Cone-Shaped Coupling Device for Rapid Tool Holder Engagement
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing threaded coupling devices for tool holders and spindles in heavy drilling machines are time-consuming to secure and unscrew, risk thread damage, and require high torque, making them difficult to use effectively in drilling hard materials.
Innovation Solution
A coupling device featuring a female and male cone-shaped section with locking balls and a rotatable locking sleeve, allowing for rapid engagement and disengagement by rotating the sleeve to lock or release the balls into an annular groove, facilitated by radially springing guide members for easy manipulation and low manufacturing tolerance requirements.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a threaded coupling is used to secure the tool holder to the spindle, then the connection is secure and reliable, but the time required to secure and unscrew the tool holder increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The coupling device is divided into distinct functional components: a coupling part with conical sections for alignment, locking balls for securing, and a locking sleeve for operation. This segmentation allows the tool holder to be quickly locked and unlocked without threading operations, resolving the contradiction between secure connection and rapid tool holder changes.
Solution Approach 2:
The conical sections are pre-configured on the coupling parts to automatically guide and align the tool holder with the spindle during insertion. This preliminary alignment action eliminates the need for manual positioning and threading, enabling both secure connection and rapid tool holder changes.
2Reliability
If a threaded coupling is used to secure the tool holder to the spindle, then the connection is secure, but the threads risk being damaged which can make future securing impossible
Solution Approach 1:
The threading function is completely extracted from the coupling mechanism. Instead of using threads that can be damaged, the invention employs a threadless locking system with conical sections and locking balls. This eliminates the harmful factor of thread damage while maintaining secure connection through the locking mechanism.
3Reliability
If a threaded coupling is used to secure the tool holder to the spindle, then the connection is secure, but the torque required to tighten and loosen the threads increases making operation difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The locking mechanism uses a rotatable locking sleeve that dynamically engages and disengages the locking balls from the groove. This dynamic operation allows the tool holder to be secured and released with simple rotational motion of the sleeve, eliminating the high torque requirements of threaded couplings while maintaining secure connection.
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
Enables quick and simple attachment and detachment of the tool holder to the spindle, preventing axial displacement and rotation, while reducing the risk of thread damage and improving operational efficiency in heavy drilling machines.
Implementation Method 1
The locking sleeve is provided with at least two radially springing guide members, wherein the respective guide member co-operates with one of said locking balls and is arranged to be rotated together with the locking sleeve and be pressed against the associated locking ball in order to lock this in said advanced position
Implementation Method 2
the tool holder is in a rapid and simple manner guided into the correct position in relation to the spindle under the effect of the mutually co-operating cone-shaped sections of said male-shaped and female-shaped coupling parts
Data Source
AI summary
A coupling device for coupling together a tool holder (3) with a rotatable spindle (2) of a machining machine. The coupling device comprises: —a female-shaped coupling part (10) with an internally cone-shaped section (11) and a male-shaped coupling part (20) with an externally cone-shaped section (21); —an annular groove (25) arranged in the externally cone-shaped section; —locking balls (15), which are radially displaceable in radial holes (16) in the internally cone-shaped section; and —a locking sleeve (30), which is arranged on the outside of the female-shaped coupling part and which is rotatable between a releasing position, in which the locking balls can be displaced radially to a retracted position while allowing a mutual axial displacement between the coupling parts, and a locking position, in which the locking balls are kept in engagement in said groove while preventing a mutual axial displacement between the coupling parts. The locking sleeve is provided with radially springing guide members (31), which co-operates with a respective locking ball.