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US 12,728,505 B2Granted
Ratchet tool
AssigneeBlack & Decker Inc.
InventorsDaniel Cheveralls, Peter Nguyen, Bennett G. Records
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
One or more embodiments of the present disclosure relate generally to a ratchet tool including a ratchet head having a drive gear, a pawl, and a spring plunger system that applies an even and consistent distribution of loading to the pawl at a contact interface between the pawl and the drive gear during a ratcheting operation.
Claims18
A ratchet tool, comprising:
- a ratchet head having a front surface defining a first region and a second region;
- a drive gear mounted on the first region of the ratchet head, the drive gear having external gear teeth;
- a pawl that includes a pawl body configured on the second region of the ratchet head, the pawl body having a front face with external pawl teeth that operatively engages the external gear teeth and a rear face having a rib having a concave cross-section that defines recessed surfaces of the rear face;
- a control member extending along an axis for selective manipulation by a user to change a rotational drive direction of the drive gear;
- and
- a plunger assembly received by the control member, the plunger assembly including a plunger body comprising a pair of upper prongs and at least one bias member configured to apply a bias force on the plunger body that causes the upper prongs to engage the recessed surfaces of the rear face of the pawl body and to transmit an even distribution of the bias force across the width of the recessed surfaces of the rear face of the pawl body to facilitate operational engagement of the external gear teeth with the external pawl teeth.
3 more elements
A drive assembly for a ratchet tool, the drive assembly comprising:
- a drive gear having external gear teeth;
- a pawl that includes a pawl body configured on the second region of the ratchet head, the pawl body having a front face with external pawl teeth that operatively engages the external gear teeth and a rear face having a rib having a concave cross-section that defines recessed surfaces of the rear face;
- a control member extending along an axis for selective manipulation by a user to change a rotational drive direction of the drive gear;
- and
- a plunger assembly received by the control member, the plunger assembly including a plunger body comprising a pair of upper prongs and at least one bias member configured to apply a bias force on the plunger body that causes the upper prongs to engage the recessed surfaces of the rear face of the pawl body and to transmit an even distribution of the bias force across the width of the recessed surfaces of the rear face of the pawl body to facilitate operational engagement of the external gear teeth with the external pawl teeth.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.