HAND GUARD FOR A BEARING FITTING TOOL AND BEARING FITTING TOOL HAVING A HAND GUARD MOUNTED THEREON

Abstract

A hand guard configured to be mounted on a bearing fitting tool includes a deflector plate having a central opening and a connector mounted in the central opening, the connector being configured to connect the deflector plate to the bearing fitting tool and including a damping body configured to damp a force acting on the hand guard.

Claims

1. A hand guard configured to be mounted on a bearing fitting tool, the bearing fitting tool having a striking surface, the hand guard comprising: a deflector plate having a central opening, and a connector mounted in the central opening, the connector being configured to connect the deflector plate to the bearing fitting tool and comprising a damping body configured to damp a force acting on the hand guard.

2. The hand guard according to claim 1, wherein the deflector plate is formed form a first material and the connector is formed from a second material different than the first material.

3. The hand guard according to claim 2, wherein the damping body includes a radially outwardly facing circumferential groove for receiving the deflector plate, and wherein the central opening of the deflector plate is snappable into the groove.

4. The hand guard according to claim 2, wherein the damping body has a central hole configured to receive an end of the bearing fitting tool.

5. The hand guard according to claim 2, wherein the deflector plate has at least one reinforcing structure, the reinforcing structure comprising a reinforcing ring around the central opening and/or a rib extending radially from the central opening.

6. The hand guard according to claim 2, wherein the damping body has at least one force-deflecting element configured to deflect a force acting on the plate, and wherein the force-deflecting element is circumferentially arranged around the central hole of the damping body.

7. The hand guard according to claim 6, wherein the force-deflecting element includes a plurality of radially outwardly extending ribs.

8. The hand guard according to claim 2, wherein the damping element is configured to connect to the bearing fitting tool in a form-fit manner, a force-fit manner and/or a material-fit manner.

9. The hand guard according to claim 2, wherein the first material is polyethylene.

10. The hand guard according to claim 2, wherein the second material is rubber.

11. The hand guard according to claim 2, wherein the damping body includes a radially outwardly facing circumferential groove for receiving the deflector plate, wherein the central opening of the deflector plate is snappable into the groove, wherein the damping body has a central hole configured to receive an end of the bearing fitting tool, wherein the deflector plate has at least one reinforcing structure, the reinforcing structure comprising a reinforcing ring around the central opening and/or a rib extending radially from the central opening, wherein the damping body includes a plurality of radially outwardly extending ribs, wherein the first material is polyethylene, and wherein the second material is rubber.

12. A bearing fitting tool for fitting a bearing, comprising: a cylindrical shaft having a first end and a second end which are opposite to each other along a longitudinal direction of the shaft, wherein the first end is configured to cooperate with a bearing to be fitted, an end cap arranged at the second end of the shaft and configured to receive a force and transmit the force via the shaft to the bearing, and a hand guard according to claim 1 arranged at the second end of the shaft.

13. The bearing fitting tool according to claim 12, wherein the shaft has a stop surface and the connector is supported by the stop surface.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0024] FIG. 1 is a schematic exploded view of a bearing fitting tool according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0025] FIG. 2 is a schematic exploded view of a sleeve and an end cap of the bearing fitting tool shown in FIG. 1.

[0026] FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of the damping element of the hand guard of the bearing fitting tool shown in FIG. 1.

[0027] FIG. 4 is a sectional side elevational view taken along line A-A in FIG. 3.

[0028] FIG. 5 is an isometric exploded view of a hand guard of the bearing fitting tool shown in FIG. 1.

[0029] FIG. 6 is a side elevational view of an assembled hand guard according to an embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0030] In the following same or similar functioning elements are indicated with the same reference numerals.

[0031] FIG. 1 shows a schematic, exploded view of a bearing fitting tool 1 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Details of the bearing fitting tool 1 are shown in FIGS. 2 to 6.

[0032] The bearing fitting tool 1 has a cylindrical sleeve 5 and an end cap 6. The sleeve 5 is preferably made from a lightweight material, such as aluminum or a glass-fiber reinforced plastic, and has a first end 7 and a second end 8 which are opposite to each other along a longitudinal direction of the sleeve 5.

[0033] The first end 7 is adapted to cooperate with a bearing (not shown) to be fitted, whereas the end cap 6 is arranged at the second end 8 of the sleeve 5. The end cap 6 is preferably made from a plastic material, e.g. hard plastic, and is configured to receive a striking force and transmit the striking force via the sleeve 5 to the bearing such that the bearing can be fitted.

[0034] For fitting a bearing in its respective seat, the user fits the first end 7 of the sleeve 5 of the bearing fitting tool 1 directly or indirectly, for example via an impact ring (not shown), on the bearing to be fitted while holding the bearing fitting tool 1 with one hand and hits the end cap 6 of the bearing fitting tool 1, which is located at the second end 8 of the sleeve 5, with a striking tool such as a hammer. In other words, the end cap serves as a striking element.

[0035] The bearing fitting tool 1 then transmits the striking force of the hammer via the sleeve to the bearing which results in the bearing being fitted in its seat. If the user misses the end cap 6 of the bearing fitting tool 1, the user could strike his or her hand with the hammer. To protect the user's hand, the bearing fitting tool 1 may be provided with a hand guard which comprises a plate 3 and a damping element 4. As can be seen in FIG. 1, the hand guard 2 is arranged between the sleeve 5 and the end cap 6 and may be attached to the sleeve 5 by the damping element 4. Thus, the damping element 4 also serves as a connector for fixing the plate 3 to the sleeve 5. In the assembled state, the plate 3 of the hand guard 2 extends over the sleeve 5, so that a misplaced impact of the hammer will hit the hand guard 2, particularly the plate 3 of the hand guard 2, instead of the hand of the user. Consequently, the risk of hand injuries is reduced.

[0036] For mounting the hand guard 2 to the bearing fitting tool 1, the sleeve 5 has a circumferential recess 9 (region of reduced diameter) which provides an axial stop 21 for the damping element 4 and receives the damping element 4 and determines its axial position at the sleeve 5. In the embodiment of FIG. 1, the recess is machined to the sleeve 5.

[0037] As illustrated in the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, the sleeve 5 may be equipped with a plurality of ribs 10, wherein each rib 10 is formed on an outside of the sleeve 5 and extends in the longitudinal direction of the sleeve 5. Thereby, the plurality of ribs 10 forms an axial stop such that the separate machining step for forming the recess can be omitted. As can be further seen, the first end 8 of the sleeve 5 may be provided with a thread 19 for connecting the end cap 6 to the sleeve 5. However, other fastening arrangements for connecting the end cap 6 to the sleeve 5 can be used.

[0038] For fitting the damping element 4 to the sleeve 5, the damping element 4 has a central hole 15, see FIGS. 4 and 5, into which the sleeve 5 of the bearing fitting tool 1 is insertable. The central hole 15 of the damping element 4 is formed as a through hole and is dimensioned to closely conform to the sleeve 5, i.e. to fit onto the recess 9. Thereby, an edge 20 (FIGS. 3 and 4) of the damping element 4 may abut on the stop 21 formed by the recess 9.

[0039] Advantageously, the damping element 4 is injection molded from a material that has dampening and/or shock absorbing characteristics, such as moldable rubber. Furthermore, rubber has the additional advantage that it has a rather high coefficient of friction with the metallic material of the sleeve 5 which further aids in the coupling between the damping element 4 and the sleeve 5.

[0040] The damping element 4 also has at least one force-deflecting element 16 configured to deflect the striking force acting on the plate 3 and to reinforce the damping element 4. The force-deflecting element 16 is formed as a plurality of ribs 16 that are circumferentially arranged around the central hole 15 of the damping element 4. Each of the ribs is formed such that it extends both axially and radially outwardly as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4.

[0041] As further illustrated in FIGS. 3, 4, and 5, the damping element 4 has a circumferential extending receiving groove 14 which is adapted to cooperate with a central opening 11 of the plate 3 (see FIG. 5). Thereby, the central opening 11 is adapted to be snapped into the groove 14 of the damping element 4. This snap-in function allows for a simple and efficient connection between the damping element 4 and the plate 3. The assembled state of the plate 3 and the damping element 4 is shown in FIG. 6.

[0042] In order to better withstand the impact force on the plate 3, the plate 3 has a plurality of reinforcement structures 12, 13, which are illustrated in FIGS. 5 and 6. A first reinforcement structure 12 is circumferentially arranged around the central opening 11 of the plate 3 and can be arranged on top 22 of the plate 3 and/or at the opposite side 18. The first reinforcement structure 12 provides an increased stability and a seat for the connection of the damping element 4.

[0043] A second reinforcement structure 13 is designed as ribs 23, which are extending axially and radially outwardly from the central opening 11 towards an edge 17 of the plate 3. As can be seen from FIGS. 5 and 6, the ribs 23 are arranged both on the top side 22 of the plate 3 and at the opposite bottom side 18 of the plate 3 and reinforce the plate 3 against the striking force.

[0044] In summary, the hand guard 2 is able to improve a user safety, when arranged at a bearing fitting tool 1, by protecting the user from a striking force that is applied to the bearing fitting tool. Furthermore, several reinforcement and force-damping structures 12, 13, 16 are arranged both at the plate 3 and the damping element 4 of the hand guard 2 to strengthen the hand guard 2 against the impact force.

[0045] Representative, non-limiting examples of the present invention were described above in detail with reference to the attached drawings. This detailed description is merely intended to teach a person of skill in the art further details for practicing preferred aspects of the present teachings and is not intended to limit the scope of the invention. Furthermore, each of the additional features and teachings disclosed above may be utilized separately or in conjunction with other features and teachings to provide hand guards for bearing fitting tools.

[0046] Moreover, combinations of features and steps disclosed in the above detailed description may not be necessary to practice the invention in the broadest sense, and are instead taught merely to particularly describe representative examples of the invention. Furthermore, various features of the above-described representative examples, as well as the various independent and dependent claims below, may be combined in ways that are not specifically and explicitly enumerated in order to provide additional useful embodiments of the present teachings.

[0047] All features disclosed in the description and/or the claims are intended to be disclosed separately and independently from each other for the purpose of original written disclosure, as well as for the purpose of restricting the claimed subject matter, independent of the compositions of the features in the embodiments and/or the claims. In addition, all value ranges or indications of groups of entities are intended to disclose every possible intermediate value or intermediate entity for the purpose of original written disclosure, as well as for the purpose of restricting the claimed subject matter.

REFERENCE NUMERAL LIST

[0048] 1 Bearing fitting tool [0049] 2 Hitting guard [0050] 3 Plate [0051] 4 Damping element [0052] 5 Sleeve [0053] 6 End cap [0054] 7 First end [0055] 8 Second end [0056] 9 Recess [0057] 10 Rib [0058] 11 Opening [0059] 12 First reinforcement structure [0060] 13 Second reinforcement structure [0061] 14 Groove [0062] 15 Hole [0063] 16 Force-deflecting element [0064] 17 Edge [0065] 18 Bottom [0066] 19 Thread [0067] 20 Edge [0068] 21 Stop [0069] 22 Top [0070] 23 Rib