Method and device for tightening joints
AssigneeAtlas Copco Tools AB
InventorsKarl Johan Lars Elsmark, Lars Magnus Persson
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An electric assembly device for tightening of fastener includes a housing and a rotation motor which is drivingly connected to an output shaft. The output shaft has a forward portion extending out of the housing, and is adapted to carry a coupling device for releasable coupling with a fastener during tightening, which is to be performed along a first rotation axis. The device is adapted to determine an angular displacement of the housing with respect to the first rotation axis during tightening of the fastener, and to control the rotation speed of the motor during tightening based on the determined angular displacement of the housing.
Claims20
An electric assembly device for tightening threaded fasteners, comprising:
- a housing;
- a variable speed rotation motor;
- an output shaft connected to the motor and rotatable about a rotation axis;
- coupling means provided on the output shaft for coupling the output shaft to a threaded fastener to be tightened;
- wherein the housing is arranged to be manually supported by an operator and is angularly displaceable relative to the rotation axis;
- determining means for determining an angular displacement of the housing relative to the rotation axis during tightening of the threaded fastener;
- and
- a control unit which controls a rotation speed of the motor during tightening in relation to the determined angular displacement of the housing;
- and
- wherein the rotation speed of the motor is arbitrarily determinable by the operator by angularly displacing the housing relative to the rotation axis in one of a rotation direction of the output shaft and a direction opposite to the rotation direction of the output shaft, to thereby correspondingly determine a tightening speed of the fastener.
The device according to 2, wherein said one of the rotation direction of the output shaft and the direction opposite to the rotation direction of the output shaft in which the housing is angularly displaced is a direction towards the operator of the device.
A method for tightening fasteners using an electric assembly device which includes a housing, a variable speed rotation motor, an output shaft coupled to the motor and rotatable about a rotation axis, and coupling means provided on the output shaft for coupling the output shaft to a threaded fastener to be tightened, the housing being arranged to be manually supported by an operator and being angularly displaceable relative to the rotation axis, wherein the method comprises:
- determining an angular displacement of the housing relative to the rotation axis during tightening of the threaded fastener;
- and
- controlling a rotation speed of the motor during tightening in relation to the determined angular displacement of the housing,
- wherein the rotation speed of the motor is arbitrarily determinable by the operator by angularly displacing the housing relative to the rotation axis in one of a rotation direction of the output shaft and a direction opposite to the rotation direction of the output shaft, to thereby correspondingly determine a tightening speed of the fastener.
The device according to 3, wherein said one of the rotation direction of the output shaft and the direction opposite to the rotation direction of the output shaft in which the housing is angularly displaced is a direction towards the operator of the device.
The device according to 4, wherein said one of the rotation direction of the output shaft and the direction opposite to the rotation direction of the output shaft in which the housing is angularly displaced is a direction towards the operator of the device.
The device according to 5, wherein said one of the rotation direction of the output shaft and the direction opposite to the rotation direction of the output shaft in which the housing is angularly displaced is a direction towards the operator of the device.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.