Piston rail ring installer and method

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9463540-B2
Application number	US-201414302478-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 12, 2014
Priority date	Jun 12, 2014
Publication date	Oct 11, 2016
Grant date	Oct 11, 2016

Abstract

A ring installer and method for installing piston rings on a piston includes an axial pusher, a radial pusher and a translating device. The axial pusher axially moves a cartridge of piston rail rings to position an end rail ring of the piston rail rings into a preinstall position. The radial pusher radially enlarges the end rail ring to separate the end rail ring from the piston rail rings. The translating device receives the end rail ring from the radial pusher and axially moves the end rail ring to an install position that is axially spaced apart from the cartridge of piston rail rings and from the preinstall position wherein the end rail ring is in alignment with a piston groove of the piston.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A vehicle piston rail ring installer, comprising:
an axially movable pusher arranged for axially moving a cartridge of piston rail rings and positioning an end rail ring of the cartridge of piston rail rings in a preinstall position;
a radially movable pusher device arranged for radially engaging the end rail ring in the preinstall position and separating the end rail ring from the cartridge of piston rail rings by radially expanding the end rail ring into an expanded state, wherein the radially movable pusher device includes at least one pusher that engages the end rail ring on a radially inward side of the end rail ring and the at least one pusher radially moves outwardly to elastically expand the end rail ring radially to the expanded state to initially separate the end rail ring from the cartridge of piston rail rings; and
a translating device arranged for radially receiving the end rail ring in the expanded state from the radially movable pusher device and then axially moving said end rail ring while in the expanded state to an install position wherein the end rail ring is in axial alignment with a piston groove on an associated piston and radially contracts into the piston groove, wherein the translating device includes at least two fingers that each define a groove for accommodating the end rail ring in the expanded state.

2. The piston rail ring installer of claim 1 wherein the radially movable pusher device enables the end rail ring to radially contract to an original shape when in alignment with the piston groove, and wherein the radially movable pusher device and the translating device apply no radial contraction force on the end rail ring.

3. The piston rail ring installer of claim 1 wherein the preinstall position is defined by a radial shoulder that the end rail ring is axially moved into contact with by the axially movable pusher, the radial shoulder axially spaced apart from a lower axial edge of a pusher of the radially movable pusher device by a distance approximately equal to a width of the end ring rail to enable the end rail ring to be radially separated from the cartridge of piston rail rings.

4. The piston rail ring installer of claim 1 wherein the radially movable pusher device includes:
the at least one pusher adapted for radial reciprocating movement;
at least one radially tapered driven surface defined on a shoe associated with the at least one pusher, wherein the at least one radially tapered driven surface is fixedly secured to the at least one pusher such that radial movement of the at least one radially tapered driven surface translates into radial movement of the at least one pusher;
at least one radially tapered driving surface adapted to contact the at least one radially tapered driven surface, movement of the at least one radially tapered driving surface against the at least one radially tapered driven surface translating axial movement into radial movement; and
a driving rod fixedly connected to the at least one radially tapered driving surface and adapted for axial reciprocating movement such that movement of the driving rod in a first axial direction toward the at least one radially tapered driven surface axially moves the at least one radially tapered driving surface into the at least radially tapered driven surface which thereby moves the at least one radially tapered driven surface and the at least one pusher in a radially outward direction into the end rail ring.

5. The piston rail ring installer of claim 4 wherein the at least one pusher is urged by a biasing device toward a retracted radial position wherein a contact surface of the at least one pusher is radially aligned with an inner radial surface of the end rail ring when in the preinstall position.

6. The piston rail ring installer of claim 4 wherein the at least one pusher is a plurality of pushers angularly spaced apart from one another by equal angular distances.

7. The piston rail ring installer of claim 6 wherein the plurality of pushers includes at least two pushers and the translating device includes at least two fingers of the translating device are angularly aligned, respectively, with the at least two pushers.

8. The piston rail ring installer of claim 6 wherein the radially movable pusher device includes a main member defining radially extending grooves along which the plurality of pushers are radially movable.

9. The piston rail ring installer of claim 8 wherein the at least one radially tapered driven surface is a plurality of radially tapered driven surfaces defined, respectively, on shoes with one shoe associated with each of the plurality of pushers, each shoe connected to a corresponding one of the plurality of pushers by at least one radially extending arm member extending through at least one radial aperture defined in the main member.

10. The piston rail ring installer of claim 9 wherein the at least one radially tapered driving surface is a conical surface defined on a driving member that engages the shoes when the driving member is axially driven by the driving rod.

11. The piston rail ring installer of claim 1 wherein the radially movable pusher device includes a main member defining a radial shoulder toward which the axially movable pusher pushes the cartridge of piston rail rings, the radial shoulder engaging the end rail ring and limiting further axial movement of the cartridge of piston rail rings until the end rail ring is separated from the cartridge of piston rail rings.

12. The piston rail ring installer of claim 11 wherein the radially movable pusher device includes a plurality of pushers that each extend axially from the radial shoulder to an underside of the end rail ring such that, when the pushers are moved radially outwardly into the end rail ring, the pushers separate the end rail ring from the cartridge of piston rail rings.

13. The piston rail ring installer of claim 12 wherein the main member defines a circumferential surface extending axially from the radial shoulder along a group of the cartridge of piston rail rings disposed immediately below the end rail ring.

14. The piston rail ring installer of claim 13 wherein the main member defines an underside shoulder into which a cartridge member of the cartridge of piston rail rings is receivable, the circumferential surface contiguous with an outer diameter surface of the cartridge member.

15. A ring installer for installing piston rings on a piston, comprising:
an axial pusher that axially moves a cartridge of piston rings to position an end ring of the piston rings into a preinstall position;
a radial pusher that radially enlarges the end ring beyond an original shape to an expanded state to initially separate the end ring from the piston rings without radially contracting the end rail ring, wherein the radial pusher includes at least one pusher that engages the end rail and radially moves outwardly to elastically expand the end rail ring radially; and
a translating device that receives the end ring from the radial pusher in the expanded state without further radial expansion or radial contraction and axially moves the end ring to an install position axially spaced apart from the cartridge of piston rings and from the preinstall position wherein the end ring is in alignment with a piston groove of the piston to allow the end rail ring to elastically contract radially from the expanded state, wherein the translating device includes at least two fingers that each define a groove for accommodating the end rail ring in the expanded state.

Assignees

• Honda Motor Co Ltd

Inventors

• Jones Brian G

Classifications

• Y10T29/49258

  with thermal barrier or heat flow provision · CPC title

• B25B27/12

  mounting or demounting piston rings · CPC title

• B23P19/088 Primary

  Piston rings in piston grooves · CPC title

• Y10T29/536

  Piston ring inserter or remover · CPC title