US1134948A - Wrench. - Google Patents

Description

H. C. EARLE.

WRENCH.

APPLICATION FILED JAN-29', m3.

2 1,134,948. Patented Apr. 6, 1915.

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5 CO.. FHOTO-LITHL'L, WASHINGTON, D, C.

rinirun snares PATENT neuron HARRY C. EARLE, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, .ASSlIGNOB. TO WALWORTH MANUFAC- TUBING COMPANY, or BOSTON, :SETTS.

MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF MASSACHU- V WRENCH.

Patented Apr. 6, 1915.

Application filed January 29, 1913. Serial No. 745,485. I

To all whom it may concern I Be it known that I, HARRY C. EARLE, a citizen of the United States of America, and a resident of Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in l/Vrenches, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to pipe wrenches and has for its object the production of a wrench which will combine simplicity in construction and effectiveness in operation. The invention consists primarily in forming integral with thebody portion of the wrench a pair of lateral projections having slots therein serving as guides for the movable jaw, which jaw is adapted to rock over the curved bottom of one of said slots, but is normally retained by a spring in a position inclined to said body portion until pressure is applied to the latter to cause the jaws to bite upon the pipe, said spring tending to release said jaws from said pipe as soon as said pressure ceases.

The invention further consists in certain novel features of construction and arrangement of parts which will be fully understood by reference to the description of the drawings and to the claim hereinafter given.

Of the drawings: Figure 1 represents an elevation of a wrench embodying the features of the present invention. Fig. 2 is a rear view of the same. Fig. 3 is an enlarged section, the cutting plane being on line 33 on Fig. 1, and Fig. 4c is an enlarged section, the cutting plane being on line H.011 Fi 1.

Similar characters designate like parts throughout the several figures of the drawings.

In the drawings, 10 is the body portion of the wrench having formed integral therewith the fixed jaw 11 and the lateral projections 12 and 13. Both of these projections are bifurcated by having formed therein the guide slots 141 and 15, the outer end of the slot 14 being closed by a filling member 16, while the slot 15 is left open.

. The shank 17 of the movable jaw 18 is positioned in the slots 14 and 15 and is adapted to be adjusted lengthwise of the body portion 10 by means of the adjusting nut 19 interposed between the projections 12' and 13, and the threads of which engage the threaded portion 20 of the shank 17.

The filling member 16 is secured to the bifurcated projection 12 by means of rivets 21 and to this filling member 16 is secured a fiat spring 22 the free end of which extends through the slot 15 and bears upon the outer face of the end of the shank. 17 thereby normally retaining said shank in a position at a slight angle to the body portion 10. with the outer face of said shank contacting with the inner face of the filling member--16 as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 1.

During the adjustment of the movable jaw; 18 one face of the adjusting nut 19 is adapted to bear upon the inner face of the projection 12 at a point adjacent to the body portion 10 while the opposite face of said nut bears against the inner face of the projection 13 near its outer end. When this jaw has been properly adjusted and has been placed upon a pipe or other article, any further adjustment of the nut 19 will cause the shank 17 of the jaw 18 to be moved against the tension of the spring 22 into a position more nearly parallel with the body portion 10, the inner face of the nut 19 then bearing against the face of the projection 12 on all sides of the shank 17 It is obvious that most of the adjustment of the jaw 18 is performed while its shank is in the angular position described and that owing to the fact that the nut is only contacting at two points with the projections 12 and 13 a very easy movement of said jaw is insured from the fact that the frictional contact is reduced to a minimum.

The bottom of the slot 14: is curved inwardly toward the fixed aw 11 as indicated at 23 in Fig. 1, thereby providing means whereby the movable jaw 18 may be rocked relative to the body portion 10 to secure a firmer grip upon the pipe 24.

Itis obvious that when the wrench is in use the handle or body portion 10 is moved in the direction of the arrow a on Fig. 1, and this movement of the body portion relative to the movable jaw 18 causes the space between the fixed and movable jaws to be decreased and the teeth of said jaws to be forced into the surface of the pipe or other article and a firm grip thereon to be se-' cured. As soon as pressure upon the handle 10 is removed, the action of the spring 22 upon the movable jaw 18 will cause the jaws to be released from the pipe 24: so that the wrench may be moved into a new position upon the pipe preparatory to a repetition of the gripping action thereon. The width of the nut 19 is less than the space between the projections 12 and 13 in order to permit the rocking movement of the jaw 18, said rocking movement being limited by the contact of the outer end of the nut with the inner face of the projection 13.

The construction shown and described herein forms a very effective wrench of great simplicity, while, by making the projections 12 and 13 integral with the body portion a very'strong device is secured that may be subjected to great strains, it being possibleto construct the entire body portion of steel forging thereby dispensing with castings and all pivotal connections which tend to weaken the wrenches now in general use.

It is believed that the operation and many advantages of the invention will be fully understood from the foregoing description.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

In a device of the class described, the combination of a body portion having an integral fixed jaw and two lateral projections slotted so as to form a curved surface at the bottom of the slots, a movable jaw having a threaded shank passing through said slots, an adjusting nut on the shank loosely engaged by said projections, a filling member to close the slot in the projection nearer the jaws and form a passage in which said shank is free to move toward and from said curved bottom, and a spring mounted on said member and constructed so that its free end will be positioned in the slot of the projection farther from the jaws and bear on the outer face of said threaded shank.

Signed by me at 4 Post Office Sq., Boston, Mass, this 18th day of January, 1913.

HARRY G. EARLE. Witnesses:

WALTER E. LOMBARD, NATHAN C. LOMBARD.

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

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