Tooling and procedure for throttle plate assembly
AssigneeFord Motor Company
InventorKenneth E. Darr
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A tooling and procedure for installing a plurality of throttle plates onto a single throttle shaft all at the same time, using arbors/plungers secured to a tool holder, each of the arbors having a lower face surface with a suction provision for retaining a throttle plate against it for transport into one of several bores in a throttle body while allowing the throttle plates to be aligned with and attached to a flat on the throttle shaft. Limited lateral movement between the arbors/plungers provides for independent centering of each arbor/plunger relative to its bore, allowing simultaneous installation of a number of throttle plates.
Claims6
Tooling for independently locating and centering each of a plurality of throttle plates all at the same time to a single throttle shaft mounted within an engine intake manifold, comprising, a throttle body having a plurality of laterally spaced induction passages of a common bore open at their upper ends, a throttle shaft passing laterally through all of the induction passages, the shaft having a plurality of laterally spaced flat surfaces facing the open end of the passages each separately aligned with and centered with respect to one of the passages for the reception thereagainst of a throttle plate, and tooling means for simultaneously locating and centering a plurality of the plates all at the same time to the throttle valve flats through each of the open ends of the passages for assembly of the plates to the flats, the tooling means including a tool holder having a plurality of laterally spaced plungers depending therefrom, the plungers being T-shaped in cross-section with a flange seating surface at its upper end and a flat throttle plate holding face at its opposite end, the latter face having a suction aperture therein adapted to be selectively connected to or disconnected from a vacuum supply, the face having a plurality of peripherally located and spaced bosses projecting therefrom, a plurality of flat throttle plates having peripheral notches in the edges thereof corresponding in number to and adapted to be aligned with the bosses on the plunger face for contiguous engagement of a separate plate to each one of the faces upon application of suction to the plates, the plungers having an outside diameter fractionally smaller than the guide bores with only sufficient clearance therebetween to permit a vertical slidable movement of the plungers without lateral movement thereof for slidably centering the plunger and plate with respect to each bore, and fractionally larger than the diameter of the throttle valve plates to provide a fractional clearance between the plate and bore, the upper flange of the plungers seating against the upper face of the throttle body to vertically locate the plates on the flats of the throttle valve shaft for subsequent attachment thereto.
Tooling for independently locating and centering each of a plurality of throttle plates all at the same time to a single throttle shaft mounted within an engine intake manifold, comprising, a manifold having a number of separate laterally spaced open ended throttle bores, a throttle shaft extending laterally through all of the bores and having a flat surface aligned with each of the bores for reception of a throttle plate thereagainst, the tooling including a tool holder having a number of laterally spaced plungers depending therefrom spaced laterally a distance essentially the same as that of the bores, the bores constituting a guide bore of only slightly larger diameter than the plunger for centering the tool plungers therewithin, each plunger having a flat surface and a suction port at its lower end for retaining a flat throttle plate thereagainst upon application of vacuum to a throttle plate, a flange on the upper end of each plunger adapted to seat against the manifold upon insertion of the plunger into the guide bore to axially/vertically locate each throttle plate against a throttle shaft flat.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.