Angled Impact Wrench Through Passage and Bevel Gear Drive
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Solution Overview
Problem
Angled impact wrenches face limitations in accommodating various uses due to their design, particularly in driving fasteners that extend completely through the device, as they typically have a drive axis non-parallel to the motor's rotational axis, restricting their versatility.
Innovation Solution
The angled impact wrench incorporates a gear train and an impact drive unit with a rotatable hammer and anvil, along with a spring and ball ramps, to cycle between energy storing and release conditions, allowing a workpiece to extend completely through the device and enabling efficient torque transfer, while a through passage and bevel gears facilitate non-parallel axis operation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If the drive axis is made non-parallel to the motor's rotational axis to enable angled fastener driving, then the wrench can accommodate more applications, but the device complexity increases due to the gear train and non-parallel axis mechanism
Solution Approach 1:
A gear train acts as an intermediary mechanism between the motor's rotational axis and the impact drive unit's drive axis. The gear train includes a first bevel gear mounted on the motor output shaft and a second bevel gear mounted on the impact drive unit, with an intermediate gear connecting them to transfer torque while changing the axis orientation from parallel to non-parallel (typically perpendicular), enabling the angled operation without directly coupling the motor shaft to the impact mechanism.
2Adaptability or versatility
If a through passage is added to allow workpieces to extend completely through the device, then the versatility for different applications is improved, but the device complexity and structural complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The impact drive unit is designed with a through passage that extends along the drive axis, allowing the drive shaft to pass completely through the housing. This enables the wrench to accommodate various fastener configurations including those that extend through the device, making the tool universally applicable to different fastening scenarios rather than being limited to specific fastener types or configurations.
3Productivity
If the impact drive unit cycles rapidly between energy storing and release conditions to improve productivity, then more fasteners can be driven per unit time, but the reliability may deteriorate due to increased mechanical stress and wear
Solution Approach 1:
The impact drive unit incorporates a spring mechanism that stores energy during the energy storing condition and releases it during the energy release condition. This spring acts as a cushioning element that absorbs and manages the mechanical stresses generated during rapid cycling between energy states, reducing the impact wear on critical components while maintaining high productivity through rapid energy cycles.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This design enhances the wrench's versatility by allowing it to drive fasteners completely through the device, improving usability across different applications by ensuring effective torque transfer and energy storage and release mechanisms.
Implementation Method 1
a compression spring sandwiched between a surface on the input shaft and a surface on the rotatable hammer to store energy as the rotatable hammer translates over the limited linear distance with the impact drive unit in the energy storing condition and to transfer energy back to the rotatable hammer with the impact drive unit in the energy release condition
Implementation Method 2
a cam feature on an outer surface of the input shaft. The rotatable hammer is mounted in the housing for rotation about the second axis and has a through bore centered on the second axis and surrounding a portion of the input shaft, a cam feature on an inner surface of the through bore of the rotatable hammer and operably connected to the cam feature on the input shaft to translate the rotatable hammer along the second axis relative to the input shaft
Implementation Method 3
a first bevel gear mounted in the housing for rotation about the first axis and operably connected to the output shaft to be rotationally driven by the motor; and a second bevel gear mounted in the housing for rotation about the second axis. The second bevel gear surrounds a portion of the impact drive unit and is meshed with the first bevel gear to rotationally driven by the motor
Implementation Method 4
The rotatable hammer impacts the rotatable anvil with the impact drive unit in the energy release condition to create a drive torque at an output of the impact drive unit
Data Source
AI summary
An angled impact wrench includes a housing mounting a motor having an output shaft rotatable about a first axis, and an impact drive unit mounted in the housing for rotation about a second axis that is nonparallel to the first axis. The impact drive unit is configured to repeatedly cycle between an energy storing and energy release conditions in response to a drive torque supplied by the motor. The impact drive unit has a through passage extending along the second axis to allow a workpiece to extend completely through the impact wrench while the drive unit torques a threaded fastener onto the workpiece.