There are a variety of applications, from medical environments to heavy industrial applications, which require the creation and use of threaded holes or openings for subsequent use with screws, bolts and the like. In practice, it is vital to have a system for testing such holes to ensure that they have been properly made, particularly in environments where the creation and use of such openings (and the consequences of an improperly sized opening) demand the highest level of accuracy.
With such requirements, it may be necessary to check each such hole in order to gauge the size of the openings. An inspector must use tools to check the size of openings to ensure that they meet the necessary requirements (i.e., that they are not too big or too small). In most applications, this may involve different inspectors, each using their own skill and judgment. Furthermore, within a given field of use, there may be different torque limitations for different openings depending, for instance, upon the size of the opening, the material forming the opening and other factors.
By using a thread gage tool with a preselected, adjustable and measurable torque level, different inspectors can provide a uniform, objective quality control process for testing openings. Thus, it can be seen that there is a need for an apparatus to provide an adjustable torque gauge assembly for a variety of applications.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds