Pneumatic drill
AssigneeLockheed Martin Corporation
InventorsGus Krause, William Maurer, Glenn Born
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A drill has a tubular outer housing and a tubular inner housing. The inner housing is movable between extended and retracted positions. A pneumatic motor with a chuck mounts to the inner housing. Air pressure is delivered to annular pistons to cause the inner housing to extend and retract. Also, an annular hydraulic chamber with a variable orifice bypass controls the rate of feed. A processor records the total number of holes being drilled as well as recording the time duration for each hole.
Claims6
-22. (canceled)
A method of drilling a hole in a workpiece, comprising:
- mounting a tubular inner housing within a bore of a tubular outer housing;
- mounting a motor assembly in the inner housing;
- providing an annular pneumatic cylinder between the inner housing and the outer housing;
- inserting a drill bit into a chuck of the motor assembly;
- and
- supplying air pressure to the motor assembly to rotate the chuck and to the pneumatic cylinder to move the inner housing between the retracted and extended positions.
A method of drilling a hole in a workpiece, comprising:
- mounting a motor assembly to a frame;
- mounting a pneumatic cylinder assembly between the motor assembly and the frame;
- installing at least one the dome member within a cavity of a drill, the dome member being resilient and deflectable into engagement with an electrical contact;
- connecting an electronic circuit with the electrical contact;
- inserting a drill bit into a chuck of the motor assembly;
- delivering air pressure to the pneumatic cylinder assembly to cause the motor assembly to rotate and to move the motor assembly from a retracted position to an extended position;
- delivering a pulse of air pressure to the cavity upon initial movement of the motor assembly from the retracted position, causing the dome member to deflect into engagement with the contact;
- and
- with the electronic circuit, detecting the engagement of the dome member with the contact.
A method of drilling a hole in a workpiece, comprising:
- mounting a motor assembly to a frame;
- mounting a pneumatic cylinder assembly between the motor assembly and the frame;
- inserting a drill bit into a chuck of the motor assembly;
- delivering air pressure to the pneumatic cylinder assembly to cause the motor assembly to rotate and to move the motor assembly from a retracted position to an extended position;
- determining the elapsed time that it took for the motor assembly to move from the retracted position to the extended position;
- comparing the elapsed time determined to a reference time;
- and
- providing an indication if the elapsed time exceeds the reference time.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.