US 3,937,036 AGranted

Rotary driving tool having a torque responsive clutch

AssigneeThe Black and Decker Manufacturing Company

InventorWilliam Douglas Sauerwein

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Abstract

A rotary power driven portable hand tool having a simplified torque responsive clutch assembly. The clutch includes a spindle having a radially outwardly extending flange, a clutch carrier rotatable about the flange, the clutch carrier carrying a plurality of clutch balls which are forced into engagement with one face of the flange by a compression spring being held in place by adjustable spring retaining means carried by the spindle. In one embodiment the face of the flange contacted by the balls is provided with a cam surface having a plurality of spaced apart recesses, there being a washer interposed between the balls and the end of the spring adjacent the balls. In a second embodiment a sleeve member is keyed to the spindle and is disposed between the compression spring means and the clutch balls, the sleeve member being reversible and having cam surfaces of different ranges on its opposed faces, one of which faces engages the balls to hold them against the face on the flange formed on the spindle.

Claims13

Dependent claims

In a rotary power driven portable hand tool having drive means and adapted to receive driven output means, the combination therewith of a torque responsive clutch comprising:

a clutch carrier and a rotatable spindle interconnected with said drive means and the driven output means, respectively, said clutch carrier being journalled about said spindle for independent rotational movement;
first radial face means formed integrally on said spindle, second radial face means confronting said first radial face means, one of said face means being provided with a cam surface having spaced apart recess means, and at least said one face means being rotatable with said spindle;
a plurality of clutch elements rotatable with said clutch carrier, said clutch elements being disposed between said confronting face means;
compression spring means disposed about said spindle, one end of the compression spring means being operable to bias one of said face means axially toward the other face means whereby said clutch elements are normally forced into said spaced apart recess means;
and
spring retaining means mounted upon said spindle and operative to engage the other end of a compression spring means to hold said compression spring means in compression;
the parts being so arranged and constructed that when overload torque conditions are encountered by the driven output means the clutch elements will move out of said spaced apart recess means to temporarily interrupt the drive between said first and second members, said clutch elements automatically moving back into said spaced apart recess means to reengage the drive between said first and second members when said overload torque conditions are removed, and the forces exerted by said spring at all times being transmitted to the spindle by the spring retaining means and said first face means being independent of thrust bearing means.

4 more elements

In a rotary power driven portable hand tool adapted to receive driven output means and having drive means mounted within a housing, the combination therewith of a torque responsive clutch comprising:

a rotatable spindle journalled for rotational movement about its axis within the housing and interconnectable to said driven output means, said spindle having a radially outwardly extending flange formed integrally thereon;
a clutch carrier journalled about said spindle for independent rotational movement generally about the axis of the spindle, the clutch carrier being interconnectable to said drive means;
a plurality of clutch balls rotatable with the clutch carrier, the clutch balls being disposed adjacent a radially outwardly extending face on said flange, said face being provided with a cam surface having spaced apart recess means;
a washer disposed about said spindle;
compression spring means disposed about said spindle, one end of the compression spring means being operable to bias one face of said washer into engagement with said clutch balls in a direction towards the cam surface whereby the clutch balls are normally forced into said spaced apart recess means;
and
spring retaining means mounted upon said spindle and operable to engage the other end of the spring means to maintain said compression spring means in compression;
the parts being so arranged and constructed that the compression spring means normally holds the balls in said spaced apart recess means to establish a clutched drive between said clutch carrier and said spindle, the clutch balls being movable out of the spaced apart recess means when overload torque conditions are encountered by the spindle whereby the drive between the clutch carrier and the spindle is temporarily interrupted, the clutch balls automatically moving back into said spaced apart recess means to reengage the drive between the clutch carrier and spindle when said overload torque conditions are removed.

5 more elements

In a rotary power driven portable hand tool having drive means mounted within a housing, the tool also being adapted to receive driven output means, the combination therewith of a torque responsive clutch comprising;

a rotatable spindle journalled for rotational movement about its axis within said housing and interconnectable to said driven output means, said spindle having a radially outwardly extending flange;
a clutch carrier journalled about said spindle for independent rotational movement about the axis of said spindle, said clutch carrier being interconnectable to said drive means;
a plurality of clutch balls rotatable with said clutch carrier, said balls being disposed adjacent a radially outwardly extending face on said flange;
a sleeve member keyed about said spindle for longitudinal shifting of movement about the axis of said spindle and for rotational movement with said spindle, a radially outwardly extending face of said sleeve member being provided with a cam surface having spaced apart recessed means, said last mentioned face being disposed adjacent said clutch balls;
compression spring means disposed about said spindle, one end of the compression spring means being operable to bias said last mentioned face into engagement with said clutch balls in a direction towards the face on the flange whereby said clutch balls are normally forced into said spaced apart recess means;
and
spring retaining means mounted upon said spindle and operable to engage the other end of the compression spring means to hold said compression spring means in compression.

4 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.