Design and Analysis of an Automotive Oil Filter Gripper Socket Special Tool

In repair and car maintenance, it is often necessary to change oil filters. The oil filter is an important part of the car engine operation system. In this study, a new proposed oil filter gripper socket is designed and analysed for the purpose of opening and installing oil filter of cars. The existing oil filter grip socket has encountered problems such as slippage, ruptured and cannot accommodate various sizes of oil filters. The new design is made by using concepts of gear mechanism or to be more precise gear mechanism where forces are transmitted to the gears during the gripping process. These concepts are applied to ensure the socket to hold the oil filter efficiently while performing the operation of tightening or loosening oil filters. In order to overcome the problems of slippage or broken oil filters, a combination of spur gear and spring is used to achieve the highest performance of gripping force. Analysis using the finite element method is carried out to determine the maximum allowable stress on the gripper and deformation of the gripper in a 3D modelling approach.