WO2013144472A1

WO2013144472A1 - Fitting tool for positioning a washer on a support surface

Info

Publication number: WO2013144472A1
Application number: PCT/FR2013/050445
Authority: WO
Inventors: Norbert Trouillet; Jérôme POIROT; Alain Sonet
Original assignee: Peugeot Citroen Automobiles Sa; GM Global Technology Operations LLC
Priority date: 2012-03-26
Filing date: 2013-03-01
Publication date: 2013-10-03
Also published as: CN104470677A; EP2830824A1; FR2988313B1; FR2988313A1

Abstract

The invention relates to a fitting tool for positioning a washer (10) on the support surface (21) of a part (20) located in a substantially horizontal plane, characterized in that said fitting tool comprises: · means for holding the washer in a vertical or oblique position, enabling it to be released from the tool (36, 37), · means (36c1, 36c2) for guiding the washer, once it has been released from the holding means, towards its position on the support surface of the part, and · means (36d) for centring the washer (10) on said support surface (21).

Description

MOUNTING TOOL FOR POSITIONING A WASHER ON A

BEARING SURFACE

The present invention claims the priority of the French application 1252663 filed March 26, 2012 whose content (text, drawings and claims) is here incorporated by reference.

The present invention relates to a mounting tool for positioning a washer on a bearing surface, this bearing surface being located in particular in a hard-to-reach area of a workpiece. It can be applied, by way of non-limiting example of the object and scope of the present invention, to the installation of a bearing washer of assembly screws in a countersink of a cylinder head vehicle engine.

[ooo3] By "countersink" is meant, in the rest of the text, a housing or a small cylindrical bore, generally machined at the hole of a hole and intended to serve as a bearing surface of a washer or to embed a screw-type element, for example with hexagon socket.

[ooo4] The installation of a washer in an inaccessible and not very visible area of a room poses quality problems, especially if the defective positioning of the washer is not detected, if there are two washers superimposed instead of one, or if the washer is lost in the room. The probability of such defects is increased in case of manual mounting of the washers.

[ooo5] In the particular case mentioned above of a vehicle engine cylinder head, the assembly of the cylinder head on the cylinder block is achieved by screws through the cylinder head and support washers placed under the heads of the screws in counterbores arranged in the cylinder head around the screw holes. For some cylinder architecture, especially when it is engine cylinder heads in which the valves are controlled by pushers, the establishment of the support washers is difficult, if not impossible, for reasons of accessibility to counterbenders receipt of the washers. The design of mechanical components such as crankcases and engine heads imposes, in fact, more and more geometric constraints on these components, to improve the performance of the engine in terms of power, fuel consumption, limitation pollution, or to limit energy losses by friction, or to make the powertrain more compact. And the improvement of foundry processes make it possible to obtain more and more complex forms of components to meet these new needs.

[ooo7] To solve this problem of setting up the support washers, various solutions have been proposed.

[ooo8] Thus, by way of example, the document FR 2 957 546 describes a method of setting up an assembly screw support washer in a housing arranged in an engine cylinder head, which comprises the steps following:

• the cylinder head is equipped with at least one guide rail, made of foundry with the cylinder head, which opens into the housing,

• the washer is deposited on the guide rail,

• the washer is placed by sliding along the guide ramp until the washer is received in the housing, the sliding being achieved by gravity or by means of a tool. [Ooo9] In the breech, a stop, made of foundry with the breech or reported on it, is arranged at the edge of the housing, facing the guide ramp.

[ooi o] It will be noted that, in the implementation of this method known from the prior art, the relatively complex shaped arrangements, foundry or reported, created specifically to guide the washer to its housing, present the disadvantage of weighing down the breech and being uneconomical.

[Ooi i] The object of the present invention is to provide a new mounting tool, improved over the tools and mounting methods of the prior art, the purpose of which is to allow positioning a washer on a surface located in an inaccessible area of a room, particularly but not exclusively to position a support washer of a bolt assembly bolt in its countersink, especially when the latter is difficult to access and not very visible.

Another object of the present invention is to provide such a washer mounting tool in a difficult access area, which allows a faster assembly and better quality than the assemblies of washers made with the means and according to the methods known from the prior art.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide such a mounting tool, which, applied to a bolt of cylinder head bolts, allows a lightening of the latter.

Finally, it is also an object of the present invention to provide such a mounting tool, which is generally of simple design, construction and use, which is stable, reliable and economical.

The invention firstly relates to a mounting tool for positioning a washer on the support surface of a workpiece disposed in a substantially horizontal plane, such that said mounting tool comprises:

Means for maintaining the washer in the vertical or oblique position allowing it to be released from the tool,

Guide means of the washer once released from its holding means to its positioning on the support surface of the part, and

• means for centering the washer on said surface.

This mounting tool ensures a correct and reproducible positioning of the washers, even and especially in areas of reduced accessibility: when the operator can not manually position the washer in a natural way, that is to say ie by presenting the washer by simple approach by translation of the washer in horizontal position on a support surface also horizontal, this tool makes it possible to approach the washer of the support surface by the tool by translation in vertical position of the washer, which allows to insert it into a component, especially a cylinder head engine having special reliefs, including vertical walls close to the bearing surfaces on which the washers are to be placed. Then, when the washer in vertical position is in the immediate vicinity of its bearing surface, the tool according to the invention makes it possible to exactly control the tilting and then the centering of the washer on the bearing surface. These different steps can be triggered by the operator or automated.

Throughout this text, we understand by "superior", "lower", "height" and other indication of spatial positioning of the components mentioned with reference to their actual positioning in space in the embodiments. evoked, with the mounting tool in the operating position.

Preferably, the holding means in vertical or oblique position comprises a fixed member and a movable member relative to said fixed member, together defining a jaw adapted to maintain the upper portion of the washer.

[Ooi 9] Preferably, the guide means define at least one oblique guide surface on which the washer once released from the holding means will slide and / or tilt towards the bearing surface.

The guide means advantageously define two obliquely inclined guide surfaces inclined relative to the vertical and arranged at different heights, one supporting at least part of the inner edge of the washer and the other part at least from his outer song. According to one embodiment, the bearing surface delimits a counterbore, as defined above, and the centering means are integral with the guide means and define a shape contour complementary to the counterbore and being inserted into this one when the puck is released.

Advantageously, the mounting tool according to the invention comprises a support oriented substantially horizontally, on which is secured at least a fixed member cooperating with a movable member, the fixed member being oriented substantially vertically, the upper part of the fixed member defining with the movable member a jaw for holding the washer in its upper part, the intermediate portion of the fixed member delimiting guide surfaces of the washer once released from the jaw by retraction of the movable member, and the lower part of the fixed member delimiting a contour adapted to be inserted into the countersink of the bearing surface of the coin for the puck.

Preferably, the tool comprises a plurality of fixed and movable members, the movable members being actuated by a common actuating means, thus easily allowing the simultaneous positioning of a plurality of washers.

The invention also relates to a method of implementing the editing tool described above, and which comprises the steps:

Inserting the washer around a fixed member of the mounting tool,

Holding in vertical or oblique position by clamping the washer between the fixed member and a movable member of the assembly tool,

• release of the washer by retraction of the movable member, in particular using an actuator, · guiding the washer by gravity to a substantially horizontal position by sliding / tilting on at least one oblique surface defined by the organ fixed to position it on the support surface of the part.

Preferably, the method is such that when the support surface of the workpiece defines a counterbore, that the positioning of the washer on it is centered by an insertion of a part of the fixed member. in said counterbore.

The invention relates more particularly to the mounting tool and its implementation method described above, where the washer is a support washer of a vehicle engine thermal cylinder head assembly screw automobile, and where the support washer is to be positioned on a countersink of the cylinder head, at the entrance of the bore for receiving the assembly screw.

The present invention also relates to a vehicle, in particular a motor vehicle, equipped with a heat engine cylinder head, wherein the valves are for example controlled by pushers, and such that, in this engine, the washers of the bolts of assembly of the cylinder head are put in place by means of a mounting tool according to that described above.

Other objects, advantages and features of the invention will appear in the following description of an exemplary embodiment, not limiting the object and scope of the present patent application, accompanied by drawings in which FIG. 1 is a schematic longitudinal sectional view of a bearing washer of a motor vehicle engine head bolt, the washer being shown in its mounted position in its counterbore at the entrance FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic bottom view showing the mounting tool of the invention for placing the bolt support washer. assembly in the cylinder head of Figure 1, and Figure 3 is a top view of the mounting tool shown in Figure 2,

FIGS. 4 to 7 are schematic longitudinal sectional views showing the operation of the mounting tool of FIGS. 2 and 3 and, consequently, the kinematics of the installation of the screw support washer; assembly in its counterbore in the cylinder head.

With reference to the drawing of Figure 1, there is shown a portion of a motor vehicle engine cylinder head, general reference 20. As a non-limiting example of the object and scope of this invention, the cylinder head 20 is a cylinder head of a thrust distribution type heat engine, of relatively complex architecture, in which the establishment of the bearing washers, reference 10, assembly screws, reference 40, the bolt is difficult, for reasons of accessibility to countershafts or bearing surfaces, reference 21, provided to receive the washers 10. ZZ 'represents the axis of the assembly screw 40, therefore the axis of the bore 22 which receives the screw 40. The washer 10 is of thickness "e", of external diameter "D" and of internal diameter "d". The housing 21 (countersink) formed in the yoke 20 is dimensioned in diameter and depth to receive the washer 10. The reference 22 designates the receiving bore in the yoke of the assembly screw 40.

Note that this housing 21 is located in an inaccessible area of the cylinder head 20, due to the presence of a breech portion, illustrated by the reference 20A, located above and in the axis of the bore 22 of the assembly screw 40. The washer 10 can not be easily moved vertically, and can not in particular be translated vertically remaining disposed itself in a horizontal plane, through the yoke portion 20A to reach the countersink 21. It is therefore necessary to carry out the mounting of the washer 10 according to a different kinematic. According to the principle of the present invention, the mounting of the washer 10, is achieved by means of a tool, called "mounting tool", of general reference 30, which is described below, with reference to FIGS. 3.

This tool 30 comprises a support plate 31 substantially of parallelepipedal shape and comprising four centralizers 32 disposed in the vicinity of the four corners of the plate, projecting from the underside of said plate.

The support plate 31 also carries 8 pairs of fixed / movable member 33, described in more detail below in Figures 4 to 7, and a device 34 for common actuation of the movable members. Each pair of fixed member / movable member is adapted to position a washer, the tool 30 can thus simultaneously deposit 8 washers on the cylinder head. (The tool, alternatively, may comprise a larger or smaller number of pairs of fixed / mobile members, only one pair. It is also possible, alternatively, to provide individual actuation of each movable member, allowing simultaneous or non-simultaneous positioning of the washers.)

The support plate 31 also comprises two gripping handles 35 fixed on its upper face.

The operating principle of the tool 30 is generally as follows:

The operator takes the support plate 32 by its handles 35,

The operator just insert the 8 washers around each of the 8 so-called fixed members (relative to the plate 31),

The operator places the support plate 31 above the cylinder head 20 in position relative to the cylinder head using the centering devices 32,

The operator activates the actuating device 34, so as to release the washers by retraction of the so-called mobile members, the washers then being placed on their corresponding bearing surfaces,

• the operator comes next, once the washers are positioned, remove the tool by translating it vertically upward.

Figures 4 to 7 detail the operation of one of the pairs 33 of fixed members 36 and movable 37, and the kinematics of the movement of the washers 10.

As shown in Figure 1, the fixed member 36 has a vertically elongated shape that can be broken down into several parts distributed over its height, from top to bottom: - in the upper part, it has a base 36a by which it is secured to the plate 31, - then, it has a first intermediate portion 36b defining a vertical rectilinear face facing another vertical rectilinear face of the movable member 37 in extended position, these two faces are distant l one of the other by a distance close to the thickness e of the washer 10, and thus serve as a clamping jaw for the maintenance of vertical position of the washer by its upper part, once the washer inserted around the fixed member as shown, - then it has a second intermediate portion 36c, which has a vertical baffle profile defining two guide surfaces 36c1 and 36c2 turned upwards, oblique and opposite orientations with respect to the vertical, - finally the low end portion 36d has a horizontal section of the same shape and slightly smaller than the section of the housing 22, so that the body fixed, and the associated washer, are properly centered relative thereto, and therefore with respect to the bearing surface 21 accommodating the washer 10. [0038] FIG. 4 thus corresponds to the step of maintaining the washer 10 in a vertical position (or substantially vertical), the fixed member being already in the immediate vicinity of the bearing surface of the washer and centered relative thereto. FIG. 5 corresponds to the step of release of the washer by retraction of the movable member 37: the movable member is displaced by upward vertical translation (arrow f1) by control of the actuating means 34 by the operator . The washer is no longer tight, and slides vertically by gravity. FIG. 6 shows the guided tilting movement (arrows f2) of the washer, of which an upper part of the inner edge 10a slides on the guiding surface 36c1 and a lower part of the outer edge 10b slides on the guide surface 36c2 of the fixed organ. FIG. 7 represents the position of the washer 10 at the end of its tilting movement: it is naturally on the bearing surface 21, perfectly centered and horizontal, the low guide surface 36c2 ending in the immediate vicinity and almost at level of the bearing surface 21. The downward movement (and upward movement) of the mounting tool 30 can be achieved manually, or by means of an automatic means of known type, pneumatic, hydraulic, electrical or magnetic.

The washer mounting tool described above has many advantages, including the following advantages: it allows a saving of time of assembly of the washers, 8 washers being able to be assembled simultaneously it also allows a better quality of mounting of the washers, it allows a lightening of the breech, by eliminating the facilities of foundry, such as the ribs, the big ones leave, slopes, created specifically to guide the washers to their homes, and it remains simple manufacturing and operating mode.

Claims

A mounting tool (30) for positioning a washer (10) on the bearing surface (21) of a workpiece (20) disposed in a substantially horizontal plane, characterized in that said mounting tool comprises: - means for maintaining in the vertical or oblique position of the washer allowing its release from the tool (36,37), - guide means (36c1, 36c2) of the washer once released from its holding means to its positioning on the bearing surface of the part, and - centering means (36d) of the washer (10) on said bearing surface (21), the holding means in vertical or oblique position comprising a fixed member (36) and a movable member (37) relative to said fixed member together defining a jaw adapted to maintain the upper portion of the washer (10).

2. Mounting tool (30) according to the preceding claim, characterized in that the guide means define at least one oblique guide surface (36c1, 36c2) on which the washer (10) once released from the holding means will slide and / or swing towards the bearing surface (21).

3. Mounting tool (30) according to the preceding claim, characterized in that the guide means define two oblique guide surfaces (36c1, 36c2) of inclinations opposite to the vertical and arranged at different heights, the one supporting at least part of the inner edge (10a) of the washer and the other at least part of its outer edge (10b).

4. Assembly tool (30) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the bearing surface (21) defines a countersink, and in that the centering means (36d) are integral with the guide means ( 36c1, 36c2) and define a shape contour complementary to the counterbore and being inserted therein during the release of the washer (10).

5. Mounting tool (30) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it comprises a support (31) oriented substantially horizontally, on which is secured at least one fixed member (36) cooperating with a movable member ( 37), the fixed member (36) being oriented substantially vertically, an upper portion (36b) of the fixed member defining with the member movable a jaw holding the washer in its upper part, the intermediate portion (36c) of the fixed member delimiting guide surfaces of the washer once released from the jaw by retraction of the movable member, and the lower part (36d) of the fixed member defining an outline adapted to be inserted into the counterbore of the bearing surface (21) of the part for the washer (10).

6. Mounting tool (30) according to the preceding claim, characterized in that it comprises a plurality of fixed and movable members, the movable members being actuated by a common actuating means (34).

7. A method of implementing the mounting tool (30) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it comprises the steps:

Inserting the washer (1 1) around a fixed member (36) of the assembly tool,

Holding in vertical or oblique position by clamping the washer between the fixed member (36) and a movable member (37) of the assembly tool,

• release of the washer (10) by retraction of the movable member (37), in particular by means of an actuator (34),

• guiding the washer (10) by gravity to a substantially horizontal position by sliding / tilting on at least one oblique surface (36c1, 36c2) defined by the fixed member (36) to position it on the bearing surface (21 ) of the piece (20).

8. Method according to the preceding claim, characterized in that the bearing surface (21) of the workpiece (20) defines a countersink, and in that it centers the positioning of the washer (10) thereon by inserting a portion of the fixed member (36d) into said counterbore.

9. mounting tool (30) according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the washer (10) is a bearing washer of a cylinder head assembly screw (20) of motor vehicle, and in that the washer (10) of support is to be positioned on a countersink (21) of the cylinder head at the inlet of the bore for receiving the assembly screw (40).