US3504415A

US3504415A - Tool for applying and removing fasteners

Info

Publication number: US3504415A
Application number: US645036A
Authority: US
Inventors: Charles Auguste Maire; Jean Julien Blanc
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1966-06-28
Filing date: 1967-06-09
Publication date: 1970-04-07
Anticipated expiration: 1987-04-07
Also published as: FR1491450A; DE1603904A1

Description

April 7, 1970 c. A. MAIRE ET AL TOOL FOR APPLYING AND REMOVING FASTENERS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 9, 1967 April 7, 1970 c. A. MAIRE ET AL ,50

TOOL FOR APPLYING AND REMOVING FASTENERS Filed June 9, 1967 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 United States Patent 67, 6 Int. Cl. B23p 19/00 US. Cl. 29-200 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A tool for applying and removing fasteners, comprising an open ended tube having an interior polygonal section for receiving a correspondingly shaped portion of the fastener, and a ring aligned with the tube and having an interior polygonal section identical with that of the tube. The ring is rotatable between a position in which its polygonal section is coincident with that of the tube to permit the polygonal portion of the fastener to be intro duced into and extracted from the tube and a position in Which its polygonal section is angularly olfset with respect to that of the tube to maintain the polygonal portion of the fastener in the tube once it has been introduced.

This invention relates to tools for applying and removing fasteners, in particular, but not exclusively, provisional fasteners for provisionally assembling and gripping superimposed sheets, for example of metal, before the final rivetting of these sheets.

These tools retain, and hold stationary or drive in rotation a portion having a polygonal cross-section of the fastener, and comprise, for this purpose, a tube of interior polygonal cross-section corresponding to that of the said portion of the fastener for engaging and cooperating with said portion. Typically these tools are power tools and are driven by a pneumatic or electric motor or the like.

The invention has for its object, in particular, to render these tools such that they respond better than in the past to the various practical considerations, notably concerning their radial encumbrance and/or the posibility of being able to disengage them by a simple withdrawal in the axial direction of the fastener which they are to retain axially during operation, at least during the extraction of the fastener from the sheets.

The invention consists essentially in providing a tool of the type in question with a ring of interior section coaxial and identical with that of the tube, this ring being axially fixed at the end of the tube thus forming an extension of the latter, but being adapted to eifect, with respect to this tube, a co-axial rotation which permits, at will, either to make its polygonal section coincide with that of the tube for the introduction of the polygonal portion of the fastener into the said tube or for its extraction out of the said tube, or to angularly offset the polygonal sec tion of the ring with respect to that of the tube, behind the said polygonal portion of the fastener housed in the tube, in order to retain, by means of the said ring, the said polygonal portion of the fastener in the said tube of the tool.

The invention comprises, apart from this principal feature, certain other features which are used preferably at the same time and which will be more explicitly described hereafter.

The invention can be easily understood with the aid of the following description and the accompanying drawings, which description and drawings are, of course, merely given by way of example.

'ice

FIGURE 1 of these drawings shows partially in elevation and partially in axial section, part of a tool according to the invention for maintaining and for manoeuvring by a rotary motor a fastener for provisionally assembling and gripping superimposed sheets, this tool being shown in the position for introducing or for extracting the fastener.

FIGURE 2 is an end view of the tool of FIGURE 1, after the removal of the fastener.

FIGURE 3 shows, in a view similar to that of FIG. 1, the tool in a different position, in which it retains the fastener axially, ready for manoeuvring either in the direction of tightening or in the direction of loosening.

FIGURE 4 is an end view, corresponding to that of FIG. 2 of the tool of FIG. 3.

PIIGURE 5 is a side view, partly cut away, of the entire too The tool shown in the drawings is a preferred embodiment of the invention and is particularly adapted for applying and removing provisional fasteners for provisionally assembling and gripping superimposed sheets, for example sheet metal, before the final rivetting of these sheets.

Concerning first of all the fastener, it can comprise, as is known in itself, a body 2 in the form of a bolthead, for example hexagonal, and a spindle axially slidable through this body 2, the spindle projecting out of the body 2 on one side in the form of a threaded rod 3 on which is engaged a nut 4, and projecting out of the other side in the form of a smooth flattened rod 5. The rod 5 is completed along one side and near the body 2 by a complementary pin 6, rigid with the body 2, whereby the rod 5 and pin 6 together form a cylindrical portion; and the rod 5 is further completed, along its other side and near its end, by a cylindrical rod 7 attached to the rod 5 and of the same diameter as that resulting from the combination of the flattened rod 5 with the pin 6 but radially offset with respect to this latter.

The fastener can furthermore be completed by a washer 8 surrounding the threaded rod 3 between the body 2 and the nut 4, and by a disc 9 forming a guide and formin ga stop fixed to the free end of the rod 3.

By making the threaded rod 3 slide axially in the body 2, in which its non-circular part 5 prevents it from turning, the cylindrical end 7 can be advanced beyond the fixed pin 6 (to a position not shown) which permits the spindle 7, 5, 3 to be introduced into a hole formed in two superimposed sheets, the diameter of this hole corresponding to the diameter of the end 7 and to the diameter of the combination of the parts 5 and 6. As this spindle penetrates further, its end 7, then a certain length of its flattened part 5 alone, and finally the complementary parts 5 and 6, pass through the sheets, these complementary parts 5 and 6 completely filling the opening of the said hole.

By then screwing the nut 4 with respect to the body 2 on the threaded rod 3, this latter is caused to slide through the body 2 from left to right.

During this movement, the sheets, which are located between the body 2 and the end 7 of the spindle are finally gripped by the base 10 of the body 2 and the heel 11 that the end part 7 of the spindle forms at its beginning on the intermediate flattened part 5.

A fastener of this type can be maneuvered, either by hand, by holding its body 2 stationary with a wrench, and by turning the nut 4 with another wrench, or much more rapidly, with the aid of a power tool such as that showing in the drawings having a pneumatic or electric motor M or the like equipped with a tube 12, fixed to the casing 1 of the motor and whose end has a hexagonal section adapted to engage the hexagonal body 2 of the fastener and, at the interior of the tube 12 a second tube 13 coaxial and driven by the shaft of the motor M, said second tube 13 having at its end a hexagonal section adapted to engage the nut 4.

It can be seen that, by the rotation of the tube 13, which is driven by the shaft of the motor M by the intermediary of a torque limiter (not shown) one can, according to the direction of rotation of the tube 13, which can be chosen by a reverser 21, either make the spindle 3, 5, 7 withdraw in the body 2 from the left towards the right, or make it advance in the body 2 from the right towards the left.

The tool shown in FIGURE 5 is driven by a pneumatic motor M fed with compressed air which enters by the tube 23. The tool is provided with a pistol-grip handle 24 fixed to the casing 1 of the motor M, and a trigger 22 is provided for actuating the motor. As mentioned previously, the direction of rotation of the motor M is controlled by the reverser 21.

When it is desired to withdraw a fastener after having rivetted the sheets together by the previous holes, the fastener is often wedged by a shearing effect between the two sheets, so that it is convenient to provide, on the tool, means for assuring the axial retention of the fastener by its body 2 in the tool, so as to be able, after having unscrewed the fastener by the return of the spindle 3, 5, 7 from right to left in the body 2, to pull the fastener by means of the casing 1 of the motor M which, generally, is equipped with a pistol-grip handle.

To this end, and according to the invention, the tool comprises a ring 14 forming an extension of the tube 12, the ring 14 having an interior hexagonal section identical and co-axial with that of the end of the tube 12, and being fixed axially with respect with the said tube 12, but adapted to effect, with respect to the said tube 12, a coaxial rotation which permits, at will, either to make its polygonal section coincide with that of the tube (see FIGURES 1 and 2) for the introduction of the hexagonal body 2 in the end of the tube 12 or for its extraction from the latter, or to angularly offset the polygonal sectional of the ring 14 with respect to that of the tube 12, below its hexagonal body 2, in order to retain, by this ring 14, the fastener in the said tube 12, as shown in FIGURES 3 and 4.

The ring 14 is advantageously rigid with the end of a sleeve 15, co'axially mounted on the tube 12 and which is maintained on this tube by guiding means immobilizing it on the tube in the axial direction, but permitting it to effect, with respect to the tube, a partial rotation, preferably limited between two stops, one stopping the sleeve 15 and tube 12 in their position shown in FIGURES 1 and 2, and the other in their position shown in FIGURES 3 and 4.

To this end, there is advantageously provided, at the bottom of a peripheral groove 16 formed in the exterior face of the sleeve 15, at least one hole 17 which passes through the wall of the sleeve 15 and, in this hole, a cylindrical stud 18 which a spring 19, in the form of a slit ring. which holds the sleeve 15 in the said groove 16, maintains engaged in projection in a corresponding groove 20 formed in the exterior face along the periphery of the tube 12.

The groove 20 extends along the periphery of the tube 12, preferably along one of the halves of an are having as its chord one of the sides of the hexagon of the interior section of the tube 12, so that the partial rotation which the sleeve 15 can effect on the tube 12 by the displace-- ment of the stud 18 from one end to the other of the groove 20, corresponds to an angular shifting of the identical hexagonal profiles of the end of the tube 12 and of tye ring 14, between the position in which these profiles coincide (position shown in FIGURES 1 and 2) and a position of maximum offset shown in FIGURES 3 and 4.

The tool, according to the invention, operates in the following manner.

First the sleeve 15 is turned on the tube 12 to its extreme position, shown in FIGURES 1 and 2, which permits the hexagonal body 2 of the fastener to be introduced, through the ring 14, into the end of the tube 12, by making it pass through the opening of the ring 14.

At the same time, the nut 4 penetrates into the correspondingly shaped end of the tube 13. The spindle 3, 5, 7 of the fastener is then located engaged to the maximum towards the left in the body 2 of the fastener in a position not shown in which the disc 9 is in the immediate vicinity of the nut 4.

It is then sufficient to turn the sleeve 15 from the stop position shown in FIGURES 1 and 2 to the stop position shown in FIGURES 3 and 4, so that the sides of the hexagon of the ring 4 overlap the corners of the hexagon formed -by the body 2, thus retaining the body 2 inside the tube 12.

By turning on the motor M, by means of the trigger 22, the tube 13 turns with respect to the tube 12. The nut 4 makes the rod 3 advance from left to right. In the course of this displacement, the threaded rod 3 penetrates axially into the tube 13. Its end is maintained and guided along the axis of the tube 13 by the stop disc 9 Whose diameter corresponds appreciably to that of the tube 13.

At the end of its travel, and after having stopped the motor, it is sufficient to return, by a partial rotation in the opposite direction, the sleeve 15 and the ring 14 from the position shown in FIGURES 3 and 4 to the position shown in FIGURES 1 and 2, in order to be able to disengage the tool from the body 2 of the fastener.

When it is wished to remove the fastener from the sheets which it has served to assemble provisionally, it is sufficient to attach again, as has been described above, the tool to the fastener, to drive the motor in the opposite direction, and finally, to extract the fastener from the sheets by pulling the tool, by means of its casing 1 or its piston-grip handle, which permits a considerable force of extraction to be exerted on the fastener.

Then, the fastener can be removed from the tool in the way already explained above.

It can be seen that the tool, according to the invention, only encroaches very little on the surroundings of the body of the fastener, and can be coupled to the latter or uncoupled from it by a simple movement of rotation, which permits maneuvering in very limited space and, for example, permits the fasteners to be placed very close together.

Needless to say, as will in any case be obvious from the foregoing, the invention is not limited to the embodiment which has been specifically described above; on the contrary, the invention includes various modifications.

What we claim is:

1. In a tool for applying and removing fasteners having a portion of polygonal section, for provisionally assembling and gripping superimposed sheets, for example sheet metal, before the final rivetting of these sheets,

(A) a tube having an open end and having, at least in the vicinity of said open end, an interior polygonal section corresponding to the polygonal section of said fastener portion for surrounding and engaging said fastener portion,

(B) a ring aligned with said tube at said open end and having an interior polygonal section identical to that of said tube, said ring being axially fixed with respect to said tube, but adapted to be rotated with respect to the tube about the axis of the tube from a first position to a second position and vice-versa,

(C) said first position being a position in which the interior polygonal section of said ring is coincident with that of said tube for the introduction of said fastener portion into, and the extraction of said fastener portion out of, said tube,

(D) and said second position being a position in which the interior polygonal section of said ring is angularly offset with respect to that of said tube for maintaining said fastener portion in said tube after the introduction of said fastener portion into said tube.

2. A tool according to claim 1 having, in addition to said portion of polygonal section, a threaded spindle extending axially through, and axially shiftable with respect to, said portion, and a nut screwed on said threaded spindle for axially shifting said thread spindle, said tool comprising:

(A) a handle rigid with said tube,

(B) a tubular shaft mounted inside said tube and adapted to engage said nut,

(C) a motor for driving said tubular shaft in rotation with respect to said tube, thereby driving said nut and axially shifting said threaded spindle,

(D) and means for reversing the direction of rotation of said tubular shaft thereby reversing the direction of shifting of said threaded spindle.

3. A tool according to claim 2 in which the polygonal sections of said fastener portion, of said tube and of said ring are in the form of a regular polygon, and in which stop means are provided for limiting the angle of rotation of said ring with respect to said tube to one half of the angle subtended by one side of the regular polygon at the centre of said regular polygon.

4. A tool according to claim 3 comprising:

(A) a sleeve rigidly connected to said ring, said sleeve rotatably surrounding said tube and being provided with a peripheral groove having a hole passing radially through said sleeve,

(B) a corresponding peripheral groove formed on said tube,

(C) a stud positioned in said hole and held therein by a spring in the form of a split ring mounted in said peripheral gorge of said sleeve, said stud projecting into, and being able to move in, said corresponding peripheral groove of said tube,

(D) said corresponding peripheral groove being of such a length to limit said stud, when travelling from one end to the other end of said corresponding peripheral groove, to one of the halves of an are having as its chord one of the sides of said regular polygon.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,405,779 8/ 1946 Davis 29243.53 2,417,681 3/1947 Frank 29243.53 X 2,468,286 4/ 1949 Behlert. 2,608,900 9/ 1952 Kunz.

THOMAS H. EAGER, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 72391