Retaining Ring Removal Tool with Tapered Tabs
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing tools face difficulties in accessing and removing retaining rings located in relatively inaccessible areas due to their design, which often requires radial movement and engagement with pinholes, making the process challenging.
Innovation Solution
A retaining ring removal tool featuring a shaft with axially extending tapered tabs that radially compress the retaining ring, allowing for its removal without engaging pinholes, utilizing a dual-shaft mechanism where one shaft is threaded and the other is not, enabling axial movement to compress the ring radially.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a jaw-type tool with pins is used to remove retaining rings, then the retaining ring can be collapsed and removed, but accessing retaining rings in inaccessible areas becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The tool is segmented into multiple functional components: an outer shaft with tapered tabs for engaging the retaining ring, an inner shaft for applying compressive force, and a fastener for actuating the mechanism. This segmentation allows each component to perform its specific function independently, enabling access to inaccessible retaining rings while maintaining operational simplicity.
Solution Approach 2:
The inner shaft is nested within the outer shaft, with the inner shaft received within a bore of the outer shaft. This nested configuration allows the tool to be compact and adaptable to confined spaces, improving accessibility to retaining rings in hard-to-reach locations while maintaining a simple overall structure.
2Productivity
If radial movement of the retaining ring is required for removal, then the retaining ring can be removed, but accessing and engaging the ring becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of pulling the retaining ring radially outward for removal, the tool applies radial compression to collapse the ring inward. The tapered tabs engage the outer surface of the retaining ring and compress it radially inward, causing the ring to collapse and release from its installed position. This inverted approach eliminates the need for radial outward movement, making the retaining ring accessible and removable even from inaccessible locations.
3Force
If pinholes are engaged for tool attachment, then the tool can grip the retaining ring, but the process becomes challenging in inaccessible areas
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the tool engagement mechanism from the retaining ring itself by using tapered tabs that engage the outer surface of the ring rather than requiring pinholes. The tabs are distributed circumferentially and engage the retaining ring's outer diameter, providing sufficient grip force for compression and removal without needing to access or engage pinholes, thereby solving the accessibility problem.
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
The tool effectively removes retaining rings from hard-to-reach locations without damaging them or the surrounding structures, ensuring efficient and secure removal by radially compressing the ring using tapered tabs, thus overcoming access and engagement issues.
Implementation Method 1
the radially inward facing surface is configured to contact and radially compress a retaining ring when moved axially toward the retaining ring
Data Source
AI summary
An example retaining ring removal tool includes a shaft extending along an axis from a first end to a second end, and at least one tapered tab extending axially from the first end of the shaft at a radially outer perimeter of the shaft.