Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
CA 02320522 2000-09-22
ADJUSTABLE WRENCH
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an adjustable wrench which
i s able to change the one-way wrenching di rect ion of the adj ustable
wrench during repeated wrenching operation for a work piece.
Figs. 11 and 12 show a conventional adjustable wrench 8 having
a main body 81. A jaw section 82 extends from one side of the main
body 81, while a grip 83 is pivotally disposed at the other end of
the main body 81. A slidably movable jaw 84 is disposed in a slide
way 811 of the main body 81. The movable jaw 84 has a push block
841 protruding out of the main body 81. One side of the front end
of the grip 83 inside the main body 81 has a driving section 831
for pushing and driving a slide block 85 to disengage a toothed
section 851 thereof from or engage the toothed section 851 with a
toothed section 842 of the movable jaw 84. When the grip 83 is
wrenched clockwise in a direction of the figure, the slide block
85 i s dr i ven t o engage w i t h t he movab 1 a j aw 84 and t he j aw sec t
i on
82 of the main body 81 and the movable jaw 84 cooperatively clamp
a work piece 9 ( such as a bolt and a nut ) and rotate the same.
When the grip 83 is counterclockwise wrenched, the slide block 85
is moved away from the movable jaw 84. Therefore, when the main body
81 is driven by the grip 83, the movable jaw 84 will be forced away
by the work piece 9 to idle, whereby when repeatedly wrenching the
adjustable wrench 8, the work piece 9 can be only one-way rotated.
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The work piece 9 can be one-way rotated by means of repeatedly
wrenching the above adjustable wrench 8. However, when it is
necessary to reversely rotate the work piece 9, ( for example, in
order to cont rol the nut and bol t to have uni f ied pre- load, the nut
is often first tightened and then untightened by one third cycle )
a user needs to take up and separate the adjustable wrench 8 from
the work piece 9 and re-adjust the position of the movable jaw 84
and then reversely fit the adjustable wrench 8 onto the work piece
9 so as to reversely wrench the work piece 9. Such procedure is quite
troublesome. In the case that the work piece 9 is a bolt for
adjustment, the user will have to continuously repeat the above
procedure to adjust the work piece 9.
SL1M1VIARY OF THE I NVENT I ON
It is therefore a primary object of the present invention to
provide an adjustable wrench in which the projecting rail of the
movable jaw and the projecting section of the slide block are
together inlaid in the slide channels of the main body. A bolt is
passed through the concave face of the movable jaw and the
semicircular groove of the slide block with the bolt screwed with
the thread of the concave face for driving the movable j aw to move
along the slide channels. A movable retaining block is disposed on
one side of the top end of the grip opposite to a leaning section
of the slide block. The retaining block can be switched, whereby
when the grip is wrenched in different directions, the retaining
block abuts against and pushes the leaning section of the slide block
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so as to move the movable jaw toward the jaw section of the main
body for clamping and wrenching a work piece. When the retaining
section does not abut against and the leaning section and the grip
i s wrenched, the s 1 ide block and the movable j aw are shi f ted by the
work piece to make the main body idle. By means of switching the
retaining block, the one-way wrenching direction of the adjustable
wrench during repeated wrenching operation for the work piece can
be changed.
The present invention can be best understood through the
following description and accompanying drawings wherein:
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Fig. 1 is a perspective assembled view of the present
invention;
Fig. 2 i s a perspect ive exploded view of the present invent ion;
Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken along line A-A of Fig. 1;
Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken along line B-B of Fig. l;
Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken along line C-C of Fig. l;
Fig. 6 shows the adjustment of the movable jaw of the present
invention;
Fig. 7A shows the use of the present invention in one state;
Fig. 7B shows the use of the present invention in another state;
Fig. 8A shows the use of the present invention in still another
state;
Fig. 8B shows the use of the present invent ion in s t i 11 another
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state;
Fig. 9 is a perspective assembled view of a second embodiment
of the present invention;
Fig. 10 is a sectional view taken along line D-D of Fig. 9;
Fig. 11 is a perspective assembled view of a conventional
adjustable wrench; and
Fig. 12 shows the use of the conventional adjustable wrench.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EN~ODIMENTS
Please refer to Figs. 1 to S. The adjustable wrench of the
present invent ion includes a main body 1, a s 1 ide block 2, a movable
jaw 3 and a grip 4.
The main body 1 is composed of two cover plates 11. A jaw section
12 upward extends from one side of the main body 1. The lower portion
of the main body 1 has a hol low sect ion 13 in which the slide block
2 and the movable jaw 3 are disposed. The grip 4 is pivotally
connected with the hollow section 13. The hollow section 13 passes
through the top and bottom faces of the main body 1. Two sides of
upper port ion of the hol low sect ion 13 are respect ively formed wi th
two slide channels 14 passing through two sides of the main body
1.
The upper portion of the slide block 2 is formed with a
proj ect ing sect ion 21 having a prof i 1e complementary to that of the
s 1 ide channel s 14 of the main body 1. The proj ect ing sect ion 21 i s
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movably inlaid in the slide channels 14 of the main body 1. The top
face of the projecting section 21 is formed with a semicircular
groove 22 passing through two sides of the projecting section 21.
A middle portion of the slide block 2 is formed with a receiving
slot 23. The main body 1 has a pin member 15 passing through the
middle portion of the receiving slot 23. Two restoring springs 16
are respect ively pos T t Toned between two s ide wal 1 s of the receiving
slot 23 and the pin member 15. In addition, a leaning section 24
projects from the lower portion of the slide block 2.
The lower portion of the movable jaw 3 is a projecting rail
31 complementary to the slide channels 14 of the main body 1. The
bot tom face of the proj ect ing rai 1 31 T s formed wi th a concave face
32 cooperating with the semicircular groove 22 of the slide block
2. The concave face 32 T s formed wi th a thread. The proj ect ing rai 1
31 of the movable jaw 3 and the projecting section 21 of the slide
block 2 together form a shape complementary to the shape of the slide
channels 14 of the main body 1. A bolt 33 is passed through the
concave face 32 of the movable jaw 3 and the semicircular groove
22 of the slide block 2 with the bolt 33 screwed with the thread
of the concave face 32. Two locating blocks 34 are respectively
disposed at two ends of the bolt 33 to respectively abut against
two end faces of the proj ect ing sect ion 21 of the s 1 ide block 2 for
locating the bolt 33.
The upper section of the grip 4 is pivotally connected with
the lower portion of the hollow section 13 of the main body 1. A
s
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movable retaining block 5 is' disposed on one side of the top end
of the grip 4 opposi to to the leaning sect ion 24 of the s1 ide block
2. One s ide of the retaining block 5 has a proj ect ing block 51 which
is slidably inserted in a slot 41 of the grip 4. A locating steel
ball 53 pushed by a spring 52 is disposed in the retaining block
5. The lateral edge of the grip 4 is formed with two dents 42
corresponding to the moving position of the retaining block 5. The
locating steel ball 53 can be engaged in the dent 42 for locating
the retaining block 5. A rod member 54 is passed through the
retaining block 5. The main body 1 is formed with an arch slot 17
corresponding to the moving track of the retaining block 5. The rod
member 54 passes through the arch slot 17 and extends out of the
main body 1 to connect with a shifting block 55. One side of the
top end of the grip 4 is formed with a recessed section 43 opposite
to the retaining block 5. The main body 1 is formed with a hole 101
corresponding to the recessed section 43. A spring 18 and a steel
bal l 19 pushed by the spring 18 to lean against the recessed sect ion
43 are disposed in the hole 101.
In use, a user can via the locating block 34 of the bolt 33
rotate the bolt 33 so as to drivingly move the movable jaw 3 within
the slide channels 14 as shown in Fig. 6 so as to adjust the distance
between the movable jaw 3 and the jaw section 12 of the main body
1 for clamping different work pieces a ( such as bolt, nut, etc. )
with different sizes.
Please refer to Figs. 7A and 7B. When the user shifts the
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shifting block 55 upward to a fixed position, the locating steel
ball 53 is engaged in the upper dent 42 of the grip 4 to locate the
shi f t ing block 55. At thi s t ime, the retaining block 5 i s pos i t Toned
on a lateral side of the leaning section 24 of the slide block 2.
Under such circumstance, in the case that the user counterclockwise
wrenches the grip 4 in a direction as shown in the figure, the
retaining block 5 will abut against the leaning section 24 of the
slide block 2 to push the slide block 2 toward the jaw section 12
of the main body 1. The bolt 33 is located on the slide block 2 by
the two locating blocks 34 so that the movable jaw 3 screwed with
the bolt 33 is driven to tightly clamp the work piece a and wrench
the work piece a counterclockwise. When the user clockwise wrenches
the grip 4, the retaining block 5 is moved away from the leaning
section 24 of the slide block 2. When the main body 1 is driven by
the grip 4 to rotate clockwise, the movable jaw 3 and the slide block
2 are not pushed and will be forced open in reverse direction by
the work piece a. Therefore, when the main body 1 is rotated, the
work piece a is not driven to rotate so that the main body 1 is idled.
Please refer to Figs. 8A and 8B, when the user desires to clockwise
wrench the work piece a, the user only needs to push the shifting
block 55 downward to make the retaining block 55 move downward to
the lower side of the leaning section 24 of the slide block 2. At
this time, by means of clockwise wrenching the grip 4, the retaining
block 5 wi 11 abut against the leaning sect ion 24 of the s1 ide block
2. Under such circumstance, the movable jaw 3 is driven to tightly
clamp the work piece a and wrench the work piece a clockwise. When
the user counterclockwise wrenches the grip 4, the retaining block
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is moved away from the leaning section 24 of the slide block 2
to make the main body 1 idle. Accordingly, by means of switching
the shifting block 55, the wrenching direction of the adjustable
wrench of the present invention during repeated wrenching operation
for the work piece a can be changed.
When wrenching the grip 4, the steel ball 19 is pushed by the
spring 18 of the main body 1 to resiliently abut against the recessed
section 43 of the grip 4. Therefore, after wrenched, the spring 18
pushes the steel ball 19 to resiliently push the recessed section
43 of the jrip 4 so as to restore the grip 4 to i t s home pos i t ion.
In conclusion, when the retaining block 5 abuts against the
leaning section 24 of the slide block 2, the jaw section 12 of the
main body 1 and the movable jaw 3 cooperatively clamp the work piece
a to rotate. When the leaning section 24 is not pressed by the
retaining block 5 and the grip 4 is wrenched, the slide block 2 and
the movable jaw 3 are shifted by the work piece a to make the main
body 1 idle. By means of switching the shifting block 55, the one-way
wrenching direction of the adjustable wrench of the present
invention during repeated wrenching operation for the work piece
a ,an be changed .
Figs . 9 and 10 show a second embodiment of the present invent ion,
in which the top face of a middle portion of the slide block 6 is
formed with a groove 62. A spiral rod 66 via a shaft 65 is rotatably
di sposed in the groove 62. The bot tom face of the movable j aw 7 i s
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formed wi th teeth 72 corresponding to the spi ral rod 66. Each cover
plate 11 is formed with a notch 111 corresponding to the spiral rod
66. Accordingly, a user can rotate the spiral rod 6 outsides so as
to drive the movable jaw 7 to move within the slide channels 14 of
the main body 1 and adjust the gap between the movable jaw 7 and
the jaw section 12 in accordance with the size of the work piece
a. This can achieve the same function as the first embodiment.
The above embodiments are only used to illustrate the present
invention, not intended to limit the scope thereof. Many
moth f icat ions of the above embodiment s can be made wi thout depart ing
from the spirit of the present invention.
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