Spark Plug Extraction Tool Radial Compression Mechanism
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing tools struggle to remove spark plugs from engine cylinder heads without breaking, particularly for certain Ford Motor Company vehicles, due to the difficulty in aligning drilling and tapping operations with the broken spark plug tips, making the process time-consuming and challenging.
Innovation Solution
A spark plug removal and extraction tool featuring a lower socket, radial compression member, and shaft with torque engagement portions, which allows for secure coupling and axial force application to prevent breakage and facilitate removal of both intact and broken spark plugs by distributing torque and minimizing shearing loads.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional drilling and tapping tools are used to remove broken spark plug tips, then the broken tips can be extracted, but the process becomes time-consuming and difficult due to alignment issues
Solution Approach 1:
The extraction tool is pre-configured with aligned drilling and tapping operations before contact with the broken spark plug tip. The tool's design incorporates the drilling bit and tapping tool in a fixed aligned relationship, so that when the tool engages the broken tip, the subsequent drilling and tapping actions automatically follow the correct alignment without requiring separate alignment steps by the operator.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention combines multiple operations (drilling, tapping, and extraction) into a single integrated tool. The drilling bit, tapping tool, and extraction mechanism are merged into one device that performs all functions sequentially without requiring the operator to switch between different tools or realign components, thereby reducing time and improving reliability.
2Productivity
If force is applied to remove spark plugs, then removal is achieved, but the spark plug may break due to concentrated shearing loads
Solution Approach 1:
The removal force is segmented and distributed to multiple contact points on the spark plug. The extraction tool engages the spark plug at multiple locations simultaneously, distributing the applied force across these multiple points rather than concentrating it at a single point. This segmentation of force application prevents localized shearing loads that would cause breakage while maintaining overall removal effectiveness.
Solution Approach 2:
The tool changes the distribution parameter of the applied force from concentrated to distributed. By designing the extraction mechanism to contact the spark plug at multiple points and apply force across a broader area, the stress distribution parameter is modified to prevent exceeding the material's shear strength at any single location, thereby preventing breakage during removal.
Data Source
AI summary
Apparatus and methods for the removing of a spark plug, or portions thereof, from a cylinder head are disclosed. The apparatus includes a lower socket with a longitudinal bore therethrough, a radial compression member disposed in the longitudinal bore of the lower socket, and a shaft disposed on a first end of the radial compression member. The radial compression member includes an internal surface defining a concavity that faces a longitudinal axis of the lower socket. The method includes compressing the radial compression member in a radial direction toward a longitudinal axis of the spark plug terminal, thereby decreasing an outer dimension of the radial compression member in the radial direction.