US 4,762,033 AGranted

Ratchet wrench with manual disassembly capability

AssigneeNational Hand Tool Corporation

InventorKirk K. Chow

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Abstract

A ratchet wrench including a handle-carried drive ring and driven core in which the core can be simply and readily removed, intact, for cleaning, repair and replacement without the use of tools. Additionally, the wrench includes a low-friction ratchet drive-reversing mechanism for simple, one-finger operation. The disassembly-facilitating structure includes a resilient ring-like band seated in a channel defined by radially communicating annular grooves in the drive ring and in the wrench core. A band displacing element serves to shift the band to effect a bridging of the band across the grooves defining the channel to effect a mechanical intercoupling between the core and the drive ring of the ratchet wrench. For disassembly, the band is repositioned to assume a configuration in which the band occupies a single one only of the communicating grooves in the drive ring and in the opposed core, thereby uncoupling the core and the drive ring, to permit withdrawal of the core, as an intact unit, axially from the wrench. The drive direction of the wrench is controlled by an arcuate, wire spring which intercouples a finger-manipulable pivotal drive-reversing control plate of the tool with a shiftable pawl housed in the core of the wrench to provide a low-friction mechanism by which the pawl is positioned to establish a selectable drive direction of the wrench through simple, one-finger displacement of the reversing plate of the tool.

Claims41

Dependent claims

In a ratchet wrench having a tool head including a drive ring, a core rotatably journaled in said drive ring, selectively positionable pawl means for coupling said drive ring to said core to establish reversible driving modes for said wrench, a tool-element-engaging shank extending downwardly from said core, said drive ring and said core being formed with opposed and intercommunicating annular grooves defining a channel bridging and bounded by said ring and said core, and retainer means for detachably securing said core in said drive ring, said retainer means including interlock means for interlocking said drive ring and said core, said interlock means including band means received within said channel for mechanically intercoupling said ring and said core to prevent relative axial displacement therebetween and inadvertent removal of said core from said drive ring,

the improvement comprising control means bearing on said band means retained in said channel and manually operable for selectively permitting said band means to assume, selectively, a first position in which said band means invades a single one only of opposed said annular grooves in said ring and said core, thereby to effect mechanical decoupling between said ring and said core and to permit ready axial displacement of said core with respect to said drive ring and to allow physical withdrawal of said core from said drive ring, and a second position in which said band means bridges said channel and projects into to invade each of opposed said annular grooves for establishing a mechanical interlock between and for mechanically interconnecting said drive ring and said core to prevent relative axial displacement therebetween.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.