Hydraulic Wrench

The present invention relates generally to wrenches and more particularly to hydraulic wrenches.

More specifically, the present invention relates to hydraulic wrenches which can be advantageously used for tightening and loosening threaded connectors such as nuts mounted on bolts in which a plurality of nuts which are closely adjacent to each other have to be tightened and loosened and in which the overhead clearance for applying a wrench to the nuts is rather limited, which would make it impossible to use a standard air or impact wrench.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a hydraulic wrench which can be used for tightening or loosening threaded connectors which are closely adjacent to each other and in which the overhead space for applying a wrench is limited.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a hydraulic wrench by means of which a large constant torque can be applied to the threaded connector which has to be tightened or loosened.

It is an additional object of the present invention to provide for a hydraulic wrench of the aforementioned kind which can be easily adapted for use of threaded connectors of different size.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide a hydraulic wrench of the aforementioned kind which is simple in construction so that it can be built at reasonable cost and which will stand up perfectly under extended use.

With these and other objects in view, which will become apparent as the description proceeds, the hydraulic wrench according to the present invention mainly comprises a shaft, at least one ratchet wheel fixed to the shaft for rotation therewith about the axis thereof, frame means located substantially in a plane normal to the axis of the shaft and comprising a first lever pivotally connected at one end to the shaft, a second lever pivotally connected at one end to the shaft and including an angle with the first lever, fluid operated expandable contractable cylinder-and-piston means pivotally connected at opposite ends to the other ends of the first and the second lever, respectively, and a ratchet pawl pivotally carried by the first lever intermediate the ends of the latter and engaging the teeth of the ratchet wheel for turning the ratchet wheel and the shaft connected thereto during operation of the cylinder-and-piston means. An exchangeable socket is mounted on one end of the shaft for engaging a polygonal head of a threaded connector for tightening or loosening the same, whereby during such operation a force is created tending to turn the frame about the axis of the shaft in a direction opposite to the direction the shaft is turned. The hydraulic wrench includes further means connected to the frame means for counteracting such force.

The means for counteracting such force comprise a torque arm pivotally attached at one end to the shaft and projecting from the latter in the general direction of the second lever, a curved first abutment fixed to the torque arms spaced from the shaft, a second abutment on an adjacent part of the frame means and engaging the first abutment, and a bracket attached at one end to the torque arm in the region of the other end and projecting therefrom substantially parallel to the shaft and adapted to abut with a side face thereof against a fixed abutment, for instance a nut adjacent to the nut which has to be tightened or loosened.

A spring normally maintains the ratchet pawl in engagement with the teeth of the ratchet wheel, and the wrench includes further operator controllable means for holding the ratchet pawl out of engagement with the teeth of the ratchet wheel so that the ratchet wheel together with the shaft may be turned independently of the cylinder-and-piston unit for instance, if the available space permits, by a nut runner connectable to the shaft so that the nut to be tightened may during a first part of the tightening process be turned very fast by the nut runner while the ratchet pawl is disengaged from the teeth of the ratchet wheel and subsequently be tightened with the necessary torque by the hydraulic wrench while the ratchet pawl is reengaged with the teeth of the ratchet wheel.

Instead of a single ratchet wheel cooperating with a single pawl, the hydraulic wrench according to the present invention may also be provided with three ratchet wheels and three pawls cooperating therewith in which two of the three ratchet wheels are arranged to opposite sides of the central ratchet wheel and in which all of the ratchet wheels have an equal number of teeth and the same circumferential pitch, but in which the teeth of the two outside ratchet wheels, which are transversely aligned with each other are circumferentially offset with respect to the teeth of the central ratchet wheel through half a pitch.

This arrangement permits to apply a very large torque to the connector which has to be tightened or loosened and in which the force applied to the threaded connector remains substantially constant during such tightening or loosening process.

The novel features which are considered as characteristic for the invention are set forth in particular in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, both as to its construction and its method of operation, together with additional objects and advantages thereof, will be best understood from the following description of specific embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a top view of the hydraulic wrench according to the present invention and showing the wrench applied to one of a plurality of adjacent threaded connectors for tightening or loosening the same;

FIG. 2 is a partially sectioned top view of the hydraulic wrench shown in FIG. 1 and drawn to a larger scale;

FIG. 3 is a partial cross-section through the wrench taken along the line 3--3 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a partial cross-section taken along the line 4--4 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the torque arm;

FIG. 6 is a cross-section similar to FIG. 3 and showing a modification of the hydraulic wrench shown in FIGS. 1-5;

FIG. 7 is a cross-section taken along the line 7--7 of FIG. 6.

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary top plan view of a further embodiment; and

FIG. 9 is a side view, showing a detail of still another embodiment of the invention.

Referring now to the drawing, and more specifically to FIGS. 1-5 of the same, it will be seen that the hydraulic wrench according to the present invention comprises shaft means including an elongated member 1 of substantially square cross-section and a pair of transversely spaced annular members 2 (FIG. 3) having each a central opening of correspondingly square cross-section through which the elongated member 1 extends and an outer cylindrical surface. A ratchet wheel 3 having a central opening of square cross-section is mounted on the elongated member 1 of the shaft means between the sleeves 2. The wrench includes further first lever means 4 comprising a pair of transversely spaced arms 4a respectively pivotally mounted on the sleeves 2 at opposite sides and adjacent to the ratchet wheel 3. A pin 5 extends parallel to the member 1 through appropriate bores in the arms 4a intermediate opposite ends of the latter, and the pin 5 carries pivotably about the axis thereof a ratchet pawl 6 adapted to engage with the free end thereof the teeth 3a of the ratchet wheel, as best shown in FIG. 2. A leaf spring 7 connected at one end to the ratchet pawl 6 engages with its free end the side arms 4a of the first lever for holding the ratchet pawl 6 in engagement with the teeth 3a of the ratchet wheel. A second pin 8 is pivotally mounted in appropriate bores of the two arms 4a of the first lever 4 adjacent the other end of the latter. The pin 8 is provided intermediate the ends thereof with a threaded bore 9 in which a correspondingly threaded end of a piston rod 10 of a hydraulically operated cylinder-and-piston unit 11 is threadingly engaged. A washer 12 is preferably provided between a shoulder formed at the piston rod 10 and a corresponding flat provided on the pin 8. The cylinder-and-piston unit 11 is of standard construction and the piston thereof connected to the free end of the piston rod 10 is not shown in the drawing. Likewise not shown in the drawing are the conduits for feeding pressure fluid into and out of the cylinder 13 of the cylinder-and-piston unit 11 for reciprocating in a known manner the piston and the piston rod connected thereto. A pair of stud shafts 14, only one of which is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 project transverse to the axis of the cylinder 13 from the region of the end of the latter opposite to the end from which the piston rod 10 projects. The stud shafts 14 are pivotally mounted in appropriate bores in a pair of arms 15a of a second lever 15, and the other ends of the arms 15a are pivotally mounted on the annular members 2, respectively outside and laterally spaced from the arms 4a of the first lever 4. Three pins 16 extend spaced from each other, as best shown in FIG. 2 between the side arms 15a of the second lever 15 and each of the pins has, as best shown in FIG. 4, a pair of outer portions 16a of reduced diameter extending through appropriate bores in the arms 15a whereas nuts 17 are connected to the outer threaded portions of reduced diameter so that the arms 15a of the second lever are pressed against the shoulders of the pins 16 formed between the outer portions of reduced diameter and the central portion thereof, whereby the arms 15a are held spaced from each other at a fixed distance. One of the pins 16 is provided with a flat lateral projection 16b (FIG. 2) for a purpose as will be described later on.

The member 1 of square cross-section of the shaft means projects with an end portion 1a beyond one of the arms 15a of the second lever 15 (FIG. 3) and a socket 18 is releasably connected to this projecting portion 1a of the member 1. The socket 18 has at one end a cavity 18a matching the cross-section of the portion 1a and at the other end a cavity 18b of hexagonal cross-section. It is to be understood that the wrench is provided with a plurality of such sockets each of which has a cavity or pocket 18a matching the cross-section of the end portion 1a, whereas the other cavity 18b may be larger or smaller than that shown in FIG. 3 to engage with nuts or similar threaded connectors of different size so that the wrench may be used for tightening or loosening threaded connectors of various sizes by simply exchanging the sockets 18.

During operation of the hydraulic wrench so far described at which the shaft means is rotated by the ratchet mechanism and the cylinder-and-piston unit connected thereto for instance in the direction of the arrow x shown in FIG. 2 for tightening, for instance, a nut engaged in the cavity 18b of the socket 18, a force is applied to the frame means of the wrench, comprising the first lever 4, the second lever 15, and the cylinder-and-piston unit 11, which tends to move the aforementioned frame means about the axis of the shaft in the direction of the arrow y as indicated in FIG. 2.

The hydraulic wrench includes further means for counteracting this force and to prevent such rotation of the frame means during operation of the wrench for tightening or loosening a threaded connector. The means for counteracting this force comprise a torque arm 19 of a configuration as best shown in FIG. 5. The torque arm 19 comprises a pair of transversely spaced side plates 20 provided in the region of one end with circular openings 21 mounted for pivotal movement on the annular members 2 between the arms 4a of the first lever and the arms 15a of the second lever and the side plates 20 are connected spaced from each other by a top plate 22 and a bottom plate 23 as well as a plate 24 extending between the plates 22 and 23 spaced from the openings 21. The bottom plate 23 has an offset portion 25 which extends with lateral portions 25a to opposite sides of side plates 20, as best shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. The aforementioned plates of the torque arm 19 are all welded to each other to form a unitary member. The torque arm includes further a block or abutment 26 connected, for instance by welding, to the top plate 22 thereof and projecting upwardly from the latter towards the end of the cylinder and piston unit 11 on which the stud shafts 14 are provided. The block 26 is formed on the upper surface thereof with a concave, part-spherical depression 27 in which a correspondingly shaped convexly formed portion of an abutment member 28 engages which is sandwiched between the block 26 and a corresponding portion of the piston 13. The member 28 has an upper planar surface 28' which slidably abuts against the corresponding surface of the piston 13. The member 28 has a downwardly extending pin 28" which extends with ample clearance into a bore 26' formed in the block to limit axial movement of the member 28 with regard to the cylinder 13 while permitting the latter to tilt to a certain extent about the spherical surface of the cavity 27 in the block 26. A hook-shaped member 29 is welded to the top plate 22 of the torque arm 19 and engages the lateral projection 16b of one of the pins 16 to prevent the torque arm 19 from moving away from the second lever 15.

Due to the disclosed construction of the torque arm 19, the latter is so rigid that irrespective of the forces which act upon the wrench -- and which may be on the order of 15,000 ft/lbs or even higher -- the torque arm will not become twisted in itself or laterally deflected. This assures that the piston and cylinder unit cannot be flexed transversely of its elongation which would lead to fluid leakage from the unit or even to outright damage to or destruction of this unit.

The means for counteracting the force tending to move the frame means during operation in direction of the arrow y about the axis of the shaft 1 include further a bracket 30 comprising a plate 31 adapted to abut with a face thereof against a corresponding face of plate 25 of the torque arm 19 and carrying at the upper end thereof a plate 32 fixedly connected thereto by screws 32 or the like and having at opposite end edges thereof downwardly extending projections 34 so that the bracket 30 may be hooked onto one of the projections 25a of the bottom plate 25 of the torque arm 19 in the manner as best shown in FIG. 4, projects downwardly beyond the other projection 25a and is adapted to abut, with a side face thereof opposite to the side face abutting against the plate 25 of the torque arm 19, against one of the plurality of nuts which have to be tightened in the manner as best shown in FIGS. 1 and 4 so that the bracket 30 and the torque arm 19 connected thereto will prevent rotation of the frame means in the direction of the arrow y during operation of the cylinder-and-piston unit 11 for turning the ratchet wheel 3 in the direction of the arrow x during tightening or loosening of a threaded connector engaged in the cavity 18b of the socket 18.

The plate 31 of the bracket 30 is preferably connected to the bottom plate 25 of the torque arm by at least one screw bolt 35 threaded into an appropriately threaded bore 25a of the bottom plate 25. To permit the reaction arm to be varied, the plate 25 is advantageously provided with at least two of the bores 25a, spaced from one another lengthwise of the tool (see FIG. 2) so that, depending upon into which one of the bores 25a the bolt 35 is threaded, the plate 31 will be located farther forward or farther backward, as considered in the longitudinal direction of the tool.

The reaction force P between the nut N and the lower end of the plate 31 imparts to the torque arm 19 also a twisting force tending to twist the torque arm 19 about an axis normal to the axis of the member 1, however, this twisting force is imparted to the sturdy member 1 and due to the spherical abutment faces of the cavity 27 in the block 26 of the torque arm and the corresponding spherical face of the member 28 such twisting force is not transmitted to the cylinder-and-piston unit 11 or to any other of the members of the aforementioned frame means so that the pivotal connection established by the pin 8 between the arms of the first lever 4 and the piston rod 10 and the other pivotal connection between the stud shafts 14 and the arms 15a of the second lever 15 are not subjected to any twisting force which would detrimentally effect the free pivotal movement of the pin 8 or the stud shafts 14 in the corresponding openings of the first and second lever. This will assure trouble-free operation of the wrench according to the present invention and especially reduce wear on the various elements thereof.

Preferably, the wrench includes also means for maintaining the pawl 6 against the force of the spring 7 out of engagement with the teeth of the ratchet wheel 3. Such means may include a pin 36 pivotally mounted in appropriate bores of the arms 4a of the first lever 4 and projecting with opposite ends beyond these arms and carrying between the arms 4a a lateral rounded projection 37 adapted to engage in a corresponding cutout 6' on the end face of the pawl 6 opposite the tip thereof which is adapted to engage the teeth of the ratchet wheel 3 and a pair of levers 38 are connected to the projecting ends of the pin 36, respectively, so that when the pin 36 and the projection 37 thereon are turned by means of the levers 38 in counterclockwise direction, the projection 37 will engage the cutout 6' on the pawl 6 to turn the latter from the full line position shown in FIG. 2 to the dash-dotted line position to thereby maintain the tip of the pawl 6 out of engagement with the teeth of the ratchet wheel. This will permit to turn the ratchet wheel 3 and the member 1 with the socket 18 attached thereto independently of the operation of the cylinder-and-piston unit 11 so that the shaft means 1, 2 may be turned quickly at the start of the operation of the wrench, for instance by attaching a nut runner or similar fast operating turning means to the member 1 for which purpose the upper end of the member 1 is formed with a square cavity 1".

The lengths of the levers 4 and 15 as well as that of the cylinder-and-piston unit 11 and the pivotal connection of the latter to the ends of the levers 4 and 15 is chosen in such a manner that the angle .alpha. included between a line a connecting the center of the ratchet wheel 3 with the center of the pivot pin 8 and the center line b of the cylinder-and-piston unit 11 is substantially 90.degree. at a position of the cylinder-and-piston unit 11 midway between the end of the forward and the return stroke of the latter. This will assure that the torque applied to the member 1, respectively to the socket 18 connected thereto and the nut or the like engaged in the cavity 18b of the socket will be substantially constant during the operation of the wrench.

FIGS. 6 and 7 partially illustrate a modification of the above-described hydraulic wrench. Elements serving the same purpose as in the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1-5 are designated in FIGS. 6 and 7 with the same reference numeral to which a prime is added. The main difference between the first embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 1-5 and the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 6 and 7 is that the latter embodiment includes instead of a single ratchet wheel 3, a central ratchet wheel 40 and two additional ratchet wheels 41 mounted on the member 1' to opposite sides of the central ratchet wheel 40 and correspondingly, this modification includes also three ratchet pawls, that is a central ratchet pawl 6a and two lateral ratchet pawls 6b pivotally mounted on the pin 5'. Each of the ratchet wheels 40 and 41 has the same number of teeth 40' and 41', respectively, but the teeth of the outside ratchet wheels 41' are angularly displaced through half a pitch with regard to the teeth 40' of the central ratchet wheel 40. The cylinder-and-piston unit 11, not shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, but operatively connected to the arms 4a' of the first lever and the arms 15a' of the second lever, in the manner as described before, can operate with half of the stroke of the cylinder-and-piston unit 11 shown in the embodiment described in connection with FIGS. 1-5. At the end of one forward stroke of the piston rod 10' of the cylinder-and-piston unit the tip of the central pawl 6a will engage the radial face of a corresponding tooth 40' of the central ratchet 40 to turn the latter in the direction of the arrow x, whereas the pawls 6b for the outside ratchets 41 will slide over the corresponding tips of the teeth 41'.At the end of the rearward or inward stroke of the piston rod 10' the tips of the pawl 6b will engage the radial face of corresponding teeth 41' of the outside ratchet wheel 41, whereas the tip of the central ratchet pawl 6a will be lifted out of engagement with the radial face of the corresponding tooth 40'. The small stroke at which the cylinder and piston unit may be operated with the embodiment shown in FIGS. 4 and 7 will assure that the angle .alpha. included between the lines a and b will deviate at the end of the forward and rearward stroke of the piston rod 10' only by a very small increment from the desired angle of 90.degree. so that the torque applied to the member 1', the socket 18, not shown in FIG. 6, connected thereto and the nut or the like engaged in the cavity of the socket will remain substantially constant since the angle .alpha. included between the lines a and b will vary only to a minimum degree during the forward and rearward stroke of the piston rod 10'. In the modification shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, four annular members 2a and 2b are mounted on the square member 1' and in this modification the side plates 20' of the torque arm 19 only partially shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 are mounted on the inner members 2b, whereas the arms 4a' and 15a' of the first and second lever are mounted on the outer annular members 2a. The central ratchet 40 is preferably held by a set screw 43 on the member 1' and the outer annular members 2a may also be held by corresponding set screws, not shown in FIG. 5. This arrangement preferably includes annular spacer members 42 on the pin 5' between the central pawl 6a and the outside pawls 6b.

The conduits for feeding pressure fluids into and out of the cylinder 13 of the cylinder-and-piston unit 11 to reciprocate the piston rod 10 or 10' between a forward and a rearward stroke are not shown in the drawing, since such an arrangement is well known in the art. Such an arrangement including appropriate valves and fluid pressure actuated switches is for instance shown in the copending application Ser. No. 498,246 filed Aug. 16, 1974, and assigned to the same assignee.

The operation of the above-described hydraulic wrench will be obvious from the description thereof. When a nut or similar threaded connector has to be tightened or loosened, the nut is engaged in the socket portion 18b and the whole frame comprising the levers 4 and 15 with the cylinder and piston unit 11 connected thereto is then turned preferably while the pawl or pawls are disengaged from the teeth of the ratchet wheel or wheels until the side face of the plate 31 of the bracket 30 engages the head of a nut or similar projection adjacent to the nut to be tightened as shown in FIG. 1. Subsequently thereto the cylinder and piston unit 11 is actuated to turn the ratchet wheel or ratchet wheels and the shaft means connected thereto in the direction as indicated by the arrow x to tighten the nut on the corresponding bolt, and the cylinder-and-piston unit 11 may be automatically deactivated by the abovementioned arrangement upon application of a maximum torque to the nut to be tightened.

According to a further, highly advantageous embodiment of the invention which is shown in FIG. 8, the plate 31 shown in FIG. 2 can be modified. Instead of plate 31 being rectangular, which is the case in FIG. 2, the plate--identified with reference numeral 31a in FIG. 8--may be in form of a parallellogram, i.e., its side edges may be angled at about 20.degree. with reference to the side edge (shown in phantom lines) rectangular plate 31 of FIG. 2.

This embodiment as shown in FIG. 8, allows for a large range of adjustments of the reaction member so as to reach out to any stationary object to the nut which is to be tightened or loosened, and against which object the reaction member is intended to bear.

This range of adjustability results not only from the fact that bolt 35 can be threaded with either of the two tapped bores 25a in member 25 (see FIG. 2), but because the plate 31a of FIG. 8 can be installed in the position shown in solid lines or, by reversing it side for side, in the position shown in broken lines. The bores 25a may be spaced from one another by e.g. 1.5 inches; if so, the use of the plate 31a in conjunction with the bores 25a increases the range over which the reaction member can reach out towards a stationary object, both outward from and inwardly towards the rotation axis, by about 3 inches. These dimensions could of course be varied and are exemplary only.

One of the inherent difficulties encountered in the use of hydraulic ratchet wrenches is the tendency for the tool to "back off", or attempt to release itself from the reaction point once a power stroke is completed. This can be due to the release of force and/or tension exerted on the socket drive, the use of loose or abused sockets, or the weight of the tool itself. In many cases, this "backing off" can prevent the ratcheting mechanism from functioning properly by not engaging a successive ratchet tooth or slot. The previous method used to counteract this problem was for the operator to attempt to hold the wrench tightly against the reaction point at the completion of a power stroke and during the ensuing return of the ram. This was not a satisfactory solution, especially in cases where accessibility or excessive wind-up was a factor.

The embodiment of FIG. 9 overcomes the problem by providing a back-up pawl 90 which acts to hold the wrench firmly against its reaction point at the completion of a power stroke and as the ram returns, allowing the wrench to continually ratchet successfully without operator assistance.

The locking or back-up pawl 90 is mounted on the forward pin 16 and located in such a position as to engage with the ratchet wheel 3 immediately before the completion of a power stroke, preventing any backward movement of the ratchet wheel, thereby insuring firm contact with the reaction point until the wrench ratchets successfully and begins another power stroke, at which time the pawl 90 will disengage. To assure proper engagement with the teeth 3a, pawl 90 is spring-loaded, advantageously by means of a shaped leaf spring 91 one end of which engages the rear end of pawl 90 and the other end of which engages a pin or detent 92 on the wrench structure.

The locking pawl 90 "locks" the wrench into place only at the appropriate times, and cannot accidently remain engaged when a tightening process is completed and the wrench is to be removed. The reason for this lies in the slope of the power curve. At the completion of a power stroke, at which time the locking pawl 90 engages, the actual power being exerted is somewhat less than at the beginning of the power stroke when the force builds to its maximum. Therefore, once the locking pawl 90 has been engaged with wheel 3 at the end of a stroke, it will always disengage at the initial stage of the following stroke, releasing the unit and allowing it to be removed.

It will be understood that each of the elements described above, or two or more together, may also find a useful application in other types of hydraulically operated wrenches, differing from the types described above.

While the invention has been illustrated and described as embodied in a hydraulic operated wrench, it is not intended to be limited to the details shown, since various modifications and structural changes may be made without departing in any way from the spirit of the present invention.

Without further analysis, the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist of the present invention that others can by applying current knowledge readily adapt it for various applications without omitting features that, from the standpoint of prior art, fairly constitute essential characteristics of the generic or specific aspects of this invention.