A ratchet assembly for a hand tool having a handle, comprising:
- a tubular housing adapted to be mounted on the handle so as to be co-rotatable axially with the handle, said housing having a surrounding wall that has an actuator confining portion which extends axially and projects radially and which confines an actuator receiving space, said actuator confining portion being formed with an axially extending slot for access to said actuator receiving space;
- a cylindrical ratchet body disposed rotatably in said housing and having an annular outer surface which is provided with a first ratchet wheel and a second ratchet wheel that is axially displaced from said first ratchet wheel so as to define a slide portion on said outer surface between said first and second ratchet wheels;
- an actuator disposed in said actuator receiving space and slidable along said ratchet body, said actuator including a curved plate having an arc length and a central line which extends through a central point of said arc length and along a direction parallel to an axis of said ratchet body, said actuator further including first and second pawl members which project radially from said curved plate toward said outer surface of said ratchet body and which are disposed on opposite sides of said central line, said curved plate further having an operating protrusion extending through said slot in said housing, said operating protrusion being operable to slide along said slot so as to cause said actuator to slide along said ratchet body between a first uni-directional driving position, in which said first pawl member is slid into engagement with said first ratchet wheel and said second pawl member is slid out of engagement from said second ratchet wheel, and a second uni-directional driving position, in which said first pawl member is slid out of engagement from said first ratchet wheel and said second pawl member is slid into engagement with said second ratchet wheel;
- and
- a biasing member mounted in said housing for biasing said actuator to move in a radial inward direction toward said outer surface of said ratchet body;
- when said actuator is in the first uni-directional driving position, said first pawl member being pushed toward said first ratchet wheel when said housing is rotated axially in a first direction to permit co-rotation of said ratchet body and said housing in the first direction, said actuator being pushed radially and outwardly to disengage said first pawl member from said first ratchet wheel when said housing is rotated axially in a second direction opposite to the first direction, thereby preventing said ratchet body from rotating with said housing in the second direction,
- when said actuator is in the second uni-directional driving position, said second pawl member being pushed toward said second ratchet wheel when said housing is rotated axially in the second direction to permit co-rotation of said ratchet body and said housing in the second direction, said actuator being pushed radially and outwardly to disengage said second pawl member from said second ratchet wheel when said housing is rotated axially in the first direction, thereby preventing said ratchet body from rotating with said housing in the first direction.