US3448641A - Open end ratchet wrench with a removable head - Google Patents

Description

June 10, 1969 W. MORROW OPEN END RAT CHET WRENCH WITH A REMOVABLE HEAD Filed Sept. 29, 1967 m w WM Q Wm M M J 7 M r M a a, a w 7 i I 9 7 3 M 4 M i M fi ZW.IIIH!;.$2 0 4 W, n. M

United States Patent O 3,448,641 OPEN END RATCHET WRENCH WITH A REMOVABLE HEAD William J. Morrow, 301-2 Pennell Circle, Tallahassee, Fla. 32304 Filed Sept. 29, 1967, Ser. No. 671,739 Int. Cl. B25b 13/00, 13/46 US. Cl. 8158.2 2 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An open end wrench having a ratchet head carried by an operating handle within which the head can be rotated in a selected direction but held against rotation in the other direction. The ratchet head is removably mounted on the handle to permit heads of different sizes to be interchangeable.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the inventioru This invention relates generally to machine tools of various kinds and particularly to open end wrenches having a head with ratchet or other adjusting means.

Description of the prior art Many open end wrenches have been provided some of which have had heads which were removable to accommodate nuts and fasteners of different sizes and a few of which have been provided with ratchet means which permit the head to be rotated in a selective direction. These prior art devices have not been satisfactory since they have been bulky and expensive to produce, as well as not satisfying the purpose for which they were intended due to jamming or binding of the ratchet head when placed under a strain.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is a relatively simple compact ratchet head open end wrench in which the head is rotatably mounted on one end of a handle and means is provided for permitting rotation of the head in either direction but which will prevent rotation in the other direction. The head is rotatably mounted on a pivot pin which can be easily withdrawn so that the head can be removed and another head having a nut receiving opening of a different size can be inserted within the handle and the pivot pin replaced. An operating lever and associated mechanism is provided for controlling the direction of movement of the ratchet head.

It is an object of the invention ot provide an open end wrench having a rotatably mounted head with means permitting rotation in a selected direction but preventing rotation in the opposite direction.

Another object of the invention is to provide an open end Wrench having a rotatably mounted head with teeth around a portion of its periphery which are selectively engaged by a double toothed pawl to permit rotation of the head in one direction at a time.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a top plan view illustrating one embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a bottom plan view thereof.

FIG. 3 is a side elevation.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged section on the line 44 of FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged section on the line 5-5 of FIG. 2.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT With continued reference to the drawing, an operating handle 10 is provided having a cylindrical shank portion 11 with a knurled gripping portion 12 at one end. At its opposite end the shank portion 11 is flattened into a yoke 13 having upper and lower portions 14 and 15, respectively, connected by an intermediate portion 16 and defining a throat 17. A removable pivot pin 18 is carried by the yoke 13 adjacent the free end thereof and such pin has an enlarged head 19 at one end recessed within a eounterbore 20 in the upper portion 14. A groove 21 is disposed about the pin 18 adjacent the end remote from the head. Such groove is adapted to receive opposite sides of a bifurcated slide lock 22 which retains the pin in position.

A wrench head 24 is rotatably mounted on the pin 18 and such head may have a fastener receiving opening 25 extending inwardly from the edge thereof and generally radially of said pin. The edge of the head 24 opposite the opening 25 is disposed on a radius and is provided with a plurality of teeth 26. As illustrated, the wrench head 24 is generally cylindrical with flat sides; however, any desired configuration would be acceptable as long as a portion of the edge is on a radius and provided with teeth.

The intermediate portion 16 and the upper portion 14 of the yoke 13 are provided with a counterbore 27 in which a generally cylindrical double toothed pawl 28 is rotatably mounted. The pawl 28 is provided with a flattened portion 29 along one side thereof and such flattened portion terminates in teeth 30 at opposite sides of the flattened portion and generally complementary to and selectively engageable with the teeth 26. Along the opposite side of the pawl 28 a pair of generally parallel grooves 31 are provided which are separated by a land portion 32 and such grooves are adapted to receive a detent 33 urged therein by a spring 34, such spring being received within a recess 35 in the intermediate portion 16.

In order to rotate the pawl 28 one end of such pawl is provided with a generally triangular projection 36 on which an operating lever 37 is fixed in any desired manner. At the opposite end of the pawl a stub shaft 38 is provided which extends outwardly through an opening 39 into an elongated counterbore 40 recessed within the lower portion 15 of the yoke 13. To hold the pawl 28 in fixed rotatable position the stub shaft 38 is provided with a groove 41 adjacent its outer end and located within the counterbore 40. The groove 41 is adapted to receive the bifurcated end 42 of a leaf spring 43 which prevents withdrawal of the pawl. I

The slide lock 22 is disposed within the elongated counterbore 40 and in order to prevent the accidental movement of the slide lock and the possible loss of the pin 18, such slide lock is provided with a pair of raised knurled gripping portions 44 at one end which are spaced apart a distance sufficient to accommodate the free end of the leaf spring 43 which is disposed therebetween and which will retain the slide lock in fixed adjusted position. A hold down and guide pin 45 is received between the bifurcated ends of the slide lock 22 and such pin is provided with an elongated head 46 adapted to overlie the slide lock 22. The head 46 will retain the slide lock within the elongated counterbore 40 when the slide lock is retracted from the pin 18.

The ratchet head open end wrench of the present invention is particularly useful in enclosed or tight spaces which would preclude the use of a conventional open end wrench. In the operation of the device a head 24 having an opening 25 of a desired size is located within the throat 17 and rotatably mounted on the pin 18. The slide lock 22 which has been retracted, is then extended so that the bifurcated ends are received within the groove 21 and the pin 18 is locked in position. The lever 37 is rotated until it is disposed generally longitudinally of the handle 10 at which time the detent 33 will be disposed on the land portion 32 and the flattened portion 29 will be disposed adjacent to the teeth 26 of the head 24. In this position the head is freely rotatable and can be rotated in either direction to the most advantageous position for engaging a nut or other fastener. Thereafter the lever 37 is moved to one side or the other so that one set of teeth 30 will cooperatively engage the teeth 26. In this position the head 24 can be rotated in one direction due to the fact that the teeth 26 of the head will rotate the pawl 28 slightly against the pressure of the spring 34 and permit the teeth 26 to pass the teeth 30. However, when pressure is applied to rotate the head 24 in the opposite direction, the teeth 30 will be moved into tighter engagement with the teeth 26 and will prevent any such rotation. When the handle is disposed within a confined space, such handle may be moved until it engages an obstruction and the movement of the handle will rotate the nut a small amount. The handle can then be shifted back with the teeth 26 of the head overriding the teeth 30 of the pawl until the handle strikes an obstruction on the opposite side. Thereafter the process is repeated.

It will be apparent that a relatively simple ratchet head open end wrench has been provided in which a plurality of heads of different sizes can be interchangeably mounted on a single handle and which can be either freely rotated or selectively rotated in one direction while being prevented from rotating in the opposite direction.

It will be obvious to one skilled in the art that various changes may be made in the described embodiment of the invention without departing from the spirit and scope thereof and therefore the invention is not limited by that which is illustrated in the drawing and described in the specification, but only as indicated in the accompanying claims.

I claim:

1. A ratchet head open end wrench comprising a handle having a yoke on one end, a pin removably mounted on said yoke and extending from one side thereof to the other, lock means for retaining said pin and said yoke in assembled relation, a wrench head rotatably mounted on said pin, said head having a fastener receiving opening on one side and a plurality of teeth on the opposite side, said teeth being disposed generally radially of said pin, a pawl movably mounted within said yoke, a plurality of sets of teeth carried by said pawl and adapted to selectively cooperatively engage the teeth of said head, said sets of teeth being spaced from each other and separated by a reduced portion, detent means for maintaining said pawl in adjusted position, and lever means connected to said pawl for selectively moving the same, whereby said pawl can be moved to a first position so that said reduced portion is adjacent to the teeth of said head to permit free rotation of said head, or moved to a second position so that a selected set of teeth on said pawl will cooperatively engage the teeth of said head and permit the head to be moved in one direction but prevent it from moving in the opposite direction.

2. A ratchet head open end wrench comprising a handle having yoke means at one end, pin means removably mounted on said yoke means and extending from one side to the other, said pin means having an annular groove adjacent one end, a bifurcated slide lock means slidably mounted on said yoke means and adapted to selectively engage the annular recess of said pin to retain said pin and said yoke means in assembled relation, a removable wrench head rotatably mounted on said pin means within said yoke means, a plurality of pawl-engaging means on said wrench head and disposed generally radially of said pin, a pawl swingably mounted within said yoke means, lever means connected to said pawl for selectively swinging'the same, a plurality of teeth carried by said pawl and adapted to selectively cooperatively engage the pawl-engaging means of said head, said teeth being spaced from each other and separated by a reduced portion, and means for maintaining said pawl in selected position, whereby in one position of said pawl the wrench head can be rotated in one direction but prevented from rotation in the opposite direction, and in another position of the pawl the wrench head can be rotated freely.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 308,969 12/1884 Lussier 8l62 X 645,148 3/1900 Vankirk 81-63 969,379 9/1910 Lane 8l63 X 974,121 11/1910 Case 8l58.4 978,395 12/1910 Peters 8158.5 1,101,381 6/1914 Anderson et al 8l62 X 2,537,175 1/1951 Viets 8l58.2 3,299,725 1/ 1967 Gewirc et al 8l62 X MYRON C. KRUSE, Primary Examiner.

U.S. Cl. X.R. 81-63

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