Power drill attachment and method for using the attachment
AssigneeAirbus Deutschland GmbH
InventorJuergen Otten
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
In order to facilitate and make more ergonomic the drilling of a multitude of holes in workpieces, particularly in the assembly of large scale components, such as an aircraft body, the power drill is docked to a support by an attachment which engages and locks onto a guide bushing or bore in the support. The attachment assures that the drill bit is precisely axially aligned with a hole to be drilled. The feed advance is performed by a leveraged action controlled by the operator. The leverage can be provided, for example by a Bowden pull cable. The attachment reduces the exertion to be made by the operator, thereby avoiding ergonomically unsatisfactory work positions.
Claims19
An attachment for a power drill, said attachment comprising an attachment bushing (18) secured to said power drill, a latching unit (7) for securing said attachment to a support (12), a feed advance mechanism (4) for driving said power drill in a feed advance direction, said latching unit (7) comprising a latch bushing (19) for cooperation with said attachment bushing (18), said feed advance mechanism (4) comprising an operating member (5) and a feed advance controller (6, 8) operatively connected to said operating member (5) and to said latch bushing (19) for applying a feed advance motion to said power drill.
An apparatus for drilling holes into a workpiece, said apparatus comprising a power drill, an attachment for said power drill, said attachment comprising an attachment bushing (18) secured to said power drill, a support (12), a latching unit (7) for securing said attachment to said support, a feed advance mechanism (7) for driving said power drill in a feed advance direction, said latching unit (7) comprising a latch bushing (19) for cooperation with said attachment bushing (18), said feed advance mechanism (7) comprising an operating member (5) and a feed advance controller (6, 8) operatively connected to said operating member (5) for performing a feed advance motion of said power drill, said support comprising a drill bit guide channel and means for latching said attachment to said drill bit guide channel.
A method for operating an apparatus for drilling holes into a workpiece, said method comprising the following steps:
- a) establishing a rigid connection between a drill bit guide channel (3, 13) and a latch bushing (19) of a power drill,
- b) starting said power drill, and
- c) applying a leveraged feed advance force to said power drill through a feed advance controller (5, 6, 8).
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.