GAUGE TOOL FOR DETERMINING BLIND FASTENER LENGTH
First Claim
1. A gauge tool comprising:
- a base plate having a front side and a back side;
a nose piece including a hollow cylindrical member extending through the base plate from a connected end to a distal end, the connected end coupled with a slidable member at the back side of the base plate, the distal end protruding a first distance from the base plate at the front side of the base plate and including an expandable tip, the expandable tip configured to radially expand to circumferentially contact a back rim of a hole, the nose piece configured to slide with respect to the base plate to retract into the base plate until the distal end is disposed a second distance from the base plate due to the expandable tip pressing the back rim of the hole; and
a measurement device configured to detect a translating distance of the slidable member moving with retraction of the nose piece from the first distance to the second distance, and to display the translating distance for determining a fastener length for the hole.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Embodiments herein provide determining blind fastener length. One embodiment is a gauge tool that includes a base plate, and a nose piece including a hollow cylindrical member extending through the base plate and an expandable tip configured to radially expand to circumferentially contact a back rim of a hole. The nose piece is configured to slide with respect to the base plate to retract into the base plate until stopped by the expandable tip pressing the back rim of the hole. The gauge tool further includes a measurement device configured to detect a translating distance of a slidable member moving with retraction of the nose piece, and to display the translating distance for determining a fastener length for the hole.
0 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A gauge tool comprising:
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a base plate having a front side and a back side; a nose piece including a hollow cylindrical member extending through the base plate from a connected end to a distal end, the connected end coupled with a slidable member at the back side of the base plate, the distal end protruding a first distance from the base plate at the front side of the base plate and including an expandable tip, the expandable tip configured to radially expand to circumferentially contact a back rim of a hole, the nose piece configured to slide with respect to the base plate to retract into the base plate until the distal end is disposed a second distance from the base plate due to the expandable tip pressing the back rim of the hole; and a measurement device configured to detect a translating distance of the slidable member moving with retraction of the nose piece from the first distance to the second distance, and to display the translating distance for determining a fastener length for the hole. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A method of determining a fastener length for a hole extending between a front surface and back surface of a structure, the method comprising:
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providing a gauge tool including a base plate and a nose piece slidable with respect to a base plate; inserting the nose piece of the gauge tool into the hole, the nose piece including an expandable tip disposed beyond the back surface of the structure; rotating a threaded rod in a hollow axis of the nose piece to retract the nose piece into the base plate and radially expand the expandable tip to contact the back surface of the structure and compress the back surface for a compression distance; and determining the fastener length for the hole based at least in part on the compression distance. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A gauge tool for determining a fastener length for a hole extending between a front surface and back surface of a structure, the gauge tool comprising:
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a base plate having a front side to engage the front surface of the structure over the hole; a nose piece extending from the front side of the base plate, the nose piece slidable with respect to the base plate and including;
a first end with an expandable tip sized to insert into the hole beyond the back surface of the structure, a second end that is mechanically coupled with a slidable member disposed at a back side of the base plate, and a hollow axis along a length of the nose piece;a threaded rod to rotate in the hollow axis of the nose piece to retract the nose piece into the base plate and expand the expandable tip to contact the back surface of the structure and compress the back surface for a compression distance, wherein retraction of the nose piece translates the slidable member for a distance that includes the compression distance; and a measurement device configured to detect the distance that the slidable member translates as a result of rotating the threaded rod for determining the fastener length for the hole. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification