Split bushing alignment assembly and method of use
OwnerMichael J. Stuckinventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A split bushing alignment assembly comprising an air tube and a mount having one or more vents leading to a bushing receiver disposed as a hole sized and shaped to receive a split bushing. A stream of air from an air supply, typically compressed air, enters the tube and exits the vent into the bushing receiver. When a split bushing having a gap falls into the bushing receiver, the stream of air rotates the split bushing if the gap is in a same location as the stream of air from the vent. The gap of the split bushing is thus rotated by the stream of air such that when the split bushing is installed, the gap is not located in a known inspection area of a bushing inspection machine. A method of use is also provided.
Claims9
A method of aligning a gap of a split bushing using an assembly comprising a bushing receiver formed with a hole sized and shaped to receive the split bushing and at least one vent, the method comprising the steps of:
- determining a number and location of inspection areas about a circumference of an installed split bushing as inspected by an inspection machine;
- providing the assembly with at least a same number of vents in corresponding locations as the number and location of inspection areas;
- providing an air supply to each vent of the bushing receiver;
- feeding a split bushing into the bushing receiver;
- blowing a stream of air through each vent into the bushing receiver as the split bushing travels through the bushing receiver;
- and
- rotating the gap of the split bushing away from a vent of the at least one vent when a respective stream of air contacts the gap.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.