Hydraulic torque wrench drive shaft retainer

In a retainer for a hydraulic torque wrench drive shaft of the type having a bearing co-axial with and journalling a free end of said shaft, said shaft having an axially facing end-face adjacent to said bearing, an improvement comprising:

• an eccentric having a bearing end surface in facing abutment with said end face of said shaft and a free end surface on the opposite side of said eccentric from said bearing end surface;
• wherein said eccentric has a pivot axis and a plunger axis, said pivot and plunger axes being parallel to said shaft axis and said pivot axis being spaced apart from said shaft axis;
• a plunger secured to said eccentric co-axial with said plunger axis, said plunger extending beyond said bearing and free end surfaces of said eccentric from a locking end which is beyond said bearing end surface to an operator end which is beyond said free end surface;
• a pivot pin having an axis co-axial with said pivot axis pivotally connecting said shaft and said eccentric so that said eccentric is axially fixed to said shaft and rotatable between a locked position in which said eccentric bearing surface extends beyond an edge of said shaft end face and overlaps said bearing and an unlocked position in which said eccentric does not overlap said bearing;
• wherein said shaft has at least one axially facing hole in said end face into which said plunger locking end can be engaged in said locked position of said eccentric, said plunger being releasable so as to rotate said eccentric to said unlocked position so that said eccentric can be drawn axially into said bearing.