Granted Patent B2

US 10,315,296 · App. 15/168,271 · Granted Jun 11, 2019

Abstract

Claims (37)

1. A torque limiting tool, comprising:

a) a housing having spaced proximal and distal housing portions that extend along a rotational axis;

b) a torque limiting mechanism disposed within the housing, the torque limiting mechanism comprising:

i) a sleeve having a sleeve annular sidewall that defines a sleeve throughbore extending therethrough from a sleeve proximal end to a sleeve distal end along the rotational axis, at least one first lobe formed by the annular sidewall outwardly projecting from the annular sidewall away from the rotational axis and at least one first groove at least partially formed within the sleeve sidewall positioned adjacent to the first lobe, wherein:

both the first lobe and the first groove extend lengthwise along the sleeve sidewall; and

the first lobe comprises a base lobe positioned proximate the rotational axis that extends to a first lobe plateau having a first lobe plateau surface positioned distal the rotational axis, wherein the first lobe plateau surface is curved;

ii) a coupler having a coupler proximal portion that extends to a coupler distal portion, a socket dimensioned to receive the sleeve formed within the coupler distal portion by a coupler annular sidewall, the socket having a socket interior that extends longitudinally from a socket opening at the coupler distal end part way towards the proximal coupler end, wherein at least two second lobes outwardly project from the coupler annular sidewall of the socket towards the socket interior and the at least one second groove is at least partially formed within the annular coupler sidewall positioned between the two second lobes; and

c) wherein the sleeve is positioned within coupler socket so that the sleeve first lobe is received within the socket second groove and the socket second lobe is received within the first sleeve groove and wherein application of a torque at the proximal coupler portion causes the coupler socket to engage with the sleeve thereby causing the sleeve to rotate about the rotational axis.

2. The torque limiting tool of claim 1 wherein the sleeve comprises three spaced apart first lobes that are circumferentially positioned about the sleeve annular sidewall.

3. The torque limiting tool of claim 1 , wherein the first lobe plateau surface is tangent to an imaginary circle having an origin at the rotational axis.

4. The torque limiting tool of claim 1 wherein the first groove comprises respective left and right groove sidewall surfaces that outwardly extend from a groove base surface proximate the rotational axis, wherein the groove left sidewall surface defines a right sidewall surface of the first lobe and the groove right sidewall surface defines a left sidewall surface of an adjacent first lobe.

5. The torque limiting tool of claim 4 wherein the first groove base surface has a convex curvature with respect to the rotational axis.

6. The torque limiting tool of claim 4 wherein the left and right first groove sidewall surfaces are curved.

7. The torque limiting tool of claim 1 wherein the first groove comprises respective left and right groove sidewall surfaces extending from a first groove base surface proximate the rotational axis, wherein the left groove sidewall surface has a first transition surface that extends from the groove base surface to a first transition point positioned along the left sidewall surface between the base surface and the first lobe plateau surface distal the rotational axis and a second transition surface that extends between the first transition point and the first lobe plateau surface, wherein the first transition surface comprises a convex curvature and the second transition surface comprises a concave curvature with respect to the rotational axis.

8. The torque limiting tool of claim 7 wherein the first groove base surface has a first radius of curvature, the first transition surface has a second radius of curvature and the second transition surface has a third radius of curvature, wherein the first, second and third radius of curvatures are different.

9. The torque limiting tool of claim 1 wherein the first lobe extends from a first lobe distal end at the sleeve distal end to a first lobe proximal end positioned distal of the sleeve proximal end.

10. The torque limiting tool of claim 1 wherein a sleeve end wall is positioned at the sleeve distal end, wherein the sleeve end wall radially extends from the sleeve annular sidewall.

11. The torque limiting tool of claim 1 wherein the coupler comprises three, spaced apart second lobes circumferentially positioned about the coupler annular sidewall, each projecting towards the socket interior.

12. The torque limiting tool of claim 1 wherein the second lobe comprises a second lobe base positioned distal the rotational axis that extends to a second lobe plateau having a second lobe plateau surface positioned proximate the rotational axis, wherein the second lobe plateau surface is curved.

13. The torque limiting tool of claim 12 wherein the second lobe plateau surface is tangent to an imaginary circle having an origin at the rotational axis.

14. The torque limiting tool of claim 1 wherein the annular coupler sidewall has a uniform thickness about a circumference of the coupler socket.

15. The torque limiting tool of claim 1 wherein the proximal coupler portion comprises a driver end having a keyed interface.

16. The torque limiting tool of claim 15 wherein the keyed interface comprises a cross-section oriented perpendicular to the rotational axis having a polygon shape.

17. The torque limiting tool of claim 1 wherein the sleeve or the coupler are composed of a polymeric material or a metallic material.

18. The torque limiting tool of claim 1 wherein the sleeve or the coupler is composed of a material having a modulus of elasticity ranging from about 0.01 GPa to about 10 GPa.

19. The torque limiting tool of claim 1 wherein the first lobe of the sleeve has a first lobe width oriented about perpendicular to the rotational axis and the second lobe of the coupler socket has a second lobe width oriented about perpendicular to the rotational axis, wherein the second lobe width is less than the first lobe width.

20. The torque limiting tool of claim 1 wherein a first gap extends between a plateau surface of the second lobe positioned distal the rotational axis and a base surface of the first groove positioned proximate the rotational axis.

21. The torque limiting tool of claim 1 wherein a second gap extends between a base surface of the second groove positioned distal the rotational axis and the first lobe plateau.

22. The torque limiting tool of claim 1 wherein the housing comprises a first housing section and a second housing section that join together, wherein the first and second housing sections are identical.

23. A torque limiting tool, comprising:

a) a housing having spaced proximal and distal housing portions that extend along a rotational axis;

b) a torque limiting mechanism disposed within the housing, the torque limiting mechanism comprising:

i) a sleeve having a sleeve annular sidewall that defines a sleeve throughbore extending therethrough from a sleeve proximal end to a sleeve distal end along the rotational axis, at least one first lobe formed by the annular sidewall outwardly projecting from the annular sidewall away from the rotational axis and at least one first groove at least partially formed within the sleeve sidewall positioned adjacent to the first lobe, wherein:

both the first lobe and the first groove extend lengthwise along the sleeve sidewall;

ii) a coupler having a coupler proximal portion that extends to a coupler distal portion, a socket dimensioned to receive the sleeve formed within the coupler distal portion by a coupler annular sidewall, the socket having a socket interior that extends longitudinally from a socket opening at the coupler distal end part way towards the proximal coupler end, wherein at least two second lobes outwardly project from the coupler annular sidewall of the socket towards the socket interior and the at least one second groove is at least partially formed within the annular coupler sidewall positioned between the two second lobes;

c) wherein the sleeve is positioned within coupler socket so that the sleeve first lobe is received within the socket second groove and the socket second lobe is received within the first sleeve groove and wherein application of a torque at the proximal coupler portion causes the coupler socket to engage with the sleeve thereby causing the sleeve to rotate about the rotational axis; and

(d) wherein the sleeve or the coupler comprises material having a modulus of elasticity ranging from 0.01 GPa to 10 GPa.

Assignments (9)

Cited By (3)

US 12,208,494 US 12,304,037 US 12,447,591