ball lock pin ball retention

[banditgt]

I'm working on a specially designed part with a ball lock feature similar to a ball lock pin and looking for some guidance on how balls in a ball lock pin are retained.

It's obvious that there is a stamping, or "coining" operation that deforms the edge of the hole to keep the balls from popping out, but I'm curious if there are any standards related to the subject or off-the-shelf tooling that is made specifically for this purpose.

I'm trying to find something I know will work with a high degree of confidence to save time over just "figuring it out." Specific suggestions welcome.

Below is link to a typical ball lock pin for reference.

http://www.allamericanproducts.com/toolng/555-00.htm

 

[ornerynorsk]

There is a staking operation to retain the balls. I'm guessing the particulars of this are highly proprietary to the companies making them, but not too difficult to reverse engineer or figure out the process.

It is better to have enough ideas for some of them to be wrong, than to be always right by having no ideas at all.

 

[banditgt]

Ornerynorsk. Thanks for your response, but I understand there is a staking operation, I mentioned that in my post. I also understand that some might consider it proprietary, and that I could reverse engineer it... The point of asking the question is that I don't want to have to reverse engineer it unless I have to.

 

[ornerynorsk]

It is unlikely that you will find off-the-shelf tooling for what you want to do, hence proprietary.

It is better to have enough ideas for some of them to be wrong, than to be always right by having no ideas at all.

 

[banditgt]

As common as ball lock pins are I'm not so sure. What I'm hoping for is someone with experience on this subject to chime in. No offense, but I can "guess," conjure, and speculate myself without any assistance, thanks.

 

[ornerynorsk]

No offense taken banditgt. Back in my toolroom days, one of my jobs involved working for a company that manufactured push button ball-lock pins for wheelchair axles. We made our own tooling, as there was none available off-the-shelf, even though every other manufacturer made them essentially the same way. We would never have shared our information (or tooling) with anyone else, which is the basis for my "guess".

Speaking from experience, this is not a difficult process, and shouldn't require much, if any, trial and error. Any good tooling designer that has a solid understanding of upsetting and forming operations should be able to nail this on the first try. Lacking confidence, simply job it out to another company that already does these kind of parts.

It is better to have enough ideas for some of them to be wrong, than to be always right by having no ideas at all.

 

[banditgt]

Thanks. I don't expect it to be difficult, and we don't have time to job it out. We don't do too much in this area, but I'm sure we'll figure it out. I was just hoping for a standard specification that might save us the trouble of the science fair.