Need Your Engineering / Tool Help!!!
 

Ok, here goes: I was hoping you could give me some feedback on an idea that a friend proposed:
Here is a bit about the device:

1) It is an automatic open-end wrench developed to automate the tightening of nuts and bolts, a function normally done manually via a two step process of a) using open end wrenches, followed by b) use of a torque wrench to achieve final tightening, for example, in an assembly line or similar environment.

2) The wrench is run by a torque controller. This same electrically-powered torque controller device is programmable for tasks requiring anywhere from 10 Nm to 1000 Nm of torque.

3) A different torque driver--the piece of equipment that actually does the physical nut tightening--would need to be used, depending on the torque requirements of the task (e.g. a hydraulically powered torque driver would be used for tasks with torque values of 80 Nm or higher, whereas an electrically or pneumatically powered torque driver would be used for smaller torque values). The same torque controller, however, can always be used, given the wide range of torque values it can be programmed for (see #2 above).

4) The device is modular, allowing it not only to adapt to different torque settings, but also to different nut sizes.

My friend developed the device to address the following issues:

1) The manual nature of the nut and bolt tightening function leads to operator physical fatigue and uneven application of torque in the tightening process. Operator fatigue and inconsistent and/or inaccurate application of torque can lead to inaccurate/unreliable nut
and bolt tightening. This technology automates the process,
resulting in near zero reaction to the human arm, which reduces physical fatigue for the user.

2) Difficulty accessing the nut or bolt to be tightened can be an issue, creating an additional obstacle to accurate and reliable tightening. This technology is designed to tighten nuts and bolts positioned in locations that are otherwise difficult to access, leading to increased accuracy when tightening nuts and bolts in locations in which accessibility is a challenge.

3) The two step process of initial tightening with an open end wrench, followed by final tightening with a torque wrench, contributes to double work and inefficiency. The technology provides measurably accurate and consistent tightening, within a generally accepted margin of error (+/- 4%), in one step.

My Questions:

1) Are the issues the inventor set out to address by developing this device truly problematic issues the assembly of machinery, pumps, structures, etc. used in your industry? Are there any issues the inventor missed?

2) How are these issues typically addressed? Does the inventor's device sound like something that could address these issues better than the existing solution(s)?

3) Do you think people in your industry would purchase this device?
If not, then in your opinion, why not (e.g. such a device already exists and works fine, some other solution is already in place, etc.)?

4) What is your gut reaction to this device, based on the above?

5) Are there any other thoughts or feedback you would care to share?

doesn't this already exist?

Advice?

Yes, don't spend another minute or dime on this until you sell the idea for an advance on royalties and a percentage of sales. Let the big tool companies use their flex to produce and market the product.

Sounds like a winner for someone even if similar devices are already available.

For that, I'll take an 1/8th %. :)

I would think so...but the idea rests in the form of an open ended wrench and not a socket? At least that is what I got out of the discription.

I have been scratching my head on this one...Here we go:
I believe that I am familiar with every type of wrench used. I have never seen an automatic open end wrench in my life and I am having a hard time imagining one.

Am I missing something here? The torque controller is trivial because you can measure the amperage consumed vs. the movement f the wrench to determine instantaneous torque.
How is the machine going to know what the torque requirement is unless someone tells it?
Modularity can be accomplished by using sockets.


Operator fatigue can be essentially eliminated by counter-balancing the tool by hanging it on a wire. A good example of this is the Peterbilt factory near Denton. All of the wheel lugs are tightened to specification by an air powered driver. This same type of device is used by engine manufacturers for connecting rod bolts, head bolts, and main bearing bolts.

Accessibility is more of a design issue than a tool problem.

I still want to see the automatic open end wrench thing. With very few exceptions, open end wrenches are not used in manufacturing.

This whole problem is being way over-thought. From what was described, someone has done a lot of thought about a problem that probably does not exist or is an extremely small part of the manufacturing process?

Here are some companies I know of that offer torque tools that actually work well...

CDI Torque Products

Open End Heads for MOUNTZ TBIH Break Over Torque Wrenches - Automation Aides

http://www.armstrongtools.com/clientextensions/danaher/pages/default.aspx

Like this, but with spring-loaded inserts...
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1327617067.jpg

so are we talking about a manual tool here? or a mechanized automation line tool?

open ended ratcheting wrenches exist...although haven't seen one with torq sensing capabilities yet. and probably won't. torq wrenches are sensitive expensive and need to be calibrated. wrenches are simple solid and won't ever need maintenance.

"With very few exceptions, open end wrenches are not used in manufacturing."

Mike, I suspect there are a lot of good reasons for this.

I watched the video on the VW Phaeton plant in which the wrenches are all hooked into the computer. One wrench is used to secure a set number of nuts or bolts in each work station and the computer keeps track of the number of operations and the torque values.

I suggest if you can get a torque wrench on it to ensure proper securing of the fastener, you can ditch your open end wrench and use a powered torque wrench.

Best
Les

crows foot mounted to a scocket/torque wrench/air-wrench?

talk to higgins, he designs tools for a big plane company

Just a note: It isn't wise to discuss a patentable idea on a website...
Given the nature of existing patents, though, what you've described of your friend's idea probably already exists in the vauge language of multiple patents already filed.

There may be a new way of doing it.
It's new too late to reinvent the bicycle.

If it is a truely new and unique idea, have you friend go to a patent office in person and deal with one singular attorney for a search of existing artwork.

You can p.m. me directly, Mike.
(It will be a little secret between you and me, and Pelican Parts, and our respective ISP companies, the employees of the server and routing companies, google and others, and the NSA)

I told him patents are to keep honest people from copying your shyt. He has about zero chance of making this fly. To me its a complicated solution to a simple problem. The torque wrench works on an internal tunring mechanism. The only way an open end wrench could allow measurement of the strain would be to have the neck a piazo-resistance material that changed resistance upon stress then sent that info back to a meter. There are a few problems with that - first off is calibration consistancy, secondly would be material cost. While in years gone past I did synthesize materials that had variable resistance according to applied strain, they cirtainly were not capable of dealing with anything in the three digit newton range.

Mike, your idea sounds valid.

I suggest you delete your last post, and help your friend bring this to fruition.

Yes.

We have an incredible variety of pneumatically driven "wrenches" that will reach into any nook and cranny you can imagine. Many are designed in-house for specific applications, many are commercial off-the-shelf.

In a large manufacturing operation, "wrenches" such as these are specifically assigned to a given operation and do nothing else. Any custom drive features are a part of the "wrench" that the mechanic checks out from a tool room, already set up and ready to rock and roll. Torque values are set by the tool room and locked out, and are certified on a fixed schedule. Some really sophisticated ones have a feedback loop that reads resistance changes in a special rod inserted into the center of the bolt to determine bolt stretch.

This would be a difficult market in which to introduce anything "new".

Past few hours I have been looking into it - frankly I think I would be more successful writing and talking than designing and building and then hoping to sell.

I told him tha if he wants to patent something, patent something that is golf, pet or fishing related. Seems as though that sort of thing is where the money is!