Fast change top jaw system

A chuck construction, comprising:

• an annular housing rotatable about its axis, said housing having a central bore and a plurality of slots which open radially outwardly from said central bore through an outer annular peripheral surface of the housing, said slots also opening axially through a front axial face of the housing, said slots being angularly spaced apart around said housing;
• a jaw carrier assembly confined within and slidably supported for radial displacement along a respective one of said slots, said jaw carrier assembly including a main jaw carrier which is radially slidably supported within the respective slot, said main jaw carrier having a front portion thereof which projects axially forwardly beyond the front face of the housing, said main jaw carrier having an actuator portion formed on the radially inner end thereof;
• an actuator assembly axially slidably supported within the bore of said housing and interconnected to the actuator portion of said main jaw carrier for causing radial displacement of the jaw carrier in response to axial displacement of the actuator assembly;
• said jaw carrier assembly including an auxiliary jaw carrier supported on said main jaw carrier for slidable displacement radially of said slot with respect to said main jaw carrier, said auxiliary jaw carrier having a front portion which projects axially outwardly beyond the front face of said housing;
• means for engaging a top jaw including a first jaw-engaging wedge provided on the front portion of said auxiliary jaw carrier for engagement with a top jaw, and a second jaw-engaging wedge provided on the front portion of said main jaw carrier for locking engagement with a top jaw, said first and second jaw-engaging wedges being disposed in substantially parallel and radially spaced relationship from one another so that the jaw-engaging wedges are elongated in directions which extend substantially perpendicular to the radial direction of said slot.

In a chuck construction having a housing rotatable about an axis, and a plurality of jaw carrier assemblies movably mounted on the housing for movement radially thereof, each jaw carrier assembly being adapted to have a top jaw mounted thereon adjacent the front face of the housing, the improvement comprising:

• means associated with each said jaw carrier assembly for permitting secure mounting and quick changing of the top jaw, said means including a main jaw carrier slidably mounted on said housing for movement relative thereto in a first direction which includes a radial component of movement, said main jaw carrier having a first guide structure for engagement with the top jaw, an auxiliary jaw carrier slidably supported relative to said housing and relative to said main jaw carrier for slidable movement along a second direction which is substantially parallel to said first direction, said auxiliary jaw carrier being movable between top jaw holding and release positions which are radially spaced apart along said second direction, said auxiliary jaw carrier having a second guide structure for engagement with the top jaw, said first and second guide structures being disposed in radially spaced relationship and being disposed at least partially in radially opposite directions for effecting radial holding of the top jaw therebetween, spring means for normally biasing the auxiliary jaw carrier radially toward said holding position, and locking means movably mounted on one of the jaw carriers of said jaw carrier assembly and lockingly engageable with the other jaw carrier of the same jaw carrier assembly when the auxiliary jaw carrier is in said holding position to prevent movement of said auxiliary jaw carrier away from said holding position.