US3564953A

US3564953A - Lateral extension devices for socket wrenches

Info

Publication number: US3564953A
Application number: US803127*A
Authority: US
Inventors: Edward T Able
Original assignee: B K SWEENY Mfg CO
Current assignee: B K SWEENY Mfg CO
Priority date: 1969-02-26
Filing date: 1969-02-26
Publication date: 1971-02-23
Anticipated expiration: 1988-02-23

Abstract

A RELATIVELY FLAT, HORIZONTALLY-ELONGATED HOUSING HAVING OPPOSITELY AND AXIALLY ALIGNED, VERTICALLY POSITIONED, ROTATABLE WRENCH SOCKETS ADJACENT ITS ONE EXTREMITY AND OPPOSITELY AND AXIALLY ALIGNED, VERTICALLY POSITIONED, ROTATABLE NUT SOCKETS ADJACENT ITS OTHER EXTREMITY, SAID HOUSING ENCLOSING MEANS FOR ROTATING SAID ALIGNED NUT SOCKETS IN CONSEQUENCE OF ROTATION OF SAID WRENCH SOCKETS.

Description

LATERAL EXTENSION DEVICES FOR SOCKET WRENCHES Filed Feb. 26, 1969 E. T. ABLE Feb. 23, 1971 2. Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR fbnwno 7.' A 545 E. T. ABLE 3,564,953

LATERAL EXTENSION DEVICES FOR SOCKET WRENCHES 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 26, 1969 INVENTOR. fan flea 7f flan:

United States Patent U.S. Cl. 8157.3 9 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A relatively fiat, horizontally-elongated housing having oppositely and axially aligned, vertically positioned, rotatable wrench sockets adjacent its one extremity and oppositely and axially aligned, vertically positioned, rotatable nut sockets adjacent its other extremity, said housing enclosing means for rotating said aligned nut sockets in consequence of rotation of said wrench sockets.

This invention relates to a socket wrench extension of the type illustrated and described in Reissue Pat. No. 23,661 which issued May 26, 1953.

The principal object of this invention is to improve the efficiency of the above type of extension; to reduce the number of parts required and the cost thereof; and to render the extension adaptable to be driven by continuous power means, such as by an electric and pneumatic motor wrench, in the place of the turning bar or actuating lever required in the said reissue patent.

Socket wrench extension devices of the above types are designed to reach nuts and bolts that are positioned in difficult positions where there is not sufiicient space available for the placement of conventional power-driven socket wrenches. For instance, the main bearing nuts on locomotive Diesel engines are accessible only through relatively small doors in the side of the crankcase and there is not sufficient space below the nuts to position conventional power socket wrenches nor sufiicient door width to actuate manual lever-type wrenches.

Another object of this invention is to provide a socket wrench extension device which can be readily inserted through a crankcase door into engagement with the bearing nuts and which can be easily actuated exteriorally of the crankcase either by hand or by conventional electric or pneumatic wrench motors.

A further object of the invention is to provide a highly efficient wrench extension which will greatly multiply the torque effort applied thereto so that relatively heavy torque requirements can be met with a minimum of applied effort.

A still further object is to simplify a socket wrench extension device by providing a unidirectional torque output so that a nut will be rotated in a tightening direction when one face of the extension is uppermost and in a loosening direction when the other face of the extension is uppermost, regardless of direction of rotation of the input, thus eliminating the necessity for complicated double ratcheting devices.

Other objects and advantages reside in the detail construction of the invention, which is designed for simplicity, economy, and efficiency. These will become more apparent from the following description.

In the following detailed description of the invention, reference is made to the accompanying drawing which forms a part hereof. Like numerals refer to like parts in all views of the drawing and throughout the description.

In the drawing:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of the improved lateral extension device for socket wrenches;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view thereof;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the device as it would appear with its upper housing removed to disclose the interior mechanism; and

FIG. 4 is a longitudinal section therethrough taken on the line 4-4, FIG. 1;

The improved wrench extension device is elongated to space the axis of the work-engaging portion laterally from, and parallel to, the axis of the input portion and is provided with a relatively flat cross section to enable it to be readily inserted through limited vertical spaces, such as the side openings of conventional Diesel crankcases. The operating mechanism is enclosed between a hollow upper housing 10 and a hollow, lower housing 11. The upper and lower housings are cup-shaped and similar but of opposite hand. The hollow faces of the housings are aligned and secured together by means of dowel pins 12 and clamp bolts 13 to form a complete elongated relatively fiat incasement or housing assembly.

An input shaft 14, carrying a toothed pinion 15 is journalled in aligned roller bearings 16 mounted in bearing bosses 17, projecting from the upper and lower housings 10 and 11 adjacent one extremity thereof, and a hollow rotatable bushing, which will be herein designated as the output shaft 18, is journalled, parallel to the shaft 14, in aligned ball bearings 19 in the upper and lower housings 10 and 11 adjacent the other extremity thereof. Each extremity of the input shaft 14 is provided with a non circular input wrench socket 20 and each extremity of the output shaft is provided with a non-circular output nut socket 21.

A cam shaft 22 is journalled parallel to and intermediate the

shafts

14 and 18 in aligned roller bearings 23 mounted in anchor bosses 24 which project outwardly from the upper and lower housings 10 and 11. A spur gear 25 is mounted, or formed, on the camshaft 22 so as to mesh with, and be driven by, the pinion 15 of the input shaft 14. The shaft 22 is also provided with a single-throw eccentric cam 26 affixed to and rotated by the gear 25.

The peripheral contour of the cam 26 is followed by a follower roller 27 rotatably mounted on the extremity of a radius arm 28 which is pivotally mounted on the hollow output shaft 18 and is resiliently urged toward the cam 26 by means of a tension spring 29 which is tensioned between a spring pin 40 on the radius and a second spring pin 41 on the upper housing 10.

A cylindrical ratchet sleeve 30, provided with peripheral ratchet teeth 31, is formed or splined as indicated at 47, on the output shaft 18 and a pair of annular, verticallyspaced-apart pivot plates 32 are welded or otherwise formed on the pivoted extremity of the radius arm 28. The pivot plates 32 rotatably engage the output shaft 18 above and below the ratchet sleeve 30, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, to provide the pivotal mounting for the radius arm 28.

Rotation is imparted to the output shaft 18 from the radius arm by means of a drive pawl 33 which projects from a drive-pawl-pivot shaft 34 extending rotatably through the pivot plates 32. The drive pawl 33 is provided with a toothed extremity which is urged by means of a compression spring 36 into tangential contact with the ratchet teeth 31 to intermittently rotate the ratchet sleeve and its contained output shaft in a common direction in consequence of pivotal movement or oscillation of the radius arm 28 about the axis of the output shaft. Return rotation is prevented by a back lash pawl 37, similar to the drive pawl 33, which is urged against the teeth of the ratchet sleeve 30 by means of a second pawl spring 38. The back lash pawl projects from a pawl release post 39 which extends rotatably upward through the upper housing 10 and terminates in a radial finger pin 42 'by means of which the back lash pawl 37 may be swung out of contact with the ratchet teeth to relieve the impressed torque on the output shaft to allow removal from the work.

A loop-shaped handle 43 is preferably secured, by means of one of the clamp bolts 13 to the assembled housings and 11 for convenience in carrying and positioning the device. A direction-indicating plate 44 is attached adjacent the output shaft 18 on both the upper and lower housings to indicate the direction in which the output shaft will rotate when the input shaft is powerrotated in either direction.

The improved socket wrench extension device is usually subjected to heavy and rough usage and, since the housing assembly, 10 and 11 is preferably formed of aluminum or other light weight metal, the projecting anchor bosses 24 are covered by steel wear plates 45, secured thereto by means of suitable cap screws 46. The wear plates project oppositely outward from the side planes of the housing assembly to support and protect the latter from external damaging contacts.

From the above it will be apparent the device will be useful in any instance where it is desired to apply multiplied torque to tighten or loosen a bolt or nut positioned in difficult to reach position. As an illustration of one such usage, let us assume that it is desired to remove the main bearing nuts from a Diesel engine. To accomplish this a conventional wrench socket is inserted in the extremity of the output shaft which the indicating plate 44 indicates counterclockwise direction. The housing assembly is inserted in the crank case side door and the wrench socket is pried upwardly about the bearing nut, in some cases the wear plates 45 and the crankcase door-sill provides a fulcrum. A power wrench is then applied to either extremity of the input shaft to unscrew the desired nuts. To replace and tighten the nuts, the housing assembly is simply inverted to reverse the output rotation and the nut socket is positioned in the other extremity of the output shaft and positioned over the nut. It will be noted that the leverage relation between the relatively small pinion and the relative large gear 25 and the leverage obtained by the relatively long radius arm 28 greatly increase the application of torque to the output shaft.

While a specific form of the invention has been described and illustrated herein, it is to be understood that the same may be varied within the scope of the appended claims, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Having thus described the invention what is claimed and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. A lateral extension device for socket wrenches comprising:

(a) an elongated, hollow housing assembly;

(b) an output shaft, provided with a nut-receiving socket, journalled in said housing assembly adpacent one extremity thereof;

(c) a camshaft provided with an eccentric cam journalled in said housing assembly in axially-parallel relation to said output shaft;

(d) a radial arm pivotally mounted on said output shaft at its one extremity and arranged to follow the contour of said cam at its other extremity;

(e) ratchet means positioned between said one extremity and said output shaft acting to convert the oscillatory movements of said radial arm into intermittent unidirectional rotary movements of said output shaft; and

(f) means for rotating said camshaft.

2. A lateral extension device as described in claim 1 in which the means for rotating said camshaft comprises:

(a) a toothed gear mounted on said camshaft and affixed to said cam;

(b) an input shaft, provided with a wrench-receiving socket, journalled in said housing assembly adjacent the other extremity thereof and parallel to said camshaft; and

(c) a toothed pinion afiixed to said input shaft in mesh with said toothed gear.

3. A lateral extension device as described in claim 1 in which the output shaft has a nut-receiving socket in each of its extremities so that said assembly can be inverted to rotate a nut in either direction from the unidirectional r0- tation of said output shaft.

4. A lateral extension device as described in claim 2 in which the input shaft has a wrench-receiving socket in each of its extremities so that a conventional wrench may be inserted therein from either side of said assembly.

5. A lateral extension device as described in claim 3 in which the input shaft has a wrench-receiving socket in each of its extremities so that a conventional wrench may be inserted therein from either side of said assembly.

6. A lateral extension device as described in claim 3 in which the ratchet means comprises:

(a) an annular externally toothed ratchet ring concentrically surrounding and affixed to said output shaft;

(b) a pawl shaft rotatably mounted in said radial arm adjacent the periphery of said ring;

(c) a drive pawl projecting from said pawl shaft;

(d) a pawl spring reacting between said radial arm and said drive pawl and acting to urge latter tangentially against the teeth of said ratchet ring to intermittently and unidirectionally rotate said output shaft in a consequence of the oscillatory movements of said radial arm.

7. A lateral extension device as described in claim 6 in which the pivotal mounting of said radial arm comprises:

(a) a pair of pivot plates secured to and projecting from the pivoted extremity of said radial arm in vertically-spaced relation and rotatably engaging said output shaft above and below said ratchet ring, said drive pawl being positioned between said spaced pivot plates.

8. A lateral extension device as described in claim 7 having:

(a) a spring-loaded back lash pawl mounted in said assembly in ratcheting engagement with said ratchet ring and preventing reverse rotation of said output shaft; and

(b) means operable from the exterior of said assembly for releasing said back lash panel from said ratchet ring.

9. A lateral extension device as described in claim 8 in which the input shaft has a wrench-receiving socket in each of its extremities accessible from the exterior of said assembly so that a conventional wrench may be inserted into either side of said assembly.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,270,595 9/1966 Hall et a1 8l57.39 3,270,596 9/1966 Hall et al 8l57.39 2,600,177 6/ 1952 Able et a1. 8157.3

JAMES L. JONES, JR., Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R.