U.S. patent number 3,650,522 [Application Number 04/881,205] was granted by the patent office on 1972-03-21 for mechanical clamping device, in particular machine vice.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Gressel AG. Invention is credited to Heinz Wagner, Charles Wermuth.
United States Patent |
3,650,522 |
Wermuth , et al. |
March 21, 1972 |
MECHANICAL CLAMPING DEVICE, IN PARTICULAR MACHINE VICE
Abstract
A clamp member for a vice or the like. A hollow spindle is
threaded into a stationary block and carries a slide member thereon
and a drive rod therein. A limited-torque clutch connects a drive
rod to said hollow spindle and solid connecting means connects said
manual drive means to said drive rod. Upon rotation of the handle,
force is transmitted through the limited-torque clutch to rotate
the hollow spindle with respect to the stationary block for
advancement of same and simultaneous advancement of the slide until
the work-engaging plate initially contacts the workpiece.
Thereafter, the clutch slips and force is then applied through the
drive rod to force multiplication means and applied to the
work-engaging plate for imposing clamping force thereon. The drive
rod is only torsionally stressed for most of its length and hence
is not subjected to bending forces. It is compressively stressed
only for a short distance at the end adjacent the force
multiplication means and can at this point be readily and
adequately guided.
Inventors: |
Wermuth; Charles (Wangi,
CH), Wagner; Heinz (Aadorf, CH) |
Assignee: |
Gressel AG (Kempten/Allgau
Spatzenweg, DT)
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Family
ID: |
5715039 |
Appl.
No.: |
04/881,205 |
Filed: |
December 1, 1969 |
Foreign Application Priority Data
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Dec 3, 1968 [DT] |
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P 18 12 325.6 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
269/228; 269/221;
269/244; 269/285; 269/224; 269/245 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B25B
1/125 (20130101); B25B 1/106 (20130101); B25B
1/103 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
B25B
1/00 (20060101); B25B 1/12 (20060101); B25B
1/10 (20060101); B25b 001/14 () |
Field of
Search: |
;269/221,222,223,228,246 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
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3400924 |
September 1968 |
Arnold et al. |
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Primary Examiner: Lawson; William S.
Claims
The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or
privilege is claimed are defined as follows:
1. A mechanical clamping device having a hollow spindle rotatably
supported in a slide member, said hollow spindle being threadably
engageable in a stationary bearing block and drivable by means of a
hand crank through a drive shaft and torque coupling, an abutment
arranged in said slide member having the front end of said hollow
spindle mounted on one side and a pair of toggle levers mounted on
the other side, pressure rod means supported for longitudinal
movement in said hollow spindle and acting onto said pair of toggle
levers by means of a pressure pad, said pressure rod means being
movable longitudinally of said hollow spindle only after a
disengagement of said torque coupling upon further rotation of the
hand crank to thereby press apart said pair of toggle levers,
wherein the improvement comprises said pressure rod means and said
drive shaft being made of one piece to define a pressure spindle
extending lengthwise of said slide member, said pressure spindle
having thread means adjacent said pressure pad, said thread means
being threadably coupled to said hollow spindle adjacent the front
end thereof.
2. Clamping device according to claim 1, wherein said torque
coupling comprises a first clutch sleeve, which is longitudinally
movable on said pressure spindle and secured against a relative
rotation, has a clutch flange thereon which is in axial engagement
with a second clutch sleeve connected to the rear end of said
hollow spindle, and a coil spring arranged on said pressure
spindle, said coil spring being supported at one end on said first
clutch sleeve and at the other end on said pressure spindle.
3. Clamping device according to claim 2, wherein several radial
openings are provided in said hollow spindle and one radial opening
is provided in said second clutch sleeve, a releasable clutch pin
insertable in a selected one of said openings in said hollow
spindle and said opening in said second clutch sleeve for selecting
the rotating position of said second clutch sleeve relative to said
hollow spindle.
4. Clamping device according to claim 3, including a cap sleeve
mounted on one end of said hollow spindle, said cap sleeve having a
radial opening therein for receiving the head of said clutch
pin.
5. Clamping device according to claim 1, including a brake ring
axially movably mounted on the rear end of said hollow spindle and
having an outer cone surface thereon, a coil spring arranged on
said hollow spindle and urging said brake ring toward the rear of
said hollow spindle, an inner cone surface on said slide member
cooperable with said outer cone surface of said brake ring, and
means defining a collar on the rear end of said hollow spindle,
said collar, upon a forward rotation of said hollow spindle, moving
said brake ring and releasing same therewith.
6. Clamping device according to claim 1, including a stop ring on
the front end of said hollow spindle, said stop ring being held by
a snap ring and projecting radially outwardly beyond the periphery
of said hollow spindle.
7. Clamping device according to claim 1, wherein the front end of
said pressure spindle enters a recess in said pressure pad and
wherein a steel ball is mounted in the front end of said hollow
spindle, said steel ball engaging the bottom surface of said recess
in said pressure pad.
8. Clamping device according to claim 1, wherein a double thread is
provided for threadably coupling both the hollow spindle to the
bearing block and also the pressure spindle to the hollow spindle.
Description
The invention relates to a mechanical clamping device, in
particular a machine vice, with a high-speed hollow spindle
threadably engageable in a stationary bearing block, drivable by
means of a hand crank through a drive shaft and a torque coupling
and rotatably supported in the slide member, an abutment arranged
in the slide member on which on one side is supported the front end
of the hollow spindle and on the other side is supported the pair
of toggle levers, and with a pressure rod arranged longitudinally
movably in the hollow spindle acting through a pressure pad onto
the pair of toggle levers, said pressure rod being moved in the
hollow spindle after disengagement of the torque clutch upon
further rotation of the hand crank to press apart the pair of
toggle levers.
In one presently known vice of this construction, the drive shaft
is constructed as a drive spindle supported on the pressure rod
with a ball and ball bearing, which drive spindle is threadably
engageable with a clutch sleeve fixedly connected to the end of the
hollow spindle. A clutch disk is supported on this drive spindle,
which clutch disk is axially movable, biased with cup springs and
is in axial engagement with the clutch sleeve of the hollow
spindle. This vice is relatively expensive to manufacture because
of the many required drive parts and furthermore is susceptible to
trouble. The path of force transmission is unfavorable since in the
case of high-pressure clamping both the action and reaction forces
are transmitted through a number of parts connected in series,
which parts are thus all stressed by the high pressure. Since the
diameter of the hollow spindle is limited, the highly stressed
force transmitting parts arranged inside the spindle cannot always
be constructed with adequate strength and hence there often exists
a considerable danger of overloading or breakage. In order to avoid
this, an additional safety clutch has to be connected into the
drive.
In the case of high-pressure clamping (involving several tons
clamping force) this high clamping force is transmitted as pressure
force onto the entire length of the pressure rod, the drive spindle
and a great length of the hollow spindle (here traction (pulling
force)) to the stationary bearing block of the vice. Through this
the pressure rod is not only stressed for bending and an
undesirable bending is effected but this pressure rod, drive
spindle and hollow spindle are compressed or extended by the high
forces so that during high-pressure clamping a relatively soft
impact occurs which is not clearly feelable for the operator
rotating the hand crank. Since during operation of a vice the
operator as a rule is used to a hard impact, very often in such
prior devices by further rotating the drive crank, the drive is
overloaded or damaged. Also in the known vice, it is possible that
improper operations occur due to a premature disengagement of the
torque clutch before the workpiece has been preclamped or, also by
not engaging of said clutch during opening of the vice. These
erroneous operations are, among other things, due to the fact that
the cup springs, which are hard and act onto the clutch disk,
effect a strong increase of the pressure force during disengagement
of the clutch so that through this a strong friction force is
applied to clutch parts after disengagement, which friction force
upon release of the vice prevents the reengagement of the
clutch.
The basic purpose of the present invention is to produce, by
avoiding the above-mentioned disadvantages, a mechanical clamping
device, in particular a vice, the drive of which is considerably
simpler in construction, but more sturdy and safe in functioning
and with which further a more favorable force course is achieved
than with presently known devices.
To attain this purpose, a mechanical clamping device, in particular
a vice of the type mentioned above, is provided in which according
to the invention the pressure rod and the drive shaft consist of
one single through pressure spindle which has threads only in a
zone close to the pressure pad and is by this thread threadedly
engageable in the front end of the hollow spindle. This new drive
requires only relatively few parts which can be manufactured at a
low cost. It also has a very advantageous path of force
transmission since the pressure spindle acting as a pressure rod is
no longer stressed for bending and in the new construction both the
action and also the reaction force is transmitted over the quickest
path from the front end of the pressure spindle to the front end of
the hollow spindle and from same to the stationary bearing block of
the vice. This new construction further makes possible a new
advantageous construction of the torque clutch which assures a safe
functioning of said torque clutch.
The invention will be described hereinafter in connection with one
exemplary embodiment illustrated in the drawing, in which:
FIG. 1 is a horizontal cross-sectional view of the slide member of
a machine vice;
FIG. 2 is a vertical cross-sectional view of said slide member;
FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view along the line III--III of FIG.
1.
The frame of a machine vice is identified at 1 in the drawings. The
vice has a stationary bearing block 3 for threadedly supporting a
hollow spindle 2. To change the clamping width, this bearing block
can be arranged longitudinally movably in the frame 1, for example,
by means of pins 4 which are insertable in corresponding transverse
bores 5 of the frame 1. The hollow spindle has an external thread 6
and the bearing block a corresponding internal thread 7 for a
threaded engagement therebetween.
A pair of toggle levers 8, which can consist of rollers 9, 10 and
of levers 11 supported on said rollers, is provided in the slide
member 13 which supports a clamping jaw 14. A pressure pad 12 is
mounted on said pair of toggle levers 8, or on the center roller
10, which pressure pad when moved in direction A, will press apart
the pair of toggle levers and thus effect the high-pressure
clamping. An abutment 15 is also provided in the slide member. The
pair of toggle levers with the rollers 9 are mounted on one side of
the abutment 15 and the front end 2A of the hollow spindle 2 is
mounted on the other side of the abutment 15 as at 16. Suitable
means are provided to press by spring force the pair of toggle
levers inwardly during the release of the vice, namely the pulling
back of the pressure pad 12. Said means can consist of bolts 17
movable arranged in the abutment 15, said bolts being loaded by
springs 18 and supported on pins 19 arranged in the slide
member.
As can be understood from the drawing, instead of the pressure rod
and drive crank used up to now, there is here provided a single
pressure spindle 20 which has a thread 21 occupying only a zone
close to the pressure pad and can threadably engage with said
thread the front hollow spindle end 2a. The rear end of sad
pressure spindle 20 has a polygonal projection 22 which is used to
receive a hand crank 23. A cylindrical clutch sleeve 25 is arranged
longitudinally movably and secured against rotation by means of a
wedge 24 or the like on the pressure spindle. The clutch sleeve has
a clutch flange 26 which at 27 axially engages a clutch sleeve 28
by means of suitable clutch teeth or recesses. The clutch sleeve 28
is connected to the rear end 2b of the hollow spindle. The movable
clutch sleeve 25 is advantageously of a length which is greater
than the diameter of the sleeve which provides an effective guiding
of said clutch sleeve on the pressure spindle 20 so that a canting
of same is impossible and accordingly an exact shifting of the
clutch is effected. This accurate functioning of the clutch is also
assured by the arrangement of a relatively long coil spring 29
which is arranged on the pressure spindle 20 and is supported at
one end on the movable sleeve 25 at 30 and at the other end on the
pressure spindle at 31. For this purpose a snap ring 33 can be
provided in various annular grooves 32. In this pressure spring 29,
which is considerably softer in comparison to cup springs, there
occurs practically no increase of the pressure force during
disengagement of the clutch sleeve 25, 26 so that during
disengagement of the clutch sleeve the friction force between the
two clutch sleeves 25 and 28 is relatively low. This permits during
the release of the vice, namely the turning back of the pressure
spindle 20, a safe reengagement of the clutch so that inaccurate
shiftings are avoided. Furthermore, a double thread 6, 7 or 21 is
provided advantageously for a threaded engagement of both the
hollow spindle 2 into the bearing block 3 and also the pressure
spindle 20 into the hollow spindle. The double thread 21 has the
advantage that the depth of engagement T (and therewith the height
of the clutch teeth or engaging depths) of the torque clutch 25, 28
can be enlarged to twice the size in comparison to a single thread.
This reduces the wear and a longer life is obtained. The double
thread 6, 7 is advantageous for the hollow spindle 2 in view of a
thin wall thickness because this thread requires only a small
thread depth.
For changing the rotary position of the clutch sleeve 28 opposite
the hollow spindle 2, 2b, several radial openings 34 are provided
in said hollow spindle, one radial opening 35 and a releasable
clutch pin 36 insertable in said openings are provided n the clutch
sleeve 28. This assures in a simple manner the maintaining of the
angle slide path (approximately 135.degree.) of the torque clutch
during installation by choosing the suitable opening 34. The
illustrated advantageous embodiment provides a clutch or cap sleeve
37 which grips over the end 2b of the hollow spindle and has a
radial opening 38 for receiving the head 39 of the clutch pin 36.
This sleeve 37 is milled at the periphery and can be used as a hand
grip in place of the crank 23.
A brake is provided in order to avoid an improper shifting (for
example, in clamps with a loose vice head portion, workpieces with
a strong burr, etc.). For this purpose, brake ring 40 with an outer
cone 41 is provided axially movably on the rear end 2b of the
hollow spindle. Said outer cone 41 cooperates with an inner cone 42
provided in the slide member. The brake ring 40 is biased by a coil
spring 43 arranged on the spindle and said coil spring presses the
brake ring toward the end of the spindle into the cone 41.
Furthermore, a collar 44 is arranged on the end of the hollow
spindle. The collar 44 moves the brake ring 40 in direction A
during forward screwing of the hollow spindle 2 and thus releases
the brake. This brake is thus only effective during opening of the
vice, however, is released by the collar 44 during closing of the
vice so that therewith the entire coupling torque of the clutch 25,
28 can be used for preclamping the workpiece.
A very effective diameter of the brake ring 40 is provided in the
above-described brake so that a stronger effective brake moment is
obtained. Since the brake cone 42 of the slide member is positioned
at the end of same, the operation of this brake cone is thus also
simplified.
In the illustrated advantageous embodiment, the front end 20a of
the pressure spindle is received into an opening 45 of the pressure
pad 12 and a steel ball 46 is supported in the spindle end with
which steel ball the spindle end is supported on the pressure
pad.
The above-described machine vice operates as follows:
During rotation of the pressure spindle 20 by means of the hand
crank 23, the hollow spindle 2 threadably engages the bearing block
3 through the engaged torque clutch 25, 28 and the slide member is
thus moved in direction A until the jaw 14 engages the workpiece.
Since the slide member 13 and the hollow spindle 2 now stop, the
torque clutch 25, 28 disengages during further rotation of the
pressure spindle 20. The pressure spindle then threadably engages
the thread 21 in the hollow spindle 2 so that the spindle is moved
in direction A and the pressure pad 12 presses apart the pair of
toggle levers 8. The slide member is thus moved a small distance
into direction A and the workpiece is clamped with a great force.
It can be seen that in producing this high pressure upon rotating
the pressure spindle 20 by the hand crank 23, said pressure spindle
is stressed for almost its entire length only for rotation, not
however, for bending since the spindle is supported with the thread
21 at the front end 2a of the hollow spindle and accordingly the
spindle is stressed for pressure only in the zone of the thread 21
and of the spindle end 20a. Since, on the other hand, the hollow
spindle 2 with the thread 6, 7 is supported on the stationary
bearing block 3, these clamping forces are thus transmitted through
strong structural parts in the most direct manner possible whereby
practically no compression or expansion of these structural parts
can take place when finally upon further rotation of the pressure
spindle 20 the pressure pad 12 abuts the stop face 47 whereby a
second stop face 49 can also be adjusted by rotating the stop 48.
In view of the above-mentioned short force transmission through
strong parts, an engagement which is clearly noticeable to the
workman is obtained between the pressure pad 12 and the stop face
47 or 49. The function of the above-described machine vice is
furthermore made visible to the operator in that upon closing of
the vice, namely biasing, the clutch sleeve 37 rotates with the
pressure spindle 20, however, stops during clamping of the
workpiece with high pressure. The same process only in reversed
order is also indicated optically to the operator during releasing
of the vice.
A positive limitation of the backward movement of the hollow
spindle 2 is provided also during the release of the vice. A stop
ring 51 is arranged for this purpose on the front end 2a of the
hollow spindle, said stop ring 51 being held by a snap ring 50 and
projecting over the periphery of the hollow spindle. The stop ring
51 has an axially projecting nose 52 with a radial stop face which
abuts a corresponding radial stop face of the bearing block 3.
Thus, without any danger of clamping, a strong easily releasable
abutment is obtained.
Aside from the above-described simple, strong and operatively safe
construction, the new clamping device also has the advantage of
being compact in construction inasmuch as the length of the hollow
spindle has been shortened due to the deletion of the safety
clutch, but in spite of this, as can be seen in the drawings, a
very great path for the slide member is obtained with said hollow
spindle.
* * * * *