US2190081A - Coupling - Google Patents

Description

Feb. 13, 1940. E. M. PFAUSER COUPLING Filed Jan. 22, 1938 AT TORNEYQ Patented Feb. 13, 1940 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE COUPLING Edward M. Pfauser, Elm Grove, Wis., assignor to Blackhawk Mfg. 00., Milwaukee, Wis., a corporation of Wisconsin Application January 22, 1938, Serial No. 186,288

2 Claims.

My present invention relates generally to improvements in coupling assemblages, and relates more specifically to improvements in the construction of detachable couplings especially 5 adapted for attachment of a tool such as a wrench socket to a manipulating or driving member.

Generally defined, an object of this invention is to provide an improved coupling which is simple, compact and durable in construction, and

which is also highly effective in use. i

i It has heretofore been proposed, as shown and described in my prior Patent No. 1,927,844,

granted September 26, 1933, to provide a detachable coupling for socket wrenches or the like,

comprising a spring pressed plunger slidably confined within a recess in the shank or driving member and cooperating with a transverse open- I ing in the wrench socket or driven member. As shown and described in my prior reissue Patent No. Re. 19,287, granted August 2, 1934, it has also been proposed to provide a manually manipulable releasing button or plunger in the transverse opening of the wrench socket for effecting detachment of the coupling, and while both of these prior features have proven highly satisfactory and successful in actual commercial use, the assemblages have been rather diflicult to manufacture and assemble, especially in the smaller sizes, primarily becauseof the method used to confine the locking and release elements in place. In these prior assemblages, it has been customary to retain the locking and release elements or plungers within their confining recesses 1 or openings, by providing enlarged portions on i the plungers and by peening the metal of the shank and socket over these enlarged plunger portions so as to provide plunger retaining abutments. If the plungers are assembled before w l heat treatment of the parts, the plunger actuating springs are detrimentally afiected by the heat treatment, and scale will also form in the relatively inaccessible plunger confining pockets and will thus interfere with operation of the locking and release mechanism. If these plungers are assembled after the drive shank and wrench socket have been heat treated, it becomes difl'icult to peen the hardened metal without chipping or marring unless the heat treatment is undesir- FH ably restricted; but such application of the spring and plungers after heat treating, is most desirable because these parts are then unaffected by the heat treatment, sand blasting and plating, and the carrier members may be more readily cleaned and polished. y

It is therefore a more specific object of my present invention to provide an improved coupling assemblage of the abovedescribed general type, wherein the spring and plungers may be most conveniently applied within their confining recesses, after heat treatment of the confining parts or members has been effected.

Another specific object of my invention is the provision of an improved detachable coupling assemblage which is applicable to driving and I0 in socketed members having minimum external diameter, thus not only making it possible to use such tools in close quarters but also saving material in the manufacture of the sockets.

An additional specific object of my invention is to provide a spring pressed locking assemblage for couplings or the like, which can be conven- B0 iently assembled, or dismantledfor replacement of the spring and plungers, and which may be applied after the carrier members have been completely finished.

These and other specific objects and adVan. tages will be apparent from the following detailed description.

A clear conception of an embodiment of the invention, and of the mode of constructing and of utilizing couplings manufactured in accordance with the improvementmay be had by referring to the drawing accompanying and forming a part of this specification wherein like reference characters designate the same parts in the various views. 1

Fig. 1 is a central longitudinal section through a wrench socket and a. fragment of a driving shank, showing theseparts coupled and locked,

together with the aid of one of my improved, coupling assemblages, and the section being a, three-fold enlargement of the particular commercial device from which it was reproduced;

Fig. 2 is a similar section through the same assemblage, showing the release plunger depressed preparatory to removal of the socket from the shank;

Fig. 3 is another similar section through the assemblage, showing the release plunger still depressed and the socket slipped partially off the shank;

Fig. 4 is still another similar section through the assemblage, showing the socket moved outwardly a distance sufficient to partially release the locking plunger;

Fig. 5 is an end View of the wrench socket alone, looking into the driving end thereof;

Fig. 6 is an opposite end view of the wrench socket; V

Fig. 7 is a transverse section'through the assemblage, taken along the line T-l of Fig. 3; and

Fig. 8 is a longitudinal section through a modified coupling assemblage.

While the invention has been shown herein as being applied to parts drawn to a relatively large scale in order to clearly illustrate the construction, it will be understood that in actual practice these parts may be either larger or much smaller in dimensions. than shown, and has actually been embodied in very small and compact assemblages. Although I have shown the invention herein. as being especially applicable to couplings for connecting a wrench socket to a driving shank of polygonal formation, it is not the intention to thereby unnecessarily restrict the scope.

Referring to Figs. 1 to '7 inclusive of the drawing, the improved coupling assemblage shown therein comprises in general, a shank member 9 having a square shank ill at its extreme end. and an abutment flange H at the inner end of the shank Ill, the shank being provided between its ends with a recess l2 the central axis of which is disposed at an oblique angle relative to the longitudinal axis of the member 9'; a socket member l3 having at one end a wrench socket [4 formed for coaction with polygonal or serrated nuts and bolt heads, and having its opposite end provided with a square socket l5 formed for free reception of the shank l0 and provided with a transverse bore or through opening I6 the central axis of which extends approximately perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the member i3; a locking element or plunger ll having an enlarged hollow inner portion 58 slidable within the recess l2, and a reduced solid outer portion movable outwardly beyond the bounding surface of the shank ill and into the opening it by means of a helical compression spring I9 confined within the recess l2 and plunger portion [8; a release button or plunger 2!! having inner and outer portions of substantially the same diameter separated by a flange 21, the inner portion 22 being slidable in the opening it toward and away from the solid outer portion of the locking plunger l7; and retaining bushings or collars 23, M for maintaining the plungers I1, 26 in their respective confining cavities.

While the shank iii of the member 9 and the socket 15 of the member l3 are shown as being square in cross-section, these interfitting parts may obviously be of any other polygonal or interlocking formation, and are normally adapted to transmit motion from one member to the other. The end of the socket member adjoining the socket i5, may be provided with a chamfer 25 for depressing the locking plunger H as shown in Fig. 4 when the socket member I3 is being applied to the shank it of the member 9, but this chamfer is not essential and may be omitted. When the members 9,- l3 have been coupled together, the socket member I3 is movable to a slight extent along the shank I!) so as to insure a contact between the chamfered end of the member l3 and the flange I l as illustrated in Fig. 1. The bushings or collars 23, 24 may be of like construction and formed of sheet metal, and each of these collars has an annular inwardly projecting integral flange 26. The interior of the collar 23 may have the same. diameter as the reoess I2 and the flange 26 of this collar 23 is cooperable with the abutment formed by the enlarged plunger portion E8 of the locking plunger I! to limit the outward motion of this plunger. The interior of the collar 24 is of slightly larger diameter than the flange 2i of the releasing plunger and the flange 26 of this collar 24 is cooperable with the flange 2| so as to limit the outward movement of the plunger 20, while the abutment formed by the reduced bore l6 limits the inward motion of this plunger. The sleeve collars 23, 2d are press fitted within their receiving bores in the members 9, l3, respectively, and thus enable application of the spring 19 and plungers ll, 29 after they members 9,13 have been finally heat treated and finished. Referring to the modified coupling assemblag shown in Fig. 8, this assemblage again comprises in general a shank member 9 having a square shank Ill and a flange l I adjoining the shank Ill, this shank having an inclined recess t2 of uniform diameter throughout its, depth; a socket member 93 provided with a square socket l5 formed for free reception of the shank Ill and being provided with a transversebore iii of uni' form diameter extending substantially perpendicular to the axis of the member It; a hollow locking element or plunger ll having an enlarged external flange l8 and being movable outwardly by means of a compression spring W; a release element or plunger 2% having an enlarged external flange 2!; and retaining bushings. or coll'ars 23, 24 within which the flanges 18, 2| are slidable. In this modified assemblage, the chamfer has been omitted, and the plunger retaining collars 23, 2d are provided with inwardly projecting'fianges 26 at both. ends thereof as by spinning or otherwise distorting. theseends. The plungers ll, 2!] of the modified form are axially slidable directly within their confining collars 23, 2d and the flanges I8, 2| are cooperable with the opposite end flanges 25 of these collars, respectively, to limit the travel or movement of the plungers. In this modified construction, the recess l2 and opening or bore it may be formed by a simple drilling operation and may be more readily cleaned after the heat treatment has been I effected. The collars 23, 24 may be pressed into the recess l2 and bore l6, and the modified structure may be assembled ordismantled, and functions precisely the same as the embodiment shown in Figs. 1 to '7 inclusive.

When manufacturing the improved. couplings of both embodiments, the members 9, 13 are first machined, heat treated, sand blasted and plated or polished, before the plungers ll, 20 are applied thereto. By thus finishing these members before application of the plungers they may be properly heat treated and the recess l2 and opening it may be thoroughly cleaned preparatory to application of the plungers. The springv l9, locking plunger ll, and collar 23 may then be inserted within the recess !2-, the retaining collar 23 being pressed within its receiving bore so as to maintain the locking plunger assemblagev in place. The spring l9 will then tend to force the operation enables reduction of the shank ill to l 5 may be applied to the shank I0 and the member l3 may be slipped rearwardly toward the flange H on the member ll). As the chamfer 25 engages the projecting plunger I! andthe rearward movement of the socket member I3 is continued, the plunger ll will be forced inwardly as indicated in Fig. 4. Continued inward movement of the member l3 will cause the plunger I! to remain in the position shown in Fig. 3 until the plunger ll reaches the opening l6, whereupon the spring l2 will become effective to move the plunger I! and the plunger 20 outwardly into the position shown in Fig. 1; The members 9, l3 will then be ,locked together and rotary motion may be imparted from the driving member 9 to the socket member l3 in any suitable manner.

In order to release the lock, it is only necessary to manually press the plunger 20 inwardly to the position shown in Fig. 2 so as to push the locking plunger ll out of the opening l6. The sleeve l3 may then be pulled outwardly as shown in Fig. 3 and may be subsequently pulled outwardly to a greater extent so as to gradually release the locking plunger I! as indicated in Fig. 4. It will thus be noted that the improved locking mechanism may be utilized to automatically lock the members 9, l3 together, and may be quickly released to unlock these members by merely pressing the release plunger 20.

From the foregoing descriptionit will be apparent that the provision of locking and release plungers which may be applied to the coupling members afterheat treatment and final finishing thereof, facilitates manufacture of the assemblage and enables more perfect heat treatment of the driving and'driven members. This application of the plungers after heat treatment of the coupling members also permits more effective, finishing of the members by sand blasting, buffing or plating, without interference by the locking and release plungers. The use of the retain-' ing collars Z3, 24 also insures production, of a neater finalasseniblage and permits application of these locking and release plungers to small shank and-socket members than was heretofore possible. The collars 23, 24' while being driven into their retaining bores, may if necessary be removed to permit replacement of the plungers ll, 20 and of the spring I9. The collars 23, 24 may obviously be formed either as shown in Figs. 1 to 7 inclusive, or as shown in Fig. 8, or in any other manner which will accomplish the same results; and the improvement will obviously permit reduction of the diameter of the rear portion of the socket member l3 to a minimum by virtue of the fact that obviation of the prior peening minimum cross-section. As previously indicated,

the chamfer 25 is not essential, and the locking I plunger I! may obviously be modified in shape and may even be replaced by a ball lock. The

assemblage has proven highly practical and successful in actual commercial use, andthe locking elements may be applied at moderate cost.

It should be understood that it is not desired to limit this invention to the exact details of construction or to the precise mode of operation herein shown and described, for various modifications within the scope of theclaims may occur to persons skilled in the art;

I claim:

1. In a device comprising an outer member having an opening, aninner member movable longitudinally within said opening, one of said members having a transverse bore and the other having a recess alineable with the open end of said bore, and a .detent plunger slidable in said bore and being engageable with said recess to hold said members assembled; the improvement comprising the formation of said bore with enlarged diameter at its. end adjacent said recess,

the formation of said detent plunger with large and small diameters separated by an abutment and with the portion of larger "diameter slidably coacting with said bore portion of smallest diameter while the portion of smallest diameter. is cooperable with said recess to latch the members together, and a guiding and retaining collar, for

the plunger snugly fitted within said bore portion of larger diameter and havingan inner diameter approximately equal to and alineable with the bore portion of smallest diameter so as to also slidably coact'with said plunger portion of largest diameter, said collar having an inwardlyprojecting integral flange at its outer end with which said plunger portion of smallest diameter is constantly slidably cooperable and whichflange is engageable with said abutment to limit the outward movement of the plunger. i l

- 2. In a device comprising an outermember having an opening, an inner member movable longitudinally within said; opening, saidmembers having alineable transverse recesses, a detent element slidable in one of said recesses and being 'cooperable with the other to latch said members assembled, and a release button element slidable in the other ,of said recesses j and being cooper-able with said detent element to release the latch; the improvement comprising the formation of one of said recesses with a portion of enlarged diameter, the formation of the slidable element therein with large and small diameters separated byan abutment,xand a guiding and retaining collar for said element snugly fitted within said recess portion .of larger diameter and slidably, embracing said elementiportion of largest diameter, said collar having an inwardly projecting integral end flange with which said element portionof smallest diameter is constantly slidably cooperable and which flange is engageable with said abutmentto limit the movement of said element.

, EDWARD M. PFAUSER.

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