U.S. patent number 3,768,298 [Application Number 05/199,576] was granted by the patent office on 1973-10-30 for swaging apparatus.
This patent grant is currently assigned to BTR Industries Limited. Invention is credited to Michael William Olive-Jones, Douglas Raymond Randall.
United States Patent |
3,768,298 |
Olive-Jones , et
al. |
October 30, 1973 |
SWAGING APPARATUS
Abstract
Swaging apparatus which includes a swaging member having a
plurality of radially disposed swaging fingers with resilient means
located between adajacent fingers, and compresssion means to force
the fingers radially inwardly so that the inner ends of the fingers
may swage a workpiece located therebetween. The resilient means may
comprise elastomeric blocks each bonded between adjacent fingers.
The outer surface of each finger may have two portions tapered in
opposite senses, and the swaging member may be located between two
plates each having an aperture tapered in the same sense as the
respective adjacent tapered portion, so that the fingers are
compressed radially inwardly as the plates are moved towards one
another.
Inventors: |
Olive-Jones; Michael William
(Maidenhead, EN), Randall; Douglas Raymond (London,
EN) |
Assignee: |
BTR Industries Limited (London,
EN)
|
Family
ID: |
10473009 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/199,576 |
Filed: |
November 17, 1971 |
Foreign Application Priority Data
|
|
|
|
|
Nov 19, 1970 [GB] |
|
|
55,117/70 |
|
Current U.S.
Class: |
72/402; 29/237;
72/468; 72/466.8 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B21D
19/08 (20130101); B21D 39/046 (20130101); Y10T
29/5367 (20150115) |
Current International
Class: |
B21D
19/08 (20060101); B21D 39/04 (20060101); B21d
039/00 () |
Field of
Search: |
;72/402,468,415,465
;29/237,282,517 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Herbst; Richard J.
Assistant Examiner: Keenan; M. J.
Claims
We claim:
1. Swaging apparatus comprising a frame, compression means
comprising two plates each having a conical aperture formed
therein, the plates being mounted on the frame with the apertures
co-axial and tapering outwardly towards one another and mounted for
relative axial sliding movement, a swaging member comprising a
plurality of radially disposed swaging fingers the inner ends of
which define a space for receiving a workpiece to be swaged and a
plurality of blocks of elastomeric material each block being bonded
between adjacent swaging fingers to urge the fingers radially
outwardly, the swaging member being located between the apertures
in the two plates and the other surface of each swaging finger
having two tapered portions adjacent the two apertures
respectively, the tapered portions being tapered in the same sense
as the respective adjacent aperture, and means to effect relative
sliding movement of the two plates whereby as the plates are moved
towards one another the swaging fingers are forced radially
inwardly against the action of the elastomeric material so that the
inner ends of the swaging fingers may effect swaging of the
workpiece within said space.
2. Swaging apparatus comprising a support structure, a
frusto-conical aperture formed in said structure, a single swaging
member comprising a plurality of radially disposed swaging fingers
the inner ends of which define a space for receiving a workpiece to
be swaged, a plurality of blocks of resilient material equal in
number to said plurality of swaging fingers, one of said blocks
being situated between and bonded to each pair of adjacent fingers
to interconnect the fingers and to urge the fingers radially
outwardly, one end of the member being engageable in said aperture
in the support structure and the outer surface of each swaging
finger having a tapered portion complementary to the frusto-conical
surface of said aperture, and means to move the structure and the
swaging member when engaged in said aperture relative to one
another along the axis of said aperture, whereby the swaging
fingers are forced radially inwardly against the action of the
resilient elements so that the inner ends of the swaging fingers
may effect swaging of a workpiece within said space.
3. Swaging apparatus as claimed in claim 2 wherein said means to
move the structure and the member relative to one another comprise
a second support structure having a frusto-conical aperture coaxial
with said aperture in the first support structure, said apertures
being tapered away from one another and the outer surfaces of the
swaging fingers each having a further tapered portion complementary
to the frusto-conical surface of the aperture in said second
structure, means being provided to cause relative movement of the
structures towards one another along the aligned axes of said
apertures to force the swaging fingers radially inwardly.
4. Swaging apparatus as claimed in claim 2 in which the swaging
fingers of the swaging element engage in grooves provided at
circumferentially spaced locations in said aperture.
Description
The invention relates to swaging apparatus and provides swaging
apparatus including a swaging member comprising a plurality of
radially disposed swaging fingers the inner ends of which define a
space for receiving a workpiece to be swaged and resilient means
arranged between adjacent swaging fingers to urge the fingers
radially outwardly which apparatus further includes compression
means to force the fingers radially inwardly against the action of
the resilient means, so that the inner ends of the fingers may
effect swaging of the workpiece within said space.
The resilient means may comprise a plurality of blocks of
elastomeric material each being bonded between adjacent swaging
fingers.
Each swaging finger may have an outer surface portion which lies on
a generally conical surface coaxial with the swaging member, and
the compression means may comprise a structure surrounding said
outer surface portions, the structure and surface portions being
capable of relative axial movement whereby engagement of the
structure with said surface portions during said movement forces
the swaging fingers radially inwards.
In the last described arrangement, the compression structure may
have a generally conical aperture formed therein and shaped so that
the smaller diameter part of the surface portions may enter the
larger diameter part of the aperture, there being means to cause
relative axial movement between the swaging member and the
compression structure to force the swaging member into the aperture
thereby moving the fingers radially inwardly.
The assembly comprising said outer surface portions and said
compression structure may be duplicated at axially spaced locations
on the swaging member, the said conical surfaces of the two
assemblies tapering in opposite directions whereby the two
compression structures move in opposite axial directions to force
the swaging fingers radially inwardly.
In the last described arrangement the two conical surfaces may
taper away from one another so that the swaging fingers are forced
radially inwardly by axial movement of the compression structures
towards one another.
In any of the above arrangements in which duplicate assemblies are
provided the swaging member may be located and supported wholly by
the two compression structures.
The following is a description of one specific embodiment of the
swaging apparatus constructed in accordance with the invention and
given by way of example, reference being made to the accompanying
drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 is a part sectional, part elevation view of the swaging
apparatus;
FIG. 2 is an end view of the apparatus of FIG. 1 with the swaging
member removed for clarity;
FIG. 3 is an end view on a reduced scale of the ram head of the
apparatus of FIG. 1;
FIG. 4 is an elevation of the ram head of FIG. 3;
FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of part of FIG. 3;
FIG. 6 is a section view on line 6--6 of FIG. 5; and
FIG. 7 is an end view on the swaging member.
The swaging apparatus shown in the drawing comprises a main frame
10 having two generally triangular end plates 11 and 12 held in
spaced apart relationship by means of three shouldered rods 14.
Screw threads are provided on both ends of each rod 14, one end
screwing directly into the left hand (in FIG. 1) end plate 11, the
right hand end of rod (14) passing through the right hand end plate
12. Nuts 15 are threaded on the right hand end of each rod 14 to
hold the right hand end plate against the shoulders on the rods.
The left hand end plate 11 (FIG. 1) has an aperture 16 formed
therein, the aperture being generally conical in shape and tapering
outwardly towards the other end plate 12. The wall of the aperture
has eight equi-spaced grooves 17 formed therein, for a purpose to
be described below.
An annular hydraulic ram 18 is attached to the right hand end plate
12 and extends within the frame 10 towards the left hand end plate
11. The piston 40 of the ram is attached to a ram head 19 by means
of a rod 38 which is threaded both ends, the left hand end (FIG. 1)
of which attaches the ram head 19 to the piston 40, and the right
hand end incorporates a length stop 39. The ram head 19 is urged to
the left by means of hydraulic pressure introduced into he ram
between an annular `U` seal 41 on the piston 40 and the stationary
end 42 of the ram 18.
The ram head 19 is located within the frame 10 by the three rods
14, there being sufficient clearance between the rods 14 and head
19 to permit relative sliding movement. The head 19 is held against
rotation by means of two lugs 23 welded to the head and fitting
with clearance one each side of the uppermost rod 14.
The ram head 19 comprises a first circular plate 24 into which the
rod 38 is threaded, welded to a part tubular member 24a. A second
circular plate 25 is welded to the open end of the member 24, and
is provided with a generally conical aperture 26 therein, coaxial
with the aperture 16. The aperture 26 tapers outwardly towards the
left hand end plate 11, and its wall has eight equi-spaced grooves
27 formed therein so that the apertures 16 and 26 are opposed and
similar.
A swaging member 30 is held between the plates 11 and 25 and is
shown in greater detail in FIG. 7. The swaging member 30 comprises
eight radially extending swaging fingers 31 each bonded to and held
spaced from the next adjacent swaging finger by rubber blocks 32.
The inwardly directed faces 33 of the fingers are shaped such that
they form a cylindrical bore 34 in the member, the inner end of
each finger being spaced from the next adjacent finger. The
radially outwardly directed face 35 of each finger 31 is provided
with a central portion 36 (FIG. 1) parallel to its inwardly
directed face 33, and with end portions 37 tapering inwardly to the
axis of the bore 34 at an angle substantially equal to the angle of
the walls of the apertures 16 and 26 in the plates 11 and 25. The
outwardly directed face 35 of each finger stands proud of the
rubber blocks to which the finger is bonded.
The outer diameter of the ends of the swaging member are such that
the ends of the member will just enter the apertures 16 and 26 with
the outwardly directed faces 35 fitting within the grooves 17 and
27.
In use, the swaging member 30 is located as just described and an
article to be swaged inserted within the bore 34. The hydraulic ram
is pressurised by means (not shown) to move the ram head 19 to the
left (FIG. 1) so that the separation between the plates 11 and 25
is decreased. The outwardly directed faces 35 of the fingers 31 are
slid along the grooves 17 and 27 provided in the walls of the
apertures 16 and 26, whereby the fingers are moved radially
inwardly, thus reducing the diameter of the bore 34 and swaging the
article located therein. The ram head 19 is then withdrawn to the
right and the rubber blocks 32 urge the fingers 31 outwardly to
release the swaged article. The ram head 19 is stopped when the
swaging member is just located in the aperture in the plates 11 and
25.
It will be appreciated that the swaging member 30 may be removed
easily from the machine by fully withdrawing the head 19, as shown
in FIG. 1, and replaced by a further member. The further member may
have a bore of a different diameter, to accept articles to be
swaged of a different size. The rubber blocks 32 may be replaced by
blocks of a thermoplastic material.
A modified swaging member, (not shown), comprises eight swaging
fingers held in a spaced apart relationship by means of spring
elements arranged to permit movement of the fingers radially and to
urge them outwardly. The spring elements may comprise, for example,
a plurality of spring blades, each blade having one end attached to
a finger and the other end to the next adjacent finger.
The end stop 39 serves to limit the movement of the ram head 19 to
the left (in FIG. 1) whereby the degree of swaging of an article in
the bore 34 may be adjusted and also repeated for a succession of
articles.
* * * * *