US1003556A - Wrench. - Google Patents

Description

W. E. WASHINGTON WRENCH.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 3, 1911.

' 1,003,556. Patented'sept. 19,1911.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM E. WASHINGTON, OF CAPRON, VIRGINIA.

WRENCH.

To all whom 'it may concern:

Be it known t-hat I, WILLIAM E. VVASi-r INGTON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Capron, in the county of Southampton and State of Virginia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in ivrenches, of which the following is a speciiication, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to wrenches and more particularly to a wrench of the quick adjustable type wherein the shank of the wrench is provided with rack teeth to be engaged by a locking pawl mounted upon the movable jaw.

The primary object of the present invention resides in the provision of new and novel means for mounting the pawls whereby a maximum of durability is obtained.

A further object of the invention is to provide a wrench of the above character of very simple construction embodying means for obtaining a very minute adjust-ment of the movable wrench jaw.

lVith the above and other objects in View, the invention consists of the novel features of construction, combination and arrange ment of parts hereinafter fully described and claimed, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a perspective view of a wrench embodying my improvements; Fig. 2 is a section taken on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a detail perspective view of the plate carried by the movable jaw upon which the locking pawls are mounted; and Fig. a is a detail perspective view of one of the pawls.

Referring in detail to the drawing 5 designates the shank of the wrench which is provided wit-h a handle 6 at one end and the stationary jaw 7 at its opposite end. The shank 5 is provided with a longitudinal slot- 8 and one edge of said shank on opposite sides of the slot is serrated or toothed as indicated at 9. It will be observed that the teeth or serrations on opposite sides o-f the slot 8 are staggered with relation to each other.

The movable wrench jaw 10 consists of the body or nut engaging portion 11 and the plate 12 which is disposed longitudinally upon the shank of t-he wrench. A longitudinal flange or web 12 is formed upon this movable jaw and is movably disposed in the slot 8 of the wrench shank. To the edge of Specification of Letters Patent.

Application led May 3, 1911.

Patented Sept. 19, 1911.

Serial No. 624,772.

this flange, on the same side of the shank as -that on which the teeth or serrations 9 are formed, a plate 13 is rigidly secured by means of one or more fastening screws 14. As shown in Fig. 3, one end of the plate 13 is provided with the spaced rectangular openings 15, said plate at its edges and between said openings being formed with the ears 16. Locking pawls 17 are carried by the plate 18 and are provided intermediate of their ends with the ears 18 which are adapted to lit into the rectangular openings 15 of said plate. The ears 18 of the pawls and the ears 16 formed on the plate 13 are provided with openings which, when the pawls are in position are alined to receive a pivot pin 19. The plate 13 has a lug 20 formed on its end in line with the central ear 16, and the opposed edges of the pawls 17 are cut away as indicated at 21 to provide the shoulders 22 which engage closely with said lug which extends into the cut away portions of the pawls. In this manner the pawls are pivotally mounted upon the plate 13 and by providing the integral lug 2O on said plate, the pawls are held against longitudinal movement upon their pivots so that there is no frictional contact between the opposed edges of the pawls, thus permitting the same at all times to work easily.

To the plate 13 one end of a leaf spring 23 is fixed, the other end of said spring being spaced from said plate and bearing against one end of the pawls 17. This spring engages the pawls at their opposed edges, said pawls being' provided in their inner faces with notches or recesses 24: to receive the free end of the spring. Thus it will be observed that the spring also acts to retain the pawls in their proper positions upon the plate 13. The end of the plate 18 which is opposed to the stationary jaw exn tends above the plane of the face of the movable jaw 10 and is adapted to engage the butt end of said stationary jaw. As will be observed from reference to Fig. 1 of the drawings, the nut engaging face of the movable aw is slightly inclined as indicated at 25, so that at its outer end when the jaws are completely closed, they are slightly spaced while at the inner end of the movable jaw the same engages closely with the stationary jaw. It will therefore be seen that in the event that the jaws are spaced too far apart at their outer ends after they have been adjusted to properly grip the nut,

the wrench may be positioned so that the nut is disposed between the inner ends of the jaws close to the wrench sha-nk where the proper binding engagement of the jaws upon the nut can be obtained.

From the foregoing it is thought that the construction and manner of operation of my improved wrench will be readily understood. The movable jaw is first adjusted in accordance with the size of the nut to which it is to be applied, either one of the pawls 17 engaging the rack teeth 9 on one side of the slot 8 in the wrench shank. It will be obvious that these teeth may be either coarser or finer than those illustrated in the drawing, but for general purposes, the spacing of the teeth as shown is believed to be proper.

The wrench is entirely constructed of steel, and while I have shown and described a leaf spring for yieldingly holding the pawls in position, it will be understood that other forms of springs may be utilized if desired. It will further be obvious that the device is susceptible of many other modifications in form, proportions and the arrangement of the various parts without departing from the essential feature or sacricing any of the advantages of the invention.

Having thus described the invention what is claimed is A wrench comprising a shank having a stationary jaw formed on one end and provided with a longitudinal slot, one edge of said shank having series of rack teeth formed thereon on each side of the slot, the teeth of one series being arranged in .staggered relation to those in the other series, a movable jaw having a longitudinally extending portion engaging the other edge of the wrench shank and provided with a longitudinal flange extending through and movable in the longitudinal slot of the shank, a plate rigidly fixed to the edge of said flange disposed for movement on the toothed edge of the shank, said plate having spaced openings formed in one end thereof, pawls having ears formed intermediate of their ends adapted to be disposed in said openings, said ears and said plate being provided with alined openings, a pivot pin disposed therein, the opposed edges of said pawls being cut away at their lower ends to form shoulders, said plate having a lug formed thereon engaging said shoulders, and a leaf spring iixed at one end to said plate, the opposed edges of the pawls being provided in their inner faces with recesses to receive the free end of said spring to yieldingly hold the pawls in engagement with theteeth on said shank.

In testimony whereof I hereunto aiiix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM E. WASHINGTON. Witnesses:

M. C. LYDDANE, E. L. WHITE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C.

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