US3059513A

US3059513A - Wrench

Info

Publication number: US3059513A
Application number: US788925A
Authority: US
Inventors: Dwight O Ness
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1959-01-26
Filing date: 1959-01-26
Publication date: 1962-10-23
Anticipated expiration: 1979-10-23

Description

Oct. 23, 1962 D. o. NESS 3,059,513

WRENCH Filed Jan. 26, 1959 INVENTOR. DWIGHT 0. NE 58 ATTORNEYS ilnited States harem insane Patented Oct. 23, 1962 Free 3,059,513 WRENCH Dwight 0. Ness, 1514 Maria Place, Coronado, Caiif. Filed Jan. 26, 1959, Ser. No. 788,925 4 Claims. (Cl. 81-119) The present invention relates to an improved type of wrench, and more particularly to that type of wrench which is adapted to be rotated in one direction for applying a torque to a member of hexagonal cross section, and which is adapted to be rotated in the opposite direction in a ratchet-like manner about such member without applying any appreciable torque.

According to the present invention there is provided a wrench comprising a pair of outwardly extending jaws which are formed with confronting faces or gripping portions which are adapted to fit over the faces or flats of a hexagonal member such as a nut or the like. The pair of jaws are arranged in spaced apart, parallel relationship in order to grasp the nut between them, and, in order to apply high turning or torque forces to the nut during a working stroke while yet preserving a ratchetlike action on the return stroke, one gripping portion is made shorter than the other so that its outer end or boss lies adjacent the inner corner part of the adjacent flat of the nut. During-a working stroke this short gripping portion is adapted to apply a torque against the adjacent flat, but upon a return stroke the nut in effect rotates or rolls about the boss or outer end of the short jaw, as will be seen.

The other jaw is cut away or relieved along the inward section of its gripping portion, and the remaining outward gripping portion is adapted to apply its torque during a working stroke to the outer portion of its adjacent flat. That is, its torque is applied to its adjacent flat at an area which is diagonally opposite to the area of the flat against which the shortened gripping portion applies its torque. This establishes a torque couple with the centerline of the nut between it so that the torque couple tends to rotate or turn the nut.

The relief provided in the jaw is designed to permit the wrench to turn freely upon the nut during the nonworking or return stroke. That is, the wrench is permitted to roll about the nut with the boss of the shortened gripping portion tending to maintain its position with respect to the adjacent flat during the initial portion of this rolling movement. The ensuing relative movement between the nut and the wrench causes the inner corner part of the flat adjacent the relieved jaw to describe an are which, if interrupted, would prevent the wrench from slipping over that corner part during the ratcheting action. However, with the provision of the clearance space, the described are is not interrupted and the inner corner part of the flat passes freely through the clearance space to permit the wrench to be slid down and about a new set of flats for another working stroke. It has been found that the most eflicient combination of high torque .and easy ratcheting is accomplished by making the shortened gripping portion approximately one-third the length of the adjacent flat of the nut, and by making the recess or clear ance in the other jaw long enough so that the gripping portion of that jaw engages approximately one-third of the length of its adjacent nut flat. Also, the clearance section preferably extends over approximately the remaining two-thirds of the length of the nut flat adjacent to it.

In order to insure that the nut is seated between the gripping portions of the wrench in the manner described, the wrench is formed to provide a locating means for limiting the inward passage of the nut. This may conveniently take the form of angularly disposed faces adapted to mate with or receive the particular configuration of the inwardly disposed side of the nut, such as, for

example, a hexagonal configuration. By this means the gripping portions are properly oriented for the best application of torque to the nut.

An important feature of the present invention is the provision of a yieldable member such as a leaf spring or the like, for bridging or disposition across a substantial portion of the gap left in the one jaw of the wrench by the formation of the clearance space. This spring, which is preferably arranged parallel to and in alignment with the adjacent gripping portion of the jaw, serves several functions. First, its yieldable nature permits the wrench to be applied to a nut having its opposite flats spaced apart a distance very close to the spacing of the gripping portions of the wrench jaws. That is, there is very little clearance between the wrench and the seated nut. The clearance may even be slightly negative, if desired, to thereby fit oversized nuts. Such a small clearance would be impracticable with the usual wrench since it would be unrealistic to expect an operator to carefully or even forcibly mate the wrench to the nut for each work stroke. However, with the present wrench, by cooking the nut, or by so orienting the wrench with the nut, the opposed flats of the nut may be introduced between the short gripping portion of the one jaw and the forward terminus of the clearance provided in the other jaw, the leaf spring yielding to permit the entry of the nut into such clear ance space. Once the nut has deflected the leaf spring so as to project into the clearance space, the leaf spring, which is preferably characterized by a surface having a low coeflicient of friction, permits the nut to easily slide across its face to enable relative rotation of the nut into position with its flats arranged parallel and closely adjacent to the gripping portions of the wrench. In this way the pair of opposite flats are firmly held in position between the wrench gripping portions and ready for a. driving stroke. Moreover, the leaf spring may be made adjustable in stiffness to give the operator a feel for the proper position of the gripping portions upon the flats when the spring moves outwardly or clicks back into its normal position of adjacency with the flat of the nut.

In addition, the spring serves to force the nut against the boss or outer end of the short jaw during a ratcheting movement of the wrench about the nut, thereby enhancing the smoothness of the ratcheting action by tending to prevent the nut from slipping inwardly to a position where its flats might become undesirably lodged between the forward terminus of the clearance space and the locating means carried by the Wrench for locating the nut during a'driving stroke. In order to further insure against such undesirable slippage of the nut, the boss of the short gripping portion may be abraded or roughened, or its surface otherwise provided with a high coeflicient of friction, to maintain its position on the adjacent flat of the nut.

The spring also maintains the wrench in position upon the nut tightly enough that the wrench could he released without danger of its falling off the nut.

Various forms of yieldable means, bias means, and various bias adjusting means will hereinafter be described in connection with the several embodiments of the invention, and the invention is not therefore limited to a leaf spring.

It is to be particularly noted that by reason of the provision of the above-mentioned spring, and the resulting close tolerance fit between the nut and the wrench, an improved etllciency in the application of torque is achieved, and the torque is applied to the flats of the nut rather than to its corner parts. Thus, the mutilation or wiping off of these corner parts is prevented, and moreover, nuts having already mutilated corner parts may be turned with the present wrench. This characteristic of the present wrench permits its use on'brass and aluminum nuts, par- .position to turn the nut.

ticularly in tubing applications, since the wrench may be fitted over the tubing or coupling nut and ratcheted in The wrench applies its torque primarily to the flats of such nuts so that the soft metal thereof is not deformed.

The present wrench is simple and straightforward in design, easy to use, smooth in operation, and adapted to fit into relatively inaccessible areas. It has maximum strength for its size, and can be made wider or thinner as required for the particular application.

Other objects and features of the present invention will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art from the following specification and appended drawings wherein is illustrated a preferred form of the invention, and in which:

FIGURE 1 is an elevational view of a wrench according to the present invention, a member of hexagonal cross section being illustrated therewith to show the relative location of the gripping portions of the wrench with respect to the hexagonal member;

FIGURE 2 is an elevational view like FIGURE 1, but illustrating the position which the wrench would assume during a return or ratcheting stroke;

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged detail view of the yieldable member of the embodiments of FIGURES l and 2, the bias means for adjusting the yieldability thereof also being illustrated;

FIGURE 4 is a perspective View of another embodiment of the wrench of the present invention;

FIGURE 5 is a further embodiment of the wrench of the present invention; and

FIGURE 6 is yet another embodiment of the wrench of the present invention, this embodiment being particularly adapted to use with a socket wrench handle.

Referring now to the drawings and particularly to FIGURES l, 2, and 3, there is illustrated a wrench 10 in accordance with the present invention, wrench 10 being shown in position to turn or drive a member or out 12 of hexagonalcross section. For brevity, the handle portion 14' of wrench 10 is only illustrated in part, and extends away from the head of wrench 11 in the well known manner.

Wrench 10 comprises a pair of outwardly extending

jaws

16 and 18 which are formed with confironting faces or gripping

portions

20 and 22, respectively, which are adapted to lit over the opposite parallel faces or

flats

24 and 26 of nut 12. The pair of

jaws

16 and 18 are arranged in spaced apart and parallel relationship in order to grasp nut 12 between them. As will be apparent, gripping

portions

20 and 22 are adapted to be urged against

flats

24 and 26 during counterclockwise movement of wrench 10 about nut 12, as illustrated in FIG- URE 1. FIGURE 1 illustrates the driving or working stroke position of wrench 10 with respect to nut 12.

It is noted that gripping portion 24) is made shorter, that is, is more inwardly disposed, than gripping portion 22 so that its outer end or boss 28 lies closely adjacent the point or corner portion 30 of flat 24 of nut 12. During a driving or working stroke, gripping portion 20 is adapted to apply its torque against this portion of flat 24, while during a return or ratcheting stroke, as illustrated inFIGURB 2, boss 28 serves as a pivot point about which wrench 10 is rotated in a clockwise direction. To insure that boss 28 will remain the illustrated position adjacent flat 24, and thereby serve as a pivot point, the outer end or extremity of boss 28 may be roughened or otherwise provided with a surface having a high coefiicient of friction, so that relative movement between boss 28 and fiat 24 is minimized during the initial portion of the ratcheting stroke of wrench 10. As will be seen, during the latter portion of the ratcheting stroke, boss 28 will slide over the surface of flat .24 and into engagement with an adjacent flat or nut 12, in position for another driving stroke.

The other or longer jaw 18 is cut away or relieved at recess 32 so as to limit the engagement of gripping po'r' tion 22 to a portion of flat 26 which is diagonally op-' posite to that portion of fiat 24 engaged by gripping portion 26. Thus, gripping

portions

20 and 22 constitutetorque' applying members for rotating nut 12 in a counterclockwise direction during a driving stroke. Of course, if it is desired to effect a driving stroke against nut 12 in the opposite or clockwise direction, wrench 10 may be turned over or reversed in position, as will be apparent.

Recess 32 provides a clearance space for nut 12 when wrench 10 is rotated about nut 12 during a ratcheting stroke, as seen in FIGURE 2. More particularly, as wrench 10 is rotated in a clockwise direction, wrench 10 will pivot upon nut 12 about boss 28, and the inward point or corner portion 34 of flat 26 will describe an are from its original position adjacent the inner terminus of recess 32, the arc dipping down into recess 32 and thence outwardly to just clear the inner terminus of gripping por tion 22. Through the provision of recess 32, wrench 10 is easily rotatable in a clockwise direction to ratchet about nut 12.

A yieldable, movable, or resilient member 36 is bridged or disposed across a susbtantial portion of the length of recess 32, and may be made of springy material, such as spring steel, to exert a bias against nut 12 during a ratcheting stroke. That is, member 36, which is rigidly anchored to wrench It at the inner terminus of recess 32, yields to permit corner part 34 to slide across it and through recess 32. In doing so member 34 urges boss 28 and flat 24 together to insure non-slipping engagement therebetween during the initial portion of the ratcheting stroke. The surface of yieldable member 36 over which corner part 34 slides is preferably made smooth or other- Wise provided with a surface having a low coefiicient of friction so that slippage thereover of corner part 34 occurs easily.

In addition to this function of yieldable member 36, it will be seen in FIGURE 1 that member 36 also serves to maintain nut 12 firmly in position against gripping portion 20, thereby preventing wrench 10 from falling away from nut 12 if wrench 10 should be released. In addition, yieldable member 36 gives the operator a sensory indication denoting when gripping

portions

20 and 22 are in proper gripping position upon

flats

24 and 26 preparatory to a driving stroke. The springy nature of member 36 tends to click or snap it into its normal position of adjacency with flat 22 when nut 12 is properly posi tioned for driving.

In order to adjust the bias force of spring member 36, and thereby prevent the undesirable clockwise movement of nut 12 during a ratcheting stroke which might occur if member 36 pressed against corner part 34 too tightly, bias adjusting means 38 is provided, as best illustrated in FIGURE 3. The bias adjusting means 38 comprises a cap 40 which is slidably disposed within a bore 42 provided in jaw 18, and cap 40 is urged outwardly into forcible engagement with member 36 by a spring 44. A threaded adjusting plug 46 is provided for adjusting the bias force of the spring, more inward disposition of plug 46 increasing the stiffness of member 36, and more outward disposition serving to relieve such stillness.

The most efficient combination of high torque and easy ratcheting is provided by making gripping portion 20 approximately one-third the length of flat 24, and by making gripping portion 22 approximately one-third the length of flat 26. This of course means that the length of recess 32 will be approximately two-thirds the length of flat 26. With this relationship of sizes, it can be seen from FIGURE 2 that wrench 10 may he cocked to permit wrench 10 to be fitted over nut 12 with the bulk of nut 12 between

fiats

24 and 26 easily fitting through the space between boss 28 and the inner terminus of gripping portion 22. Subsequently, wrench 10 may be rotated in a counterclockwise direction to fit gripping

portions

20 and 22 against

flats

24 and 26 in the position illustrated in FIGURE 1. With this cocked entry of nut 12 into wrench it can be seen that the perpendicular distance between

gripping portions

20 and 22 may be made slightly greater, the same, or even slightly less than the distance across the

flats

22 and 24, thereby providing a very tight and closely adjacent relationship between

gripping portions

20 and 22 and

flats

24 and 26. With this construction, with little or no tolerance between the gripping portions and the flats, almost all torque forces will be applied against the flats rather than atthe corner parts of the nut. This is highly desirable since it prevents deformation of the points or corner parts of the nut.

Yieldable member 36 is provided with a rounded outer end portion 47 to facilitate application of wrench 10 to nut 12, and eliminate any possible interference between a corner part of nut 12 and the outer end of member 36 To properly locate nut 12 with respect to gripping

portions

20 and 22 in the manner above described, wrench 10 is formed with locating means for limiting the inward passage of the nut. In the embodiment shown in FIG- URES l and 2, this locating means takes the form of hexagonally disposed faces 48 and 50 formed in the wrench head. In this way nut 12 is located for the best application of torque by wrench 10.

FIGURES 4, 5, and 6 illustrate other forms of yieldable members, such as the yieldable member 36 above described. Thus, in FIGURE 4, a yieldable member 52, made of spring steel or the like, is fastened at its inner end to the wrench head by a screw 54, and is bent upwardly at its outer end to provide a tab 56 which bridges across a substantial portion of the length of recess 32. The stiffness or spring of tab 56 is adjusted by sliding a bracket 58 over the inward portion of yieldable member 52, bracket 58 being maintained in position by engagement with a pair of grooves 60 formed in the wrench head, as illustrated. As will be apparent, the position of bracket 58 with respect to tab 56 dictates the stiffness or resilience of tab 56.

In FIGURE 5 a yieldable member 62 is illustrated, and which yields by pivoting about a pin 64 which is disposed through the thickness of jaw 18. Member 62 is arranged across recess 32 and is biased outwardly, that is away from jaw 18, by bias means 38 (not shown) which is located and which is operative in the same way as above described in connection with the embodiment of FIG- URES 1, 2 and 3.

Similarly, in FIGURE 6 a pivotable, yieldable member 66 is illustrated. Member 66 is pivotable about a pin 68 disposed through the thickness of the wrench head, and an integral tab 70 of member 66 limits the outward pivotable movement of member 66. Member 66 is biased outwardly by a bias means (not shown) identical to bias means 38 above described.

It is to be noted that the means limiting the inward disposition of nut 12 with respect to wrench 10 may take a form other than the

faces

48 and 50 shown in FIGURE 1. Thus, in FIGURE 5 the locating means constitutes a short guide face 72 -which terminates at one end in a rounded face 74 which is carried into gripping portion 29, and at the other end terminates in a rounded face 76 which is carried into recess 32.

FIGURE 6 illustrates the form which wrench 10 would take for use with a square drive socket wrench handle, the wrench head being formed to eliminate any handle, and to include a socket. Thus, the wrench head may be turned by inserting the usual socket handle int-o socket 78, as will be apparent.

Thus it will be seen that a wrench 10 has been described which is adapted to be rotated in one direction for applying a torque to a nut or similar element, and which is adapted to be rotated in the opposite direction about such member in a ratchet-like manner. The working stroke of the wrench is efliciently applied to the flats of the nut, and the ratcheting stroke occurs smoothly and easily through rotation of the nut about a boss portion 28, with the opposite corner part of the nut proceeding through recess 32.

While certain preferred embodiments of the invention have been specifically disclosed, it is understood that the invention is not limited thereto as many variations will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art and the invention is to be given its broadest possible interpretation within the terms of the following claims.

'I claim:

1. A wrench for turning a member of hexagonal crosssection, said wrench comprising a pair of jaws having gripping portions which are in spaced parallel relationship with each other, whereby said gripping portions of said jaws will engage opposite flats of said hexagonal member, one of said jaws being shortened to provide a boss arranged to engage a corner portion of one of said opposite flats when said hexagonal member is disposed in a driving position between said jaws, the other jaw having a recess for limiting its engagement with the other of said opposite flats when said hexagonal member is disposed in driving position between said jaws, said gripping portions constituting torque applying members when the wrench is rotated in one direction, said recess providing clearance space for said hexagonal member when the wrench is rotated about said hexagonal member in 'an opposite direction, said wrench having angularly dis-- posed faces extending between said gripping portions of said jaws, one of said faces being adjacent said shortened jaw and adapted to mate with an inwardly disposed flat of said hexagonal member for limiting the inward movement thereof between said gripping portions of said jaws to thereby locate said hexagonal member in said driving position; and a deflectable member secured to said wrench and extending substantially across said recess, said deflectable member terminating just short of the gripping portion of said jaw having said recess.

2. A wrench for turning a member of hexagonal crosssection, said wrench comprising a pair of jaws having gripping portions which are in spaced parallel relationship with each other whereby said gripping portions of said jaws will engage opposite flats of said hexagonal member, one of said jaws being shortened to provide a boss arranged to engage a corner portion of one of said opposite flats when said hexagonal member is disposed in a driving position between said jaws, the other jaw having a recess for limiting its engagement with the other of said opposite flats when said hexagonal member is disposed in driving position between said jaws, said gripping portions constituting torque applying members when the wrench is rotated in one'direction, said recess providing clearance space for said hexagonal member when the wrench is rotated about said hexagonal member in an opposite direction, said wrench having angularly disposed faces extending between said gripping portions of said jaws, one of said faces being adjacent said shortened jaw and adapted to mate with an inwardly disposed flat of said hexagonal member for limiting the inward movement thereof between said griping portions of said jaws to thereby locate said hexagonal member in said driving position; and a deflectable membersecured to said wrench and extending substantially across said recess said deflectable member terminating just short of the gripping portion of said jaw having said recess, a second leg disposed over said angularly disposed face, and a restraining element disposed over said second leg and slidable in a groove formed in said wrench whereby deflection of said second leg may be adjusted to thereby adjust deflection of said first leg.

3. A wrench in accordance with claim 1, wherein the other jaw having a recess is provided with bias means engageable with said deflectable member to establish a bias force which must be overcome to deflect said deflectable member. 7

4. A wrench for turning a member of hexagonal crosssection, said wrench comprising a pair of jaws having gripping portions which are in spaced parallel relationship with each other whereby said gripping portions of said jaws will engage opposite flats of said hexagonal member, one of said jaws being shortened to provide a boss arranged to engage a corner portion of one of said opposite flats when said hexagonal member is disposed in a driving position between said jaws, the other jaw having a recess for limiting its engagement with the other of said opposite flats when said hexagonal member is disposed in driving position between said jaws, said gripping portions constituting torque applying members when the wrench is rotated in one direction, said recess providing clearance space for said hexagonal member when the wrench is rotated about said hexagonal member in an opposite direction, said wrench having angularly disposed faces extending between said gripping portions of said jaws, one of said faces being adjacent said shortened jaw and adapted to mate with an inwardly disposed flat of said hexagonal member for limiting the inward movement thereof between said gripping portions of said jaws to thereby locate said hexagonal member in said driving position; and a deflectable member secured to said wrench and extending substantially across said recess, said deflectable member terminating just short of the gripping portion of said jaw having said recess, said deflectable member being pivotally mounted to said wrench adjacent the inward terminus of said recess, said deflectable member further including an integral tab engageable with the angularly disposed face adjacent said recess to limit the outward pivotal movement of said defiectable member.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 736,687 Chandler Aug. 18, 1903 749,134 Hyman Jan. 5, 1904 1,072,090 Cook Sept. 2, 1 913 1,767,441 Endsley June 24, 1930 1,802,832 Priddle Apr. 28, 1931 1,898,388 Parker Feb. 21, 1933 2,630,037 McComb Mar. 3, 1953 2,655,065 Murphy Oct. 13, 1953 2,832,246 Liverrnont Apr. 29, 1958 FOREIGN PATENTS 3,886 Great Britain Aug. 15, 1882 230,545 Germany Apr. 1, 1944