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US 5,448,931 AGranted
Adjustable wrench
AssigneeGreat Bay Tool Corp.
InventorsGregory Fossella, Peter L. Lindenmuth
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An adjustable ratchet wrench has a housing carried by a handle. The housing has a generally cylindrical chamber which carries a control member which in turn supports the jaws. The control member is connected to the handle by a ratchet assembly whose setting determines the direction in which the tool may be used to turn a workpiece. The housing also carries a cam disk that engages the jaws and opens and closes them depending upon the direction in which it is rotated. A locking mechanism is provided to prevent the jaws fro opening after they have been adjusted to grip a particular workpiece in response to reactive forces on the jaws. The wrench may also have a powered handle to drive the workpiece.
Claims40
An adjustable wrench comprising:
- a housing having an axis,
- a plurality of jaws carried by the housing and extending beyond the housing parallel to the axis, said jaws having inner and outer surfaces,
- an adjusting mechanism surrounding the jaws and having axially facing cams engaging the outer surfaces of the jaws for moving the jaws toward the axis when the adjusting means is rotated,
- a control mechanism provided in the housing for preventing rotation of the jaws with respect to the housing and slots oriented radially with respect to the axis, said jaws having an engaging means engaging said slots, and
- a locking mechanism provided on the adjusting mechanism for resisting rotation of the adjusting mechanism in the housing, said locking mechanism
- having a plunger movable in said housing and a mechanism which translates said movement of plunger to engage and disengage said locking mechanism, and
- said adjusting mechanism includes an adjusting disk which is axially movable, in said housing.
4 more elements
An adjustable wrench comprising,
- a housing having an axis,
- a plurality of jaws carried by the housing and extending beyond the housing parallel to the axis, said jaws having inner and outer surfaces,
- adjusting means surrounding the jaws and having axially faced cams engaging the outer surfaces of the jaws for moving the jaws toward the axis when the adjusting means is rotated,
- control means provided in the housing for preventing rotation of the jaws with respect to the housing and slots oriented radially with respect to the axis, said jaws having means engaging said slots,
- locking means provided on the adjusting means for resisting rotation of the adjusting means in the housing, and
- wherein the adjusting means includes an adjusting disk which is movable axially with respect to the control member on the housing.
3 more elements
An adjustable wrench comprising,
- a housing having an axis,
- a plurality of jaws carried by the housing and extending beyond the housing parallel to the axis,
- said jaws having inner and outer surfaces,
- adjusting means surrounding the jaws and having axially faced cams engaging the outer surfaces of the jaws for moving the jaws toward the axis when the adjusting means is rotated,
- control means having a control disk provided in the housing for preventing rotation of the jaws with respect to the housing and slots oriented radially with respect to the axis,
- said jaws having means for engaging said slots, and wherein the control disk has a tubular portion extending the entire axial distance through the housing.
3 more elements
An adjustable wrench head for turning a workpiece about an axis comprising:
- a housing, a control member mounted in the housing and having a plurality of radially extending slots,
- a plurality of jaws, one for each slot, mounted on the control member and extending beyond the housing and movable toward and away from the axis, the jaws having a gripping surface for engaging the workpiece and a cam surface,
- an adjusting member surrounding the jaws and having cam surfaces which engage the cam surface of each jaw such that when the adjusting member is rotated the engaging cam surfaces cause the jaws to close, and
- a locking mechanism between the control member and the adjusting member allowing relative rotational motion between the control member and the adjusting member in one direction and preventing relative rotational motion in the other direction.
1 more element
An adjustable wrench head for turning a workpiece comprising:
- a housing having a chamber, an axis located in the chamber,
- a control member mounted in the chamber and having a lower end, a support surface on the lower end of the control member extending in a direction normal to the axis of the control member, the lower end of the control member having radially extending slots,
- a plurality of jaws, one disposed in each slot, gripping surfaces disposed on the jaws and parallel to the axis, the jaws having inner and outer ends and an intermediate portion, a cam surface disposed on each intermediate portion,
- an annular adjusting-disk surrounding the jaws, the adjusting disk including cam surfaces engaging the intermediate portions of the jaws,
- wherein the cam surfaces on the adjusting disk cause the jaws to move radially inward with respect to the axis when the adjusting disk is rotated in one direction with respect to the control member,
- and a locking mechanism included at an interface between the adjusting disk and control member that prevents the rotation of the adjusting disk in the opposite direction with respect to the control member.
3 more elements
An adjustable wrench head for turning a work piece about an axis comprising:
- a housing
- a control member rotatably mounted in the housing, a plurality of radially extending slots at the lower end of the control member, and a locking interface disposed on the surface of the control member,
- a plurality of jaws, one for each slot, mounted on the control member and extending beyond the housing, each jaw having a gripping surface facing toward the axis, a first cam surface disposed on each jaw facing outward with respect to the axis and a second cam surface facing inward with respect to the axis,
- an adjusting ring surrounding the jaws and having radially inward facing cam surfaces engaging the first cam surfaces on the jaws for moving the jaws toward the axis when the adjusting member is rotated in one direction, and radially outward facing cam surfaces engaging the second cam surface on the jaw for moving the jaws away from the axis when the jaws are in the opposite direction, a locking interface disposed on the surface of the adjusting ring,
- wherein the locking interface on the control mechanism operatively connects to the locking interface on the adjusting member whereby the the jaws are prevented from moving radially outward with respect to the axis in response to a reactive force applied to the jaws by the workpiece engaged by the jaws.
2 more elements
An adjustable wrench for turning a workpiece comprising:
- a housing having an axis, a plurality of jaws extending beneath the housing and movable towards and away from the axis, said jaws having workpiece engaging surfaces and outwardly facing cam surfaces,
- a guide member mounted in the housing and engaging the jaws to restrict movement of the jaws to radial motion with respect to the axis,
- an adjusting member surrounding the jaws and having inwardly facing cam surfaces engaging the outwardly facing cam surfaces of the jaws for moving the jaws towards the axis when the adjusting member is rotated, and
- a locking mechanism operatively associated with the guide member and adjusting member whereby the jaws are prevented from radially outward movement.
1 more element
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.