US 12,304,041 B2
Retainer installation tool
David W. Ellis, Evansville, IN (US)
Assigned to Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc., Plano, TX (US); and Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha, Toyota (JP)
Filed by Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc., Plano, TX (US)
Filed on Apr. 27, 2022, as Appl. No. 17/730,848.
Prior Publication US 2023/0347486 A1, Nov. 2, 2023
Int. Cl. B25B 27/14 (2006.01); B25B 27/00 (2006.01)
CPC B25B 27/14 (2013.01) [B25B 27/0035 (2013.01)] 15 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A tool, comprising:
a housing including apertures and an outer peripheral surface;
a plunger extending partially within the housing and being movable along a longitudinal axis within the housing;
locking members having a first and second substantially semi-spherical portion, the first substantially semi-spherical portion having a diameter larger than the second substantially semi-spherical portion and the apertures, a diameter of the second substantially semi-spherical portion being smaller than the apertures; and
the tool being configured so that:
when the plunger is in a non-depressed position, a portion of the second substantially semi-spherical portions extend beyond the outer peripheral surface, whereby the locking members retainably engage a retainer on the tool,
when the plunger is in a depressed position, the second substantially semi-spherical portions retract such that the locking members extend within the outer peripheral surface to disengage the retainer, whereby the retainer is free to be separated from the tool.