Monitoring and control of fluid driven tools
First Claim
1. A system for monitoring a fluid driven tool for driving threaded fasteners comprising:
- means for measuring fluid flow rate into the tool during operation of the tool wherein said means for measuring said fluid flow rate includes a venturi;
means for converting said measured fluid flow rate into an electrical signal representative of the magnitude of said fluid flow rate, wherein said means for converting said measured fluid flow rate into an electrical signal further includes a transducer arranged so as to detect the differential pressure caused by flow through said venturi;
means for electrically computationally processing said signal to transform said signal into another signal representing at least one parameter corresponding to a condition of said tool to be monitored which is a function of said fluid flow rate wherein said means for electrically processing said signal includes a suitably programmed microprocessor which is configured to identify a portion of the signal representative of fluid flow rate corresponding to the initial fluid flow rate during rundown of the fastener, prior to reaching a snug point; and
means for displaying said parameter.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A system for monitoring and/or controlling the torque applied by a fluid driven tool for driving threaded fasteners, such as tools driven by either air or oil. The system includes a fluid flow meter to measure a parameter which is a function of the rate of fluid flow into the tool during operation of the tool, a transducer for converting the measured parameter into an electrical signal, and a data processing unit for processing that electrical signal into a signal representative of the torque applied by said tool. A system for digitally processing the measured parameter and comparing it to predetermined expected parameters to infer the condition of the fluid driven tool and for reporting that inferred condition is also included. The system is applicable to both nutrunner type fluid tools and impact wrenches.
76 Citations
56 Claims
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1. A system for monitoring a fluid driven tool for driving threaded fasteners comprising:
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means for measuring fluid flow rate into the tool during operation of the tool wherein said means for measuring said fluid flow rate includes a venturi; means for converting said measured fluid flow rate into an electrical signal representative of the magnitude of said fluid flow rate, wherein said means for converting said measured fluid flow rate into an electrical signal further includes a transducer arranged so as to detect the differential pressure caused by flow through said venturi; means for electrically computationally processing said signal to transform said signal into another signal representing at least one parameter corresponding to a condition of said tool to be monitored which is a function of said fluid flow rate wherein said means for electrically processing said signal includes a suitably programmed microprocessor which is configured to identify a portion of the signal representative of fluid flow rate corresponding to the initial fluid flow rate during rundown of the fastener, prior to reaching a snug point; and means for displaying said parameter. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
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28. A method for monitoring a fluid driven tool for driving threaded fasteners comprising the steps of:
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measuring the fluid flow rate into the tool during operation of the tool; converting the measured fluid flow rate into an electrical signal representative of the magnitude of said fluid flow rate; electrically computationally processing said signal to transform said signal into another signal representing at least one parameter corresponding to a condition of said tool which is a function of said fluid flow rate wherein said processing includes mathematical processing by a suitably programmed microprocessor; identifying a portion of the signal representative of fluid flow rate corresponding to the initial fluid flow rate during rundown of the fastener, prior to reaching a snug point; and displaying said parameter. - View Dependent Claims (29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54)
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55. A system for monitoring a fluid driven tool for driving threaded fasteners comprising:
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means for measuring fluid flow rate into the tool during operation of the tool; means for converting said measured fluid flow rate into an electrical signal representative of the magnitude of said fluid flow rate; means for electrically computationally processing said signal to transform said signal into another signal representing at least one parameter corresponding to a condition of said tool which is a function of said fluid flow rate; means for displaying said parameter; means for recording said at least one parameter for a series of tightenings during normal conditions; means for statistically processing said at least one parameter to compute appropriate limits for said normal conditions for said at least one parameter; means for storing said limits; means for statistically processing said parameter computed during subsequent tightenings to identify trends or deviations from said normal conditions and means for notifying an operator of such trends or deviations.
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56. A method for monitoring a fluid driven tool for driving threaded fasteners comprising the steps of:
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measuring the fluid flow rate into the tool during operation of the tool; converting the measured fluid flow rate into an electrical signal representative of the magnitude of said fluid flow rate; electrically computationally processing said signal to transform said signal into another signal representing at least one parameter corresponding to a condition of said tool which is a function of said fluid flow rate; displaying said parameter; recording said at least one parameter for a series of tightenings during normal conditions; statistically processing said at least one parameter to compute appropriate limits for said normal conditions for said at least one parameter; storing said limits into storage means; statistically processing said parameter computed during subsequent tightenings to identify trends or deviations from said normal conditions; and notifying an operator of such trends or deviations.
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Specification