Hand-held ratchet action tool

#U.S. Pat. No. 4,899,445 discloses a ratchet action manually operated tool for cutting cable or otherwise bringing a pair of jaws together in a scissor action, which includes first and second jaws pivotally coupled together with a pair of actuating, pivotally coupled handles. The first jaw is mounted on the end of a first handle. The second jaw includes a plurality of ratchet teeth for receiving a pawl, which is mounted on a second link extending between the jaw pivot and an end of the second handle. The tool uses a ratcheting action of the pawl and ratchet teeth to close the first and second jaws with respect to each other by repeatedly moving the handles towards and away from each other.

#U.S. Pat. No. 5,307,565 discloses another hand operated ratchet tool which includes first and second handles, which are pivotally coupled to each other at one end, and first and second jaws which are pivotally coupled to each other and to the first and second handles through a linkage assembly of three links. First and second pawls are mounted on pivots on the linkage assembly. The second jaw includes a plurality of ratchet teeth for receiving the pawls to rotate the linkage assembly in a direction which closes the adjoining working faces of the jaws when the first and second handles are reciprocated repeatedly toward and away from each other.

#While these tools have provided significant improvements over other existing manually operated cable cutters and other ratchet action jaw equipped hand tools known at the time, further improvements to the performance of such tools would be valuable.

#The foregoing summary, as well as the following detailed description of preferred embodiments of the invention, will be better understood when read in conjunction with the appended drawings. For the purpose of illustrating the invention, there is shown in the drawings embodiments which are presently preferred. It should be understood, however, that the invention is not limited to the precise arrangements and instrumentalities shown. In the drawings:

#FIG. 1 is an elevational view of one major side of a motorized hand-held ratchet tool according to a first embodiment the present invention showing first and second jaws open;

#FIG. 2 is an elevational view of the opposing major side of the motorized hand-held ratchet tool according to the first embodiment of the present invention showing first and second jaws closed;

#Certain terminology is used in the following description for convenience only and is not limiting. The words “left”, “right”, “lower”, and “upper” as used herein, correspond to the direction on the figure being referenced. The words “inwardly” and “outwardly” refer to directions toward and away from, respectively, the geometric center of the tool and/or designated parts thereof. The terminology includes the words above 20 specifically mentioned, derivatives thereof and words of similar import.

#U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,899,445 and 5,307,565 are incorporated herein in their entirety as if fully set forth.

#In the drawings, like numerals are used to indicate like elements throughout. A first preferred embodiment of a hand-held ratchet action tool or simply “ratchet tool” 10 for moving a pair of jaws toward and away from each other of the present invention is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. The ratchet tool 10 is generally used to cut cables (not shown) or other items that are inserted between the jaws. The ratchet tool 10 includes a frame, indicated generally at 12, a jaw assembly, generally indicated at 14, which includes a first jaw 18 and a second jaw 20, and a first linkage assembly, generally indicated at 16, for driving the second jaw 20 toward the first jaw 18. FIG. 1 shows the first and second jaws 18, 20 open with respect to each other. FIG. 2 shows the first and second jaws 18, 20 partially closed with respect to each other in solid and fully closed in phantom.