GB2260076A

GB2260076A - Dismantling and assembly apparatus and method

Info

Publication number: GB2260076A
Application number: GB9220713A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Miles Roland William Bozeat
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1991-10-01
Filing date: 1992-10-01
Publication date: 1993-04-07
Also published as: GB9220713D0

Abstract

An apparatus for the dismantling and assembly of mechanical or electrical equipment (e.g. an I.C. engine) comprises a plurality of trays 12 stacked one above the other. The trays 12 are provided with groups of compartments 16 for receiving associated components of the engine. <IMAGE>

Description

DISMANTLING AND ASSEMBLY APPARATUS AND METHOD This invention relates to apparatus and methods for use in the dismantling and assembly of mechanical or electrical equipment and in particular, but not exclusively to such apparatus and methods for use in the general purpose dismantling of an internal combustion (I.C.) engine.

When dismantling and reassembling an I.C. engine it is very important to ensure that the components are returned to their original positions in the engine so that the bearing surfaces are matched, otherwise the engine may suffer excessive wear when reassembled. The task of keeping matching components together is made worse in high performance engines with four valves per cylinder and two camshafts.

Accordingly a need exists for an apparatus and method for use in dismantling and reassembly of an engine which help the mechanic maintain the parts in the correct order throughout the dismantling, cleaning etc and reassembly so that they are returned to their correct positions.

In one aspect, this invention provides apparatus for use in the dismantling and/or assembly of an engine or other item of mechanical or electrical equipment comprising a plurality of trays stacked or stackable one above the other, each tray defining a plurality of groups of compartments, each group of compartments being for receiving related components of the engine or other item.

This apparatus allows a mechanic dismantling an engine to lay out the parts in a spatial relationship similar to that of the assembled engine.

In a preferred arrangement, an upper tray includes a group of compartments each for receiving the valve springs and collets associated with a respective valve and adjacent each valve spring compartment may be provided an aperture or other means for locating the associated valve, there being a further compartment, recess or locating means for receiving the or one of the camshafts of the engine.

A lower tray may be formed with a group of compartments each for receiving a piston of the engine. Each compartment in the lower tray may be defined by a series of subcompartments side-by-side, so that a piston, its associated connecting rod, and the crankshaft bearing shells may be located in each compartment, with the piston in one subcompartment, the rod extending into one or more other subcompartments and the bearing shells being located in a subcompartment which may be one of the previously mentioned subcompartments.

Preferably, the compartments and valve retaining apertures are grouped in integral multiples of 4 and are numbered to allow cross referencing with the engine.

Likewise the trays may include "front" and "rear" indications or the like.

Preferably, the trays are stacked together by a plurality of vertical spacer elements extending between adjacent trays, and the spacer elements between successive trays are preferably vertically aligned.

I have now found a particularly effective configuration of vertical spacer element and tray recess which provides a stable arrangement and can make assembly of the trays much easier.

Accordingly, in a further aspect this invention provides, in an assembly comprising an element interconnected by spacers to further structure, a connection configuration comprising a depression formed in said element defining internally a recess for receiving a spacer element and externally a projection for being received in another similar spacer element.

The spacer elements are preferably of hollow tubular form and the depression preferably has at least an outer surface region of conical form for being received in a hollow tubular spacer element.

Preferably the trays are formed of plastics material (e.g. vacuum-formed polypropylene) impervious to petrol and other common industrial solvents. The spacer elements are preferably formed of PVC tubing.

Preferably, the trays may be stacked one on top of the other without spacer elements in a compact condition for storage or transport.

Preferably, the trays and compartments are designed to allow the whole tray, once loaded with components, to be immersed in a solvent bath for cleaning. Similarly the tray may be immersed in solvent and then removed leaving the compartments full of solvent to soak any components stored therein.

In another aspect of this invention, there is provided a method of dismantling and reassembling mechanical or electrical equipment which comprises dismantling the equipment and placing the components into the compartments of apparatus as defined above in accordance with the position of the component in the equipment, optionally cleaning or otherwise treating at least some of said components and then reassembling the equipment.

In yet a further aspect there is provided a maintenance or refurbishment kit for mechanical or electrical equipment which comprises apparatus as defined above wherein at least some of the compartments are shaped to conform with corresponding components in the mechanical or electrical equipment to be maintained or refurbished.

Although the invention is described with particular reference to the I.C. engine it will be appreciated that it extends to use with other mechanical or electrical equipment, e.g. gearboxes etc.

Whilst the invention has been described above it extends to any inventive combination set out above or in the following description.

The invention may be performed in various ways and, by way of example only, an embodiment thereof will now be described in detail, reference being made to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a general perspective view of a tray assembly in accordance with the invention; Figure 2 is a detail view of the attachment of the tray to the spacer tubes, and Figure 3 is a scrap view showing the general shape of the tray in the vicinity of the spacer tubes.

The assembly 10 shown in the drawing comprises three vacuum moulded trays 12 of polypropylene, each containing groups of compartments 16, and spaced apart by five spacer tubes 18 of PVC between each adjacent set of trays. The attachment of the spacer tubes to the trays is described in more detail below. In this embodiment, the upper two trays are the same though this need not be so.

In the uppermost tray, a first row 19 of compartments is designed to receive the valve springs from the exhaust valves and a second row 20 receives the springs from the inlet valves. The compartments 19 and 20 may be identified by numerals either printed or embossed by the manufacturer or written on by the user. Adjacent each compartment 19,20 is an aperture 22 for receiving the stem of the valve associated with the respective springs in the compartment.

Between the two rows of compartments are two further rows 24,26 of compartments, each row for receiving a camshaft.

The middle tray can accommodate assorted items such as nuts and bolts etc which can be stored in an organised way.

The user may label these compartments if desired.

The lower tray is designed to hold the four pistons and associated components of the engine. The pistons are received in sub-compartments 28, the attached connecting rods passing through sub-compartments 30 into sub-compart ments 32 which receive the crankshaft bearings. The bearing shells may be located in sub-compartments 30.

When dismantling an engine, the upper and lower trays allow the mechanic to store the components in a logical organised way relative to each other to facilitate reassembly. The trays can be taken apart and, with the various components in the compartments, soaked individually in chemicals to treat the parts.

The assembly 10 facilitates an improved dismantling and assembly method. Also, the assembly may be prepacked with replacement components stored in the various compartments and identified as necessary. In this case the prepacked assembly and components may form part of a maintenance or refurbishment kit accompanying a manual which identifies the components by identifying the relevant compartment; e.g. by markings or other indicators in or adjacent the compartments.

Referring to Figures 2 and 3, at each of their four corners the trays are formed with a depression 32, the lower portion 34 of which is generally conical. The depression defines internally a recess for tightly receiving the lower end of a spacer tube 18 and externally a projection for being tightly received in a lower, vertically aligned spacer tube 18.

Claims

1. Apparatus for use in the dismantling and/or assembly of an engine or other item of mechanical or electrical equipment, comprising a plurality of trays stacked or stackable one above the other, each tray defining a plurality of groups of compartments, each group of compartments being for receiving related components of the engine or other item.

2. Apparatus according to Claim 1, for use in the dismantling and/or assembly of an I.C. engine, wherein the spatial relationship of said compartments is topologically related to the spatial relationship of the associated parts in the I.C. engine.

3. Apparatus according to Claim 1, for use in the dismantling and or assembly of an I.C. engine, comprising an upper tray which includes a group of valve spring compartments, each compartment in said group being for receiving the valve springs and collets associated with a respective valve.

4. Apparatus according to Claim 3, wherein adjacent at least some of said valve spring compartments is provided an aperture or other means for locating the associated valve.

5. Apparatus according to Claim 4, wherein the upper tray comprises a further compartment, recess or locating means for receiving the or one of the camshafts of the engine.

6. Apparatus according to any preceding claim, comprising a lower tray which includes a group of piston compartments each for receiving a piston of the engine.

7. Apparatus according to Claim 6, wherein each piston compartment in the lower tray comprises a series of subcompartments arranged side-by-side.

8. Apparatus according to any preceding claim, wherein the valve spring compartments, the valve retaining apertures and the piston compartments are grouped in integral multiples of 4.

9. Apparatus according to any preceding claim, wherein the compartments in each group are numbered or otherwise identified to allow cross referencing to the engine or other item of equipment.

10. Apparatus according to any preceding claim, wherein said trays include indications identifying the front and rear of the tray.

11. Apparatus according to any preceding claim, wherein the trays are stacked together by means of a plurality of vertical spacer elements extending between adjacent trays.

12. Apparatus according to Claim 11, wherein the vertical spacer elements between adjacent trays are in substantial alignment vertically.

13. Apparatus according to Claim 11 or Claim 12, wherein the spacer elements are of tubular form.

14. Apparatus according to Claim 11,12, or 13, wherein at least some of the spacer elements are connected or connectable to the trays by a connection configuration comprising a depression formed in a tray defining internally a recess or socket for receiving a spacer element and externally a projection for being received in another similar spacer element.

15. Apparatus according to Claim 14, wherein said depression has an outer surface region of conical form or other diminishing section for being received in a bore in said spacer element.

16. Apparatus according to any preceding claim, wherein the trays are formed of plastics material.

17. Apparatus according to Claim 16, wherein the trays are vacuum formed from polypropylene.

18. Apparatus according to any preceding claim, wherein the trays may be stacked one on top of the other in a compact condition for storage or transport.

19. A method of dismantling and/or assembling mechanical or electrical apparatus which comprises dismantling the apparatus and placing the components into the compartments of apparatus according to any preceding claim, in accordance with the position of the component in the apparatus.

20. A method according to Claim 19, including cleaning or otherwise treating at least some of said components and then reassembling the apparatus.

21. A maintenance or refurbishment kit for mechanical or electrical apparatus which comprises apparatus according to any of Claims 1 to 18, wherein at least some of the compartments are shaped to conform with corresponding components in the mechanical or electrical apparatus to be maintained or refurbished.

22. A connection configuration for use in an assembly comprising an element interconnected by spacers to further structure, said configuration comprising a depression formed in said element defining internally a recess for receiving a spacer element and externally a projection for being received in another similar spacer element.

23. A configuration according to Claim 22, wherein the spacer elements are of hollow tubular form and the depression has at least an outer surface region of conical form or other diminishing section for being received in a hollow tubular spacer element.

24. Apparatus substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in either of the accompanying drawings.

25. A method substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to either of the accompanying drawings.