US2970501A

US2970501A - Wrench

Info

Publication number: US2970501A
Application number: US773906A
Authority: US
Inventors: Fred T Miller
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1958-11-14
Filing date: 1958-11-14
Publication date: 1961-02-07
Anticipated expiration: 1978-02-07

Description

Feb. 7, 1961 F. T. MILLER WRENCH Filed Nov. 14. 1958 III f/ Il r f, WN hm. nm

WRENCH Fred T. Miller, 547 Tomlinson St., Indianapolis, Ind.

Filed Nov. 14, 195s, ser. No. 113,906 s claims. (cl. 81-69) This invention relates to a Wrench, and more particularly -to a chain-type wrench adapted to be used on articles having a smoothly curved or an angulated peripheral surface.

It is an object of my invention to provide an inexpensive light-weight wrench having a substantial lever action, which can be quickly and easily adjusted for use with various sized articles, which can be so adjusted over a relatively wide range of gripping diameters, and which will tightly grip an article to provide a minimum amount of slippage thereon.

In carrying out my invention in its preferred form, there is provided an elongated handle having a plurality of arcuately disposed gear teeth projecting from one end thereof. An arcuate shoe is pivotally connected to said handle adjacent said teeth for pivotal movement in the plane of said teeth. A flexible link-chain is pivotally mounted on said shoe and is adapted to be wrapped around a work-piece so that said chain and the shoe will .grip thev work-piece for imparting a rotational movement thereto. The excess portion of the chain not disposed about the work-piece is adapted to be interposed between the shoe and the gear teeth whereby rotational movement of the gear teeth with respect to the shoe will tighten the chain and shoe against the Work-piece to bindingly grip the surface thereof. Further rotational movement of the gear teeth will cause said chain and shoe to rotate with said teeth to impart said rotational movement to the work-piece.

The accompanying drawing illustrates my invention. In such drawing:

Fig. l is a front elevation of a Wrench embodying my invention;

1 Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the wrench shown in Fig.

; and

Fig. 3 is a vertical section taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

As illustrated in the drawing, my wrench comprises an elongated handle conveniently formed as a metal casting. Desirably, one end of the handle 10 is provided with a circular head 12 having a boss 14 formed on one face thereof. A plurality of gear teeth 16 project outwardly from the end of the head 12 and constitute a sprocket-forming arcuate gear segment coplanar with the handle 10.

A link 18 is pivotally mounted on the boss 14 as by a shouldered rivet 20 extending through openings formed in the link 18 and the head 12. The outer end of the link 18 is provided with an arcuate shoe 22 normal to the link 18 and extending through the plane of the teeth 16. The shoe 22 has an arc of opposite curvature to the curvature of the arc of the gear teeth 16, so that the outwardly presented face of the shoe 22 will have a curvature adapted to partially circumscribe a work-piece 24. Conveniently the outwardly presented face of the shoe 22 is serrated, as at 26, to increase the gripping action of the shoe. One edge of the link 18 adjacent the shoe 22 may also be serrated, as at 27, to serve as a sec- 2,970,501` Patented Feb. 7, 196.1:

ond work-piece engaging shoe, adapted to be used n association with small diameter work-pieces. As shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1, the handle 10 and the shoe 22 may be pivoted with respect to each other through a wideangled arc to dispose the shoe on either side of the arc delned by the gear teeth 16, said swinging movement being limited only by the ends of the shoe 22 engaging the lateral faces of the handle 10. When the shoe and/ or handle is swung into a position in which the arcs dened by said shoe and the teeth 16 are disposed in an overlapping relationship, the spacing between the outer ends of the teeth 16 and the inner face of the shoe 22 will be relatively small.

One end of the shoe 22 extends beyond the link 18 to form a projection 28 having a link-chain 30 pivotally mounted thereon as by a pin 32. Conveniently, the chain 30 is a conventional link-chain comprising aplurality of transversely disposed pins 33 carrying bushings 34, with adjacent pairs of the pins 33 being interconnected by side plates 35 received over the ends of the pins 33 projecting outwardly beyond the ends of the bushings 34. Thus, the bushings 34, and the plates 3S, form a plurality of spaced openings adapted to be received over the gear teeth 16.

Operation of my device may be described as follows:

The handle 10 is swung into the dotted line position shown in Fig. 1 to position the shoe 22 beyond the outermost gear tooth 16. The chain 30 is then wrapped about the work-piece 24, and the free end of the chain is passed between the shoe 22 and the adjacent face of the head 12. The handle 10 is moved. in a clockwise direction rotating the teeth 16 with respect to the shoe 22 with said teeth being received in the openings formed by the bushings 34 and the side plates 35 of the chain. This clockwise rotation causes the chain 30 to tighten about the work-piece 24 until the chain and the serrated face 26 of the shoe bindingly grip the work-piece 24. With the chain and shoe bindingly gripping the workpiece further clockwise vrotational movement of the handle and gear teeth causes a corresponding rotational movement to be imparted to the work-piece 24 through the chain and shoe. As illustrated in Fig. 3, with the chain 30 disposed in an operative position between the gear teeth 16 and the adjacent face of the shoe 22, the spacing between said teeth and the shoe will be smaller than the thickness of the chain 30 to hold the teeth 16 in an operative position in the chain links. To release the wrench from the work-piece 24, it is merely necessary to rotate the handle 10 in a counter-clockwise direction, thus releasing the chain 30 from said work-piece.

In using the serrated portion 27 of the link 18, the chain 30 is wrapped around the work-piece in the opposite direction from that when the shoe 22 is employed. The chain is then disposed between the gear teeth 16 and the shoe 22; and the handle 10 is rotated to tighten the chain 30 and the serrated portion 27 against the Workpiece.

I claim as my invention:

1. A wrench, comprising an elongated handie, a plurality of arcuately disposed sprocket teeth projecting outwardly from one end of said handle, a linlt pivotally mounted on said handle adjacent the handle end carrying said teeth, an arcuate shoe fixed on said link normal thereto and extending through the plane of said teeth, and a link-chain having pins and side plates forming openings for engagement over said teeth, said chain being pivotally mounted on one end of said shoe and adapted to be wrapped around a work-piece and interposed between said shoe and teeth for engagement with said teeth, said shoe being positioned to en gage the workpiece and extending directly opposite said teeth to form a passage to receive a portion of the chain engaged by to slide `along said .passage andxdraw .the ywork-.pieceagainst an edge face of the lshoe `to bindingly gripssaid work-piece for imparting rotational movement thereto.

2. A wrench according toclaim 1 with-the addition that said link'has a serrated edge face adjacent the chain mounting and extending from said mounting towardand substantially radial to the arcuate toothedportion of the handle, said serrated edge face being positioned-and .arranged so that when it is engaged against a relatively small workpiece the shoe and said `arcuate handle portion stand in converging relation-outwardly Ytherefrom and the chain may be wrapped `-around'the .workpiece and entered between the shoe and teeth in a direction opposite to that used when the workpiece is clamped against said rshoe .edge face, to be slidablyftorced routward along the shoe to ,bindingly grip -the relatively small workpiece. v3. A Wrench according to claim `1 with thefaddition i 22,920,501 i f t 4 t that said link lies at one side of the wrenchvand closes the chain-receiving passage at such side of the wrench, said passage being open at the opposite side of the wrench, said plurality of teeth extending through a limited length of arc on said handle and said handle being rotatable relative to the link to carry the teeth out of said chain-receiving passage, thereby permitting the chain to be inserted edgewise into the passage and freely adjusted therealong, and to be subsequently engaged with said teeth by rotation of the handle relative .tothe,1ink to carry the vteeth back into said passage.

References cited in the me of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,358,078 Halbritter Nov. 9, 1920 1,548,344 Bessolo Aug. 4, 1925 11,651,575 Bessolo Dec..6 1927 1,860,012 ,Carpenter ,May 24, 1232