keeping the mandrel 72 from breaking, and keeping tool components from experiencing undue wear.
When the nut plate removal is completed, the trigger of the riveter can be released, thereby causing the piston to push the drawbolt 76 forward and causing the housing 34 to expand, as shown in FIG. 10. The drawbolt 76 is pushed forward until the riveter reaches the end of its stroke. At the end of the stroke, the jaws 82 are pushed into the back tapered surface 126 of the nose insert 64, forcing the jaws 82 open. As such, the mandrel 72 is now free, and the pulling head 16 can be pulled away from the mandrel 72 and parent material 14, as shown in FIG. 12. Then, as shown in FIG. 13, the mandrel 72 and reaction cup 140 are pulled away from the parent material 14, and the removed fastener 10 can thereafter be discarded, as shown in FIG. 14.
The load control mechanism described hereinabove, i.e., the telescopic housing 34 working together with the compressive element 18, etc., works to absorb some of the load exerted by a pull type tool during load application, such as while using a riveter to remove a rivetless nut plate. As such, the load control mechanism allows a pull type tool to be used in applications in which the pull type tool would otherwise be overrated. For example, the load control mechanism provides that a riveter, such as a riveter which typically applies 3100 lbs. at 90 p.s.i., can be used to remove a rivetless nut plate without breaking a mandrel, causing undue wear on components of the tool, or damaging the parent material.
While embodiments of the present invention are shown and described, it is envisioned that those skilled in the art may devise various modifications of the present invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure.
Patent Application
20070286698
