US2358555A - Turnbuckle wrench - Google Patents

Description

I Sept. 19, 1944. l, BLANCHARD 2,358,555 D TURNBUCKLE WRENCH Filed July 20. 1943 INVENTOR. A! Elfl/VCHARD r9 Train/1) Patented Sept. 19, 1944 Irvih H. Blanchard;

Wichita; Kans; assignor to" Beech Aircraft Corporation; Wichita; Kane, a

corporation of Delaware Application July 20', 1943 SerialNo, 495,531". 2 Claims: (01281-13 The invention hereindisclosed relatesto wrenches for holding and working on turnbuckles, particularly'as. used on aircraft cables. These turnbuckles are usually located in more orless inaccessibleplaces, can be reached only through small openings" and, in many cases. are disposed inan intermediate portion oftthe cable, instead of being. anchored at. one end,.thus requiring that bothends of theturnbuckle be held while. making adjustments of the intermediate connecting portion,

H The objects of the inventionare to provide a wrench particularly suited. to. such purposes; and which, among other things, will be capable of holding both ends: of a turnbuckle, while. leaving theintermediate portionvclearv and free for adjustment; whichwill be of a size and form to readily enter the; inspectionopenings .or' small spacesthrough which such. turnbuckles maybe available; which can: be; easilymanipulated. to take hold of one or. bothends of the. turnbuckle; which when engaged with. both ends. will. hold itself in place; which: can. be easily snapped'into position or be removed fromasupported. relation on the turnbuckle and-which will. be self-ad justing; in the=sense ofaccommodating. itself to the set. position ofat turnbuckle and thereafter retaining its hold during adjustments of the turnbuckle.

Other desirable: objects willappear in the course ofthe following specification;

The drawingv accompanying and'forming part of. the specification illustrates. present practical embodiments of the invention; The structure however may be further; modified and changed in'various ways all within. the; true intent of the invention; as will be: apparent from the scope of the invention. as hereinafter. defined and claimed.

Fig. 1 in. the drawingsis assideelevation of an embodiment of'the' wrench as appliedt'oand in use for. holdingranzr aircraft cableturnbuckle.

Fig; 2; is: anenlarged broken end View on sub stantially the plane of. line 2-2 'of-Fig; 3, with the stem portion of" the turnbuckle screw a'p hearing in section. r v

Fig.3 is a broken' detail-off the wrench end ofone wrench lever as viewedfrom the right in Fig. 2-.

Fig. 4 is a side view on a smaller scale of a modified form of the invention.

Basically the invention comprises a pair of opposed levers 5, 5, pivotally connected together at 6, and carrying at their free ends, wrench sockets I, 1, in opposed relation and adapted to interlockingly engage endwise over the; angled head portions 8, 8 of the turnbuckle screws ,9,:,9-.

To offset the pivotally connectedparts of the two levers away from the-barrel or sleeve Ill coupling the screws together, said levers are shown as angled at llh attheir pivotally con;

nected ends, to form an arch, spaced. entirely;

clear of the-barrel. I p it t N Y A spring I2 is shown. connecting the. spaced. sides of the arched levers andaserving to draw these levers together to closethe wrench sockets over the heads of the screws. I

'Ihe' wrench sockets are shown, as having closed outer end. walls; 13, engageable with the outer ends of the-Screw heads:,8, to.-serve fiSzSbOpS.

limiting the approaching movement of: the wrench ends,

Engagement of. the wrench sockets over the turnbuckle screwsat theaouter sidesof the. head portions 8, ismade possible by providing; thewrench sockets with openings inv the; side; and end walls of the same as indicatedv at. l;4, in Figs, 2 and 3. These side openings, are wider than the diameter of the screw stem. or cable. por:- tions 15, at the outer ends of. theqscrews; but.of less width than the internal diameter l6',..0f the wrench sockets, soas to leave opposedxinwardly extending side wall portionsvv ll, of; the Wrench sockets, which will grip over opposed sidewalls of the screw heads,.to.holdthe sockets against lateral displacement from, the screws.

The; tension of thespring drawing the leversv together willholdthe wrench sockets thusyine terlockingly" engaged over the ends of the screw heads, enabling the wrench to holditself. in place and to. accommodate itself to varying; adjust-.- ments of the barrel, once it" has been snapped into position over thescrew heads. .TO remove the wrench, it is. only necessary to springv it open sufiiciently to. clear the wrench socketsof thescrew heads, that. is,.to. carry the retaining lug portions. I.|,7outward.. clear' of the ends; of the head. portions-.8; after which the openings in thesides. of the wrench sockets will permit the'wrench to move sidewise clear ofthe turnbuckle.

The arched formation of .thelevers provides a lconvenient grip forhandling and. manipulating the wrench and the spacing of the side portions of the levers by the angled-pivotally connected end portions provides ample clearance between the wrench ends for a pin or other tool that.

may be inserted through the hole l8, for rotating the barrel. The length of these side portions is such as to allow for thefree turning of 2 A an inserted tool fully capable of rotating the barrel and this ample space within the arch of the tool, that is, between the levers and the barrel provides free clearance for manipulating and inserting the locking wire through such opening, after the barrel has been turned to the position of proper adjustment.

In the illustration, the wrench heads at the ends of the levers are shown as'laterally ofiset away from each other by outwardly angled portions l9. These provide a desirable normal spacing of the wrench heads, while reducing the overall width of the handle or leverage portion of the tool to dimensions which will readly enter a small inspection opening, such as illustrated in Fig. 1.

wren'ch can be utilized to make sure that both screws are entered an equal distance in the ends of the connecting barrel. The wrench can be easily engaged, one way, by slipping one wrench socket over the cable and sliding it along until it catches over the screw head at that end of the turnbuckle and then while holding the other wrench jaw spread open, engaging the latter over the cable at the other end of the turnbuckle and permitting the spring to then draw in this wrench end into similar interlocked position'with the screw head at the latter end;

of-the' turnbuckle.

'Disengagement may be quickly efiected by re versal of these actions,

If desired, cooperating stops, such as indicated at 22, in Fig. 1, may be provided to limit the spreading movement of the wrench sockets. With such stop means, the wrench may be employed for "screw heads at opposite ends of the same, said buckle and arranged with the open ends of the same faced in opposite directions and in the directions in which the respective levers are spring tensioned,'to thereby yieldingly engage endwise over said angular screw heads, stop shoulders By holding both ends of the turnbuckle, the

at the backs of said wrench sockets for engagement with oppositely facing ends of said screw heads to limit the spring tensioning movement of said adjustably connected levers, said wrench sockets having openings through the sides of the same into the angular portions of said sockets holding the end portions of a turnbuckle, for instance, while the barrel is unscrewed and replaced to engage it evenly with both the screw ends, the wrench in efiect thus serving as a temporary connecting member for the opposing ends of the turnbuckle. Also, if desired, coasting stops such as indicated at 23, may be provided at the inside of the levers to limit the approaching movement of the wrench sockets'to some position'less than that they would ever normally occupy when holding a turnbuckle of the size for which the wrench is designed.

Fig. 4 illustrates a reversed form of the wrench in which the wrench heads are faced outwardly and the spring 20 is of the compression type,

engaged between spring abutments 2|, on the levers, at the inside of the arch. The stops 22 limit the extent to which the spring will throw thejlevers open. This form of the wrench can be easily applied by simply pinching the wrench levers together and then after slipping the wrench heads in-over the shanks of the screws, permitting the spring to thrust the wrench heads apart until they engage interlockingly over the ends of the screw heads 8.

,Various other changes, such as to adapt the wrench to special types of turnbuckles may be made all within the scope of invention defined by the claims.

What is claimed is: i i 1 a 1. A wrench for a turnbuckle having angular and of less width than the diameter of said sockets for enabling sidewise engagement of the wrench sockets over portions of lesser-diameter adjoining said screw heads and retaining lugs in the entrance portions of said openings through the sides of the sockets and in line with said sockets for engagement over the side portions of the screw heads after-the sockets have been engaged endwise over the angular ends of said screw heads for removably retaining the wrench in gripping engagement with the opposite screw heads of a turnbuckle.

.2. A wrench for a turnbuckle having angular screw heads at opposite ends of the same, said wrench comprising handle' levers spaced apart the approximate length of a turnbuckle and having adjustably connected ends, a spring connected between said adjustably connected levers and tensioning the sameinone direction, openended angular wrench sockets on the free ends of said levers, in substantial axial alignment to axially coincide with the longitudinal axis of a turnbuckle and arranged with the open ends of the same faced in opposite directions and in the directions in which the respective levers are spring tensioned, to thereby yieldingly engage endwise over said angular screw heads, stop shoulders at the backs of said wrench sockets for engagement with oppositely facing ends of said screw heads to limit the spring tensioning movement of said adjustably connected ievers, said wrench sockets having openings through the sides of the same into the angular portions of said sockets and of less width than the diameter of said sockets for enabling sidewise engagement of the wrench sockets over portions of lesser diameter adjoin-ingsaid screw heads and retaining lugs in the entrance portions of said openings through thesides of the sockets and in line with said sockets for engagement over the side portions of the screw heads after the sockets have been, engaged endwise over the angular ends of said screw heads for removably retaining the wrench in gripping engagement with the opposite screw heads of a turnbuckle.

IRVIN H. BLANCHARD.

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