Fastening tool

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10994325-B2
Application number	US-201716472924-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 19, 2017
Priority date	Dec 28, 2016
Publication date	May 4, 2021
Grant date	May 4, 2021

Abstract

A fastening tool configured to fasten a workpiece via a multi-piece swage type fastener including a pin and a collar includes an anvil, a pin-gripping part, a driving mechanism, an electric motor, a control part and a housing. The driving mechanism is configured to move the pin-gripping part relative to the anvil in a first direction along an axis so as to cause the anvil to press the collar engaged with a shaft part of the pin in a second direction and in a radially inward direction. An operation mode of the driving mechanism can be selectively switched between a plurality of operation modes including a first mode, in which a process of fastening the workpiece is completed based on a state of the fastener, and a second mode, in which the process of fastening the workpiece is completed based on a driving state of the motor.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A fastening tool configured to fasten a workpiece via a multi-piece swage type fastener, the fastener including a pin and a hollow cylindrical collar, the pin including a shaft part and a head, the shaft part having a swaging groove, the head being integrally formed on one end of the shaft part, the collar being engageable with the shaft part, the fastening tool comprising:
an anvil configured to be engaged with the collar;
a pin-gripping part configured to grip the shaft part of the pin, the pin-gripping part being held by the anvil so as to be movable relative to the anvil along a specified axis;
a driving mechanism configured to move the pin-gripping part relative to the anvil along the axis;
an electric motor configured to drive the driving mechanism;
a control part configured to control operation of the driving mechanism via the motor; and
a housing configured to hold the anvil, the motor, the control part, and at least a portion of the driving mechanism being housed in the housing,

wherein:
the driving mechanism is configured to move the pin-gripping part relative to the anvil in a first direction along the axis so as to cause the anvil to press the collar engaged with the shaft part in a second direction opposite to the first direction and in a radially inward direction of the collar, thereby swaging the collar to the groove and fastening the workpiece by the head and the collar, and
an operation mode of the driving mechanism can be selectively switched between a plurality of operation modes, the operation modes including a first mode in which a process of fastening the workpiece is completed based on a state of the fastener and a second mode in which the process of fastening the workpiece is completed based on a driving state of the motor.

2. The fastening tool as defined in claim 1 , wherein:
the first mode is an operation mode for a breakage type fastener of which the shaft part has a small-diameter part for breakage, and
when the first mode is selected, the fastening process is completed when the pin is broken at the small-diameter part while a pintail is gripped by the pin-gripping part and separated from the pin, the pintail comprising a region of the shaft part on a side opposite to the head across the small-diameter part, and
the second mode is an operation mode for a non-breakage type fastener of which the shaft part does not have a small-diameter part for breakage, and
when the second mode is selected, the fastening process is completed while an end region of the shaft part remains gripped by the pin-gripping part and integrated with an other region of the shaft part.

3. The fastening tool as defined in claim 2 , further comprising:
a driving-state detecting part configured to detect the driving state of the motor, wherein:
the control part is configured to control the motor based on the driving state detected by the driving-state detecting part only when the second mode is selected, and thereby terminate a movement of the pin-gripping part in the first direction relative to the anvil via the driving mechanism to complete the fastening process.

4. The fastening tool as defined in claim 2 , further comprising:
a collection passage communicating with an internal passage and extending to an outlet formed in the housing, the internal passage being formed along the axis within the pin-gripping part, the separated pintail being capable of passing through the collection passage;
a container connection part provided around the outlet and configured such that a collection container is removably mounted thereto, the collection container being configured to store the pintail; and
a container detecting part configured to detect the collection container via the container connection part at least when the first mode is selected.

5. The fastening tool as defined in claim 4 , wherein:
the driving mechanism includes a ball-screw mechanism,

the ball-screw mechanism includes:
a screw shaft extending along the axis and held to be movable along the axis while rotation around the axis is restricted; and
a nut supported by the housing so as to be rotatable around the axis while movement in an extending direction of the axis is restricted, the nut being configured to be rotationally driven by the motor to move the screw shaft relative to the housing along the axis,
the pin-gripping part is directly or indirectly connected to the screw shaft,
the collection passage extends rearward from a front side of the fastening tool along the axis and at least partially extend within the screw shaft, and
the outlet is formed in a rear end portion of the housing.

6. The fastening tool as defined in claim 2 , wherein:
the anvil and the pin-gripping part form a nose assembly corresponding to a type of the fastener, and
the housing is configured such that a selected one of a nose assembly for the breakage type fastener and a nose assembly for the non-breakage type fastener is removably mounted to the housing.

7. The fastening tool as defined in claim 6 , further comprising:
a type detecting part configured to detect the type of the nose assembly mounted to the housing, and
the control part is configured to control operation of the driving mechanism according to the operation mode corresponding to the type of the nose assembly detected by the type detecting part.

8. The fastening tool as defined in claim 2 , wherein the control part is configured to apply a specified pulling force, which is larger than a force required to swage the collar to the groove and large enough to break the shaft part at the small-diameter part, to the pin-gripping part via the driving mechanism, when the first mode is selected, and thereafter complete the fastening process by terminating movement of the pin-gripping part in the first direction relative to the anvil.

9. The fastening tool as defined in claim 8 , wherein the control part is configured to move, via the driving mechanism, the pin-gripping part relative to the anvil in the first direction to a specified position in which a pulling force larger than the specified pulling force can be applied to the pin-gripping part.

10. The fastening tool as defined in claim 1 , further comprising:
an operation member configured to select any one of the operation modes according to external operation, wherein:
the control part is configured to control operation of the driving mechanism according to the operation mode selected via the operation member.

11. The fastening tool as defined in claim 10 , wherein:
the operation member is configured to set, in addition to selecting the operation mode, a threshold relating to the driving state of the motor as a condition of completion of the fastening process in the second mode,
the control part is configured to control the motor based on a result of comparison between the threshold set via the operation member and the driving state, when the second mode is selected, and thereby cause the driving mechanism to terminate movement of the pin-gripping part in the first direction relative to the anvil.

12. The fastening tool as defined in claim 1 , wherein the driving state of the motor is a driving current value of the motor.

13. The fastening tool as defined in claim 12 , wherein the control part is configured to complete the fastening process by terminating the movement of the pin-gripping part in the first direction relative to the anvil when the second mode is selected and the driving current value exceeds a specified threshold.

Assignees

• Makita Corp

Inventors

• Ikuta Hiroki
• Yabunaka Toshihito
• Kuroyanagi Takao

Classifications

• F16B19/08

  Hollow rivets; Multi-part rivets · CPC title

• B21J15/04

  Riveting hollow rivets mechanically · CPC title

• B21J15/285

  for controlling the rivet upset cycle · CPC title

• B21J15/36

  Rivet sets, i.e. tools for forming heads; Mandrels for expanding parts of hollow rivets · CPC title

• B21J15/105

  Portable riveters (pliers for riveting B21J15/386) · CPC title