Pneumatic tool structure

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6557649
  • Patent Number
    6,557,649
  • Date Filed
    Monday, December 3, 2001
    23 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, May 6, 2003
    21 years ago
Abstract
A pneumatic tool structure including a main body integrally having an elbow. A pneumatic motor, a switch unit and an intake unit are disposed in the main body. A driving unit is disposed in the elbow. The elbow has a top section formed with an opening corresponding to the main body. The pneumatic motor is placed into the main body from upper side through the opening. A cover is disposed on the elbow for closing/opening the opening.
Description




BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION




The present invention is related to a pneumatic tool structure including a main body integrally having an elbow. The elbow has a top section formed with an opening. The pneumatic motor is placed into the main body through the opening and fixed in the main body. The installation of the pneumatic motor is easy and the test is facilitated.





FIGS. 7

to


9


show a conventional pneumatic tool having a main body


7


. A switch unit


71


and an intake unit


72


are arranged on lower section of the main body


7


. A pneumatic motor


73


is disposed in the upper section of the main body


7


and fixed by a fitting ring


74


. A driving unit


77


is disposed in an elbow


75


and coupled with a bit such as a sand disc. The bottom of the elbow


75


has a coupling section


751


. A retainer ring


76


is screwed on the coupling section


751


and the fitting ring


74


to fix the elbow


75


with the main body


7


.




When assembled, the switch unit


71


and the intake unit


72


are first mounted into the lower section of the main body


7


. Then, the pneumatic motor


73


is installed into the upper section of the main body


7


. Then a test is performed to check the cooperation and operation of the pneumatic motor


73


, switch unit


71


and the intake unit


72


. In case of problem, it is necessary to disassemble the pneumatic motor


73


, switch unit


71


and the intake unit


72


for further test. After passing through the test, the elbow


75


is assembled with the main body


7


by means of the retainer ring


76


screwed on the fitting ring


74


. When screwing the retainer ring


76


, it is necessary to carefully check the direction of the elbow


75


so as to avoid deflection of the elbow


75


. Such procedure is troublesome and time-consuming.




In use of the pneumatic tool, the bit is laterally pressed against a work piece by a considerably great force. In operation, the retainer ring


76


suffers the vibration and the lateral force and is likely to loosen. As a result, the elbow


75


is apt to swing. This is very dangerous to the operator.





FIGS. 10 and 11

show an improved conventional pneumatic tool the main body


8


of which integrally has an elbow


81


. A pneumatic motor


82


, a switch unit


83


and an intake unit


84


are respectively mounted in lower side and lateral side of the main body


8


. A driving unit


85


is installed in the elbow


81


.




According to the above arrangement, the elbow


81


is integrally connected with the main body


8


and is thus prevented from loosening due to lateral force. However, when assembled, the pneumatic motor


82


is first installed into the main body


8


and then the switch unit


83


is mounted into the main body


8


from lateral side thereof to stop and fix the pneumatic motor


82


. The switch unit


83


must tightly fitted with the pneumatic motor


82


. Otherwise, the pneumatic motor


82


can be hardly firmly fixed and a leakage may take place during operation. The tight fit design makes it difficult to mount the switch unit


83


. When assembling the switch unit


83


, on one hand, it is necessary to tightly press the pneumatic motor


82


, with a tool and on the other hand, the switch unit


83


must be at the same time installed in. In case of untrue cooperation, it will be impossible to complete the assembly. After the pneumatic motor


82


and the switch unit


83


are assembled, the intake unit


84


is assembled. Thereafter, a test is performed. In case that a problem is found in the test, it is necessary to disassemble all of the pneumatic motor


82


, the switch unit


83


and the intake unit


84


to separately test and solve the problem. After the problem is solved, it is necessary to again tightly fit the switch unit


83


with the pneumatic motor. Such procedure is complicated and troublesome.




SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION




It is therefore a primary object of the present invention to provide a pneumatic tool structure including a main body integrally having an elbow. A pneumatic motor, a switch unit and an intake unit are disposed in the main body. The top section of the elbow is formed with the opening corresponding to the main body. After the switch unit and the intake unit are installed into the main body, the pneumatic motor is placed into the main body from the opening. The installation of the pneumatic motor is easy and the test is facilitated.











The present invention can be best understood through the following description and accompanying drawings wherein:




BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS





FIG. 1

is a perspective assembled view of the present invention;





FIG. 2

is a perspective exploded view of the present invention;





FIG. 3

is a sectional view taken along line


3





3


of

FIG. 1

;





FIG. 4

is a sectional view taken along line


4





4


of

FIG. 1

;





FIG. 5

is a perspective exploded view of a second embodiment of the present invention;





FIG. 6

is a sectional assembled view of the second embodiment of the present invention;





FIG. 7

is a perspective assembled view of a conventional pneumatic tool;





FIG. 8

is a perspective exploded view of a conventional pneumatic tool;





FIG. 9

is a sectional view taken along line


9





9


of

FIG. 7

;





FIG. 10

is a perspective exploded view of another type of conventional pneumatic tool; and





FIG. 11

is a sectional assembled view of the other type of conventional pneumatic tool.











DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS




Please refer to

FIGS. 1 and 4

. The pneumatic tool of a first embodiment of the present invention includes a main body


1


that is hollow and has an elbow


11


integrally formed on a top portion of the main body


1


. A stop section


12


inwardly extends from an inner periphery of the main body


1


to divide the interior thereof into an upper receptacle


17


and a lower receptacle


18


. The stop section


12


has a vent


121


defined therein for ventilation. A pneumatic motor


13


is downward disposed into the upper receptacle


17


. A switch unit


14


and an intake unit


15


are upwardly disposed into the lower receptacle


18


. A driving unit


16


is partially disposed in the elbow


11


and connected to the pneumatic motor


13


and being driven by the pneumatic motor


13


. The elbow


11


has a top section


110


formed with an opening


111


corresponding to the main body


1


. The pneumatic motor


13


is placed into the upper receptacle


17


from an upper side through the opening


111


. The upper portion of the upper receptacle


17


is formed with a threaded section


171


. A retainer ring


112


is screwed on the threaded section


171


to fix the pneumatic motor


13


in the upper receptacle


17


. A cover


19


is detachably mounted on the elbow


11


for closing the opening


111


. The cover


19


has a profile complementary to that of the opening


111


. The inner periphery of the opening


111


is formed with an annular groove


113


. The bottom of the cover


19


has several ribs


191


corresponding to the annular groove


113


, whereby the ribs


191


can be inlaid in the annular groove


113


to fix the cover


19


when the cover


19


closes the opening


111


.




When assembled, the switch unit


14


and the intake unit


15


are upwardly installed into the lower receptacle


18


. The pneumatic motor


13


is placed into the upper receptacle


17


from the opening


111


. The retainer ring


112


is screwed onto the threaded section


171


of the upper receptacle


17


so as to downward press and fix the pneumatic motor


13


. Accordingly, the pneumatic motor


13


can be easily and firmly installed in the main body


1


. The driving unit


16


is partially mounted in the elbow


11


and connected to the pneumatic


13


. Then, a test of a connection between the pneumatic motor


13


and the driving unit


16


can be easily performed by using the opening


19


during assembling the pneumatic tool structure of the present invention. In case of problem, the pneumatic motor


13


and the switch unit


14


and the intake unit


15


can be easily respectively disassembled from the main body


1


. After tested, the assembling step only needs to mount the cover


19


on the elbow


11


so that to assemble the pneumatic tool of the present invention is finished.




As described above, the elbow


11


is integrally formed on the top of the main body


1


and the top section of the elbow


11


is formed with the opening


111


corresponding to the main body


1


. Consequently, after the switch unit


14


and the intake unit


15


are installed into the main body


1


, the pneumatic motor


13


is placed in the upper receptacle


17


via the opening


111


and the retainer ring


112


is screwed onto the threaded portion


171


of the upper receptacle


17


to lock the pneumatic motor


13


such that installation is easy and the test is facilitated.




The above embodiment is only used to illustrate the present invention, not intended to limit the scope thereof. Many modifications of the above embodiment can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention. For example,

FIGS. 5 and 6

show a second embodiment of the present invention. The cover


29


has a profile complementary to that of the elbow


21


. The cover


29


serves to cover the outer of the elbow


21


and close the opening


211


. Two opposite lateral sides of the elbow


21


are respectively formed with a corresponding one of the slide channels


212


. The cover


29


is formed with two slide rails


291


each inlaid in a corresponding one of the slide channels


212


to fit the cover


29


onto the elbow


21


. A bolt


292


is passed through rear side of the cover


29


to lock the cover


29


on the elbow


21


. This embodiment can achieve the same effect as the first embodiment.



Claims
  • 1. A pneumatic tool structure comprising a main body that is hollow and has an elbow integrally formed on a top portion of the main body, a stop section inwardly extending from an inner periphery of the main body to divide the inner periphery of the main body into an upper receptacle and a lower receptacle, a vent defined in the stop section for ventilation, a pneumatic motor securely mounted in the upper receptacle, a switch unit and an intake unit being in the lower receptacle of the main body, a driving unit being disposed in the elbow and connected to the pneumatic motor and being driven by the pneumatic motor, the elbow having a top section formed with an opening corresponding to the main body and formed such that the pneumatic motor is capable of being placed into the main body from the upper side through the opening, thereby facilitating an inspection of a connection between the pneumatic motor and the driving unit by using the opening during assembly of the pneumatic tool structure; said top section having a detachably mounted cover for closing the opening.
  • 2. The pneumatic tool structure as claimed in claim 1, wherein the upper receptacle formed with a threaded section on an upper portion of the upper receptacle, a retainer ring being screwed on the threaded section for fixing the pneumatic motor in the upper receptacle.
  • 3. The pneumatic tool structure as claimed in claim 1, wherein the cover has a profile complementary to that of the opening, an inner periphery of the opening being formed with an annular groove, a bottom of the cover having ribs corresponding to the annular groove, whereby the ribs are inlaid in the annular groove to fix the cover.
  • 4. The pneumatic tool structure as claimed in claim 1, wherein the cover has a profile complementary to that of the elbow, the cover serving to cover outer side of the elbow, two lateral sides of the elbow being respectively formed with two slide channels, the cover being formed with two slide rails corresponding to the slide channels, whereby the slide rails are inlaid in the slide channels to fit the cover onto the elbow, a bolt being passed through rear side of the cover to lock the cover on the elbow.
US Referenced Citations (10)
Number Name Date Kind
3759336 Marcovitz et al. Sep 1973 A
3901098 Jinkins Aug 1975 A
3908139 Duncan, Jr. Sep 1975 A
4416338 Nelson et al. Nov 1983 A
4715203 Wiegenstein Dec 1987 A
5203417 Glaser Apr 1993 A
5419403 Klemm May 1995 A
6044917 Brunhoelzl Apr 2000 A
6082468 Pusateri et al. Jul 2000 A
6149356 Chu et al. Nov 2000 A