Granted Patent B2

US 12,649,218 · App. 18/570,448 · Granted Jun 9, 2026

Inventor: Felix Röse (Cuxhaven, DE)

Assignee: Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy A/S

B25B23/147F05B2230/60F05B2260/301F05B2260/80

Abstract

Claims (44)

1 . A method for computer-implemented supervising a tightening process of a bolt using a tightening system comprising:

providing a man-operated tightening tool including an actuator for turning the bolt, configured to be switchable between a

first operation mode, in which the actuator of the tightening tool is operable with at least one tightening sequence, and

a second operation mode, in which the actuator of the tightening tool is operable with a loosening sequence,

each of the tightening sequence and the loosening sequence comprising predetermined operation parameters for the actuator of the tightening tool, and

the tightening tool further comprising a sensor unit for determining at least one parameter of the bolted connection during and/or after completion of a tightening sequence,

wherein each of the at least one parameters, representing a quality measure of the bolted connection;

wherein the tightening system further comprises a processing unit for processing the at least one parameter received from the sensor unit, wherein the processing unit is configured to determine a status of the bolted connection based on the at least one parameter,

wherein the status comprises a first status indicating a correct bolted connection and a second status indicating a faulty bolted connection; and

a user interface for outputting connection information about the bolted connection;

the method comprising the steps of:

a) receiving, by an interface, the at least one parameter of the bolted connection from the tightening tool during and/or after completion of a tightening sequence in the first operation mode;

b) determining upon and/or after completion of the bolted connection the status of the bolted connection;

c) switching the actuator of the tightening tool from the first operation mode to the second operation mode if the status corresponds to the second status; and

d) switching the tightening tool from the second operation mode to a very first tightening sequence of the at least one tightening sequences of the first operation mode to re-tighten the bolt wherein step d) is initiated after the following steps have been performed:

c1) receiving the at least one parameter of the bolted connection from the tightening tool during and/or after completion of the loosening sequence in the second operation mode; and

c2) determining whether the bolted connection is completely loosened.

2 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the method comprises the further step of:

e) controlling the actuator of the tightening tool from the very first tightening sequence to at least one tightening subsequent sequence of the first operation mode to retighten the bolt according to a predetermined order of tightening sequences.

3 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the steps of switching the tightening tool from the first operation mode to the second operation mode and/or switching the tightening tool from the second operation mode to the very first tightening sequence or one of the subsequent tightening sequences of the first operation mode is performed under automatic control of the processing unit.

4 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the user interface outputs the status of the bolted connection and/or the at least one parameter representing a quality measure of the bolted connection as connection information on a display.

5 . The method according to claim 4 , wherein the connection information is outputted in real-time.

6 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the user interface suppresses display the connection of the bolted connection immediately after step c2) is completed.

7 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the tightening system further comprises a positioning unit configured to determine a position of the tightening tool upon performing a tightening or loosening process of the bolt with respect to a reference point of a product to be bolted, wherein the processing unit is configured to perform the following steps:

e1) determining the position of the tightening tool upon performing a tightening process of the bolt;

e2) storing the position of the tightening tool as a first position if the status of the bolted connection corresponds to the second status;

e3) releasing the tightening tool for loosening the bolt associated with the second status only in case the current position of the tightening tool corresponds to the first position.

8 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein a counter associated to a respective bolted connection is increased by 1 if the status of a bolted connection corresponds to the second status, where the counter starts from a predetermined starting value if the status of the bolted connection corresponds to the second status for the first time and starts from the last stored value if the status of the bolted connection corresponds to the second status for each further time.

9 . The method according to claim 8 , wherein an indication to use a new bolt is outputted on the user interface in case the actual value of the counter exceeds a predetermined threshold value.

10 . A tightening system comprising:

a man-operated tightening tool comprising an actuator for turning the bolt, configured to be switchable between a first operation mode, in which the actuator of the tightening tool is operable with at least one tightening sequence, and a second operation mode, in which the actuator of the tightening tool is operable with a loosening sequence, each of the tightening sequence and the loosening sequence comprising predetermined operation parameters for the actuator of the tightening tool, and having a sensor unit for determining at least one parameter of the bolted connection during and/or after completion of a tightening sequence, each of the at least one parameters representing a quality measure of the bolted connection;

a processing unit for processing the at least one parameters received from the sensor unit wherein the processing unit is configured to determine a status of the bolted connection based on the at least one parameter, the status comprising a first status indicating a correct bolted connection and a second status indicating a faulty bolted connection; and

a user interface for outputting connection information about the bolted connection;

the processing unit being configured to perform the following method for computer-implemented supervising a tightening process of a bolt using the tightening system:

a) receiving the at least one parameter of the bolted connection from the tightening tool during and/or after completion of a tightening sequence in the first operation mode;

b) determining upon and/or after completion of the bolted connection the status of the bolted connection;

c) switching the actuator of the tightening tool from the first operation mode to the second operation mode if the status corresponds to the second status;

d) switching the tightening tool from the second operation mode to a very first tightening sequence of the at least one tightening sequences of the first operation mode to re-tighten the bolt wherein the processing unit is configured to initiate step d) after the following steps have been performed:

c1) receiving the at least one parameter of the bolted connection from the tightening tool during and/or after completion of the loosening sequence in the second operation mode; and

c2) determining whether the bolted connection is completely loosened.

11 . The tightening system according to claim 10 , wherein the processing unit is further configured to perform the step of:

e) controlling the actuator of the tightening tool from the very first tightening sequence to at least one tightening subsequent sequence of the first operation mode to retighten the bolt according to a predetermined order of tightening sequences.

12 . A computer program product, comprising a computer readable hardware storage device having computer readable program code stored therein, said program code executable by a processor of a computer system to implement a method with program code, which is stored on a non-transitory machine-readable carrier, for carrying out the method according to claim 1 when the program code is executed on a computer.

13 . A computer program with program code for carrying out the method according to claim 1 when the program code is executed on a computer.

Assignments (2)

Priority Claims (1)

Continuity (1)

References Cited (19)