Classifications

• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B25—HAND TOOLS; PORTABLE POWER-DRIVEN TOOLS; MANIPULATORS
  • B25B—TOOLS OR BENCH DEVICES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR, FOR FASTENING, CONNECTING, DISENGAGING, OR HOLDING
  • B25B13/00—Spanners; Wrenches
  • B25B13/10—Spanners; Wrenches with adjustable jaws
  • B25B13/12—Spanners; Wrenches with adjustable jaws the jaws being slidable
  • B25B13/14—Spanners; Wrenches with adjustable jaws the jaws being slidable by rack and pinion, worm or gear

Definitions

• This invention relates to improvements in the type of wrench in which a fixed jaw is carried on the end of a lever-like handle and the opposed movable jaw is L-shaped, with a flat sided neck extending through a noncircular guide formed on the handle adjacent the fixed jaw.
• An adjusting nut having internal threads is rotatable about segmental threads on the edges of the neck while being retained axially between the rear side of the guide and a stop projecting from the handle. It has been proposed to render such wrenches adjustable by either threading action of the nut on the threads of the neck or by unrestricted sliding motion of the neck through interruptions of the internal thread on the nut.
• a good example of such prior adjustable wrenches is shown in the patent to Jeffres, No. 2 065 276.
• the novel features of the wrench of this invention are the provision of angularly spaced and radially extending detents on one or preferably both axial faces of the nut and nonrotatable but yieldably axially movable coacting detent means adjacent the face or faces of the nut to restrain rotation of the nut at angularly spaced intervals.
• Figure 1 is a perspective view of a preferred form of the wrench.
• Figure 2 is an enlarged cross sectional view through the handle, nut and neck of the jaw taken along the plane of the line 2-2 in Figure 1, clearance between parts bein exaggerated.
• Figure 3 is an enlarged end elevational view of the back or lower face of the nut shown in Figure 1.
• Figure 4 is an end elevational view of the back or lower side of the retaining spring shown in Figure 1.
• Figure 5 is a schematic diagram showing the rota ⁇ tional pattern of the nut.
• the wrench of the invention has most of the well known parts of existing wrenches.
• the novel features of the wrench can be installed in a popular commercial wrench.
• the handle 10 has a fixed jaw 12 on its outer end, and a laterally projecting slide housing 14 with a noncircular guide opening 16 therethrough.
• the opening slidably receives the rectangular neck 18 of the adjustable jaw 20 which projects laterally in opposed relation to the fixed jaw 12.
• Stops 22 on the handle limit axial motion of a nut 24 on the neck 18.
• the neck is rectangular in cross section and has segmental threads 26 on its opposite narrower faces. The threads 26 coact with segmental threads 28 on the inside of the nut.
• a U-shaped spring 30 Coacting with the nut 24 is a U-shaped spring 30 having arms 32 that fit loosely between the rear of the housing 14 and the stops 22.
• the bight 34 of the spring rests on the back of the handle 10.
• the arms 32 have rectangular openings 36 which pass the neck 18.
• the arms 32 in this case the rear arm, has detent ribs 38 pressed inwardly of the U-shaped section of the spring at' angularly spaced 90° intervals to bear against the oppos ⁇ ing axial face of the nut.
• the ribs can be on the other or both of the arms 32.
• the nut 24 has angularly spaced and radially extend ⁇ ing detent grooves 40 formed in its axial face opposed to the detents 38 on the spring 30. While four grooves arranged in cruciform relation are desirable, two or even one groove arranged to engage one of the spring detents 38 when the gaps 42 in the internal teeth 28 of the nut register with the segmental teeth 26 of the neck 18 would ⁇ be sufficient to effect the release of the neck from the nut for quick axial adjustment of the jaw 20. Desirably, the circumference of the nut 24 has at least one sight and touch identifiable indicia thereon to indicate when the nut is rotated to register the gaps 42 with the teeth 26 of the neck. In the form illustrated, diametrically opposed grooves 44 having identifiable serrated surfaces 46 while grooves 48 have smooth surfaces. Color may also be used to distinguish the grooves.
• a stop pin 50 projects from the sides of the rear end of the neck to coact with the stops 22 and prevent the neck from sliding completely through the slide housing 14 and accidentally dropping the adjustable jaw when the nut is arranged in clearing relation to the teeth on the neck.
• Figure 5 illustrates schematically the action of the wrench and its releasable nut. If the diametrical line 52 connects opposite ends of opposite teeth 28 on the nut, and line 54 connects the opposed ends of segmental teeth 26 on the neck, it will be seen that except for a small clearance gap 56, that the two sets of threads will engage and be effective to adjust the neck 18 and the spacing of the jaws 12 and 20 through rotation of the nut through slightly less than 180° in either direction.
• the jaw 20 can then be freely slidably displaced relative to housing 14 to permit a rapid coarse adjustment between jaws 12 and 20.
• the nut 24 and the spring 30 may be sized to fit popular wrenches, and that all that is required to convert conventional wrenches is to remove existing nuts and substitute the new nut 24 and spring 30, and possibly add the safety stop pin 50.

Landscapes

• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Details Of Spanners, Wrenches, And Screw Drivers And Accessories (AREA)

Priority Applications (3)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=22010285

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (5)

Cited By (1)

Families Citing this family (9)

Citations (17)

• 1979
  • 1979-07-13 US US06/057,389 patent/US4309924A/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
• 1980
  • 1980-07-11 DE DE8080901493T patent/DE3067430D1/de not_active Expired
  • 1980-07-11 JP JP50180180A patent/JPS56500842A/ja active Pending
  • 1980-07-11 WO PCT/US1980/000863 patent/WO1981000228A1/en not_active Ceased
• 1981
  • 1981-02-09 EP EP80901493A patent/EP0032925B1/en not_active Expired

Patent Citations (17)

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