Patent Application
20200391359
The present invention relates generally to tool adapters. More particularly, the present invention relates to a strikeable right angle adapter for a hand tool.
Bearings are used in many rotating applications to allow relative movement between two objects. Bearings consist of outer and inner races with rolling elements located in between. The rolling elements allow the outer and inner races to move relative to each other, typically in a circular motion, with reduced friction. Also, seals are often used with bearing to seal the bearings and races to reduce contamination and maintain lubricants, such as grease. However, bearings and seals require periodic maintenance and/or replacement.
Bearing race and seal driver sets allow a user to install bearing races or seals with a simple hand tool. For example, a prior art bearing race and seal driver set is depicted in
Bearing race and seal drivers are often used in hard to reach applications where it can be difficult to strike the tool 800 and install the bearing race or seal in the confined space. Conventional bearing race and seal drivers are normally not suited for such operations and require large amounts of space to be used properly. It is also advantageous to improve the structural stability of the connection points between the components of the bearing race and seal driver that are coupled together.
The present invention broadly comprises an adapter for a bearing race and seal driver that allows the driver to couple to the handle at an angle, such as a right angle, to allow use of the tool in hard to reach places. The adapter can include a first connection point on one face of the adapter for the handle and a second connection point on another face of the adapter, located at an angle to the first face, for coupling to the driver. A pocket can be provided on at least one of the two faces to resist rotational movement of the components coupled together and improve the structural stability of the assembly.
In particular, the present invention broadly comprises a tool including a handle that has first and second opposite ends, the handle includes a grip that extends from its first end, and a neck that extends from the grip towards the second end. The assembly further includes an adapter with first and second faces angled at a non-zero angle relative to one another, the adapter has a body with an adapter shaft that extends from the body at the first face, and an adapter bore defined within the body from the second face. Also included is a driver having a bore defined therein. The driver is configured to removably couple to the adapter at the first face, and the neck is configured to removably couple to the adapter at the second face.
The present invention also broadly comprises an adapter configured to couple with a handle and driver. The adapter includes an adapter body having first and second faces angled at a non-zero angle relative to one another, where the adapter body has a bore defined therein configured to removably couple with a handle at the second face, and the handle includes first and second opposite ends, a grip extending from the first end, and a neck that extends from the handle towards the second end, and an adapter shaft that extends from the body at the first face, the adapter shaft is configured to removably couple to a driver at the first face, the driver has a bore wherein the adapter shaft removably couples.
For the purpose of facilitating an understanding of the subject matter sought to be protected, there are illustrated in the accompanying drawings embodiments thereof, from an inspection of which, when considered in connection with the following description, the subject matter sought to be protected, its construction and operation, and many of its advantages should be readily understood and appreciated.
While this invention is susceptible of embodiments in many different forms, there is shown in the drawings, and will herein be described in detail, a preferred embodiment of the invention with the understanding that the present disclosure is to be considered as an exemplification of the principles of the invention and is not intended to limit the broad aspect of the invention to embodiments illustrated. As used herein, the term “present invention” is not intended to limit the scope of the claimed invention and is instead a term used to discuss exemplary embodiments of the invention for explanatory purposes only.
The present invention broadly comprises an adapter for a bearing race and seal driver tool that allows use of the tool in hard to reach places. The adapter can include connection points where a handle and driver can couple to the adapter at a non-zero angle, for example a right angle. A pocket can be provided on at least one of the two faces of the adapter to limit rotational movement of the components while they are connected together.
The adapter 100 can include a pocket 125 located on either the first 100a or second 100b face to resist rotational movement of the components coupled to the respective faces 100a,b. The pocket 125 can include a pocket face 127 with a lip 130 and a plateau 135 at opposite sides of the pocket face 127. In an embodiment, the lip 130 and plateau 135 can be located adjacent to one another, rather than opposite to one another, or in any other configuration that would help resist rotational movement of one or more components coupled to the respective faces 100a,b.
As shown, in an embodiment, the neck 150 can have a square or rectangular cross-section and the handle shaft 155 can have a circular cross-section. In this embodiment the shape of the neck 150 can be the same as that of the pocket face 127 and the shape of the handle shaft 155 can be the same as the adapter bore 115 to allow a reversible coupling of the handle 140 to the adapter 100. For example, the pocket 125 can include a square pocket face 127 (as shown in
As used herein, the term “coupled” and its functional equivalents are not intended to necessarily be limited to direct, mechanical coupling of two or more components. Instead, the term “coupled” and its functional equivalents are intended to mean any direct or indirect mechanical, electrical, or chemical connection between two or more objects, features, work pieces, and/or environmental matter. “Coupled” is also intended to mean, in some examples, one object being integral with another object.
The matter set forth in the foregoing description and accompanying drawings is offered by way of illustration only and not as a limitation. While particular embodiments have been shown and described, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that changes and modifications may be made without departing from the broader aspects of the inventors' contribution. The actual scope of the protection sought is intended to be defined in the following claims when viewed in their proper perspective based on the prior art.
