Gimbal assembly for tool support

Abstract

A supporting and orienting apparatus for balancing tools. An inner gimbal portion holds and balances a tool and is rotationally disposed within an outer gimbal portion. An outer gimbal portion is rotationally attached to a yoke. The yoke is rotationally attached, either directly or indirectly to an additional apparatus component to provide at least three degrees of freedom.

Description

[0001]This application is based on, and claims priority to, U.S. Provisional Application No. 60 / 972,979, filed Sep. 17, 2007, entitled Removable Gimbal for Tool Support; International Application No. PCT / US2008 / 076331, filed Sep. 13, 2008 entitled Gimbal Assembly for Tool Support, and U.S. application Ser. No. 12 / 677,179, filed Aug. 16, 2010, entitled Gimbal Assembly for Tool Support. FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0002]Illustrative embodiments of the invention relate to equipment for supporting and orienting objects such as tools.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0003]In many industrial and business environments, workers are often required to repetitively lift, position and orient tools, sometimes of significant weight, and deploy them anywhere within the reach of their arms, from low to overhead to extend out in front. The resulting stresses, particularly from overhead usages, or near-full extension of the arm, are a common cause of work-related shoulder and forearm injuries.[0004]Ergonomic equ...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The patent is about a tool supporting system that is able to move in different directions and balance heavy tools. It also allows for easy replacement of tools quickly. The system uses a gimbal and a yoke to secure the tools in place. This reduces the weight that the user needs to lift or move, while still giving them freedom of movement to use the tools. The system is designed to be easily replaced and has a mechanism to securely hold the tools in place.

Problems solved by technology

The resulting stresses, particularly from overhead usages, or near-full extension of the arm, are a common cause of work-related shoulder and forearm injuries.

Tool balancers require unobstructed access to overhead, usually fixed, attachment points, which tend to restrict the users lateral freedom of movement.

Also, since the tools usually dangle in a bottom heavy condition from crude attaching eyelets, maintaining a desired angular orientation is impeded.

Even those few balancer installations that connect to annular bearings around the tool body are still restrictive of other axes of freedom.

Furthermore, they can only be installed on tools of a cylindrical construction that permit the unobstructed passage of the inner bearing race along the tool body to the desired point of attachment.

Importantly, such balancers cannot be used at all for work locations that are inaccessible to overhead support, such as underneath cars on assembly lines.

Some may include two or three-axis gimbal attachments to provide angular freedom between the arm and the supported equipment, but these gimbal designs are not appropriate for the majority of tool configurations and / or conditions of use.

Additionally, the center-of-gravity of a given tool is often located within a non-cylindrical section of the tool body, which may be inaccessible to the sliding installation of a bearing of appropriate size.

Conventional gimbals also cannot be conveniently and quickly removed to facilitate the use of the tool in a separate location, or the rapid replacement of the tool with another.

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