Vibration isolating grip for pneumatic hand tools

Abstract

A vibration isolating and heat insulating hand grip for use with hand held pneumatic chisels and similar pneumatic hand tools. A manually grippable rigid sleeve is slidably mounted on a housing member which surrounds a rigid, tubular shell to define an annular cavity. Internally secured to the shell is a compliant, non-porous sleeve, the shell and the sleeve defining an inflatable annular chamber. A bladder confined between the housing and the shell communicates with the inflatable annular chamber so that movement of fluid back and forth between the bladder and the chamber causes the compliant sleeve to grip or release a tool shank. Such movement of fluid is caused by an annulus internally mounted on the rigid, slidable sleeve in alignment with the bladder.

I claim:  .[.1. A vibration isolating and heat insulating hand grip for a power driven, manually manipulated impact tool which has a shank that mounts in a chuck, said grip comprising, in combination: 
     
        said chamber to release said compliant sleeve from the tool shank..]. 2. .[.The combination of claim 1 in which.]. .Iadd.A vibration isolating and heat insulating hand grip for a power driven, manually manipulated impact tool which has a shank that mounts in a chuck, said grip comprising, in combination: a rigid, tubular shell of non-porous material which is adapted to surround a tool shank and is open at both ends;   a compliant, non-porous sleeve within said shell, said sleeve being open at both ends and being large enough that a tool shank extends loosely therethrough, said sleeve having only its end portions blended to the end portions of the shell, and said shell and sleeve defining an inflatable annular chamber;   a cylindrical vibration damping and heat insulating housing surrounding the shell, the dimensions of said housing being such that it may be readily gripped by a human hand;   means operatively associated with said shell for inflating said chamber so the compliant sleeve firmly grips the tool shank, and for deflating said chamber to release said compliant sleeve from the tool shank; and .Iaddend.   the means for inflating and deflating the annular chamber .[.comprises.]. .Iadd.comprising .Iaddend.a deformable bladder in the housing, a passage connecting the bladder with the annular chamber, and manually operable means for manipulating the bladder to move fluid back and forth between   
     
     
        the bladder and the chamber. 3. The combination of claim 2 in which the housing includes a longitudinal guideway, the bladder is annular and is radially confined in the housing, and in which the manually operable means comprises a rigid sleeve engaged with the guideway and longitudinally slidable on the housing, and means carried by the rigid sleeve within the housing which deforms the bladder when said rigid sleeve is slid in one 
     
     
        direction. 4. The combination of claim 3 in which the guideway is formed by a plurality of parallel slots in the housing, members on the rigid sleeve extend through the slots into the housing, and the means carried by the rigid sleeve comprises a rigid annulus mounted on said members in 
     
     
        longitudinal alignment with the bladder. 5. The combination of claim 4 in which the rigid sleeve partially covers the housing when the chamber is not inflated, and said rigid sleeve completely covers the housing when the 
     
     
        bladder is deformed to inflate the chamber. 6. The combination of claim 5 which includes resilient detent means engageable with an end portion of the rigid sleeve to releasably retain said rigid sleeve in position 
     
     
        covering the housing. 7. The combination of claim 3 in which there is an inwardly extending circumferential flange adjacent one end of the housing, there being a hole in said flange, the bladder is generally U-shaped in cross-section and has its edges sealed to the flange, and the passage includes the hole in the flange and a pipe connected to said hole and to a 
     
     
        hole in the adjacent end portion of the shell. 8. The combination of claim 7 which includes a bladder confining tube mounted on the inner periphery of the circumferential flange, and in which the bladder has a side against 
     
     
        said tube and a side against the housing. 9. The combination of claim .[.1.]. .Iadd.2 .Iaddend.in which the housing comprises annular end walls of vibration damping and heat insulating material mounted on the ends of 
     
     
        the shell, and a rigid circumferential wall embracing said end walls. 10. .[.The combination of claim 1 in which.]. .Iadd.A vibration isolating and heat insulating hand grip for a power driven, manually manipulated impact tool which has a shank that mounts in a chuck, said grip comprising, in combination: a rigid, tubular shell of non-porous material which is adapted to surround a tool shank and is open at both ends;   a compliant, non-porous sleeve within said shell, said sleeve being open at both ends and being large enough that a tool shank extends loosely therethrough, said sleeve having only its end portions bonded to the end portions of the shell, and said shell and sleeve defining an inflatable annular chamber;   a cylindrical vibration damping and heat insulating housing surrounding the shell, the dimensions of said housing being such that it may be readily gripped by a human hand;   means operatively associated with said shell for inflating said chamber so the compliant sleeve firmly grips the tool shank, and for deflating said chamber to release said compliant sleeve from the tool shank; and .Iaddend.   the means for inflating and deflating the chamber .[.includes.]. .Iadd.including .Iaddend.a bladder which communicates with the chamber, means radially confining the bladder, and manually operable means which is   
     
     
        longitudinally movable to deform the bladder. 11. The combination of claim 10 in which the manually operable means includes a rigid sleeve surrounding the shell and the bladder, and means supporting said sleeve on 
     
     
        the shell for longitudinal sliding movement. 12. The combination of claim .[.1.]. .Iadd.10 .Iaddend.in which the grip is adapted to be mounted on a hexagonal tool shank, and the compliant sleeve has an outer surface which 
     
     
        is cylindrical and an inner surface which is hexagonal. 13. A vibration isolating and heat insulating hand grip for a power driven, manually manipulated impact tool which has a shank that mounts in a chuck, said grip comprising, in combination: a rigid, tubular shell of non-porous material which is adapted to surround a tool shank, the length of said shell being sufficient to form a hand grip;   a compliant, non-porous sleeve within said shell, said sleeve having only its end portions bonded to the end portions of the shell, said shell and sleeve defining an inflatable annular chamber;   a housing that includes annular end walls mounted on the ends of the shell and a circumferential wall embracing said end walls, said circumferential wall having a plurality of longitudinal slots adjacent one of its ends;   an inwardly extending circumferential flange on said circumferential wall adjacent the other of its ends, there being a hole in said flange;   a passage which includes said hole in the flange and a pipe connected to said hole and to a hole in the shell;   an annular bladder which is U-shaped in cross-section and has its edges scaled to the circumferential flange so the interior of the bladder communicates with the inflatable chamber through said passage, said bladder being radially confined in the housing;   a rigid sleeve surrounding the housing and longitudinally slideable thereon between an inactive position partially covering the housing and a clamping position completely covering the housing, said rigid sleeve being substantially the same length as the housing;   members in the rigid sleeve that project through the slots in the circumferential housing wall;   and an annulus mounted on said members in longitudinal alignment with the bladder, said annulus axially deforming the bladder as the rigid sleeve is slid to clamping position and releasing the bladder as said rigid sleeve is returned to inactive position, whereby fluid from the bladder inflates the annular chamber so the compliant sleeve grips a tool shank when the rigid sleeve is in clamping position, and said compliant sleeve releases the tool shank when the rigid sleeve is returned to inactive position.   
     
     
            The combination of claim 13 which includes resilient detent means engageable with an end portion of the rigid sleeve to releasably retain 
     
     
        said rigid sleeve in clamping position. 15. The combination of claim 13 which includes a bladder confining tube on the inner periphery of the circumferential flange, and in which the bladder has a side against said 
     
     
        tube and a side against the circumferential housing wall. 16. The combination of claim 13 in which the housing end walls are of vibration 
     
     
        damping and heat insulating material. 17. The combination of claim 13 which includes resilient detent means engageable with an end portion of the rigid sleeve to releasably retain said rigid sleeve in clamping position, and a slidable release ring surrounding an end portion of the housing, said release ring being movable toward the rigid sleeve to 
     
     
        depress said resilient detent means and release said rigid sleeve. 18. A vibration isolating and heat insulating hand grip for a power driven, manually manipulated impact tool which has a shank that mounts in a chuck, said grip comprising, in combination: a vibration damping and heat insulating housing which has a rigid cylindrical sidewall and is open at both ends, the dimensions of said housing being such that it may be readily gripped by a human hand;   means within said housing including a compliant, non-porous sleeve which is open at both ends and which is large enough that a tool shank extends loosely therethrough, said sleeve forming the inner wall of an inflatable annular chamber;   and .[.means operatively associated with.]. .Iadd.manually manipulable means on .Iaddend.said housing for inflating said chamber so the compliant sleeve firmly grips the tool shank, and for deflating the chamber to   
     
     
        release said compliant sleeve from the tool shank. 19. The combination of claim 18 which includes annular end walls of vibration damping and heat insulating material on which the housing sidewall is mounted, and rigid annular means sealed to the inner periphery of said end walls and to the 
     
     
        outer surface of the end portions of the compliant sleeve. 20. The combination of claim 19 in which the rigid annular means comprises a shell of non-porous material which forms an outer wall for the inflatable annular chamber.  .[.21. The combination of claim 19 which includes manually manipulable means on the housing for inflating and deflating the 
     
     
        chamber..]. 22. The combination of claim .[.21.]. .Iadd.19 .Iaddend.in which the manually manipulable means includes a bladder which communicates with the chamber, and means for deforming the bladder to produce a flow of 
     
     
        fluid between the bladder and the chamber. 23. The combination of claim 22 in which the bladder is mounted within the housing, the means for deforming the bladder is mounted within the housing for longitudinal movement, and manually movable means external to the housing is operatively connected to the bladder deforming means for moving it 
     
     
        longitudinally. 24. The combination of claim 23 in which the bladder is U-shaped in cross section and has a bight portion confronting the bladder deforming means, and said deforming means deforms the bladder axially. 
     
     
            The combination of claim 24 in which both the bladder and the deforming means are annular and surround the compliant, non-porous sleeve.