Swaging Apparatus

In one known form of hose coupling swaging apparatus as disclosed for example in the U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,706,123 and 3,849,858, a pusher and a die actuating mechanism are simultaneously hydraulically actuated downwardly respectively in swaging direction and die closing direction, the apparatus being provided with duplicate cam means to cam segmental die members carried by said mechanism radially into and out of mating engagement as they are moved downwardly and upwardly by the die actuating mechanism. In addition to the complexity of such known apparatus with reference to duplication of cooperating cams for opening and closing the die, such apparatus employs a hydraulic cylinder which is reciprocated with respect to a fixed piston to effect die opening and closing movement as aforesaid and which has a piston reciprocable therein operatively connected with said pusher to actuate said pusher in downward swaging direction and in upward retraction direction. Simultaneous hydraulic actuation of the die closing mechanism and of the pusher may result in damage to the apparatus or to the die members as by the presence of foreign objects between the die members as they approach die closing position, may cause personal injury to the operator as by pinching of fingers between the die members as they approach die closing position, or may damage the hose as by pinching thereof between the die members as they approach die closing position.

In another known form of apparatus for contracting a hose coupling sleeve to grip a hose therewithin as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,851,514, the hose coupling sleeve is positioned within a collet assembly, and a hydraulically actuated pusher pushes the collet assembly into a tapered die to contract the collet assembly around the hose coupling sleeve thus to crimp it around the hose. Furthermore, in this form of apparatus, if the collet segments stick on the crimped hose coupling it may be necessary to jiggle the hose coupling assembly or to tap the hose coupling assembly with a hammer or the like to strip the crimped hose coupling from the collet segments.

The swaging apparatus according to the present invention is of simple compact construction and is economical to manufacture in that a hydraulically actuated pusher pushes a hose coupling into a closed die following which the die is opened automatically upon retraction of the pusher to release the swaged hose coupling for insertion of the next unswaged hose coupling.

It is a principal object of this invention to provide a swaging apparatus of the character indicated in which the die is opened by lifting and laterally separating segmental die members thereof responsive to retraction of the pusher following its swaging stroke and in which the die is closed by gravity by releasing the die members from the pusher before the pusher member commences its swaging stroke.

It is another object of this invention to provide a novel die actuating mechanism which strips the die members from the swaged hose coupling by a prying (or tilting or a tearing away) action as an incident of the lifting and lateral separation of the die members during the retraction of the pusher.

Other objects and advantages will appear in the ensuing description.

FIG. 1 is a front elevation view partly in cross-section of a swaging apparatus according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross-section view taken substantially along the line 2--2, FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a cross-section view taken substantially along the line 3--3, FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 1 except showing the position of the parts of the swaging apparatus as the conclusion of the hose coupling swaging operation;

FIG. 5 is a cross-section view taken substantially along the line 5--5, FIG. 4; and

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a portion of the bracket by which the die actuating mechanism is secured to the pusher.

The swaging apparatus 1 herein shown comprises a frame structure including a base plate 2 to which upwardly extending parallel posts 3 are welded or otherwise secured with a cross bar 4 secured to the upper ends of said posts 3. A hydraulic cylinder 5 is secured to the middle of the cross bar 4, said cylinder 5 having a piston reciprocable therein with its piston rod 6 connected to a pusher block 7 which is guided by posts 3.

The base plate 2 may have mounted thereon to the rear of the posts 3 a hydraulic power unit which may comprise an electric motor driven pump 9 and a reservoir 10 from which said pump 9 supplies oil under pressure to the inlet port 11 of a cylinder control valve 12 which, for example, may be a spool-type four-way three-position spring centered valve which has motor ports 14;14 connected as by hoses 15;15 to the ports of the cylinder 5, and return port 16 through which oil displaced from either end of the cylinder 5 is returned to the reservoir 10.

The pusher block 7 has a downwardly open recess 17 in which the shank portion of a pusher member 18 is releasably held as by means of the thumb screw 19.

The lower end of the pusher member 18 is suitably fashioned according to the design of the particular hose coupling which it is desired to swage. The hose coupling 20 herein shown has an externally threaded end portion 21 with an adjacent shoulder 22 constituted by a hex and in this case the pusher member 18 has a recess 23 of diameter slightly larger than the thread size and of depth exceeding the length of the threaded portion 21 whereby swaging force will be applied on the annular shoulder 22 to avoid imposition of force on the threaded end of the hose coupling 20. The hose coupling 20 is of conventional construction including coaxial nipple and sleeve portions 24 and 25 which form an annular chamber for receiving the end portion of a hose H. As shown in FIG. 4, the swaging operation performed by the apparatus 1 herein radially contracts the sleeve portion 25 so that the hose H will be firmly gripped between the nipple portion 24 and the contracted sleeve portion 25.

Welded or otherwise secured to the base plate 2 between the lower end portions of the posts 3 is a die retaining or support ring 26 which has a central tapered bore 27 of non-sticking angle which is coaxial with the cylinder 5 and pusher member 18.

The swaging die herein comprises a pair of segmental die members 28 which, when in mating engagement, have a frusto-conical exterior surface matching the tapered bore 27 and defining therebetween an open-ended die cavity 29 of circular cross-section which may be longitudinally tapered as shown to correspondingly swage the sleeve portion 25 of the hose coupling 20 when the latter is pushed by the pusher member 18 into the closed die.

The lower end of each post 3 above the die retainer 26 has secured thereto as by the screws 30 a bracket 31 which provides a pivot 32 for a die carrier 33 which has pins 34 fitted into chordwise disposed holes in the associated die member 28, said holes being located directly above or near the center of gravity of the die member 28. The pusher block 7 has secured thereto by screw means 35 a bracket assembly 36 which includes a downwardly extending stem member 37 having pivoted thereto a latch member 38 which upon upward retraction movement of the pusher block 7 and pusher member 18 lifts the die carriers 33 and die members 28 upwardly with respect to the die retainer 26 to the position shown in FIG. 1. During such lifting of the die members 28 by engagement with the latch member 38, the pivoting of the carriers 33 about the pivots 32 moves the die members 28 laterally apart thus to release the swaged hose coupling 20 and to enable upward insertion of the next unswaged hose coupling 20 with the threaded end 21 extending into the recess 23 and with the shoulder 22 engaged with the bottom annular surface of the pusher member 18. This die opening operation is stopped by the operator of the apparatus 1 releasing the valve operating handle 39 to permit movement of the valve 12 to neutral position blocking communication of the inlet port 11 and return port 16 with both motor ports 14. If desired, one of the posts 3 may have a limit switch or the like thereon to close a lamp or audible alarm circuit or such limit switch may automatically cause shifting of the valve 12 to neutral position.

As aforesaid, when the apparatus is in the FIG. 1 position, the hose coupling 20 to be swaged may be inserted upwardly through the die retainer 26 and the open die to engage the pusher member 18. When the operator is ready, the valve 12 will be actuated by handle 39 to raise the pusher block 7 and the latch member 38 upwardly until the pins 34 pass over the ends of the latch member 38 whereby the die carriers 33 and die members 28 will drop down by gravity to the die closing position shown in FIG. 4. When the die is closed, the valve handle 39 will be shifted to a position to cause the pusher block 7 and pusher member 18 to move downwardly to push the hose coupling 20 down into the die cavity 29 thereby to cause contraction of the sleeve portion 25 to tightly grip the hose H between the nipple 24 and the sleeve 25.

Upon completion of the swaging operation, the operator will shift the valve handle 39 to direct fluid under pressure into the lower end of the cylinder 5 to cause upward retraction movement of the pusher block 7 and member 18. During the swaging operation, the latch member 38 engages the pins 34 but because the latch member 38 is pivotally mounted at 40 on the lower end of the stem 37, the latch member 38 will move past the pins 34 (see FIG. 5) and will drop to its normal stop position so as to be disposed under the pins 34. Accordingly, upward movement of the pusher block 7 after completion of the swaging operation will effect engagement of the latch member 38 with the pins 34 to lift the die members 28 out of the retainer 26. By reason of the pivotal mounting 32 of the die carriers 33 and the pivotal mounting 34 of the carriers 33 to the die members 28, the lifting movement of the die members 28 also includes a lateral component which pries the die members 28 with respect to the swaged hose coupling 20 to strip the die members 28 from the swaged hose coupling 20.

By the time that the pusher block 7 and die members 28 reach the FIG. 1 position the swaged hose coupling 20 will be released for downward withdrawal through the die retainer 26 ready for upward insertion of the unswaged hose coupling 20 and for repetition of the foregoing operations.

By reason of the non-sticking taper of the bore 27 of the die retainer 26, the die opening operation involves very little force and, of course, initially the radial or lateral component of movement is of small magnitude whereby large forces are available for stripping the die members 28 from the swaged hose coupling 20 while yet the upward force applied on the pins 34 is of small magnitude.

The die members 28 are readily interchangeable for different sizes of hose couplings 20 simply by yieldably spreading apart of the arms of the carriers 33 for disengagement of the pins 34 from the die member recesses and for snapping into engagement with the replacement die member recesses or by removing the pins 34 from the arms 33.

With the carrier 33 and die member 28 pivots 34 located as previously described, the die members 28 will hang freely as shown in FIG. 1 and even when the die members 28 are further lifted for release by gravity to die closing position, the lower end portions of the die members 28 will yet be within the upper end of the tapered bore 27 of the die retainer 26 to assure that the die members 28 will drop freely by gravity from die opening to die closing position.

To insure consistent swaging results, it is preferred to utilize a hydraulic pressure sufficient to cause the swaged hose coupling 20 to reach a positive stop position relative to the die members 28, i.e. where the hex thereof bottoms against the upper end of the die members 28. To facilitate use of the swaging apparatus 1 herein, the front portion of the base plate 2 will project forwardly from the front edge of a work bench or the like and the posts 3 will be inclined rearwardly so that the axis of the retainer 26, the die cavity 29, the pusher block 7 and pusher member 18, and the cylinder 5 will be correspondingly inclined.

In the operation of the swaging apparatus 1, it is a preferred practice, after the swaging operation has been completed, to grasp the hose H below the die retainer 26 and to exert upward force thereon to hold the coupling shoulder 22 against the pusher 18 as the latter commences its upward retraction stroke. Thus, as the swaged hose coupling 20 is urged upwardly, the die members 28 will be moved upwardly and laterally separated at the pivots 34 to at least partially strip the die members 28 from the swaged sleeve portion 25 by a prying or rocking action even before the latch member 38 engages the pins 34.

Although the invention has been shown and described with respect to a preferred embodiment, it is obvious that equivalent alterations and modifications will occur to others skilled in the art upon the reading and understanding of this specification. The present invention includes all such equivalent alterations and modifications, and is limited only by the scope of the claims.