Monitoring and control of fluid driven tools

A method for monitoring a fluid driven tool for driving threaded fasteners comprising the steps of:

• measuring the fluid flow rate into the tool during operation of the tool;
• converting the measured fluid flow rate into an electrical signal representative of the magnitude of said fluid flow rate;
• electrically computationally processing said signal to transform said signal into another signal representing at least one parameter corresponding to a condition of said tool which is a function of said fluid flow rate wherein said processing includes mathematical processing by a suitably programmed microprocessor;
• identifying a portion of the signal representative of fluid flow rate corresponding to the initial fluid flow rate during rundown of the fastener, prior to reaching a snug point;
• and
• displaying said parameter.

A system for monitoring a fluid driven tool for driving threaded fasteners comprising:

• means for measuring fluid flow rate into the tool during operation of the tool;
• means for converting said measured fluid flow rate into an electrical signal representative of the magnitude of said fluid flow rate;
• means for electrically computationally processing said signal to transform said signal into another signal representing at least one parameter corresponding to a condition of said tool which is a function of said fluid flow rate;
• means for displaying said parameter;
• means for recording said at least one parameter for a series of tightenings during normal conditions;
• means for statistically processing said at least one parameter to compute appropriate limits for said normal conditions for said at least one parameter;
• means for storing said limits;
• means for statistically processing said parameter computed during subsequent tightenings to identify trends or deviations from said normal conditions and
• means for notifying an operator of such trends or deviations.

A method for monitoring a fluid driven tool for driving threaded fasteners comprising the steps of:

• measuring the fluid flow rate into the tool during operation of the tool;
• converting the measured fluid flow rate into an electrical signal representative of the magnitude of said fluid flow rate;
• electrically computationally processing said signal to transform said signal into another signal representing at least one parameter corresponding to a condition of said tool which is a function of said fluid flow rate;
• displaying said parameter;
• recording said at least one parameter for a series of tightenings during normal conditions;
• statistically processing said at least one parameter to compute appropriate limits for said normal conditions for said at least one parameter;
• storing said limits into storage means;
• statistically processing said parameter computed during subsequent tightenings to identify trends or deviations from said normal conditions;
• and
• notifying an operator of such trends or deviations.