Steel stud crimper

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6662620
  • Patent Number
    6,662,620
  • Date Filed
    Tuesday, September 12, 2000
    24 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, December 16, 2003
    21 years ago
Abstract
A crimping tool is provided including a rotary drive unit and removable extension arm with pivotal jaw arms. The removable extension arm is rotatable about its axis. A locking device is included in the jaw arm assembly such that the jaw arms may be securely positioned in a number of locations to accommodate various working angles. A logic circuit limits the movement of the jaw arms to one complete cycle for each trigger event.
Description




FIELD OF THE INVENTION




The present invention relates generally to hand tools, and more particularly to a power tool for crimping steel studs and tracks during construction framing.




BACKGROUND




Steel framing has become increasingly popular for residential and commercial buildings due to the increased strength and termite resistance of steel relative to wood. However, the process of assembling steel framing is time consuming and expensive relative to the material costs. As a result of these increased labor costs, steel framing has been slow to achieve wide-spread acceptance.




Presently steel studs and tracks are assembled either vertically or horizontally with each of the studs screwed to the track. In horizontally constructed walls, the studs and tracks are positioned on the floor relative to one another and screws are placed in one side of each track to secure each stud to the track. The wall is then flipped over and screws are inserted into the other side of each track. In vertically constructed walls, the laborer must work on each side of the wall to screw the studs into the tracks on the top and bottom of the wall. The top is difficult to reach and the bottom requires that the operator bend or kneel on the floor.




Crimping tools have also been utilized to connect the studs to the tracks. However, manual crimping tools require a lot of strength and endurance to operate on large jobs and power crimping tools have proven to be heavy and cumbersome. The inefficiency of prior methods for assembling steel studs to the tracks has contributed greatly to the labor costs for steel frame construction.




Given the aforementioned drawbacks, it is desirable to provide a power crimping tool that alleviates much of the labor costs associated with steel framing




SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION




It is an object of the present invention to provide a hand-held crimping tool that can be properly aligned while providing the user with a broad range of workable engagement angles.




It is another object of the present invention to provide a rotary drive tool with a releasably attached extension arm that is rotatable about its axis.




It is still another object of the present invention to provide a jaw arm assembly that is pivotally attached to the extension arm.




It is a further object of the present invention to provide a crimping tool that achieves one complete crimp cycle for every trigger activation.




It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a hand-held crimping tool that has a self-contained power source.




In order to obtain these and other objects, the present invention provides a crimping tool including a rotary drive unit and an extension arm. The extension arm includes a pivotally attached jaw assembly attached thereto. Upon activation of the rotary drive tool, the gear configuration in the extension arm translates a rotary input into actuation of the jaw assembly. The jaw assembly includes a first piercing jaw arm and a second receiving jaw arm for cyclical engagement therewith. A logic circuit limits an activation to one complete crimping cycle of the jaw assembly.




Further areas of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description provided hereinafter. It should be understood however that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, are intended for purposes of illustration only, since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description.











BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS




The present invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description and the accompanying drawings, wherein:





FIG. 1

is a side view of the crimping apparatus constructed in accordance with the teachings of the preferred embodiment of the present invention shown with the extension arm located in the center position.





FIG. 2

is a side view of the extension arm and jaw assembly shown with the barrel rotated 90 degrees from the rotary drive tool.





FIG. 3

is a rear view of the extension arm removed from the tool for purposes of illustrating the conical cam configuration.





FIG. 4

is a cross-sectional view of the jaw assembly taken along line


4





4


of FIG.


3


.





FIG. 5

is cross-sectional view of the jaw assembly taken along line


5





5


of FIG.


4


.





FIG. 6

is a cross sectional view of the jaw assembly taken along line


6





6


of FIG.


4


.





FIG. 7

is a cutaway view of the jaw assembly with half of the housing cutaway for illustrative purposes.





FIG. 8

is a bottom view of the jaw assembly with the housing removed.





FIG. 9

is a cutaway perspective view of the jaw assembly with part of the housing cutaway to illustrate the transmission.





FIG. 10

is a perspective view of the transmission and jaw assembly with the lower jaw removed.











DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS




As is most clearly illustrated in

FIG. 1

, the crimp tool


10


of the present invention generally includes a rotary drive tool


12


and a crimp attachment


14


. The rotary drive tool


12


includes an output shaft (not specifically shown) that is coupled to a rotary shaft


16


(

FIG. 9

) with a connecting device carried in an extension barrel


20


which also houses a transmission


18


(best shown in FIG.


4


). Power source


24


interconnects to drive tool


12


. The barrel


20


is rotatable about its longitudinal axis and a jaw assembly


19


is coupled to the barrel


20


for pivotal movement relative thereto. The transmission


18


transfers the rotary motion of the rotary shaft


16


to articulate the jaws as hereinafter described.




As is most clearly illustrated in

FIGS. 1 and 2

, the jaw assembly


19


is coupled to pivot relative to the barrel


20


by a pivot shaft


26


to allow the laborer to move the jaw assembly


19


to a proper position prior to crimping. By allowing the barrel


20


to rotate about its longitudinal axis and the jaw assembly


19


to pivot about shaft


26


, the crimp tool


10


permits the laborer to position the jaw assembly


19


to crimp both sides of the stud/track from the same side of the wall.




With reference to

FIGS. 4-10

, the transmission


18


operatively couples the jaw assembly


19


to the rotary shaft


16


such that rotation of the shaft


16


causes pivotable movement of an upper jaw


28


about a pivot pin


30


fixed to a lower jaw


32


. Rivet


81


holds the members that comprise the upper jaw arm


28


together and rivet


82


holds the members of the lower jaw arm


32


together. Accordingly, movement of the upper jaw


28


from its open position to its closed position causes a piercing bit


33


to deform the stud and frame thereby crimping the two members together. The surface of the lower jaw


32


that accommodates the piercing bit


33


may be configured to fold over the resulting burr thereby limiting the distance that the burr protrudes from the stud or track.




Referring now to

FIGS. 4-6

, transmission


18


includes a cam


34


fixed for rotation with rotary shaft


16


, a rocker arm


36


having a first end


44


engaged with cam


34


and a second end


45


fixed to rotate with shaft


26


. A counterweight


87


extends from shaft


16


to encourage smooth operation. The first end


44


includes a bearing


49


which acts as a cam follower to cam


34


. Cam


34


is configured to have an eccentric surface


35


to engage bearing


49


in a common plane while rocker arm


36


rotates. A drive cam


40


is coupled to the shaft


26


by a roller clutch


38


(FIG.


6


). The upper jaw


28


includes a cam follower


42


that engages drive cam


40


to displace the upper jaw


28


between its open and closed positions in response to rotation of the drive cam


40


. As rotary shaft


16


rotates cam


34


, the eccentric surface


35


of the cam


34


oscillates the first end


44


of the rocker arm


36


in pivoting motion about the axis


46


of shaft


26


. More particularly, the riding engagement between the first end


44


of the rocker arm


36


and the rotating cam


34


causes cyclical displacement of the rocker arm


36


at a magnitude of 15 degrees for each full rotation of the cam. The rocker arm


36


is biased toward cam


34


by a spring


58


(

FIG. 9

) to influence contact thereto. Spring


58


is supported on one end by finger


56


extending from rocker arm


36


and on the other end by protruded housing portion


22


(

FIG. 1

) of crimp attachment


14


. The shaft


26


is fixed to, and cycles with, the rocker arm


36


. This incremental rotation is transferred to the drive cam


40


by the one-way roller clutch


38


so as to index the drive cam


40


to rotate in the direction of arrow


48


(clockwise). Specifically, the one way roller clutch


38


couples the drive cam


40


to the shaft


26


such that the drive cam


40


rotates clockwise with the shaft


26


while allowing the shaft


26


to rotate relative to the drive cam


40


when the shaft


26


rotates in the counterclockwise direction.




The drive cam


40


includes an outer cam surface


50


upon which the cam follower


42


rides. The outer cam surface


50


defines a lift angle that radially diverges from axis


46


in the direction of arrow


48


. Thus, rotation of the drive cam


40


radially displaces the cam follower


42


thereby causing the upper jaw


28


to pivot about pin


30


from its open position toward its closed position. The drive cam


40


includes a recess


54


within which the cam follower


42


falls to return the upper jaw


28


to its open position.




In addition to the piercing movement of the upper jaw


28


, the present invention allows for the position of the jaws to be adjustable through rotation of the barrel


20


or articulation of the jaw assembly


19


about shaft


26


.




The crimp tool can optionally include a lock assembly


25


for fixing the position of the jaws prior to the crimping operation. As is best illustrated in

FIG. 6

, the lock assembly


25


includes a locking plate


60


that is movable within the barrel housing


62


from an engaged position to a disengaged position against the bias of a spring


64


. The plate


60


includes locking tabs


66


configured to engage cooperatively configured locking apertures


68


formed in the lower jaw


32


to fix the lower jaw


32


to the barrel housing


62


. To change the angular orientation of the jaw assembly


19


relative to the barrel housing


62


, the laborer can place the locking plate


60


in its disengaged position by axially displacing the shaft


26


toward locking plate


60


thereby moving the tabs


66


from engagement with the lower jaw


32


. The locking plate


60


can include a plurality of peripherally spaced locking apertures


68


to permit the user to fix the lower jaw


32


in a variety of positions relative to the barrel housing


62


.




A logic circuit


51


is included that limits the movement of the jaw assembly


19


to one cycle with each activation of the trigger


21


. One cycle is defined as the movement of the jaw assembly


19


from a fully open position, to a fully closed (crimping) position and back to a fully open position. The logic circuit


51


may be configured such that the position sensor


52


is disposed on the drive cam


40


and the receiver


55


is disposed on the cam follower


42


(FIG.


9


). In an alternative embodiment, the logic circuit


51


includes a position sensor


52


disposed on shaft


16


interconnected to a receiver


55


(not specifically shown). The logic circuit


51


regulates the movement of the shaft


16


to the appropriate number of revolutions (24 for the embodiment disclosed) such that one complete cycle of the jaw assembly


19


is achieved. Once one complete cycle is realized, the logic circuit


51


stops the output of the rotary drive tool


12


thereby causing the jaw assembly to remain in its fully open position able to readily accept the members for the next crimp event. In an alternative configuration, a sensor is mounted to one of the jaw arms and a magnet is disposed on the other jaw arm. (*** Inventors please confirm the accuracy of these descriptions) The movement of the jaw assembly


19


would be limited to the cam rotation realized by the logic circuit


51


accordingly. It is understood however, that the logic circuit configuration described herein may be employed in alternative ways.




The invention being thus described, it will be obvious that the same may be varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the spirit and scope of the invention, and all such modifications as would be obvious to one skilled in the art are intended to be included within the scope of the following claims.



Claims
  • 1. A crimping apparatus comprising:a rotary drive tool including a trigger mechanism and an output shaft; a transmission mechanism engaged with said output shaft; a jaw assembly including first and second jaws, wherein said transmission mechanism translates rotary motion of said output shaft into pivoting motion of at least one of said first and second jaws; wherein said transmission mechanism includes a first cam drivingly engaged with said output shaft; and wherein said first cam engages a rocker arm for rotating a second cam to cycle at least one of said first and second jaws between a closed position and an open position.
  • 2. The crimping apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said second cam is rotatably driven by a clutch engaged by said rocker arm.
  • 3. The crimping apparatus according to claim 1 wherein at least one of said first and second jaws includes a cam follower attached thereto for engagement with said second cam.
  • 4. The crimping apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said jaw assembly includes at least one tab member for adjustably positioning said jaw assembly in a number of secure positions.
  • 5. The crimping apparatus according to claim 1 wherein one of said first and second jaws includes a piercing end.
  • 6. The crimping apparatus according to claim 1 further comprising a logic circuit that limits movement of said jaw assembly to one cycle.
  • 7. The crimping apparatus according to claim 1 further comprising an internal power source.
  • 8. A crimping apparatus comprising:a rotary output device; a transmission mechanism attached to said rotary output device; a jaw assembly including a first and second jaw arm, one of said first and second jaw arms being pivotally attached to the other and drivingly engaged with said transmission mechanism such that said jaw arms relatively articulate between an open position and a closed position; wherein said transmission mechanism includes a shaft having a first end selectably attached to said rotary output device and a second end including a first cam attached thereto; and wherein said transmission mechanism includes a second cam variably influencing one of said first and second jaw arms for articulating said one of said first and second jaw arms between a closed and open position.
  • 9. The crimping apparatus according to claim 8 wherein said transmission mechanism includes a rocker arm for translating rotational movement from said first cam to said second cam.
  • 10. The crimping apparatus according to claim 9 wherein said second cam is rotatably driven by a clutch engaged by said rocker arm.11.The crimping apparatus according to claim 8 wherein said one of said first and second jaws includes a cam follower attached thereto.
  • 12. The crimping apparatus according to claim 11 further comprising an internal power source for providing electric power to said rotary output device.
  • 13. The crimping apparatus according to claim 12 wherein said rotary output device includes a trigger mechanism.
  • 14. The crimping apparatus according to claim 13 further comprising a logic circuit which limits jaw arm articulation to one cycle.
  • 15. The crimping apparatus according to claim 8 wherein one of said first and second jaw arms includes a piercing end.
  • 16. The crimping apparatus according to claim 8 wherein said transmission mechanism and first and second jaw arms are supported by a housing which is rotatable relative to the rotary drive tool.
  • 17. A crimping apparatus comprising:a rotary drive tool including a trigger mechanism and an output shaft; a transmission mechanism engaged with said output shaft; and a jaw assembly including first and second jaws, wherein said transmission mechanism translates rotary motion of said output shaft into pivoting motion of at least one of said first and second jaws, wherein said jaw assembly includes at least one tab member for adjustably positioning said jaw assembly in a number of secure positions.
  • 18. A crimping apparatus comprising:a rotary drive tool including a trigger mechanism and an output shaft; a transmission mechanism engaged with said output shaft; and a jaw assembly including first and second jaws, wherein said transmission mechanism translates rotary motion of said output shaft into pivoting motion of at least one of said first and second jaws, wherein said transmission mechanism and jaw assembly is supported by a housing which is rotatable relative to the rotary drive tool.
  • 19. A crimping apparatus comprising:a rotary output device; a transmission mechanism attached to said rotary output device; and a jaw assembly including a first and second jaw arm, one of said first and second jaw arms being pivotally attached to the other and drivingly engaged with said transmission mechanism such that said jaw arms relatively articulate between an open position and a closed position, wherein said transmission mechanism and first and second jaw arms are supported by a housing which is rotatable relative to the rotary drive tool.
  • 20. A crimping apparatus comprising:a rotary drive tool including an output shaft; a transmission mechanism including a clutch, said transmission engaged with said output shaft; and a jaw assembly including first and second jaws, wherein said transmission mechanism translates rotary motion of said output shaft into pivoting motion of at least one of said first and second jaws.
  • 21. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein said transmission includes a first cam engaged with said output shaft.
  • 22. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein said clutch is engaged with said first cam.
  • 23. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein said first cam is eccentric.
  • 24. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein said first cam oscillates to engage said clutch at least once per rotation of said output shaft.
  • 25. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein said clutch further comprises a second cam engaged with said clutch.
  • 26. The apparatus of claim 25, wherein said clutch engages said second cam in one direction.
  • 27. The apparatus of claim 25, wherein said second cam pivots to close one of said first and second jaws.
  • 28. A crimping apparatus comprising:a rotary drive tool including an output shaft; a jaw assembly including first and second jaws; and a transmission mechanism including a clutch and an eccentric first cam, wherein said transmission mechanism is engaged with said output shaft and said first cam oscillates to engage said clutch at least once per rotation of said output shaft, wherein said transmission mechanism translates rotary motion of said output shaft into pivoting motion of at least one of said first and second jaws.
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