US3312129A

US3312129A - Sliding jaw wrench having a pivoted handle-lever grip which engages worm means to preent rotation thereof

Info

Publication number: US3312129A
Application number: US467940A
Authority: US
Inventors: Nordgren Simon Nil
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1964-07-03
Filing date: 1965-06-29
Publication date: 1967-04-04
Anticipated expiration: 1984-04-04
Also published as: DE1503004A1; DE1503004C3

Description

p 1957 s. N. NORDGREN 3,312,129

SLIDING JAW WRENCH HAVING A PIVOTED HANDLELEVER GRIP WHICH ENGAGES WORM MEANS TO PREVENT ROTATION THEREOF Filed June 29, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Fig.3

Apnl 4, 1967 s. N. NORDGREN 3,312,129

SLIDING JAW WRENCH HAVING A PIVOTED HANDLE-LEVER GRIP WHICH ENGAGES WORM MEANS TO PREVENT ROTATION THEREOF Filed June 29, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet Z Fig. 4

Fig. 5

United States Patent Ofilice 3,312,129 SLIDING JAW WRENCH HAVING A PIVOTED HANDLE-LEVER GRIP WHICH ENGAGES WORM MEANS TO PREVENT RGTATION THEREGF Simon Nil Nordgren, 14 Centralvagen, Rimbo, Sweden Filed June 29, 1965, Ser. No. 467,941 Claims priority, application Sweden, July 3, 1964,

,109/ 64 11 Claims. (Cl. 81--126) The present invention concerns adjustable end and ratchet wrenches. The adjusting worm in such wrenches is, during usage of the wrench, subjected to repeated alternating loads and shocks. This makes it necessary to prevent incidental twisting of the worm by particular measures, so that the chosen gap of the wrench does not accidentally change whereby backlash occurs. Such backlash may easily cause deformation of nuts and bolt heads and necessitates repeated adjustment of the gap in using the wrench. Therefore it is of great importance that backlash is eifectively prevented. Adjust-able end wrenches of conventional design have no axially movable adjusting worm, and to prevent backlash a helical spring, which extends around the worm shaft, is mounted between one end of the worm and the adjacent surface at the opening for the worm in the wrench head. This spring exercises a braking force on the worm, through which accidental twisting of it is prevented, In addition to that, the spring serves to eliminate the play between the worm and the opening in the wrench head, which play has to exist from a manufacturing point of view.

This known device is not usable for wrenches of the kind referred to in the invention, primarily because the axial motion of the adjusting worm in such wrenches is so large, that the tension in the relatively short spring, that can be housed in this wrench, would vary too much between the two outer positions. This, in turn, would mean that the braking force on the worm would vary between a very low value when the jaws are separated, or in so called slipping position, and a high value, when the jaws are in operating position. Even if in the wrench according to the invention, one has, in known manner, a non-turnably arranged washer between the worm and the device arresting said worm axially, one cannot therefore effectively prevent an incidental. twisting of the worm by such an arrangement.

According to the invention the mentioned disadvantage is prevented essentially by a wrench construction whereby the effect is gained that the arresting device upon an axial displacement of the worm, only during the very latest portion of the worms motion towards the working position, needs to work against the spring force, which to a high degree facilitates a speedy and secure grip of the jaws around the work piece. This also makes possible, in wrenches provided with a spring between the wrench head and the handle, a weaker dimension of said spring which is intended to move the jaws to their mutual working position via the arresting or holding device and the adjusting worm.

The invention is described more fully in the following description with reference to the drawing, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a side view showing schematically a wrench according to the invention;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged fragmentary view, partly in section, showing the adjusting worm and the adjacent parts of the wrench;

FIGURE 3 is a section taken on line III-III in FIG- URE 2; and

FIGURES 4 and 5 are views, similar to FIGURE 2, of alternate forms of the invention.

The adjustable end wrench .in FIGURE 1 is furnished with a wrench head 1, which carries the fixed jaw 2,

3,312,129 Fatented Apr. 4, 1967 and with a handle 3, which by means of a pivot pin 4, whose axis is perpendicular to the wrenchs main plane or pivoting plane, is movably connected to the wrench head 1. The movable jaw 55 of the wrench is in customary manner furnished with a rack 6, and is displaceable through it and an adjusting worm 7 acting jointly with the rack 6. The worm is, in turn, displaceably arranged along the worm axis in an opening 8 in the wrench head and, in a customary manner, is carried by a tightened worm shaft 9. As appears in FIGURE 2, the worm 7 is arranged on a bushing 10, which on one end is furnished with a spacer member in the form of a washer 11 and on the other end with a flange or collar 12. In a boring 13 in the worm 7 a spring device 14 is compressed between the collar 12 and the bottom of the boring in such a way that the worm is pressed by the spring to engage with the washer 11. The washer 11 is furnished with projections 15, which act jointly with the wrench head 1 to prevent the washer 11 from rotating about the center of the worm shaft 9. The washer 11 is held to the bushing 10 by an outwardly bent portion on the end thereof. The end of the handle 3 that is connected to the wrench head 1 is forked, whereby a groove is formed between two legs in which groove the tongue 16, FIGURE 3, projecting from the head 1, moves, thereby enabling adequate guidance between the wrench head and the handle. The legs of the handles forked part form, in addition, an arresting or holding device 17, consisting of two arm-like projections which act jointly with the washer 11 and bring about the axial displacement of the unit formed by the Worm 7, bushing 11 washer 11 and the spring device 14 from slipping position to working position, when the handle is pivoted about the pivot pin 4, in the direction indicated by the arrow A in FIGURE 1. In. the working position the arresting or holding device 17 thus holds the spacer 11, and thus the worm 7, against axial displacement. In an opening in the tongue 16 projecting from the wrench head 1, a spring 18 is so compressed between the tongue 16 and the legs of the handle, that it tends to move the arresting device 17 toward working position; i.e. the position which is shown in FIGURES 1 and 2. The handle 3 and the wrench head 1 are suitably furnished with particular abutting surfaces, which, when the parts are in working position, bear on one another, thereby fixing the parts in their relative positions. Such abutting surfaces may be arranged, for example, along the dividing

lines

19 or 20 between the handle and the wrench head. On the handle 3 is fastened a locking device 21, by which the handle 3 can be rigidly attached to the tongue 16 in the working position, whereby the wrench can be used as an adjustable end wrench of conventional design. Moreover, this locking device should suitably be employed during the adjustment of the Wanted wrench-gap, when the wrench is used in the manner for which it is, at first hand, intended.

The washer 11 can be rigidly connected to the bush ing 10, which thereby cannot revolve about the worm shaft. The washer 11, however, may be adjustably arranged on the bushing 10, which means that the armlike projection of the arresting device 17 ought to be arranged for contact with the washer radially outside of the end surface of the bushing 10. If, as is shown in FIGURE 2, the upper end of the bushing 10 is extended above the corresponding end of the worm 7, it implies that, by pivoting of the handle 3 in direction of the arrow A, the worm 7 and the bushing 10 move as one unit until the upper end of the bushing hits the upper edge of the opening 8. With continued pivoting of the handle only the worm is displaced thereby compressing the spring device 14. This can continue until the spring device is completely compressed or until the abutting surfaces between the handle 3 and the wrench head 1, for

example along the dividing lines 19 and/or 20, touch one another. Preferably, the latter alternative should occur since, by this, as all plays are eliminated simultaneously, a working position strictly defined only by the abutting surfaces is obtained.

The washer 11 and the bushing 10 can alternatively be interconnected by threads, as shown in FIGURE 4. By doing so it is possible to regulate, according to ones wishes, the tension in the spring device 14-, so that in every particular case the most suitable spring force and braking force is obtained. In cases where such regulation is unnecessary, the washer 11 and the bushing 10 may be made in one piece or joined by soldering, welding (as shown in FIGURE 5) or the like.

Other modifications of the device which fall within the scope of the invention can be imagined. For example, one can place another spacer, which eventually may be elastic, between the upper end of the bushing and the edge of the opening 8; e.g. it could consist of one or more disc springs in the same manner, as shown in FIG- URE 2, for the spring device 14. Naturally, it is not necessary that the bushing extends outside the upper end of the worm, it may on the contrary lie inside of it in that case.

A further alternative design may consist in that the unit formed by the worm 7, bushing 10 and washer 11 is arranged to be acted upon by a separate spring; e.g. a coil spring 22, FIGURE 2, surrounding the worm shaft, that tends to bring this unit to its working position in the opening 8.

The coil spring abuts the lower end of bushing 10, and should suitably be weaker than spring 14.

What is claimed is:

1. A wrench comprising a wrench head having a fixed jaw and a movable jaw mounted on said fixed jaw, said movable jaw being slidably mounted for movement relative to said fixed jaw between a working position wherein said jaws are arranged to turn a work piece therebetween and a slipping position wherein said jaws move about the work piece without turning the same, a handle pivotally mounted on said fixed jaw for pivotal movement relative to said head, means for adjusting the position of said movable jaw relative to said fixed jaw, said adjusting means including a rack means on said movable jaw, a worm means engaging said rack means, and means mounting said Worm means for rotational and axial movement relative to the axis thereof, said mounting means for said worm means including a worm shaft, and a bushing mounted on the worm shaft for axial movement thereon,

said Worm means being mounted on said bushing for 50 axial movement thereon, a spacer member carried on said bushing adjacent one end of the worm means and fixed against rotation about the Worm axis, spring means carried on said bushing for urging said worm means and said spacer member into contact at said adjacent end of said worm means, and arresting means carried by said handle and arranged to move into contact with said spacer member to actuate the same into holding contact with said end of said worm means when the handle is moved to place the jaws in the working position.

2. A wrench according to claim 1 comprising a bore in the end of said worm means opposite said spacer member, and wherein said spring means is positioned within said bore to urge the worm means towards said spacer member.

3. A wrench according to claim 1 wherein said bushing and said spacer member are rigidly interconnected.

4. A wrench according to claim 1 wherein said bushing and said spacer member are threadedly interconnected.

5. A wrench according to claim 1 wherein said spacer member is mounted for axial movement on saidbushing.

6. A wrench according to claim 5 comprising means for checking the axial movement of the bushing before the worm means is moved to the working position by action of the arresting means.

7. A wrench according to claim 6 comprising a second spring means for biasing the bushing relative to said worm shaft toward the working position.

8. A wrench according to claim 1 wherein said bushing is non-rotatably arranged on said worm shaft.

9. A wrench according to claim 1 comprising a spring positioned in compression between said handle and said wrench head to 'bias the handle to move the arresting device and the worm means to the working position.

10. A wrench according to claim 1 wherein said spacer member has a projection thereon and said wrench head is provided with a portion cooperable with said projection to prevent rotation of said spacer member.

1.1. A wrench according to claim 1 wherein said bushing has a portion adjacent the other end of said worm means, said spring means being mounted in compression between said worm means and said portion of said bushing.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,171,939 2/1916 Ginsburg 81-126 1,391,251 9/1921 Ginsburg 8ll65 1,469,533 10/1923 Rahling 8l165 2,562,060 7/1951 Pehrsson 8ll26 2,733,626 2/1956 Mesojedec 81-165 2,970,502 2/1961 Nordgren 81l26 WILLIAM FELDMAN, Primary Examiner.

MILTON S. MEHR, Examiner.

Claims

1. A WRENCH COMPRISING A WRENCH HEAD HAVING A FIXED JAW AND A MOVABLE JAW MOUNTED ON SAID FIXED JAW, SAID MOVABLE JAW BEING SLIDABLY MOUNTED FOR MOVEMENT RELATIVE TO SAID FIXED JAW BETWEEN A WORKING POSITION WHEREIN SAID JAWS ARE ARRANGED TO TURN A WORK PIECE THEREBETWEEN AND A SLIPPING POSITION WHEREIN SAID JAWS MOVE ABOUT THE WORK PIECE WITHOUT TURNING THE SAME, A HANDLE PIVOTALLY MOUNTED ON SAID FIXED JAW FOR PIVOTAL MOVEMENT RELATIVE TO SAID HEAD, MEANS FOR ADJUSTING THE POSITION OF SAID MOVABLE JAW RELATIVE TO SAID FIXED JAW, SAID ADJUSTING MEANS INCLUDING A RACK MEANS ON SAID MOVABLE JAW, A WORM MEANS ENGAGING SAID RACK MEANS, AND MEANS MOUNTING SAID WORM MEANS FOR ROTATIONAL AND AXIAL MOVEMENT RELATIVE TO THE AXIS THEREOF, SAID MOUNTING MEANS FOR SAID WORM MEANS INCLUDING A WORM SHAFT, AND A BUSHING MOUNTED ON THE WORM SHAFT FOR AXIAL MOVEMENT THEREON, SAID WORM MEANS BEING MOUNTED ON SAID BUSHING FOR AXIAL MOVEMENT THEREON, A SPACER MEMBER CARRIED ON SAID BUSHING ADJACENT ONE END OF THE WORM MEANS AND FIXED AGAINST ROTATION ABOUT THE WORM AXIS, SPRING MEANS CARRIED ON SAID BUSHING FOR URGING SAID WORM MEANS AND SAID SPACER MEMBER INTO CONTACT AT SAID ADJACENT END OF SAID WORM MEANS, AND ARRESTING MEANS CARRIED BY SAID HANDLE AND ARRANGED TO MOVE INTO CONTACT WITH SAID SPACER MEMBER TO ACTUATE THE SAME INTO HOLDING CONTACT WITH SAID END OF SAID WORM MEANS WHEN THE HANDLE IS MOVED TO PLACE THE JAWS IN THE WORKING POSITION.