U.S. patent number 3,846,900 [Application Number 05/396,841] was granted by the patent office on 1974-11-12 for method of applying retainer rings from interconnected retainer ring supply.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Walter Becker. Invention is credited to David E. Weglage.
United States Patent |
3,846,900 |
Weglage |
November 12, 1974 |
METHOD OF APPLYING RETAINER RINGS FROM INTERCONNECTED RETAINER RING
SUPPLY
Abstract
A retaining ring supply according to which the retaining rings
are arranged one behind the other in the form of a band or strip
while with the exception of the foremost retaining ring, front
portions of each retaining ring are connected to rear portions of
the respective directly preceding retaining ring so as to establish
a firm connection of the retaining rings with each other while
permitting the respective foremost retaining ring to break off from
the next following retaining ring when sharply bent relative to the
latter. The rings are passed through a hand carried holder which is
used to press the foremost ring onto a groove in an object, then
the holder is used to bend the strip at the juncture of the
foremost ring and the next succeeding ring thereby breaking the
strip between the foremost and the directly adjacent ring.
Inventors: |
Weglage; David E. (Dayton,
OH) |
Assignee: |
Becker; Walter (Kettering,
OH)
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Family
ID: |
26926648 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/396,841 |
Filed: |
September 13, 1973 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
Issue Date |
|
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233137 |
Mar 9, 1972 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
29/413; 29/56.5;
29/811.2; 206/390; 29/229; 206/343 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B21D
53/36 (20130101); B23P 19/084 (20130101); B25B
27/20 (20130101); Y10T 29/5363 (20150115); Y10T
29/5176 (20150115); Y10T 29/53487 (20150115); Y10T
29/4979 (20150115) |
Current International
Class: |
B25B
27/14 (20060101); B21D 53/36 (20060101); B25B
27/20 (20060101); B21D 53/00 (20060101); B23P
19/08 (20060101); B23p 017/00 () |
Field of
Search: |
;29/413,526,2H,212R,212D,229,235,2P,225 ;227/136
;206/56AB,59R,56DF,46H |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Lanham; C. W.
Assistant Examiner: DiPalma; Victor A.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Becker; Walter
Parent Case Text
This a continuation of application Ser. No. 233,137, filed Mar. 9,
1972, now abandoned.
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. The method of applying retainer rings, each of which comprises
two resilient legs spaced from each other at its front portion and
adapted to be forced and snapped into a groove in an object by
pressing said legs into said groove initially to spread said legs
apart, said rings being arranged successively in the form of a flat
strip with the legs of each successive ring integrally connected to
the rear portion of the respective directly preceding ring and
having the leg ends of one end ring free, said method comprising
passing said strip through a substantially rigid hand carried
holder, projecting said one end ring from the adjacent end of the
holder with its legs outward of the last mentioned end of the
holder, pressing said legs of said projected ring into said groove
while spreading said last mentioned legs resiliently in the plane
of said projected ring and to embrace said object and to engage a
portion in said groove, and bending said strip at the juncture of
said one end ring with the next succeeding ring by using said
holder as a handle to bend and break said strip between said one
end ring and the directly adjacent ring while said one end ring is
held rigid and clamped-in in said groove.
2. The method of forcing and snapping retainer rings into grooves
of an object each of which retainer rings has two resilient legs
interconnected at their one end portion by an arched section and
spaced from each other at their other end portion by a distance
less than the outer diameter of the groove into which the
respective ring is to be forced, which includes the steps of:
producing the retainer rings in the form of a continuous hardened
flat strip in which the legs of each ring with the exception of one
end ring are respectively integrally connected to two spaced
portions of the arched portion of the respective directly preceding
ring, preparing a rigid sheath-shaped flat and manually operable
holder for receiving and closely but slidably surrounding at least
a considerable length of said flat strip and provided on one of its
wider sides with at least one window permitting manual access to a
strip of retainer rings when received by said holder for advancing
the strip in said holder and projecting said one end ring from said
holder, passing said strip through said holder so that only said
one end ring projects from the adjacent end of said holder with its
legs outward of the adjacent end of said holder, pressing the legs
of said projected ring into the respective groove into which said
projected ring is to be forced while spreading said last mentioned
legs resiliently in the plane of said projected ring to embrace and
engage a portion of said groove and snap into the latter, and
bending said strip at the juncture of said one end ring with the
next succeeding ring by using said holder as a handle to bend and
break said strip between said one end ring and the directly
adjacent ring while said one end ring is held rigid and clamped-in
in said groove.
3. A method according to claim 2, in which said window has a length
longer than the length of a retainer ring.
4. The method as claimed in claim 1 in which said method also
comprises cutting said retaining rings from a strip integrally
joined together, and hardening said strip to increase the
resilience of said rings.
Description
The present invention relates to retaining rings and means for
applying same. Retaining rings have been known for several decades
in various shapes and forms to replace cotter pins and washers, to
act as shoulders so as to prevent gears or wheels from axially
moving on shafts or axles, to prevent rods from axially moving in
bearings, etc., and generally to retain machine components on
shafts, bolts, housings, and in bores. Retaining rings of this type
which are assembled by slipping them into a groove in a shaft, bolt
or the like, usually are punched out from a metal sheet and the
individual retaining rings are then stacked one upon the other
similar to the staples of an office stapler to form a cartridge
while an adhesive covered tape is placed on the cartridge along its
length. When the cartridge is to be used, the cartridge is placed
in a nearly vertical position on a nearly vertical rod of a
dispenser, whereupon the adhesive covered tape is removed from the
cartridge. By means of an applicator having a fork-shaped end, one
retainer ring at a time is withdrawn from the bottom of the
retaining ring cartridge or stack. This type of dispensers and
applicators which has been in common use for decades has various
drawbacks. First of all, it is always necessary following the
punching out of the retainer rings to stack them so as to form a
cartridge. Then the cartridge has to be introduced into a
dispenser, and unless a rather complicated applicator is combined
with the dispenser, a special applicator tool has alternately to be
introduced into the dispenser for picking up a single retaining
ring at a time and has to be moved onto the work piece for
transferring the picked-up retainer ring to the work piece. In
addition to these relatively time-consuming operations,
difficulties occur when the cartridges are kept or applied in a
relatively warm room because in such an instance after the removal
of the adhesive tape, sufficient adhesive is retained by at least
some of the retainers which then stick together whereby a proper
withdrawal of each individual retaining ring, by means of the
applicator tool, is not possible. Even if no adhesive holds the
individual retaining rings in the dispenser together, difficulties
are frequently encountered with the withdrawal of the retaining
rings from the last portion of the stack or cartridge. This is due
to the fact that this last portion of the cartridge or stack is not
under sufficient pressure and that the retaining rings frequently
occupy or adopt an inclined or canting position.
When withdrawing each retaining ring from a cartridge by means of
the common applicator having a fork-shaped head with a depression
of the thickness of a single retaining ring, it is not uncommon
that the respective retaining ring is not properly picked up and
slips out of the head so that the applicator has to be returned to
the cartridge for withdrawing another retainer ring.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a
retaining ring arrangement, which will overcome the above outlined
drawbacks.
It is another object of this invention so to arrange the retaining
rings during their manufacture that it will no longer be necessary
to stack them so as to form cartridges in order to permit their
application to a work piece.
It is still another object of this invention so to produce the
retaining rings that they still hang together and in this condition
can directly be applied to the work piece while only one ring at a
time, namely, the respective one ring which has been last applied
to the work piece is separated from the retaining ring supply.
It is also an object of the invention to provide a device for
manually holding a portion of the retaining ring supply and for
advancing a portion of said supply so as to apply one retaining
ring at a time to the work piece.
These and other objects and advantages of the invention will appear
more clearly from the following specification in connection with
the accompanying drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 shows a top view of a retaining ring supply according to the
present invention.
FIG. 2 illustrates on a somewhat smaller scale than FIG. 1, partly
in section, and partly in view, a casing with a retainer ring
supply according to the invention, and also shows the mode of
applying a retaining ring to a work piece.
FIG. 3 is a top view of the left-hand portion of FIG. 2.
FIG. 4 is an isometric view of a combined retaining ring casing and
feeder with the housing lid shown as having been taken off.
FIG. 5 illustrates the possibility of using the device according to
the present invention within extremely narrow spaces.
FIG. 6 shows a modified combined retaining ring casing and feeder
according to the invention.
FIG. 7 diagrammatically illustrates a method of making the
retaining ring supply in the form called for according to the
present invention.
FIG. 8 shows an isometric view of a sheath or feeder for the
retaining ring supply according to the present invention.
The retaining ring supply according to the present invention is
characterized primarily in that the retaining rings are arranged
one behind the other in the form of a band while with the exception
of the respective foremost retaining ring, front portions of each
retaining ring are connected to rear portions of the respective
directly preceding retaining ring so as to establish a firm
connection of the retaining rings with each other while permitting
the respective foremost retaining ring to break off from the next
following retaining ring when sharply bent relative to the
latter.
Referring now to the drawings in detail, FIG. 1 shows a supply or
band 1 of retaining rings 2 which may be of any standard type. The
retaining rings specifically shown in the drawing merely by way of
example are so-called E-rings. As will be seen from FIG. 1, each
two retaining rings are connected to each other along small
sections 3 so that the retaining rings form with each other a strip
or band 1. This strip or band may form a coil 4 as particularly
clearly shown in FIG. 4, or may be a substantially straight strip
or band 5 as shown in FIG. 8. When the strip or band 1 is in the
form of a coil 4, it may be placed into a housing 6 which has a
flat neck 7 as shown in FIGS. 2 and 4. This neck 7 which is in the
form of a flattened tube or sheath has a threefold function
inasmuch as it serves as handle by which the operator holds the
housing 6 and thus the supply of retaining rings. Furthermore, the
flattened tube forms a passage 8 which slidably accommodates the
respective free end portion 9 of the coil 4. The neck or flattened
tube 7 is provided with windows 10 which may be provided at one
side only of neck 7 as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 or may also be
provided at both sides of neck 7 as shown in FIG. 8. The windows 10
are of sufficient size to permit the thumb of the operator's hand
holding neck 7 to reach through the respective adjacent window and
contact the respective strip or band portion in neck 7 and
selectively to advance this strip or band portion by one retaining
ring. Thus, assuming that a plurality of pins 11 (one only being
shown in FIG. 2) is to be provided with one retaining ring 2 each
which to this end is to be inserted into a groove 12 on pin 11, the
operator by means of his thumb 13 through the adjacent window 10
engages strip or band 1 and advances the same so that, as shown in
FIGS. 2 and 3 a retaining ring protrudes from neck or sheath 7. The
operator then presses the protruding retaining ring 2 into groove
12 into which said last mentioned ring snaps, particularly when the
ring is provided with the commonly known inclined ring surfaces 14
forming with each other an angle .alpha., e.g., of 45.degree.. When
neck 7 is now, with regard to FIG. 3, tilted out of the drawing
plane about an axis extending through pin 11 and at about a right
angle with regard to the longitudinal extension of neck 7, the
retaining ring straddling pin 11 will break or detach itself from
the next following retaining ring along the areas 3. The operator
then takes neck 7 to the next pin 11 (not shown) to repeat the
operation described above in connection with FIGS. 2 and 3.
From the above, it will be evident that the present invention not
only totally eliminates the heretofore necessary stacking of the
individual retaining rings, but also eliminates the use of an
applicator for transferring each individual retaining ring from the
supply of retaining rings to the work piece, and consequently also
eliminates the difficulties occurring when with heretofore known
arrangements retaining rings stick together or assume an inclined
position. Also, the possibility that retaining rings accidentally
drop off an applicator during the intended transfer from the
retaining ring supply to the work piece, is totally eliminated.
Another outstanding advantage of the retaining ring supply
according to the invention consists in the fact that it permits the
insertion of the retaining rings into otherwise almost inaccessible
places, as long as the available space is as wide as the rather
narrow overall thickness of neck or guide section 7.
The placing of a retaining ring strip or band, or coil into housing
6 is likewise extremely simple. It is merely necessary to place the
coil onto stud 15 with the free end of the coil laid into neck 7 so
as to be engageable through window 10, and then to place lid 15a by
means of bore 15b on stud 15 finally placing the wing nut 15c onto
stud 15. If desired, but not necessarily, the lid 15a may have a
tongue or extension 7a with a hook 15d or any other suitable
connecting element to be locked to the front end 7b of neck 7 which
front end forms a slot just big enough to let the retaining ring
strip or band slide therethrough.
While according to FIG. 2, neck 7 is being held so that its widest
surfaces are located in planes substantially perpendicular to the
axis of pin 11, the casing 6 with neck 7 may as easily be held at a
90.degree. angle thereto as indicated in FIG. 5.
FIG. 6 shows a housing similar to that of FIGS. 2 and 3, but with a
modified neck contour.
More specifically, the housing section 6' for receiving the
retaining ring section has connected thereto a neck with a straight
section 7c and an adjacent curved section 7d. Also in this instance
the neck section 7c is provided with windows 10 of the type shown
more clearly in FIGS. 3 and 4. The casing design of FIG. 6 makes it
possible to guide the retaining rings to be inserted around a curve
and thus allows the insertion of retaining rings into assembled
work pieces at locations which are particularly difficult to reach.
Such operations cannot be carried out at all with heretofore known
applicators.
The manufacture of a retaining ring band or coil 4 is rather simple
and is illustrated diagrammatically and by way of example only in
FIG. 7. FIG. 7 shows a first stand 16 comprising a removable shaft
17 normally held in its position by retaining rings of any standard
type e.g., the type shown in FIG. 1, or by any other convenient
means. Rotatably placed on shaft 17 is a reel 18, e.g., of the
general type used in connection with film spools, which reel
carries a steel band in the form of a coil 19 from which the
retaining ring supply, e.g., that of FIG. 1 is to be made.
Stand 16 has associated therewith a spring lever or brake member
17a which always engages the respective outer coil winding so as to
brake coil 19. The respective steel band section wound off the coil
19 is stepwise fed between the platen 20 with punch (not shown)
thereon and a die 21. After each punching operation, the press P
opens briefly, and the respective punched out retaining ring
section 22 is pulled out of the press P in the direction of the
arrow A while previously punched out retaining ring sections are
wound upon a reel 24 similar to reel 18. Reel 24 can be temporarily
coupled to a shaft 25 which is supported by a stand 26 and is
drivingly connected in a manner known per se to a Graham
differential 27 or any other device which will assure that always
the same length of steel band is pulled into and out of the press P
and wound onto reel 24. Stand 26 is preferably movable and
arrestable on rails 28, 29 to thereby permit adjustment of stand 24
relative to press P. The differential 27 is drivingly connected to
a motor M which may also drive press P. After a coil 4 of desired
diameter has been wound upon reel 24, the latter is removed from
stand 26 after reel 24 which was previously coupled to shaft 25 has
been disengaged therefrom.
The arrangement is so designed and the diameter of the steel band
coil is, as to its original diameter, so selected that when coil 4
on stand 26 is completed, reel 18 will be empty, so that at the
same time at which coil 4 with reel 24 is removed from stand 26, a
new band coil 19 with reel 18 is placed on stand 16.
While the method of making a retaining ring coil has been described
with one steel band only passing through the press P at a time, it
will be evident that the arrangement of FIG. 7 can be multiplied if
desired so that simultaneously a plurality of retaining ring coils
or supply units can be made.
After the respective unit or units of retainer rings has or have
been made, the retaining rings in band or in coil form are
partially heat treated, e.g., case hardened, in any standard manner
as it is practiced, for example, in connection with spring
steel.
While according to FIGS. 1 to 4, and 6 the sheath or neck 7 forms a
part of housing 6, 6', it is also possible to have the sheath or
neck for guiding and feeding the retaining rings designed as a
separate element as shown in FIG. 8. In such an instance, the coil
of retaining rings is rotatably supported by a stationary or
movable stand similar to the stand on the left-hand side of FIG. 7
and described above. The operator then periodically withdraws by
hand sections from the coil in the stand and guides and feeds
portions of the withdrawn sections through the straight sheath 30
in the same manner as described above in connection with neck 7.
Also, instead of a coil of retaining rings, long straight strips of
retaining rings may be used in connection with the present
invention while using, for instance, the sheath 30 of FIG. 8. It
will be noted from FIG. 8 that sheath 30 has also windows 10a at
the bottom side of sheath 30. In this way, if the location of
windows 10a is more convenient for the particular job involved, the
operator merely has to turn the sheath 30 so that the bottom side
forms the top side.
It is, of course, to be understood that the present invention is,
by no means, limited to the specific showing in the drawings, but
also comprises any modifications within the scope of the appended
claims. It should also be noted that the present invention is not
limited to retaining rings of steel, but is also applicable to
retaining rings of plastic material or similar materials.
It is also to be understood that the present invention is not
limited to the particular E retaining rings shown in the drawings
merely by way of example, but also applies to other retaining rings
of the general retaining ring type involved, e.g., C retainer
rings.
* * * * *