Rotary hammer

[0002] This invention relates to rotary hammers, and, in particular to hammers that incorporate an air cushion hammering mechanism.

[0003] Such hammers will normally include a tool holder that can hold a hammer bit or chisel bit for acting on a workpiece, and an air cushion hammering mechanism which comprises a piston and a beat piece that are slidably located in a cylinder so that reciprocation of the piston in the cylinder will cause the beat piece to hit a bit located in the tool holder. Such hammers may, however, be employed in more than one mode. For example a hammer may be capable of being employed in a hammer only or so-called “chiselling” mode in which the piston reciprocates within the cylinder in order to cause the beat piece to hit the bit without any rotation of the tool, or alternatively a drilling only mode in which the cylinder may form part of a spindle connected to the tool holder and is caused to rotate about the piston, thereby causing the bit inserted in the tool holder to rotate. The hammer may also be capable of being employed in a combination rotary hammer mode in which the piston reciprocates within the cylinder causing the beat piece to hit the bit while at the same time the cylinder rotates about the axis of the piston, thereby causing the bit to rotate.

[0004] As an example, one such hammer is described in WO 98/47670. This hammer has a drive motor that is arranged with its armature shaft at right angles to the axis of the hammer spindle, and has a single switching mechanism that can switch the hammer between pure rotation, pure chiselling and combination rotation and chiselling modes. The armature shaft of an electric motor is coupled to a drive shaft on which is mounted one end of crank arm that causes the piston to reciprocate within a horizontally oriented cylinder when the drive shaft rotates. The piston is linked to a ram also located in the cylinder by means of an air gap so that reciprocation of the piston causes the ram to reciprocate and to hit a beat piece located forward of the ram, thereby causing the beat piece to impact the rear end of the bit that is inserted in the tool holder. The mode of operation may be changed by means of a switch into a rotary mode in which the piston crank is decoupled from the drive shaft, and instead the cylinder is caused to rotate about the piston, ram and beat piece, thereby causing the bit to rotate in the tool holder. By moving the switch to a third position, the piston can be caused to reciprocate while the cylinder rotates, thereby putting the bit into rotary hammering or chiselling mode.

[0005] The various reciprocating parts of the hammer, and in particular the ram, must be sealed within the cylinder against pressure differences occurring on different sides thereof while at the same time being able to move within the cylinder. This has, however, been the cause of a number of problems: Generally such seals have been formed as an annulus of an elastomeric material located within a groove, which annulus sits slightly proud of the surface of the ram in order to seal the ram within the cylinder. In addition, the seal and/or the inner surface of the cylinder must be provided with a coating of grease in order to maintain the seal. However, reciprocation of the ram within the cylinder will gradually wipe the grease away from the region of the seal and so reduce the sealing effect of the seal and increase frictional heating of the seal in the cylinder due to the reciprocation of the ram.

[0006] The present invention is characterised in that the ram has an annular recess in its peripheral surface at the end thereof nearest the piston, in which recess is located an annular seal, the annular seal having an annular seating flap lying on the radially outwardly directed surface of the recess and an annular sealing flap that is joined to the seating flap and extends between the radially outwardly directed surface of the recess and the inner wall of the cylinder.

[0007] The use of such a form of seal on the ram has the advantage that it is possible for the seal to act without the necessity of any grease which can be lost from the sealing area by reciprocation of the ram in the cylinder. The sealing flap is preferably joined to the seating flap at the forward end thereof (in the direction of use of the hammer) and preferably extends between the radially outwardly directed surface of the recess and the inner wall of the cylinder at an acute angle to the seating flap. Such an arrangement means that an overpressure in the region between the piston and the ram will tend to force the sealing flap against the inner wall of the cylinder and so improve the sealing effect of the annular seal. Such an overpressure is caused by forward movement of the piston toward the ram and can be very high since it is this that drives the ram to impact the beat piece. When the piston moves rearwardly, i.e. away from the ram, a partial vacuum is formed in the region between the piston and the ram which causes the ram to move rearwardly toward the piston. The difference in pressure between the forward and rear ends of the ram when the ram moves rearwardly must also be sealed by the ram, but in this instance the pressure difference attempts to move the sealing flap away from the inner wall of the cylinder rather than toward it. Such a pressure difference, however, is never more than one bar, and so the sealing flap can be designed to have sufficient resistance to deformation to withstand such a pressure.

[0008] Preferably the seating flap extends axially along the ram by substantially the same distance as the sealing flap. This will reduce the possibility of the seating flap being forced out of position by deformation of the seal caused by any pressure acting on the sealing flap.

[0009] The provision of an annular recess in the rear of the ram will, in the absence of any other modifications, increase the volume of the region between the piston and the ram when the two are at their closest separation, and hence reduce the air pressure in the region between them. This would have the effect of reducing the transmission of force from the piston and the ram, and so the piston preferably has a face that is oriented toward the ram that has a shape that complements the profile of the end of the ram that is directed toward the piston. For example, and preferably, the piston has a ridge that extends around the periphery of the face that is directed toward the ram and which can extend into the recess in the ram when the piston and the ram reach the point of closest approach.

[0010] One form of rotary hammer according to the present invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

[0011] FIG. 1 shows, partly broken open and in section, a rotary hammer;

[0012] FIG. 2 shows part of the hammer of FIG. 1 in greater detail.

[0013] Referring to the accompanying drawings, a rotary hammer, described in more detail in WO 98/47670, and in U.S. application Ser. No. 09/060,395, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference, has a hammer housing 1, made up in the usual way of several components, which forms a gripping portion 3 at its rear end, so that a customary switch actuator 5 for switching the electric motor 6 on and off projects into a grip opening 4 which is defined at its rear side by the gripping portion 3. In the rear lower portion of the hammer housing 1, a mains lead which serves to connect the rotary hammer to a power source, is led out.

[0014] Located in the upper portion of the rotary hammer in FIG. 1 is an inner housing 1′, formed of half-shells and made from cast aluminium or the like, which extends forwards out of the rotary hammer housing 1 and in which the hammer spindle 8 is rotatably housed. The rear end of the latter forms the guide tube or cylinder 8′, provided in known manner with vent apertures, for a pneumatic or air cushion hammer mechanism, and at the front end of which the customary tool holder 2 is held. The hammer mechanism contains a piston 9 formed from an engineering plastics material such as nylon 4,6 or nylon 6,6 which may contain a small quantity of polytetrafluoroethylene in order to aid sliding within the cylinder. The piston 9 is coupled, via a trunnion 11 housed in it and a crank arm 12, with a crank pin 15 which sits eccentrically on the upper plate-shaped end 14 of a drive shaft 13. A reciprocating movement of the piston 9 is carried out to alternately create a vacuum and an over-pressure in front of it, in order to move the ram 10 situated in the cylinder 8′ correspondingly, so that this transmits impacts onto the beat piece 21, which passes them on to the rear end of a hammer bit or chisel bit, not represented, which is inserted into the tool holder 2. This mode of operation and the structure of a pneumatic or air cushion hammer mechanism are, as already mentioned, known per se.

[0015] The electric motor 6 is arranged in the hammer housing 1 in such a way that its armature shaft 7 extends perpendicularly to the longitudinal axis of the hammer spindle 8 and the tool holder 2, the longitudinal axis of the armature shaft 7 preferably lying in a plane with the longitudinal axis of the hammer spindle 8 and tool holder 2. At the upper end of the armature shaft 7 in FIG. 1 a pinion 7′ is formed which meshes with a gear wheel 18 which sits rotatably on the drive shaft 13 for the hammer mechanism. The pinion 7′ also meshes with a gear wheel 23 which is arranged on the side of the armature shaft 7 lying opposite the drive shaft 13 and is non-rotatably secured on a shaft 22 rotatably housed in the housing 1′. At the upper end of the shaft 22 a bevel gear is formed, which meshes with the bevel toothing 16′ of a drive sleeve 16 which sits rotatably via a schematically indicated friction bearing, but axially non-displaceably on the hammer spindle 8 or on its rear part forming the guide tube 8′ for the hammer mechanism. A coupling sleeve 17 is arranged, axially displaceable but non-rotatable as a result of engagement with a splined section on the outer surface of the hammer spindle 8, on the hammer spindle 8 in front of the drive sleeve 16. This coupling sleeve 17 can be displaced between a position in which it is in positive engagement, via teeth or projections formed at its rear end, with corresponding teeth or projections at the front end of the drive sleeve 17, and a forwardly displaced position in which there is no engagement between it and the drive sleeve 16. A helical spring 30′ loads the coupling sleeve 17 in the direction of the drive sleeve 16. The result of this spring loading is that, upon movement of the coupling sleeve 17 in the direction of the positive engagement with the drive sleeve 16 and a concomitant blocking of the positive engagement by abutment of the end faces of the projections or teeth of the coupling sleeve 17 against the end face of the projections or teeth of the drive sleeve 16, a positive engagement is then automatically established when there is a relative twisting of the coupling sleeve 17 and the drive sleeve 16, say because the shaft 22 rotates the drive sleeve 16.

[0016] As can be seen, a rotation of the armature shaft 7 via the gear wheel 23 and the bevel toothing of the shaft 22 causes a rotation of the drive sleeve 16 and, when there is a positive engagement between this and the coupling sleeve 17, also a rotation of the hammer spindle 8 and thus of the tool holder 2. Accordingly, in the absence of a positive engagement between the drive sleeve 16 and the coupling sleeve 17, the hammer spindle 8 is not rotated despite rotation of the drive sleeve 16. If, rather, the coupling sleeve 17 with its protrusions which are provided at the front end-area and project radially outwards enter into a positive engagement with corresponding recesses in the housing-fixed zone 24, the result is a position of the coupling sleeve 17, and thus of the hammer spindle 8 including the tool holder 2, which is locked against rotation. This mode of operation of the coupling sleeve 17 is known.

[0017] To drive the hammer mechanism, the gear wheel 18 driven by the pinion 7′ of the armature shaft 7 is coupled with the drive shaft 13 in a manner described in detail in WO 98/47670, so that the crank pin 15 performs a circular movement which creates, via the crank arm 12, the reciprocating movement of the piston 9 in the guide tube 8′ of the hammer mechanism. This type of drive is also known in rotary hammers in which the armature shaft 7 of the drive motor 6 lies perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the hammer spindle 8 and the tool holder 2.

[0018] To switch between the individual operating modes of the rotary hammer, the hammer has a single switching element (not shown) which acts as described in WO 98/47670.

[0019] The piston 9 is shown in more detail in FIG. 2, and is provided with a peripheral groove 26 in which is located an annular seal 27 in the form of an O-ring made from a relatively temperature-resistant elastomer such as that sold by DuPont under the tradename “Viton”. The seal 27 is in the form of a “floating” O-ring having, in its unstrained state, an inner diameter that is slightly greater than the diameter of the outwardly directed surface of the groove, preferably by about 1.0 mm, and an outer diameter that is also about 1.0 mm greater than the diameter of the piston. The groove 26 has an axial dimension that is about 0.3 to 0.4 mm greater than that of the seal 27. The difference in dimensions of the seal 27 and the groove 26 is exaggerated in FIG. 2 for the sake of clarity. These dimensions cause the seal to rotate about the piston 9 when the hammer is operated in drilling only mode without frictional heating of the seal against the groove walls. When the hammer is operated in chiselling mode in which the piston 9 reciprocates within the cylinder without rotation of the cylinder, the seal will provide a satisfactory seal against the over and under-pressure of the air in the gap between the piston 9 and the ram 10 but will not cause any frictional heating within the piston 9 because there will be no rotational movement between the seal 27 and the piston 9. The seal 27 is approximately 1 mm oversize, that is to say approximately of 1 mm greater outer diameter than the piston in order to provide a seal when the direction of movement of the piston changes each cycle. When the hammer is operated in combined rotary hammer mode in which the piston 9 reciprocates within the cylinder 8′ and the cylinder rotates about the piston, the seal 27 will rotate about the piston but at a lower speed than the cylinder, and so generating less heat within the piston.

[0020] In order to provide a seal between the ram 10 which is shown in more detail in FIG. 2 and the internal surface of the cylinder 8′ with reduced friction, the ram 10 is provided with a seal 30 formed from polytetrafluoroethylene and located in a recess 31 at the rear end thereof. The seal 30 is generally annular in shape and the annulus has a substantially “L” shaped cross-section, i.e. having a generally cylindrical annular seating flap 36 that can be positioned against the inner circumferential surface of the recess and a generally frusto-conical sealing flap 38 that is flexibly joined thereto at the front edge (in the direction of use of the hammer) so that it extends between the ram 10 and the cylinder at an acute angle to the seating flap 36, in order to seal the two against an overpressure in the region between the piston 9 and the ram 10 (hereinafter referred to as an “L”-ring seal). The seal is formed from a relatively resiliently undeformable material (in this case polytetrafluoroethylene) so that it cannot be located in a groove in the ram but must be slipped over the rear end of the ram into the recess. The recess may be provided with a small raised ridge at its rearward end in order to prevent the seal 30 slipping off the ram 10.

[0021] This form of seal will provide an effective seal against leakage of air from the region between the piston 9 and ram 10 when the piston moves forwardly causing a large overpressure in the region (which is necessary in order to impart a high impulse to the ram 10), by virtue of the fact that the overpressure tends to force the annular flap 38 into contact with the inner wall of the cylinder 8′. When the piston 9 moves rearwardly, a partial vacuum is formed in the region between the piston and ram which can be sealed by the resistance to deformation of the seal 30 since the pressure difference across the seal in this case will not exceed 1 bar.

[0022] In view of the presence of the recess 31 and the “L”-shaped cross-sectioned seal 30, the rear surface of the ram is not planar. The forwardly directed face of the piston 9 is therefore provided with a forwardly directed ridge 32 extending around its peripheral region so that the forward face 33 of the piston generally complements the shape of the rearwardly directed end face 34 of the ram 10, and the ridge 32 can extend into the recess 31 when the piston and the ram are at their position of closest approach. The complementary shape of the faces 33 of the piston and 34 of the ram enables the volume of the air gap between the piston 9 and the ram 10 to be minimised, and the air pressure to be maximised, at the point of closest approach of the piston to the ram. This enables the greatest impulse to be transferred from the piston 9 to the ram 10 by the air cushion without the piston and the ram touching one another.