US1792338A - Adjustable wrench - Google Patents

Description

ATTORNEY lPatented Feb. 1931 Y. Y1,792,33%;-V

`rnnoniaroi wenn,oF;:eumvsinnY CONNECTICUT 5 ADJUSTABLE WRENCH lappncationaiedrnaeh 16,1923 serial Noacaivs.

,My present invention` hasrefer'e'nce to an adjustable Wrench" and) is' particularly V'dir -Y rected to an:l in ipr'oved"V type .o f" `adjustable "Wrenches `v vhereil'ra spring fimpelled slidable "'5 'jaw isv attached to. butr'emovably locked'in adjn'stedposition'by af spring-influencedlock= i fulither ebjlect isL the provisionofa 'f5 vvrenclt with1 aufadjustable jaw which is adaptedl to be lo'c'l'edA inv set posit-ion against accidentalk movement wherein the movable jaw may be automatically adjusted with reispeet to the stationary jaw,` andiv further 2b wherein the Wrench may be caused to ratchet over the article engagedbetween the j avvsf.

' furtherfl object is Ythe provision. ofA a vWrench of'thiscliaracter wherein' theV shank of1`the1rnovab1e1jaw isf eectvely guided 55 throughthe head; ofthe Wrench, andrspring influenced toXv'ar di the stationary j avv carried by' the head, andl whereina toothed spring iniiuencedlocliingl latcl is aranged for slidable' movementin the head t`o engage: with 50 theteetlrA of thelmovable javvl,- saidlocking latch being arranged .at aal-angleofappro'x'; matelyl degrees` withv respect, to' the plane of the toothed surface' of the movable: j'afvv whereby: the active end ofthe;lockingA latch Si may be provided With more' teeth than is or-l dinary'and likewise Whereby'the bindingengagement4 betweenfthe latch and the teeth of the movable jaw, together lWithf the cont-act of the Walls'of the openings throughyvliich 4b the said locking latchv andthe movable jaw are guidedv vvi'll hold t-he movable jaw adjusted With respect tothe stationary jaw,-re: gardless of the pressure exerted therebetween, andv further wherein a`- thumb actuated lever 45 moves the locking latch. from engagement Withfthemovable jawaf' i l Tol the=attainlenti of the foregoing, vthe invention consists in the improvement as hereinafter described and definitely claimed.

In the drawings:

ment Withparts in'section.. FigureZ is an-'edgefvievvot the outer portion'thereo. V-

. Y, Figure-3' is a similar view looking. toward :K5 theopposite edge. j Figure l isatsid i elevation of theconstruc-` tion disclosedby Figures 2 andS.

Figure' isa sectional'vievv approximately Figure 1 is a side elevation of. the improveon theline 5'4-5 of Figure 1.

Figur-e Gf isa similar view but illustrating a slightly ditl'e'rent form of' shank' for' the movableiw., e 5

The head or bodyv ofthe improvement is indicated by lthe ynumeral 1, and is approximately centrally formed' With a handl'e'e'xtension. 2. Y The head', at' one Hot its ends, is formed With a jaw extension i kThe head isiormedWitha"longitudinally extendingkey hole slot', Which is indicated T0 bythe numeral-5. V

The key hole sloty passes'entirely,A through the head 1, and the inner face vof thestationary jawfis cut angular'ly, asat; 'at ite juncture with the restricted passage 6' of: the said keyhole opening. vThe inner portion of the active face4 of thestationary jaw 3 is arranged" atl anoppositey angle to the Wall 7 as' indicatedby'thenumeral 8; Y

Thenovablefjmm v vhuich cooperatesfwith v80 the stationary jaw is indicated by thenumeral 9. The i'nner'wvallor 'shoulder' 10fot the movable' j'a'wv; Q'rest's on the.' head 1'. 'The ineV nerjedgejoffthe movable;jav'v` 9 is centrally and "integrally ormedvvith' a shank; the por- Y tion-11y whereof), Which eitends from the jaw being narr`ovv'a ndthe outer portion being W'idenedg, In" the.v preferred embodiment of the' improvement th'ek end 1`3 of the shank i ronnd' inj cross section` but in `Figure 6. the said'tvi'dened en dV is of squareor rectangular tormationj ae indicated by the4 numeral- 14]. The'outer edge of'lthe part13 of the y shank isf toothed, each instance, as 'at' 1'5 Qt f course,ith`e' shank snugly engageswith' the :455 l' Walls; provided'Y the key hole nopening but' Y, A slicli' engagement is not suficient to"prevent`j the free' sliding of tliemovablejaw. throughr- L said opening. stopE elementy `ldmay be Y provi-ded for li-mtiirgfttiefoutwardimovement v of the movable jaw with respect to the head 1. y

The lower corner at the active face of the Vmovable jaw 9 is cut angularly, as at 17, to

Contact with the angle wall 7 of thestationary jaw l3 when the jaw 9 is brought against paratively light but durable helical spring 18, the second end of the said'spring being i received in the passage and having its end secured to the wall provided by said passage adjacent to theouter end of the stationary jaw 3.

The head 1, on'the'- edge thereof provided n withthe stationaryj aw 3, and adjacent toits juncture with the handle 2, is bored or other wise provided with an opening 19 that communicates with the passager. This open ing 19 .is arranged at an angle ofapproXimately 45 degrees with respect tothe plane of the longitudinalwalls provided by the key hole opening, and likewise at a similar angle with respect to the head 1. Slidably received' in the opening 19 there is a locking latch 20.

The outer or active end of this' latch is arranged at an angle-and is toothed, as at 21. rihe angle active face of the locking latch affords comparatively wide toothedsurface and the teeth 21are, of course, designed to coengaoe with the Yteethl of the "shank'of the movable jaw. The onening'19 is closed by a removable plate 22, andthe lockinglatch is formed with a socket 28 in whichv is received VYa comparatively light but strong and durable helical spring 24. Y

The spring influenced locking latch 20 is formed with a notch 25 that is in line with an opening 26 between one side of the handle and the head. In the opening 26 there is pivoted an actuating lever 27 whose active end is received in the notch 25. The lever, as disclosed by Figure 1 of the drawings, is curved, and the outer end thereof is provided with an'opening head or button 28.

-As stated, the spring which inl'iuences the Yslidable j awl and the spring which influences the locking latch are light, and as a consequence a. pressure upon the head or button 28 of the actuating lever to bring the latchin lock out of engagement with theteeth of the slidable jaw, and a rapid jerk by the operator gripping the handle 2 of the wrench will cause the slidablejaw to move away from the stationary jaw, and a quick release of the actuating lever will cause the springof the locking latch to iniiuence the same to engage` ment with the teeth Vof the movable jaw.

-When an article is received between the jaws Y it isl merely necessary for the operator to exert aA quick pressure against and release of the.

actuating lever to permit of the movable jawv sliding away from such obstacle so that vof the springs 18 and 24 are relieved of any tension whenthe wrench is turned to perform its function. When in such position the engagement between the locking latchandvthe A shank of themovablerjaw is what may be terniedfunit'ary, that is', these parts are effectively locked together, and by virtue of theV contactingengagement of lthese elements with the walls of theV openings in which they are received no undue pressure is exerted thereagainst7 while the accidental movement ofthe movable j aw" away from the stationary jaw isabsolutely and eifectively prevented.

tion maybe lvaried through a comparatively wide range without ldeparting from .the principlesof this Yinvention and I, therefore, do not wish to be limited to the precise details of construction as herein set forth and holdy myself entitled to make such changes therefrom as will not depart from thespirit of the invention or sacrificev any of the advantages thereof as expressed in the appended claim. Havingrdescribed the invention, I claim:

A wrench ofthe characterdescribed comprising a handle having a relatively wide end portion constituting a head, a fixed jaw prorjecting from onerend of the head, said head having a longitudinal key-,hole slot, a movable-jaw slidably mounted on said head for jaw,said movable jaw including a shank movableA within the key-hole slotand having a longitudinal bore therethrough, a stop plate for limitingthe outward movement of said. movable jaw and also closing the bore in said head, a coil spring having one end secured within the key-hole-slot and its other end secured within the bore of the movable jaw to g tion, a plate closing the last mentioned opening, said bar havinga longitudinal bore, a

spring arranged withinthe bore and bearing against the'last mentioned plateand exerting L an inward pressure against said locking bar, said bar Vhaving a notch, a linger operated leverpivoted on the handle and projecting within the notch to retract the locking bar as described.. Y i

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature. FREDERICK WALZ- I am awarethatvarious details of construc- *adjustmenttoward and away from the fixed ioc

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