US3128653A - Explosively actuated tool - Google Patents

Description

R. J. SERVICE ETAI. 3,128,653

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April 14, 1964 Filed Oct. 14. 196C API'] 14, 1964 R. 1. SERVICE ETAL 3,128,653

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4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed 00?.. 14, 196C I N VEN TOR' POBEPTJEPWCE. PHILIP .Q Han/51.1.

MMmr/num April 14, 1964 R. J. SERVICE ETAL 3,128,653

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PHIL 1P Haare-LL By Zaal United States Patent O 3,128,653 EXPLSIVELY ACTUATED TOOL Robert J. Service, Middleville, N.Y., and Philip R.

Haskell, Flossmoor, lll., assignors to Remington Arms Company, Inc., Bridgeport, Conn., a corporation of Delaware Filed Oct. 14, 1960, Ser. No. 62,589

7 Claims. (Cl. 81-15) This invention relates to explosively actuated tools. iVhile the principles of the invention may be applicable in explosively actuated tools adapted for a variety of uses, the invention is particularly useful in a preferred embodiment to be described, which is an improved cable swager of the type for coupling lengths of electric cables or the like by providing a compression fitting in the form of a tubular connector in which the cable ends are secured by indentations formed in the wall of the connector. However, it will be understood that the invention is not limited to the details and the preferred embodiment thereof to be herein disclosed, but includes all such variations and modifications as fall within the spirit of the invention and the scope of the appended claims.

In order to effect efficiency in cable swaging operations with which the tool will be used, it is desirable that the tool be capable of repetitive operation to provide a rather prolonged sequence of separate swaging operations without the need for reloading the tool. Moreover, the tool itself should be easily reoriented to its firing position for the next separate cable swaging operation after one has been completed. The tool should be safe and easy to use, and have relatively simple construction so that its manufacture and maintenance are comparatively inexpensive. In addition, the tool must be dependable and effective in operation and should have relatively few exposed parts which would be normally subject to breakage through inadvertence. It is intended by the present invention to provide these and other advantages, as will become apparent, in an explosively actuated tool such as a cable swager.

In one known manner of swaging the connector on to the ends of two pieces of cable to be joined, the tubular connector having the end of one cable appropriately inserted therein is positioned between the jaws of a cable swaging die of the tool and a powder charge in the tool, such as a blank cartridge, is fired, whereupon one of the jaws is urged towards the other to form an impression configuration in the wall of the connector and in the cable so that the connector becomes a compression type fitting at the cable end. The second cable end is then inserted in the other end of the tubular connector, whereupon the operation is repeated so as to join the cable ends.

In a firing of the tool, the indentor instrumentality need not attain high velocity prior to contacting the workpiece, and therefore swaging will be effective even when the movable die element, which forms the indentor, is against the workpiece when the tool is fired. Thus, the indentor element itself may also be arranged to function as a clamp to hold the workpiece in the tool in its proper position immediately prior to firing the tool. Heretofore, this dual function of the indentor has been achieved by providing a spring which is normally biased so as to urge the indentor towards its opposed jaw or backing die element, the indentor to be retracted against the bias of its spring to permit the cable connector to be positioned between the jaws of the swaging die. Releasing of the indentor from its retracted position then permits the spring to urge it against the workpiece to serve as a workpiece holding device. Incorporation of such feature in a swaging tool further serves to automatically adjust the amount of explosively actuated force imparted to the indentor in Patented Apr. 14 1964 lCC proportion to the amount of force required to swage fittings of different diameter sizes, as will be understood.

However, although it has been recognized that the means which causes indentor retraction against the bias of its spring should be in some way operably associated with other tool elements, such as those whereby the tool is cocked for firing, so as to promote unitized tool operation, such interconnection of the parts has heretofore involved relatively complex mechanisms and arrangements thereof which are subject to malfunction, damage, increased maintenance, and the like. Moreover, in many cases, tool operation involves positioning the workpiece in the swaging die at a time when an explosive charge has already been positioned within the firing chamber of the tool, with the attendant possibility that the tool may be prematurely actuated to lire the charge before the workpiece has been correctly positioned. For safety reasons, and for dependability with respect to the accuracy of tool operation, it is manifest that the existence of such possibility is undesirable. To disassociate the indentor retraction means from the cartridge loading and firing elements of the tool introduces the same likelihood, but through human error. In repeater type tools, the likelihood of human error in this respect is increased.

Should the tool be fired accidentally without a workpiece therein, it is quite likely that the tool will damage itself, by the forces of impact which are generated, unless means are provided which will dissipate these forces in such event. In the past, relatively complicated and expensive shock absorbing systems have been incorporated in the tool construction for the purpose.

In other prior devices, no provision is made for adjustment of tool force to compensate for the different amounts of indentor force which are required in operations performed on workpieces of varying size or, where such provision is made, the means have been sometimes ineffective. In addition, many prior devices incorporate relatively heavy indentor elements, thought to be required for strength reasons which, in turn, requires that the explosive charge be made more powerful in order to overcome the inertia of the heavy indentor element. To withstand the enlarged power requirement, all of the tool elements have been made proportionately larger with the result that many prior tools are inconveniently heavy.

The present invention provides a repeater type explosively actuated tool, such as a swaging tool, which avoids these and other difficulties of prior devices of its kind, and which has all of the referred to desirable features. Its general arrangement includes a main body portion, at the so-called muzzle end of which are the opposed swaging die elements, and a handle lever generally disposed parallel, and which is pivotable about one of its ends with respect to the body portion. When the handle is pivoted to an angle of about thirty degrees away from the tool body, the swaging die elements will be separated by retraction of one of them, to receive a workpiece therebetween. Thereafter, by a single, simple pivoting of the handle towards the tool body portion, the movable die element moves against the workpiece to effect a clamping in place thereof, a cartridge is indexed into juxtaposition with the tiring means of the tool, and the tool is cocked and then triggered to fire the cartridge to swage the workpiece by impelled further movement of the movable die element which serves as the workpiece indentor instrumentality. The swaged workpiece is released from the tool by again pivoting the handle back to its angular position with respect to the tool body portion, whereupon the movable die element or indentor will be again retracted. It will be observed that all of these actions within the tool occur in proper sequence or simultaneously, as desired, and that after a swaging operation J has been performed, the tool is automatically in condition for the next operation.

In addition, the tool incorporates means for adjusting tool power in proportion to that which is required by the workpiece, yet not generally requiring that the size of the main powder charac be made larger or smaller. Moreover, a no work shot safety feature has been incorporated which is extremely simple and inexpensive in construction, yet which is eliective to dissipate tool force lo prevent its injury in the event of accidental firing not in the presence of a workpiece.

A light weight, but very rugged piston element eilectively reduces the total power requirements of the tool and, consequently the weight of the tool making it comparatively convenient to use.

In a tool for the purpose which has a barrel element and a piston slidable therein in response to explosion of a blank cartridge for impressing an attached swaging or indentor element into the workpiece, these objects are obtained by providing a die cam extension means operably associated with the pivoal movement oi the handle for retracting an associated die cam which, in turn, causes retraction of the indentor element from its normal spring biased association with its opposed workpiece backing element, and further providing a pivotable action bar element, also operably associated with the pivotal movement of the handle, for engaging the spring biased tiring pin hammer element of the tool first to cock, and then to release or trigger the same so as to fire the tool upon pivoting the handle towards the barrel section. In addition, a revolver type cartridge chamber cylinder of the tool is provided with an indexing mechanism, also oper-ably associated with the pivotal movement of the handle, to automaticaliy index one of the several cartridge chambers thereot"v into line with a rim-type tiring pin element during each successive tool tiring movement of the handle, but only after clamping of the workpiece between th swnging element has been effected and, further, only just prior to the time when the tool has been fully cocked for tiring. Thus, a live cartridge is not in a position to be fired until the workpiece is properly positioned and the hammer has been almost fully cocked for its tool firing action. Convenient cartridge ejection and loading means are provided, but deliberately disassociated with the referred to coordinated actions of other tool elements for safety and for other reasons, as will be understood.

The indentor instrumentality is attached to a carrier element which, in turn, is in threaded engagement with the piston ot the tool to provide adjustment of the boiler space distance of the head of the piston from the powder charge. Thus, this distance can be varied to provide a larger or smaller expansion chamber immediately in front of the powder charge to vary the effective force of the explosion on the tool indentor, though using the sarne size powder charge. In addition, the piston element has hollow construction, thereby reducing its weight and therefore its inertia which must be overcome by the force ot the expanding powder gases. As a result, the normal powder charge can be smaller, and the total weight of the tool can be reduced.

The barrel element of the tooi has comparatively short length and a slight, interiorly dispose peripheral chamfer at its muzzle end, as will be described, which promotes rapid dissipation of the force of explosion of the powder gases upon completion of the piston stroke. The gases will expand in an enlarged gas expansion chamber at, and surroundin" the muzzle end of the barrel as will be seen. Due to the arrangement and construction of the die cam and die cam extension, as will be seen, closing 01"' the die jaws to clamp the workpiece in position is permitted only during the cooking and firing rotative move ment of the handle, and prior to full cocking and firing oi: the tool. This action also results in a greater or lesser amount of boiler space being provided at the time the tool is fired, depending upon the size of the workpiece.

It will be a tirent that a no work shot safety feature is provided since, in such event, the piston will be located farther away from the exp'zoding carridge whereupon substantially antaneous dissipation, through the shorterred barrel, of the explosive force of the powder charge can be cieve'l, thereby reducing the impact with which the indentor element will strike its associated backing die element. Of courre, the hollowcd piston configuration, by reducing its weight, also contributes to the prevention of tool injury upon an accidental no work discharge thereof by reducing the momentum and therefore the amount oi kinetic energy which will be released in the event.

These and oher objects and features of the invention will become more fully apparent by reference to the following -detaied description of the referred to preferred embodiment thereof when taken together with the accomin accordance with the invention as it would r in coi on preparatory to receiving a workpiece ing jaws thereof;

FIGURE 2 is a full sectional side elevation similar to Fltilil l, but showing the tool it would appear in c v"ed con" on just prior to the triggering thcrco to st ye ece which is shown in place;

i IGURE 3 is a fragmentary sectional side elevation simar to FIGURES 1 and 2, but showing the tool as it would appear in its condition immediately upon firing;

FIGURE is a fragmentary plan view, in cross-section taken at lines 4.-4 of FIGURE 2, showing the tool in the same condition as in FIGURE 2, but showing additional dctais thereof;

FIGURE 5 shows in perspective a compressed fitting s vr 'ed in place by the described embodiment of the tool provided by the invention and joining together two lengths of electric cable;

FIGURE 6 is a perspective view of the adapter member of the tool to show the details of its construction;

FIGURE 7 is a cross-sectional view of the tool taken at lines 7-7 of FIGURE 1 to show the details of the chamber cylinder indexing mechanism of the tool;

FIGURE 8 is a fragmentary sectional view similar to FIGURE 7, but taken at lines 3-8 of FIGURES 2 and Ll, to show the cylinder indexing mechanism actuated to its position corresponding to the tool condition shown by those figures;

FIGURE 9 is a view similar to FIGURE 8, but taken at line 9-9 ot FIGURE 3, to show the cylinder indexing mechanism actuated to its position corresponding to the tool condition shown by that ligure;

FIGURE l0 is a fragmentary sectional view of a portion of the tool, taken at lines itl-1t) of FIGURE '7, to show further details of the indexing mechanism;

FIGURE li is a fragmentary sectional view of the tool taken at lines Ill-1l of FIGURE 4 to show details of the cartridge loading and ejecting means;

FIGURE 12 is a sectional plan view taken at lines I2 of FIGURE ll; and

FIG 1? is a perspective view of the sectional elevation of the tool shown by FIGURE ll.

The general arrangement of a repeater type swaging tool which is provided by the invention is best understood by reference to FIGURES l to 4, inclusive, and FIGURE 7 of the drawings. It will be observed that the main body portion oi" the tool generally comprises a centrally located adapter member 21 (its conliguration shown by FIGURE 6) within the hollow of the forward, or muzzle end of which is attached a barrel element 22 containing a slidable piston 23, the latter having an attached carrier 24 for the indentor instrumentality 25 of the tool. Attached to the other end of the adapter 21, by a breech cap 26, is a breech bolt 27 containing a slidable tiring pin 28, and a tubular hammer slide member 29 which contains a slidabie tiring pin hammer 30 therein. The hammer slide 29 is enclosed at its rearward end by a cap 31 which also holds in place a hammer slide cover 32 which surrounds the hammer slide 29 for a purpose to be described. Surrounding and enclosing these elements, and in spaced relation thereto as shown, is a shroud 33 which provides a convenient hand grip surface of the main body portion of the tool.

A handle 34, perhaps better described as a tool actuating lever, is pivotally attached at one of its ends, as by hinge pin 35, to a hinge member 36 of the main body portion which is located, generally speaking, at a central location therealong. As will be seen, the handle 34 is limited in its pivotal movement with respect to the main body portion between its position parallel thereto corresponding to a fired condition of the tool, as shown by FIGURE 3, and an angle of about thirty-degrees, more or less, with respect thereto corresponding to a ready condition of the tool, as indicated in FIGURE l.

As more clearly shown by FIGURE 7, a revolver type cartridge chamber cylinder 37, having cartridge chambers 38 therein for cartridges 42, is rotatably mounted between the muzzle-facing end of the breech bolt 27 and the breech end of the barrel 22, the longitudinal axis of rotation of the cylinder 37 being eccentrically located with respect to the central longitudinal axis of the tool so that, upon its rotation, each chamber 3S is successively brought into alignment with the barrel bore 39. Indexing of the cylinder 37 to bring each successive cartridge 42 into firing position is effected by a downward movement of an indexing slide 48 in conjunction with the downward movement of handle 34 which causes cooking and firing of the tool.

A C-shaped workpiece support 43 extends from the muzzle end of the tool, being attached to the adapter 21. At the forward end of its hook aperture 44, the workpiece support 43 is adapted to receive the fixed jaw 45, or backing die element of the swaging die pair 25, 45. When the opposed dies are separated by counterclockwise pivoting of the handle 34 which causes retractive movement of the indentor 25, or movable jaw element to its position shown in FIGURE l, a workpiece 46 to be swaged may be positioned therebetween.

During its clockwise movement, as shown by the drawings, the handle 34 will pass through a slightly angulated position with respect to the main body portion to condition the tool as shown in FIGURES 2 and 4, wherein the indentor, or movable jaw 25 has moved against the workpiece 46 to effect a clamping action thereon shortly before the tool is triggered. Movement of the handle 34 beyond this position, towards its position against the main body portion, will trigger the tool, in a manner as will be described, to its fired condition as shown by FIGURE 3 wherein the indentor 25 will have been impelled, in response to the cartridge explosion, a further short distance forward to thereby impress into the workpiece 46 one of the swaged congurations 47 of the fully swaged fitting 46a shown by FIGURE 5. By providing a suitable number of appropriately placed configurations 47, as indicated by FIGURES 4 and 5, two cable ends 46b and 46c may be joined together by the compression fitting 46a.

Having generally described the tool, the details of its construction and operation will now be described.

In FIGURE 6 there is shown in detail the shaped adapter member 21 which provides a starting point for building the tool by attachment of its other elements. The adapter is a relatively heavy steel member which may be formed having unitary construction by appropriate and well known machine opeartions. It has a central cylindrical portion 49 having a longitudinally extending slot 50 therein; a somewhat smaller muzzle end cylindrical portion 51 having external threads 52 and a longitudinal slot 53; a longitudinally extending chamber cylinder mount 54 and a similarly extending chamber cylinder indexing slide mount 55, both of which protrude from the breech end of the central portion 49; and a breech cap engagement mount 56 formed by both of the breech ends of the chamber cylinder and indexing slide mounts 54, 55.

The external threads 52 of the muzzle end cylindrical portion 51 of the adapter are for engaging the internal threads 57 in the carrier slide bore 58 of the C-shaped workpiece support 43, as will be understood upon reference to FIGURE 4, for example. The slot 53 is for slidably receiving a slide-type die cam 59, as also seen in FIGURE 4. Note that the depth of the slot 53, correspending to the wall thickness of cylinder 51, is such that the upper surface 59a of the die cam S9 will freely pass the threads 57 of the workpiece support 43. Moreover, the diameter of the internal gas expansion chamber bore 60 of cylinder 51 is such as will be generally in line with the bottom surface 50a of slot 50 in the central cylindrical portion 49 so that the bottom surface 59b of die cam 59 will ride thereon when slidably retracted in the manner to be described.

Referring now to the elements at the breech end of the adapter 21 as shown by FIGURE 6, the height of the flat surface portion 54a of the chamber cylinder mount 54 is somewhat smaller than the diameter of the axially extending central bore 37a of chamber cylinder 37, and its upper and lower surfaces 54h and 54C are shaped to correspond with the radius of chamber cylinder bore 37a so that the chamber cylinder 37 will be rotatably received therearound, as will be apparent by reference to FIGURE 7. As is also shown particularly by FIGURE 7, the upper and lower interior side surfaces 55a, 55b of the slide mount 55 are similarly configured to correspond in shape with the outer periphery 37b of the chamber cylinder 37 for passage thereof.

For manufacturing convenience, the chamber cylinder and indexing slide mounts 54, 5S may be at rst formed integrally by milling a block shape in the metal at the breech end of the central cylindrical portion 49. Similarly, the cylindrical breech cap engagement mount 56, together with its external threads 61 for engaging internal threads 62 of the breech cap 26, may be formed in a straight-turning machining operation. A breech bore 63, for receiving breech bolt 27 may then be bored centrally through the length of the adapter 21, whereupon the surfaces 54h, 54e, 55a and 55b may be formed by milling and shaping appropriately located longitudinal slots (not numbered) through the upper and lower portions of the breech cap engagement mount and the referred to block portion. This will be observed upon a study of FIGURE 6. The somewhat larger barrel receiving bore 64 and still larger gas expansion chamber bore 6l) may then be formed, as more clearly shown in FIGURE 4, for example, in a sequence of boring operations initiated from the other, or muzzle end of adapter 21.

Probably the most convenient rst step in assembling the tool elements is to attach the barrel 22 to the adapter 2l. The barrel is press fit into the barrel receiving bore 64 of the adapter so that its breech end exterior surface is generally in line with the plane of the breech end surface 21a (FIGURE 6) of the adapter central cylindrical portion 21. The carrier spring engagement ring 4t), which has split ring construction, should be snapped in place within the annular groove 40a of the barrel, as shown.

Cartridge cylinder 37 may be then mounted on the tool as will now be described.

Referring to FIGURES 6 and 7, it is seen that a threaded hole 65 is provided in the cylinder mount 54, extending laterally through the element from the exterior side surface 54a thereof, for receiving the attachment screw 66 which attaches the cylinder bearing 67 to become an intergral part of the cylinder mount 54. Similarly, it is seen that, by reason of the manner of forming the breech bore 63, an appropriately shaped inner cylinder bearing piece 68 will be necessary to provide a full 360 degree, bearing surface for the chamber cylinder central bore 37a. It now becomes apparent that the chamher cylinder 37 may be mounted for rotation on the cylinder mount 54 by attaching the bearing 67 and then sliding the chamber cylinder rst over the portion at the end of the cylinder mount which forms part of the breech cap engagement mount, and then into its proper position on the cylinder rnonnt 54. and thereupon inserting the inner bearing piece 68. The chamber cylinder periphery will pass between the upper and lower slots (not numbered) which iorrn the surfaces 51th, 5de, 55a and SSI?.

Referring now to FIGURES 4, and ll--l3, it will he observed that a cylinder cover a? is slotted. as at 7i), to form a wedgoshaped half-diameter interior slot the upper and lower surfaces ot which will tangentially engage surfaces S41) and 54e of the cylinder mount 54 when it is placed in engagement therewith in the same manner as was the cylinder 37, by passing over the breech cap engagement mount portion at the breech end of the cylinder mount 54. By a cylinder cover screw 72 which extends through a hole 73 of the cylinder cover 69 and thence into the threaded, longitudinal extending hole 74 of the cylinder bearing 67 (cooperatively with the tangential engagement of the cylinder cover with surfaces Sb, 54C, as aforesaid), the cylinder cover 69 will hold the cylinder 37 in place to permit its rotation. yet not permit its slidable movement in longitudinal direction away from the barrel bore 39. The cylinder mount and its associated hearing pieces 67, titl are made long enough, in longitudinal direction, to appropriately receive both the cylinder 37 and its cover 69. lt will be noted that the cover slot 76 is widened, as at 75, at the periphery thereof to provide clearance t'or both the tiring pin 23 and the indexing protrnsion 76 of the slide car-.1 '.17 which is pivotally rnourted in the indexing slide d8, as will be seen in FIGURE 7.

It will be also seen by reference to FlGURES 4, and ll-l3 that the cylinder cover ri has a cartridge loading and eiecting slot 78 formed in its periphery appropriately to be in line with the cartridge ejector methanisni 79 which is attached to the central cylindrical portion d@ of adapter 21, and which will be described. The slot Tij has a Cam surface El@ so that the button portion Sl of the rotatable chamber cover S2 will ride easily thereon when any cartridge chamber 3S which appears under the slot 78 is to be uncovered. The chamber cover S2 is rotatably mounted on the cylinder cover screw 7?., and has pro trading finger grip portions 53 to facilitate manual rota tive movement thereof for the purpose. Each chamber 38 rnay be manually indexed past the cover slot Titi, by thumb pressure on the ltnurled peripheral surface 37b of cylinder 37, tor insertion of a blanlr c' idge 42. therein. When the desired number or" chambers 32? have been filled with a like number of live cartridges, the chaniher cover is appropriately rotated to cover the slot 7%, its button portion 8l exerting biasing pressure on each car-- tridge to avoid the possibility or its j 'tg when pessing under the cylinder cover 69 upon indexing of the cylinder during tool operation.

After the cylinder 37 and cylinder cover 69 have been assembled on the tool, the breech bolt 27 will be inserted in press-lit engagement as at S4, into the breech bore A vertically extending pin da' (sce FiGURES 3, 4 and 6) will be passed through the breech bolt El, extending across the breecn cap engagement mount 5o, both to insure against any rotative movement ot the breech bolt 2.7 and to engage the tiring pin peripheral slot tid, ornied between end flange 87 and centrally located 3S of the tiring pin 23, so as to hold the firing pin 2S in place within the firing pin bore ttl of the breech holt. The `ocation of pin 35 is such as will permit limited longi movement of the firing pin lt within the bore d@ ir. respense to the bias of its s' "ng 89 so i its firing pin head 4i a short, standoff distance away iront N and the hina ot` its engagement with a cartridge S9 to engage the cartridge in response to a blow of FlGURlL 4, it will be noted that the asis ol". the tiring pin bore 4t) in the ocated ecccntrieally with respect to the central artin o? the tool and, consequently, also eccentricnlly with t to th" central atis of any cartridge chanthcr 1 ionen in line therewith. The eccentric tusptacelnent of the firing pin eorc fr@ from the 10 tool ar'r if a protrnately equal to onellalf the diameter ot" so that, upon tiring the tool, the tiring pin head il will t 'lie the rim 42a of a cartridge il! which been po for firing. ltloreover, the eccentric placccent oi ii-ieg pin here Sti from the tool axis is in dire i the side of the tool which is opposite from t ds which the axis of the chamber cylinder 'Y lcneed so that. unless a cartridge 4l is properly '1 the cre f. a triggering or the tool will not cause the firing pin l: d 4l to strike and con? "ttly lire the cartridge, l r will strike the main ,t. iy oi cylinder 37. in c ..tion with the arrangement and operation oi o tool elements, this provides a safety feature of the tool.

When the breech bolt 2.7 and tiring pin 2S have heen assembled in place within the breech core 65. the tubular hnmnier elle? ft? and the breech cap 26 are attacl'icd to erf', iront the larccch crd of the adapter 2i. The hcrnrne' slide 29 has an end flange 9u for abutting en Vvent against the interior shoulder 92 of the breech n the main tubular body portion or' the ham-- i ough the breech cap hore 91 from Aer "ore assembling the hanu'ncr slide and breech can, how y`cr. the two longitudinally ctcntl- '1: i 93, M are press lit into approximately loca #i in the titrage 9G so as to protrude towards the .le cad of the tool and engage the side surfaces 55a,

i* ively, ot the breech cap engagement mount n the hammer slide 29 is placed in tenaient enent with the latter. This enwaenicnt of pins 93%, nt any rotative more of the hammer "ect to the adapter 2l when the tool il he noted that the annular loca- "H. it

'rn har @d of the tool, which provides Ll triggering action as will be described, is tl* lon" ndinal slot 95 of the hammer ing slide pin 97 resting on the of the latter so that the harnrner sion at the end of the action b nd through the slot 95 into the 2i? when the tool has neen remmer slide cover -2 has a longl slot Stg and an associated grooverl recess .oth of which are open at their mu 'i seen that the cover 32 may he slid f ce, surrourdzng benin-ier slide 29 and against the rearward-locing end of muzzle cap 26, S0 that the main hotly portion or" the action har will protrude through the slot @il and the groovcd recess will enclose the action liar slide pin Si?. Thus, the groovcd recess lh, together 1 the negeer, ortrr surface ot the hammer slide 29 lot i. are 2 upper interior shoulder surface ut nl" the slide Cover 32, provides a slide 'e .te pin 97 to gtude the s iatale movement of this end of action bar 96 for the purpose of cocking and triggering the tool as will be described.

The hammer 30 has a flange portion 101 at its rearward end which presents a muzzle-facing shoulder surface 102 for engaging the hammer engagement protrusion 98 of the action bar 96. The hammer 30 also has an axial bore 103 for receiving an end of a hammer guide 104 which is attached as by pin 105 (FIGURES 2 and 3) to extend therefrom through the guide aperture 166 of the cap 31 when the tool is assembled. At the rearward end of the bore 163 there is a widened bore 197 to provide an interior shoulder surface 168 for abutment of the end of a coil type hammer compression spring 109. The hammer guide 104 and hammer 3l) are assembled and, after the hammer guide cover 32 is in place surrounding the hammer slide 29 with the main body portion of action bar 96 also protruding through its slot 99, the hammer assembly is slid into the tubular hollow of the hammer slide, the hammer spring 109 is placed over the hammer guide 104 into abutting relationship with shoulder 103, and the cap 31, which has interior threads 110, is threaded on to the exterior threads 111 at the rearward end of the hammer slide 29. It will be noted that the muzzle-facing end of cap 31 will then be in abutment with the rearward end of the hammer slide cover 32 so as to secure this member in place. It will also be noted that the hammer spring 169 will be held in place by cap 31, between the hammer shoulder 108 and the interior shoulder 112 of the cap 31, so that the hammer 30 resides against the tiring pin 28 which protrudes into the interior of the hammer slide at the muzzle facing end of the latter. It will be observed from FIGURE 3 that the vertical plane of the hammer shoulder surface 102 normally resides rearwardly of the forward end of slots 95 and 99 a distance suiiicient to permit the protrusion 98 to engage shoulder 102 for the purpose of initiating the cooking action of the tool when the action bar has been slidably located to this end of the slots in response to counterclockwise rotation of handle 34.

Before attaching handle 34 to the tool, the die cam 59 should be attached for slidable movement in the slots 53, t) of the adapter 21. The arrangement and construction of die cam 59 is best understood from FIG- URES 3 and 4 wherein it is shown that a longitudinal and laterally extending interior slot 113 is formed therein, and through which is passed the die cam slide pin 114. l'he latter extends across the slot 53 of adapter cylindrical portion 51, residing in press t engagement in the aligned drill holes 115 thereof (FIGURES 4 and 6). Another laterally extending die cam guide pin 116 extends across the central cylinder portion 49, at the level of the bottom 50a of slot 50, to tangentially engage the lower surface 59h of the die cam 59. This pin 116 is press iit into aligned drill holes 117 of the central cylindrical portion 49. When these pins are in place, the die cam 59 is fully attached.

As more clearly shown in FIGURE 3 and 4, the die cam 59 has a longitudinally extending vertical slot 118 formed at its breech end, and across which there extends the die cam extension retainer pin 119. The die cam 59 also has a downwardly protruding lip portion 120 at its muzzle-facing end for engaging a muzzle-facing shoulder surface 121 formed by a llange 122 on the carrier 24 to retract the carrier during tool action, as will be seen.

The hinge 36, which has a vertically extending slot 123 therethrough (FIGURES 3 and 6), is attached to the adapter central cylindrical portion 49, as by pins 124, 125 which are press fit into the corresponding and aligned drill holes 126, 127 and which extend across slot 50 above the slide passage for die cam 59.

A die cam extension 128 is attached to a handle cam portion 129 of handle 34, as by its extension into a bore 130 of the handle cam and provision of an attachment pin 131 through bore 130 and the contained end of the die cam extension 128. As shown in the drawings,

the bore 130, and thus the die cam extension 128 extends at an angle with respect to the underside of the handle cam 129 and is in line with the location of the hinge pin 3S.

It should be noted that the handle cam portion 129 has a bevel 132 which limits the movement in counterclockwise direction to an angle o-f about thirty degrees, more or less (depending upon the relative lengths of action bar 96 and die cam extension 128 and the location of hinge pin 35), the bevel 132 abutting against the at surface portion 36a (FIGURES 1 and 6) ofthe hinge 36 when in its farthermost pivoted position. It therefore becomes apparent that the slide member 43, which engages the underside of the handle cam portion, should be assembled on the tool before the handle 34 is attached.

As previously indicated, and by reference to the several figures of the drawings, particularly FIGURES 79, the slide 4S is mounted for vertical sliding movement Within the bore 133 of the slide mount 55 (FIGURE 6). A slide spring 134, which is shown to be a coil type compression spring surrounding the slide 48, normally biases the slide upwardly against the handle cam portion 129 of handle 34. At its lower end, spring 134 abuts against the ilat top `surface 55C of slide mount 55, and at its upper end against a spring retainer clip 135 which has been snapped around the shank of the slide 48, as shown. The slide shank is bent, as at 136, to provide a handle engagement portion thereof. To limit its upward movement in response to the bias of spring 134, and to prevent its disengagement from within slide bore 133, the slide 4S at its lower end has a lower retaining clip 137 snapped thereabout in an appropriate annular groove (not numbered). The location of clip 137 below the lat, underside surface 55d of slide mount 55 is a distance which corresponds to the vertical distance of travel of slide 48, in response to its spring bias, upon counterclockwise rotation of handle 34 to its aforesaid limit of movement, but to assure dependable cylinder indexing action by the slide 43, as will be described, its actual limit of vertical movement should be determined by the location of clip 137 with respect to the indexing protrusion 76 of the slide cam 77, the limit of upward vertical movement being; determined by abutting contact of clip 137 against the underside 55d of slide mount 55. To prevent rotative movement of the slide 48, which would cause misalignment of slide cam protrusion 76 with the peripheraily disposed cylinder detents 14 as will be seen, a key pin 133 is threaded into a laterally extending hole 139 in slide mount S5 to engage a longitudinally extending key slot 140 formed in the slide 48, as shown in FIG- URES 7-9, for example.

The slide cam 77 resides in a longitudinally extending slide cam slot 141 formed in the shank of the slide 48 on its side which faces cyiinder 37. The cam 77 is pivotally attached at an end thereof, as by a pin 142, and is spring biased, as by a leaf type cam spring 143, for pivotal movement of its lower end outwardly of slide 48 towards cylinder 37. At the lower end of slide cam 77 there is an angulated cam surface 145 for engaging the interior edge 146 of slide mount 55 which is formed by the juncture of vertical slide bore 133 with a lower surface portion of the axial bore 63 of adapter 21. Upon downward movement of slide 48, against the bias of its spring 134 in response to clockwise movement of handle 34, such engagement of cam surface 145 will cause pivotal movement ot cam 77, against the bias of its spring 143, for a purpose to be described.

The action of the slide 4S and its associated cam 77 during tool operation is best understood by reference to FIGURES '7-10, inclusive. When the handle 34 is in raised position as shown by FIGURE l, the slide 48 will be in its position of farthermost upward movement, biased by its spring 134 into engagement, by its handle engagement portion 136, with the underside of the handle cam 129, the lower clip 137 in contact with the underside surface 55d of slide mount 55 as shown in FiGURE 7. During the movement of the handle downwardly to cock the tool for firing, the cam protrusion 76 is urged by its spring 141 into engagement with one of the cylinder detents 147, which are peripherally disposed on the cylinder 37 and appropriately spaced and located between cartridge chambers 38, as shown, so that the cylinder 37 will be rotatably indexed a distance corresponding to the distance between any two chambers .38. The relationship between the extent of protrusion of protruding portion 76, the angle of the lower cam surface 145, and the location of the interior edge 146 formed by the juncture of bores 133 and 63 as aforesaid, is such that when a cartridge cylinder 38 has been brought into alignment with the barrel bore 39 (see FIGURE 4 for example), the protrusion 76 will become disengaged from its then associated cylinder detent 147 as illustrated in FIGURE 8. This would normally leave the indexed chamber 38 in line with the bore 39 except that, due to the freely rotatable mounting arrangement of cylinder 37, the chamber may have a tendency to override its aligned position. To counteract this tendency, and to assure that an indexed chamber 38 will be properly in line with the bore 39 at the time that the tool is tired, there is provided an annularly disposed series of longitudinally extending cylinder detents 148 along the muzzle-facing side of cylinder 37, each to be engaged in indexing sequence by a detent ball and spring arrangement 149 which resides in a longitudinally extending detent hole 150 formed in the breech end 21a of the adapter cylindrical portion 21, as more clearly illustrated in FIGURES 4, 6, and l0. The bore 151) is appropriately located so that when one of the chambers 33 on the opposite side of cylinder 37 has been aligned with barrel bore 39 by the action of the slide cam 77 on one of the cylinder detents 147, as aforesaid, the detent ball and spring 149 will be in biased engagement in one of the cylinder detents 148, as shown in FIGURE 10, to prevent further rotative movement of the cylinder 37 beyond its indexed position. It should be noted that the ball and spring detent arrangement 149 should be assembled in its bore 150 prior to the time when the cylinder 37 is mounted on the tool.

Further downward movement of the handle, from its position as shown by FIGURE 2 wherein the tool is cocked, will cause the tool to fire as will be hereinafter described, but will also cause further movement in downward direction of the slide 48 beyond its downward position shown in FIGURE 8. It is seen, therefore, that when the handle has been moved to its tool ring position wherein the handle 34 has been brought into parallel relation with respect to the main body portion of the tool as shown by FIG URE 3, the slide 48 will have moved to its lowermost position as shown by FIGURE 9 wherein, due to the engagement of the lower cam surface 145 with interior edge 146, the cani protrusion 76 will have been disengaged from its then associated cylinder detcnt 147. After the tool has been fired, and when the handle 34 is again lifted to its ready position as shown by FIGURE 1, an upper cam surface 151 of slide cam 77, which forms the upper edge of the cam protrusion 76, will slidably engage the outer peripheral surface 37b of cylinder 37 between each of the peripheral detents 147 to urge the slide cam '77 against the bias of its spring 143 as the slide 48 moves upwardly in response to the bias of its spring 134. Thus, during reorienting of the tool to its ready position for another swaging operation, the slide cam protrusion 76 will not engage the cylinder detents 147 in a manner which would cause reverse indexing of the cartridge chambers 38.

After the slide 43 and its associated elements have been mounted on the tool, the handle 34, which comprises handle cam portion 129 and an attached grip portion 152, may be attached to the hinge 36 by a suitable hinge pin about which the handle is pivotable. When making the hinge pin connection, it should be observed that the 12 die cam extension 138 must first be positioned in the die cam aperture 153 which is formed by the die cam slot 118 and its associated retainer pin 119.

After the handle 34 has been attached, the pivot end of the action bar element 96 (which is the end thereof opposite its hammer engagement protrusion 98) is attached to the handle cam 129 in a slot 154 thereof for ivotal movement about the action bar pivot pin which is appropriately attached extending laterally across slot 154. When assembling this connection, the action bar spring 156 should be passed over the pin 155 in a manner so that its laterally bent portion 15S of its lower leg portion 157' engages the upper edge of the action bar 96 as shown by the drawings. It is intended that the action bar spring 156 will exert its bias tending to rotate the action bar 96 in clockwise direction, as shown by the drawings, when the handle 34 is lifted, or pivoted in counterclockwise direction to its position shown by FIG- URE l. It therefore becomes apparent from a study of the drawings that the upper leg 159 and lower leg 157 of action bar spring 156 are biased apart and that, to promote the aforesaid action of spring 156, a spring retainer pin 160 should be attached extending laterally across the handle cam slot 154 in a location so that its underside will engage the upper surface of the upper leg spring portion 159.

Attachments of the elements at the muzzle end of the tool may now be made, and during the description thereof reference will be had to FIGURES l through 4.

A piston diaphragm head member 161 is rst attached, as by press fit engagement 162, to the hollow piston element 23. The piston 23 and indentor carrier 24 are then assembled in adjustable relationship, as by engagement of external threads 163 of the piston with internal threads f 164 of the carrier, It is seen that the threaded connection between the piston and carrier elements permits adjustnient of their total length, the parts being held in any predetermined relationship by a lock screw 16S which is threaded into the carrier 24, along its internal threads 164, into locking engagement with the forwardmost end of piston 23. To adjust the overall length of the cornbined piston and carrier elements, the lock screw 165 needs only to be backed off from engagement against the end of piston 23 whereupon the carrier element can be threaded the desired distance either towards or away from the piston head, and the locking screw 165 may again be brought into locking engagement against the end of the piston.

In assembling the muzzle end elements, the carrier spring 166, which is a relatively large coil type compression spring, is first inserted through the adapter internal bore 60 into abutting engagement with carrier spring retainer ring 40 on barrel 22. The piston 23, with the attached carrier element 24, is then inserted centrally through the coils of spring 166 into the barrel 22, the piston head preferably being provided with a coiled wire type compression ring 167. It will be noted that there will be enough lateral play between the spring 166 and the die cam 59, owing to the shortness of barrel 22, so that the end liange 122 of carrier 124 can be conveniently positioned behind the downwardly protruding portion 120 of the die cam for spring biased engagement therewith of the flange surface 121.

It will be observed from the drawings that the length of barrel 22 is relatively short so that the piston 23 will partially emerge therefrom during the terminal portion of its ring stroke as shown in FIGURE 3, for example. The muzzle end of the barrel 22 also has an internal, annularly disposed charnfer 71. If the powder gases evolving from an exploding cartridge 42 have not fully expanded by the time the piston has completed its stroke, they may continue to expand through the then relatively short length of peripheral aperture between the piston and barrel into the enlarged region provided by the chamfer 71, and thence out from the muzzle end of the barrel into the enlarged gas expansion chamber provided by the adapter bore 60. The presence of piston compression ring 167 will not prevent this action of the expanding gases.

The barrel 22 also has an interiorly located conically shaped bore portion 39a which is in communication with the muzzle end of bore 39, and which conforms in conguration to that of the piston diaphragm 161. In a normal firing of the tool, these configurations promote a desirable pattern of gas expansion so as to distribute the resulting force more evenly on the piston head surface. Moreover, where relatively large size workpieces are to be swaged, the piston and carrier length may be adjusted, as previously described, so that the piston diaphragm 161 will normally reside within the barrel bore portion 39a whereupon the force resulting from the cartridge explosion will be initially concentrated on a smaller piston area so as to substantially increase initial pressure and impart greater impulsive movement to the piston for more effective tool operation.

When the piston, carrier and carrier spring elements have been assembled in the tool, the relatively heavy G-shaped workpiece support 43 is then attached to the adapter 21, as by engagement of its internal threads 57 with the external threads 52 of the adapter cylindrical portion 51. It will be observed that internal threads 57 are recessed in relation to the surface of the carrier slide bore 58 of the workpiece support 43 so that, in assembling the workpiece support 43 with adapter 21, the internal threads 57 will clear the slide surface 168 of the indentor carrier element 24.

To prevent rotative movement of the carrier 24, a key 169 engages a longitudinally extending key slot 170 oi the carrier, the key 169 being held in position by a key screw 171.

It is seen that both the indentor carrier 24 and the workpiece `support 43 are adapted, as by provision of the respective die apertures 172 and 173 therein, to receive, respectively, the indcntor instrumentality 25 and its opposed xed backing die element 45. As illustrated in the drawings, the indentor and its backing die element comprise a swaging die pair which may be of any standard construction. Apertures 172, 173 are configured conventionally for appropriately attaching the opposed dies to the respective tool elements. Attachment of one such set of standard dies includes provision of die abutment means 174, 175 in the tool to prevent rotative movement of each die element by abutting engagement with die shoulder elements 176, 177, respectively, when each die in the pair is positioned in the tool. Each die is semicylindrical in shape and is inserted in the tool in lateral direction from a side thereof to reside in correspondingly congured die apertures as, for example, the die apertures 172, 173. To hold the dies in their respective tool elements, each die may have a centrally located, peripherally extending slot 178, 179, respectively, which will be engaged by means provided on its associated tool carrier element, In the tool provided by the present invention, these die holding elements comprise a spring biased detent means 180 of the workpiece support 43, and a spring biased detent means 181 of the indentor carrier 24. The detent means 180 in workpiece support 43 may be conveniently urged against the bias of its spring 182 ont of engagement with die slot 178 by thumb pressure on its associated plunger element 183. The plunger is biased, as by its spring 184, away from engagement with detent means 189, and has a beveled end surface 185 for engaging a correspondingly beveled surface 186 of the detent means 180, as more clearly shown in FIGURE 3. Thus, vertical movement of the plunger 183 towards the detent means 180 will exert a longitudinal force component on the beveled surface 186 of the detent to cause withdrawal thereof, against the bias of its spring 182, out of engagement with the slot 178 of its associated die. Another arrangement of the die holding element is afforded by the construction of detent means 181 of the indentor carrier 24. A ball element 187 is biased by a spring 188 into engagement with its associated die slot 179. When the die 25 is to be removed, it is simply pressed towards the side of the tool, whereupon the detent means 181 will be retracted against the bias of its spring 188, by the action of a side edge of the slot 179 on ball 187, so that the die 25 may be expelled from its die aperture 172.

To complete the assembly of the tool, the shroud 33 and ejector mechanism 79, should be attached.

The cross-sectional configuration of the shroud 33 is best shown by FIGURE 7. It is made of aluminum, vulcanized rubber, or similar material to provide a convenient hand grip surface of the tool. Referring to FIG- URE 7 and the several illustrated side elevations of the tool, the shroud 33 has an opening 189 at the underside thereof for clearance of the slide 48 and its associated lower clip 137 during downward movement thereof. By additional reference to FIGURE 4 it will be understood that the shroud 33 is also appropriately slotted, as at 190, for the outward extension through the side thereof of the cartridge chamber cylinder 37 and the ejector mechanism 79. A shroud butt 191 (FIGURES 1 and 2) encloses the rearward end of the shroud 33 and is attached thereto, as by rivets 192. The shroud butt is apertured as at 193 to fit over the rearward end of the cap 31 at the end of the hammer guide 29. The shroud butt also has a handle abutment surface 194 to serve as a stop for the handle 34 in its downward, tool firing movement. The forward end of the shroud 33 is attached to the hinge 36 of the tool as by an extension of the hinge pin 35 (not shown).

The ejector mechanism 79 is suitably attached to the adapter central cylindrical portion 49, as shown in FIG- URE 4, so that its cartridge ejector element 195 will be aligned with a cartridge chamber 38 at the oppsite side of the cylinder 37 from that whereat another chamber 38 has been indexed in front of the barrel bore 39. The ejector element 195 resides within a guide bore 196 of the ejector body portion 197, and has an attached plunger portion 198 at one end thereof. At the other end, where it emerges through the smaller bore 199 of the body portion 197, the ejector element 195 has a stop ring 200 to prevent its full retraction through the smaller bore 199 which would otherwise occur in response to the bias of its associated compression spring 281. Spring 291 is a coil type which surrounds the ejector element 195 within the bore 196 and extends between the plunger 198 and the abutment shoulder 202. It is seen that thumb pressure on the plunger 198, against the bias of spring 201, will cause projection of the cylinder facing end of the ejector element 195 into the aligned cartridge chamber 38. If the chamber cover 82 has been rotated so as to open the slot 78 in the cylinder cover 69, the ejector element 195 can be moved linearly through the interior of a spent cartridge therein and beyond the point of its engagement with the interior surface of the rim 42a of the cartridge to partialy expel the empty casing through the slot 78 whereupon it may be wholly removed manually. Release of thumb pressure on the plunger portion 198, of course, will permit the ejector element 195 to retract in response to the bias of its spring 201, until the stop 200 engages the end surface of the ejector body portion 197, so as to be clear of the cylinder 37 to permit further indexing rotation of the latter for emptying spent casings in this manner from all of the chambers 38.

The tool is preconditioned to perform repetitive operations by loading an appropriate number of live cartridges 42 within the cylinder chambers 38. Loading is effected by inserting the cartridges in succession through cylinder cover slot 7S, the chambers 38 of the cylinder 37 being indexed in succession past slot 78 by thumb pressure exerted tangentially on the knurled peripheral surface 37b of the cylinder. When the plurality of chambers 38 have been loaded, the chamber cover 82 is rotated to close the slot 78, whereupon the tool is ready to perform a sequence of operations.

When a swaging operation is to be performed, the operator grasps the tool placing one hand on the shroud 33 and the other hand on the handle 34. The handle is first lifted, or pivoted to its fully open position as shown in FIGURE l whereupon the indentor instrumentality will be retracted away from its backing die 45 for insertion of the workpiece 46 between the swaging die elements, yet no cocking action of the tool will be effected. Retraction of indentor 25 is effected by the action of the die cam extension 128, which moves in conjunction with handle 34, against the die cam pin 119 which forms the rearward edge of the die cam aperture 153 wherein the free end of the die cam extension resides. The die cam 59 will be thereby forced to slide rearwardly, within the adapter slots 53, 50, causing its carrier engagement protrusion 120, which is in engagement against the indentor carrier surface 121, to exert pressure on the indentor carrier 24 to move the same rearwardly against the bias of carrier spring 166, thereby also retracting the attached indentor instrumentality 25. From FIGURE 1 it is seen that when the handle has been pivoted to its fully open position the action bar 96 will also pivot in clockwise direction with respect to handle 34 in response to the bias of spring 156, causing the action bar slide pin 97 to slide within the grooved recess 100 towards the muzzle end of the tool to bring the action bar protrusion 98 into engagement against shoulder portion 102 of the hammer 30. The recessed groove 100 has depth sufficient to permit limited vertical movement of the slide pin 97 to permit the protrusion 98 to ride over the end flange of the hammer. Coincidentally with all of these tool reactions, lifting of handle 34 also permits indexing slide 48 to move upwardly, in response to the bias of its spring 134, to position its slide cam protrusion 76 adjacent that cylinder detent 147 which is below the chamber 38 wherein the live cartridge 42 next to be fired resides. It should be noted that the biasing force of spring 134 may be made sufficient, not only to lift the slide 48 and urge the slide cam surface 151 past the periphery 37b of the cylinder, but also to bias the handle 34 normally to its open position of FIGURE 1 so that the tool is always normally disposed in its ready condition.

When a workpiece 46 has been positioned between the swaging die pair 2S, 45, as indicated by dotted lines in FIGURE l, the handle 34 is pivoted in clockwise direction to its position as shown in FIGURE 2, which movement of the handle cocks the tool for firing by causing retraction of the firing pin hammer within the hammer slide 29 against the bias of its spring 109 and compression of the latter. This retraction of the hammer 30 is effected by the engagement pressure of the action bar protrusion 98 against the hammer shoulder 102 as the action bar 96 is forced by the handle movement to pivot in counter-clockwise direction, with respect to the handle, against the bias of its spring 156. This counterclockwise movement of the action bar is due to the offset relationship in longitudinal direction between the respective locations of action bar pivot pin 155 and action bar slide pin 97 when the handle is positioned as shown in FIGURE 1, this relationship always causing the slide pin 97 to slide rearwardly in response to clockwise pivoting of the handle. It is seen from a comparison of FIGURES 2 and 3 that a slight additional distance of clockwise movement of the handle beyond its position shown by FIGURE 2 will cause the action bar protrusion 98 to ride vertically off the hammer shoulder 102, due to its counterclockwise pivotal movement on the pivot axis provided by slide pin 97. Hammer 30 will thereupon be released to move in response to the bias of its spring 109, travelling in forward direction within the hammer guide 29, to sharply strike the tiring pin 28 at its protruding end portion 87 and thereby fire the tool.

It will be noted that as the handle is moved in clockwise direction to its cocked position as shown by FIGURE 2, the die cam extension 128 will also pivot in clockwise direction about the hinge pin 35, thereby releasing its restraining pressure on die cam pin 119, and hence upon the indentor carrier 24, permitting the indentor carrier to move forwardly in response to the bias of its spring 166 until the indentor instrumentality 25 has contacted the workpiece 46. In this condition, the biasing pressure of carrier spring 166 continues to urge the indentor instrumentality 25 in forward direction, even when the carrier engagement protrusion 12) of die cam 59 has become disengaged from the shoulder 121 of carrier 24 as shown by FIGURE 2, so that the indentor instrumentality 2S exerts clamping pressure on the workpiece 46, the workpiece being restrained by backing die element 45. It therefore becomes apparent that clockwise movement of the handie 34 may be momentarily interrupted when the workpiece has been so clamped to permit the tool operator to check the location of the workpiece whereat the impression 47 will be formed. Alternatively, the handle 34 may be moved in a single motion past its position as shown by FIGURE 2 to its tired position as shown by FIGURE 3.

Referring now to FIGURE S and by comparison thereof with FIGURE 7, it is seen that coincidentally with the aforesaid tool element reactions upon clockwise movement of the handle 34 to its tool cocking position as shown by FIGURE 2, the cylinder indexing slide 48 will be moved downwardly because of the engagement relation between its handle engagement portion 136 and the underside of handle cam portion 129.

The bias of slide cam spring 143 urges the slide cam 77 towards cylinder 37 so that, during this downward movement of slide 48, the protrusion 76 of the slide cam will engage that cylinder detent 147 which is below the cartridge to be fired to cause rotative movement of cylinder 37 only so much as is required to bring that cartridge in line with barrel bore 39, it being seen from FIG- URE 8 that when the cartridge has been so positioned, protrusion 76 will become disengaged from the detent by the action of its lower cam portion on edge 146. As previously noted, the ball and spring arrangement 149 (FIGURE l0) will engage the cylinder detent 148 when the cartridge has been brought in line with barrel bore 39, whereupon indexing of the cylinder 37 is complete. Also as previously noted and as shown by FIGURE 9, the indexing slide 48 will continue to move downwardly upon further clockwise pivoting of handle 34 from its cocked position as shown by FIGURE 2 to its fired position as shown by FIGURE 3. It will be understood upon study of the cylinder indexing means which are provided, in conjunction with the tool elements which cause cooking thereof and clamping of the workpiece in position, that a live cartridge will not be fully indexed into a position in which it may be fired until the tool has been fully cocked for tiring. In this connection, it will be observed that the eccentric location of the firing pin 28 with respect to the central longitudinal axis of the tool, which causes the cartridge to be rim fired, contributes to this safety feature.

Movement of the handle 34 fully to its position as shown by FIGURE 3 will release the hammer 30 to fire the tool as previously described. It is seen that the burning powder gases which result from the explosion of the cartridge 42 will expand through the barrel bores 39, 39a into the interior of the barrel 22 behind the piston head 161 to propel the piston 23, the attached indentor carrier 24 and, consequently, the indentor instrumentality 25 a short distance forward into the compressible tubular connector 46a to form oppositely disposed swage impressions 47 therein, as determined by the configuration of the indentor instrumentality 25 and its associated backing die element 45. It will be noted that this forward movement of the carrier will not affect the location 17 of the die cam 59 since, in the cocked position of the tool, the carrier engagement protrusion 120 of the die cam will be located out of engagement and a suitab-le distance for- Ward of the carrier shoulder 121 corresponding to the distance of movement of the carrier.

By reference to FIGURES 2 and 3, it will be understood that adjustment of the total length of the combined piston 23 and carrier 24 elements, in the manner as previously described, will provide a greater or lesser amount of boiler space within the barrel (boiler space being that space between the piston head and the breech end of the barrel within which the powder gases will normally expand) which, in turn, results in a lesser or greater amount, respectively, of force being exerted on the piston head by reason of the altered pressure condition of the expanding gases.

It will also be understood that a greater or lesser amount of boiler space is provided in the tool depending upon the diameter of the workpiece 46 which is positioned therein which will determine the distance of forward movement of the indentor, its carrier and, consequently, the piston 23 in response to the bias of carrier spring 166. This variation is in direct proportion to the greater or lesser amount of energy which will be required to perform an operation on a larger or smaller workpiece. In the case of a no work shot, the location of the carrier and piston at their forwardmost position when the tool is fired results in a large free volume, or boiler space in the barrel with consequent low burning efficiency of the powder charge, low pressure and therefore low energy yield which will protect the tool against self-injury.

The piston 23 has relatively light weight, due to its hollowed construction, as has the hollowed and externally configured carrier element 24, and therefore these elements present relatively little inertia to be overcome by the expanding powder gases upon tiring the tool. This tends to cause a greater amount of the released powder energy to be transmitted and absorbed by the workpiece, as is desired, rather than being used to overcome the inertia of the tool piston and carrier elements, with the result that the initial powder charge may be made smaller. The light weight of the piston and indentor carrier also adds to the convenience with which the tool may be oriented to its ready condition since less resistance is offered to the movement of die cam extension 128. In addition, the relatively massive work-piece support 43 sets up a considerable amount of reaction inertia when the tool is fired, thereby reducing tool kiclc After the tool has been fired to swage the workpiece, handle 34 is pivoted in counterclockwise direction to its open position of FIGURE 1, whereupon the indentor instrumentality 25 will be retracted by the action of die cam 59 on the indentor carrier 24, as previously described, so that the swaged workpiece may be conveniently removed or repositioned for another swaging operation. The hammer 30 will remain against firing pin 28, and it is apparent that there is no possibility that the tool can be accidentally discharged while the handle is in its upward position whereat the die jaws are open since the bia-s of slide spring 134 and action bar spring 156 tend to prevent cocking and firing of the tool except in response to positive downward movement of the handle. Moreover, although the indexing slide 48 will move upwardly, the cylinder 37 will not be rotatively indexed to position another live cartridge in firing position. It is seen that at times when the swaging jaws are open to receive a Workpiece, a spent cartridge, rather than a live cartridge, is aligned with tiring pin 28 and there is no chance that the tool can be discharged while the handle is in upward position.

When the workpiece has been rcpositioned, or a new workpiece has been properly positioned between the swaging die jaws of the tool, a simple downward movement of the handle 34 will effect another swaging thereof. Because of the plurality of live cartridges already placed in the tool, the tool is capable of repetitive operation over a somewhat prolonged series of swaging operations, and there is no need to reload the tool after each firing.

Thus an explosively actuated tool has been described which achieves all of the objects of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. In an explosively actuated tool, the improvement comprising a barrel, a cylinder having a plurality of annularly and longitudinally disposed cartridge receiving chambers, said cylinder being rotatably mounted at one end of said barrel so that upon rotation thereof each said chamber successively communicates with the interior of said barrel, and tool firing means comprising a hammer mounted for movement between a cocked position and a tool firing position thereof relative to any said chamber communicating with said barrel interior, means normally biasing said hammer into its said tool firing position, a tool actuating handle mounted for movement between a first and a second position thereof, and means connected to said handle for engaging said hammer upon movement of said handle to its said second position whereby movement of said handle from its said second position to its said first position moves said hammer against the bias of its said bias means to its said cocked position and thereafter releases said engagement of the hammer to permit said hammer to move in response to the bias of its said bias means to its said tool firing position, and cylinder indexing means mounted for movement in engagement with said cylinder, said handle engaging said cylinder indexing means whereby, during each successive movement of said handle towards its said first position, said cylinder is rotated by said cylinder indexing means to successively index each said chamber into its said position communicating with the interior of said barrel.

2. In an explosively actuated tool, the improvement according to claim 1 wherein said cylinder has a plurality of circumferentially spaced detents along a peripheral portion thereof respectively correlated one with each of said cartridge receiving chambers, and said cylinder indexing means comprises an indexing slide mounted adjacent said cylinder for substantially tangential slidable movement with respect thereto, said indexing slide carrying a resiliently mounted cam element and means normally biasing said cam element for engagement with any one of said cylinder detents, spring means biasing said indexing slide into its said engagement with said tool actuating handle, and means defining a fixed edge portion of said tool, said cam element including a cam surface in slidable engagement with said fixed edge portion whereby, as each said chamber is so indexed, said cam element is cammed out of its said engagement with said one cylinder detent.

3. In an explosively actuated tool, the improvement comprising a barrel having a breech end and a muzzle end, cartridge receiving chamber means at said breech end communicating with the interior of said barrel, a piston slidable in said barrel, means for limiting the distance of movement of said piston in direction towards said muzzle end of the barrel, yieldable means normally biasing said piston towards its said movement limiting means, cartridge firing means comprising a hammer mounted for movement between a cocked position and a tool firing position thereof relative to said cartridge receiving chamber means, means normally biasing said hammer into its said tool firing position, a tool actuating lever mounted for movement between a first position and a second position thereof, and means connected to said lever for engaging said hammer upon movement of said lever to its said second position whereby movement of said lever from its said second position to its said first position moves said hammer against the bias of said bias means to its said cocked position and thereafter releases said engagement of the hammer to permit said hammer to move in response to the bias of its said bias means to its said tool firing position, slidable means engaging said piston, and means on said lever for engaging said slidable means to move said piston against the bias of said yieldable means towards said breech end of the barrel upon movement of said lever towards its said second position, said means on the lever substantially releasing its said engagement with said s1id able means during said movement of the lever towards its said first position to permit said piston to move in response to the bias of said yieldable means towards said muzzle end of the barrel.

4. In an explosively actuated tool, the improvement according to claim 3 wherein said piston has means delining a shoulder facing in the direction of said barrel muzzle end, and said slidable means comprises a die cam mounted for slidable movement parallel to said barrel, said die cam having an oppositely facing shoulder for engaging said piston shoulder and, further, having means defining an aperture, and said means on said lever comprises a lever extension having an end disposed within said aperture of the die cam.

5. In an explosively actuated tool, the improvement according to claim 3 wherein said cartridge receiving chamber means comprises a cylinder having a plurality of annularly and longitudinally disposed cartridge receiving chambers, said cylinder being rotatably mounted so that upon rotation thereof each said chamber successively ecommunicates with the interior of said barrel, and cylinder indexing means mounted for movement in engagement with said cylinder, said tool actuating lever engaging said cylinder indexing means whereby, during each successive movement of said lever towards its said first position, said cylinder is rotated by said cylinder indexing means to successively index each said chamber into its said position communicating with the interior of said barrel.

6. In an explosively actuated tool, the improvement comprising a main body portion having a muzzle end and a bore of enlarged diameter and substantial length extending inwardly from said body portion muzzle end, a barrel having a breech end and a muzzle end and being secured substantially adjacent its breech end to the interior end of said bore so that said barrel muzzle end projects into said enlarged bore, the projecting portion of said barrel having short length relative to the length of said enlarged bore, and said barrel having an outside diameter substantially smaller than the interior diameter of said enlarged bore, means for introducing an expansible fluid under pressure into said barrel at its said breech end, a piston slidable within said barrel in response to expansion of said fluid therewithin, and means including a part of said main body portion providing a large and substantially enclosed fluid expansion chamber exterior of and adjacent to said muzzle end of the barrel, thereby permitting substantial expansion of said Huid to occur within said enclosed liuid expansion chamber upon the effective stroke of said piston having been attained.

7. In an explosively actuated tool, the improvement according to claim 6 wherein a part of said means which provides said enclosed fluid expansion chamber is removably mounted on said main body portion and includes workpiece support means.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,326,820 Youdelman Dec. 30, 1919 2,056,599 Brown Oct. 6, 1936 2,133,364 Temple Oct. 18, 1938 2,145,714 Davis Jan. 31, 1939 2,221,157 Temple Nov. 12, 1940 2,481,892 Wampler Sept. 13, 1949 2,518,395 Sopris Aug. 8, 1950 2,593,231 Wandel April 15, 1952 2,716,813 Smyres Sept. 6, 1955 2,848,915 Aitken et al. Aug. 26, 1958 2,893,279 Haskell et al July 7, 1959 2,949,898 Haskell et al Aug. 23, 1960 2,976,638 Owens Mar. 28, 1961 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,036,294 France April 22, 1953

Claims (1)

1. IN AN EXPLOSIVELY ACTUATED TOOL, THE IMPROVEMENT COMPRISING A BARREL, A CYLINDER HAVING A PLURALITY OF ANNULARLY AND LONGITUDINALLY DISPOSED CARTRIDGE RECEIVING CHAMBERS, SAID CYLINDER BEING ROTATABLY MOUNTED AT ONE END OF SAID BARREL SO THAT UPON ROTATION THEREOF EACH SAID CHAMBER SUCCESSIVELY COMMUNICATES WITH THE INTERIOR OF SAID BARREL, AND TOOL FIRING MEANS COMPRISING A HAMMER MOUNTED FOR MOVEMENT BETWEEN A COCKED POSITION AND A TOOL FIRING POSITION THEREOF RELATIVE TO ANY SAID CHAMBER COMMUNICATING WITH SAID BARREL INTERIOR, MEANS NORMALLY BIASING SAID HAMMER INTO ITS SAID TOOL FIRING POSITION, A TOOL ACTUATING HANDLE MOUNTED FOR MOVEMENT BETWEEN A FIRST AND A SECOND POSITION THEREOF, AND MEANS CONNECTED TO SAID HANDLE FOR ENGAGING SAID HAMMER UPON MOVEMENT OF SAID HANDLE TO ITS SAID SECOND POSITION WHEREBY MOVEMENT OF SAID HANDLE FROM ITS SAID SECOND POSITION TO ITS SAID FIRST POSITION MOVES SAID HAMMER AGAINST THE BIAS OF ITS SAID BIAS MEANS TO ITS SAID COCKED POSITION AND THEREAFTER RELEASES SAID ENGAGEMENT OF THE HAMMER TO PERMIT SAID HAMMER TO MOVE IN RESPONSE TO THE BIAS OF ITS SAID BIAS MEANS TO ITS SAID TOOL FIRING POSITION, AND CYLINDER INDEXING MEANS MOUNTED FOR MOVEMENT IN ENGAGEMENT WITH SAID CYLINDER, SAID HANDLE ENGAGING SAID CYLINDER INDEXING MEANS WHEREBY, DURING EACH SUCCESSIVE MOVEMENT OF SAID HANDLE TOWARDS ITS SAID FIRST POSITION, SAID CYLINDER IS ROTATED BY SAID CYLINDER INDEXING MEANS TO SUCCESSIVELY INDEX EACH SAID CHAMBER INTO ITS SAID POSITION COMMUNICATING WITH THE INTERIOR OF SAID BARREL.

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