Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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WRENCH HAVING A RETRACTABLE HANDLE
The present invention relates to a wrench, and more particularly to a
wrench having a retractable handle.
A conventional wrench in accordance with the prior art includes a
wrench body, and a shank extending from the wrench body for rotating the
wrench body to operate a workpiece such as a nut, a bolt or the like. In
general,
the wrench often needs to exert a torque of different strengths for operating
workpieces of different sizes. For example, the wrench usually needs a larger
torque for operating a heavier workpiece, and needs a smaller torque for
operating a lighter or smaller workpiece. However, the length of the shank is
fixed so that the shank can only provide a torque with a fixed strength on the
wrench body for operating the workpiece, thereby decreasing and limiting the
versatility of the wrench.
The present invention has arisen to mitigate and/or obviate the
disadvantage of the conventional wrench.
The primary objective of the present invention is to provide a wrench
having a retractable handle for arbitrarily adjusting the length of arm of
force
of the wrench so that the wrench includes an adjustable and variable arm of
force so as to provide a torque of various strengths for operating workpieces
which need torque of different strengths, thereby increasing the versatility
of
the wrench.
In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, there is
provided a wrench comprising a wrench body, an elongated shank mounted on
the wrench body, an elongated retractable handle telescopically and slidably
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mounted on the shank, and an adjusting device mounted between the shank and
the retractable handle for adjustably securing the retractable handle on the
shank.
The shank has an outer periphery defining a plurality of annular
retaining grooves, and the adjusting device includes an adjusting ring
slidably
mounted on a first end of the retractable handle and having a first end
defining
a receiving recess in an inner wall thereof, and a plurality of locking balls
each
movably mounted in the first end of the retractable handle and each detachably
secured in one of the retaining grooves of the shank, wherein, the adjusting
ring is slidable on the first end of the retractable handle between a first
position
where each of the locking balls is pressed by an inner wall of the adjusting
ring
to be received in one of the retaining grooves of the shank for positioning
the
retractable handle on the shank, and a second position where each of the
locking balls is introduced into the receiving recess of the adjusting ring to
detach from the one retaining groove, thereby releasing and detaching the
retractable handle from the shank such that the retractable handle is slidable
on
the shank.
The adjusting ring includes a second end defining a chamber
provided with an annular abutting flange, and the adjusting device further
includes a plurality of abutting beads each secured in an outer periphery of
the
first end of the retractable handle and each received in the chamber of the
adjusting ring, and a biasing member mounted on the retractable handle,
received in the chamber of the adjusting ring and pressed between the abutting
flange and the abutting beads.
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In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, there is a
wrench comprising: a wrench body (20); an elongated shank (22) mounted on said
wrench body (20), said shank (22) having an outer periphery defining a
plurality of
annular retaining grooves (220); an elongated retractable handle (24)
telescopically
and slidably mounted on said shank (22); and an adjusting device (30) mounted
between said shank (22) and said retractable handle (24) for adjustably
securing
said retractable handle (24) on said shank (22), said adjusting device (30)
including: a plurality of locking balls (32) each movably mounted in a first
end of
said retractable handle (24) and each detachably secured in one of said
retaining
grooves (220) of said shank (22); an adjusting ring (31) slidably mounted on
said
first end of said retractable handle (24) and having a first end defining a
receiving
recess (310) and a second end defining a chamber (314) provided with an
annular
abutting flange (316), said adjusting ring (31) is slidable on said first end
of said
retractable handle (24) between a first position where each of said locking
balls
(32) is pressed by an inner wall of said adjusting ring (31 ) to be received
in one of
said retaining grooves (220) of said shank (22) for positioning said
retractable
handle (24) on said shank (22), and a second position where each of said
locking
balls (32) is introduced into said receiving recess (310) of said adjusting
ring (31)
to detach from said one retaining groove (220), thereby releasing and
detaching
said retractable handle (24) from said shank (22) such that said retractable
handle
(24) is slidable on said shank (22), and wherein said receiving recess (310)
of said
adjusting ring (31 ) includes a tapered guide neck (312) for introducing each
of said
locking balls (32) into said receiving recess (310); a plurality of abutting
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beads (36) each secured in an outer periphery of said first end of said
retractable
handle (24) and each received in said chamber (314) of said adjusting ring (31
); a
biasing member (34) mounted on said retractable handle (24), received in said
chamber (314) of said adjusting ring (31) and pressed between said abutting
flange
(316) and said abutting beads (36); and a limiting ball (38) secured in said
shank
(22) and abutting said first end of said retractable handle (24) for limiting
said first
end of said retractable handle (24).
Further benefits and advantages of the present invention will become
apparent after a careful reading of the detailed description with appropriate
reference to the accompanying drawings.
In the drawings:
Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a wrench having a retractable handle in
accordance with the present invention;
Fig. 2 is a front plan cross-sectional view of the wrench as shown in
Fig. 1;
Fig. 3 is an enlarged view of the wrench as shown in Fig. 2;
Fig. 4 is an operational view of the wrench as shown in Fig. 2; and
Fig. 5 is an operational view of the wrench as shown in Fig. 2.
Referring to the drawings and initially to Figs. 1-3, a wrench 10 in
accordance with the present invention comprises a wrench body 20, an elongated
shank 22 mounted on or extending from the wrench body 20 and having an outer
periphery defining a plurality of annular retaining grooves 220, an elongated
retractable handle 24 telescopically and slidably mounted on the shank 22, and
an
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adjusting device 30 mounted between the shank 22 and the retractable handle 24
for adjustably securing the retractable handle 24 on the shank 22.
The adjusting device 30 includes an adjusting ring 31 slidably
mounted on a first end of the retractable handle 24 and having a first end
defining a
receiving recess 310 in an inner wall thereof, and a plurality of locking
balls 32
each movably mounted in the first end of the retractable handle 24 and each
detachably secured in one of the retaining grooves 220 of
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the shank 22. The receiving recess 310 of the adjusting ring 31 includes a
tapered guide neck 312 for introducing each of the locking balls 32 into the
receiving recess 310.
By such an arrangement, the adjusting ring 31 is slidable on the first
end of the retractable handle 24 between a first position where each of the
locking balls 32 is pressed by an inner wall of the adjusting ring 31 to be
received in one of the retaining grooves 220 of the shank 22 for positioning
the
retractable handle 24 on the shank 22, and a second position where each of the
locking balls 32 is introduced into the receiving recess 310 of the adjusting
ring
31 to detach from the one retaining groove 220, thereby in turn releasing and
detaching the retractable handle 24 from the shank 22 such that the
retractable
handle 24 is slidable on the shank 22.
The adjusting ring 31 includes a second end defining a chamber 314
provided with an annular abutting flange 316. The adjusting device 30 further
includes a plurality of abutting beads 36 each secured in an outer periphery
of
the first end of the retractable handle 24 and each received in the chamber
314
of the adjusting ring 31, and a biasing member 34, such as a spring, mounted
on the retractable handle 24, received in the chamber 314 of the adjusting
ring
31 and pressed between the abutting flange 316 and the abutting beads 36.
The adjusting device 30 further comprises a limiting ball 38 secured
in the shank 22 and abutting the first end of the retractable handle 24 for
limiting the first end of the retractable handle 24.
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Preferably, the adjusting ring 31 includes a knurl 318 formed on an
outer periphery thereof, and the retractable handle 24 includes a knurl 318
formed on an outer periphery thereof.
In operation, referring to Figs 4 and 5 with reference to Figs. 1-3, the
locking balls 32 are initially pressed by the inner wall of the adjusting ring
31
to be secured in one of the retaining grooves 220 of the shank 22 so that the
retractable handle 24 is secured on the shank 22 as shown in Fig. 2.
The adjusting ring 31 is then moved rightward on the retractable
handle 24 from the position as shown in Fig. 2 to the position as shown in
Fig.
4 so as to introduce the locking balls 32 into the receiving recess 310 of the
adjusting ring 31 and detach the locking balls 32 from the retaining groove
220
of the shank 22, thereby releasing the retractable handle 24 from the shank 22
so that the retractable handle 24 can be moved outward relative to the shank
22
from the position as shown in Fig. 4 to the position as shown in Fig. S so as
to
lengthen and extend the length of the force arm of the shank 22 so that the
shank 22 together with the retractable handle 24 can be adapted to provide a
larger torque so as to facilitate the wrench body 20 of the wrench 10
operating
a workpiece (not shown) which needs a larger torque, thereby increasing the
versatility of the wrench 10.
As shown in Fig. 5, when the balls 32 align with another retaining
groove 220 of the shank 22, the adjusting ring 31 is then moved leftward on
the
retractable handle 24 by means of the restoring force of the biasing member 34
to detach the locking balls 32 from the receiving recess 310, and to force the
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locking balls 32 into the retaining groove 220 by the inner wall of the
adjusting
ring 31, thereby positioning the retractable handle 24 on the shank 22 again.
It should be clear to those skilled in the art that further embodiments
may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.
