Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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TITLE: ADJUSTABLE WRENCH WITH RATCHET FUNCTION
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an adj ustable wrench,
and more particularly to an adjustable wrench with a ratchet
function.
(b) Description of the Prior Art:
In general, when an adjustable wrench is used, the
roller is firstly adjusted so that a clamping opening
between the fixed jaw and the movable jaw fits the size
of a nut followed by performing screw locking (loosening)
operation.
However, if in a constrained space, it is generally
impossible to continuously rotate the handle of the wrench
in the same direction to quickly complete the work, whereas
the roller must be slightly screw loosened to enlarge the
clamping opening so that it can f it with another two opposing
clamping surfaces of the nut to allow continuous rotation.
Butsuch repeated operationissignificantlyinconvenient.
To overcome the drawbacks of the above-mentioned
adjustable wrenches, adjustable wrenches with a ratchet
function are available on the market. One of them is as
shown in FIG. 7, which mainly has a handle 96 to be held
by an operator. The handle 96 has a fixed jaw 98 on one
end, and a movable jaw 92 is disposed on one side of the
fixed jaw 98. The movable jaw 92 engages a roller 91 so
as to drive the movable jaw 92 to move. The roller 91 is
propped by a compression spring 94 so as to provide a
resilient force that moves the movable jaw 92 back and
forth in a limited space. A curved spring plate 95 is
disposed at the middle section of the handle 96. One end
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of the spring plate 95 is fixed at the handle 96, and the
bottom of the other end thereof is provided with a proj ecting
portion 951 connected to a spring lock 93. One end of the
spring lock 93 extends to one side of the roller 91 and
is formed with a stopper portion 931 to stop the movement
of the roller 91, so as to provide a fixed opening between
the fixed jaw 98 and the movable jaw 92 for convenience
of rotating workpieces. Pressing the spring plate 95 at
the middle section of the handle 96 would release the stopper
portion 931 of the spring lock 93 on stopping the roller
91, so that the movable jaw 92 can move freely for
convenience of rotating the adjustable wrench.
Nevertheless, defects in structural design of the
above-mentioned adjustable wrench may cause the problems
such as failure in operation and false touches in practical
use. As shown in FIG. 8, since there is an elongated space
97 significantly exposed and located between the spring
plate 95 of the wrench and the side face of the handle
96, dusts and trash from the workplace will be accumulated
therein after long time use, so that the spring plate 95
is stuck and cannot be effectively pressed to cause the
problem of failure in operation.
In addition, as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, both of the
above-mentioned spring plate 95 and spring lock 93 are
designed as elongated strips and exposed from the surface
of the wrench. Hence, it is easy to cause deformation when
the spring plate 95 or the spring lock 93 is hit by an
external force. Once the spring plate 95 or the spring
lock 93 is deformed, this would cause the problem of failure
in operation.
Moreover, the spring plate 95 is located on one side
face of the handle 96. Therefore, when the wrench needs
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to be used on its reverse side due to the working environment,
this is bound to have the difficulty in pressing the spring
plate.
SUNa?ARY OF THE INVENTION
It is a first object of the present invention to
provide an adjustable wrench with a ratchet function, which
has the features of convenient operation and
back-and-forth rotation.
It is a second object of the present invention to
lo provide an adjustable wrench with a ratchet function, which
is operable on both sides, thus significantly increasing
the practicality of the present invention.
To achie;re the foregoing object, the adjustable
wrench with a ratchet function according to the present
invention comprises:
a fixed jaw having a receiving recess provided
thereon with a slideway in communication with the receiving
recess, and a through hole disposed below the receiving
recess;
a movable jaw disposed in the slideway of the fixed
j aw and laterally movable along the slideway, and a toothed
portion formed at the bottom of the movable jaw;
a screw disposed in the receiving recess of the fixed
jaw and having an external thread section, the screw
engaging the toothed portion at the bottom of the movable
jaw, and a first spring disposed between the screw and
the inner wall of the receiving recess;
a shaft passed through the first spring and the screw
to drive the screw so that the screw compresses the first
spring and moves transversely, and the shaft formed with
a blocking portion;
a positioning assembly disposed in the fixed jaw,
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the top of the positioning assembly is caught within the
blocking portion of the shaft into engagement with each
other, and an actuating portion protruding from the end
of the pin toward the side of the through hole;
a pushing assembly disposed in the fixed jaw and
extending toward the through hole; and
an operating piece disposed in the through hole,
the both ends of the operating piece respectively extending
out of the through hole, the operating piece having a first
V-shaped push surface formed at the position corresponding
to the actuating portion and having a second V-shaped push
surface formed at the position corresponding to the pushing
assembly, the actuating portion and the pushing assembly
respectively abutting against the central turning
positions of the V-shaped push surfaces, and when pressing
one of the ends of the operating piece, the positioning
assembly or the pushing assembly can be pushed and moved
by the corresponding V-shaped push surface so as to release
the engagement of the positioning assembly with the shaft.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a schematic three-dimensional exploded
view of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a schematic three-dimensional view of a
structure after assembled according to the present
invention.
FIG. 3 is a side view of a structure after assembled
according to the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a schematic view showing a usage state
where the clamping opening receives a polygonal screw piece
according to the present invention.
FIG. 5 is a schematic view showing a usage state
where the operating piece is pressed according to the
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present invention.
FIG. 6 is a schematic view showing a usage state
where the operating piece is pressed and the wrench is
counter-rotated according to the present invention.
FIG. 7 is a schematic view showing a structure of
a conventional adjustable wrench with a ratchet function.
FIG. 8 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a
conventional adjustable wrench with a ratchet function.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
First, referring to FIGS. 1 to 3, the present
invention provides an adjustable wrench with a ratchet
function, which is mainly comprised of a fixed jaw 1, a
movable jaw 2, a screw 3, a shaft 4, a positioning assembly
5, a pushing assembly 6, and an operating piece 7.
The fixed jaw 1 has a receiving recess 11 that is
provided thereon with a slideway 12 in communication with
the receiving recess 11. A bore 13 is laterally disposed
through one side of the receiving recess 11. An opening
14 is radially disposed through the bore 13. A through
hole 15 is disposed at a lower position of the fixed jaw
1 with respect to the receiving recess 11. Further, an
additional hole 16 is laterally disposed on the side of
the fixed jaw 1 different from the side on which the opening
14 is arranged, and the opening 14 and the additional hole
16 respectively communicate with the through hole 15.
The movable jaw 2 is disposed in the slideway 12
of the fixed jaw 1 and laterally movable along the slideway
12 so that a clamping opening 21 with a variable spacing
is defined between the movable jaw 2 and the fixed jaw
1. A toothed portion 22 is formed at the bottom of the
movable jaw 2.
The screw 3 is disposed in the receiving recess 11
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of the fixed jaw 1 and has an external thread section 31
which engages the toothed portion 22 at the bottom of the
movable jaw 2 so that rotation of the screw 3 can cause
transverse motion of the movable jaw 2 to adj ust the spacing
of the clamping opening 21. A first spring 32 is disposed
between the screw 3 and the inner wall of the receiving
recess 11.
The shaft 4 is passed from the bore 13 through the
first spring 32 and the screw 3 and connected with the
screw 3 by snap fitting of a snap ring 41 to drive the
screw 3 so that the screw 3 compresses the first spring
32 and moves transversely. The shaft 4 is recessed at the
position corresponding to the opening 14 and formed with
a blocking portion 42. The shaft 4 has a contact surface
is 43 which faces toward the toothed portion 22 of the movable
j aw 2 and abuts against a stopper member 44 so as to restrict
the rotation of the shaft 4 that is rotated by the screw
3.
The positioning assembly 5 is disposed in the opening
14 and includes a second spring 51 and a pin 52. The second
spring 51 is disposed at the bottom of the opening 14 to
push the end of the pin 52 so that the top of the pin 52
is caught within the blocking portion 42 of the shaft 4
into engagement with each other. An actuating portion 521
protrudes from the end of the pin 52 toward the side of
the through hole 15.
The pushing assembly 6 is disposed in the additional
hole 16 and sequentially includes a pushing member 61,
a third spring 6 and a screw cap 63. The third spring 62
pushes the pushing member 61 to extend toward the through
hole 15.
The operating piece 7 is adapted to mate with the
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through hole 15 and thus can be disposed in the through
hole 15. The axial length of the operating piece 7 is
larger than the depth of the through hole 15 so that when
the operating piece 7 is received in the through hole 15,
the both ends of the operating piece 7 respectively extend
out of the through hole 15. The operating piece 7 has a
first V-shaped push surface 71 formed at the position
corresponding to the actuating portion 521 of the pin 52,
and further has a second V-shaped push surface 72 formed
io at the position corresponding to the pushing member 61.
The V-shaped push surfaces 71, 72 respectively have first
inclined sections 711, 721 and second inclined sections
712, 722. The actuating portion 521 and the pushing member
61 respectively abut against the central turning positions
of the first inclined sections 711, 721 and the second
inclined sections 712, 722 of the V-shaped push surfaces
71, 72. When the user presses one of the ends of the
operating piece 7, the actuating portion 521 of the pin
52 or the pushing member 61 can be pushed and moved by
one of the inclined sections of the corresponding V-shaped
push surface 71, 72, so that the top of the pin 52 disengages
from the blocking portion 42 of the shaft 4 to release
the engagement with the shaft 4.
When the user desires to screw tight a polygonal
screw piece 8, as shown in FIG. 4, the user firstly turns
the screw 3 to adjust the spacing of the clamping opening
21, so as to clamp the polygonal screw piece 8. At this
time, the shaft 4 and the pin 52 mutually engage so that
the clamping opening 21 is maintained at a fixed spacing,
thereby smoothly screwing tight the polygonal screw piece
8.
When the operator desires to rotate the wrench in
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the counter direction, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the
operator only needs to press the end face of the operating
piece 7 exposed from the through hole 15 by a thumb. At
this time, the actuating portion 521 of the pin 52 can
be pushed by the first inclined section 711 of the first
V-shaped push surface 71 of the operating piece 7, so that
the top of the pin 52 disengages from the blocking portion
42 of the shaft 4 to release the engagement with the shaft
4. In like manner, when the operator needs to use the wrench
on its reverse side due to the working environment, the
operator can also press the other end face of the operating
piece 7 by a thumb, so as to push the actuating portion
521 of the pin 52 by the second inclined section 712 of
the first V-shaped push surface 71 of the operating piece
7. Therefore, this would not lead to the difficulty in
pressing the operating piece 7 when the wrench is used
on its reverse side.
The pushing member 61 of the pushing assembly 6 abuts
against the second V-shaped push surface 72 on the other
side of the operating piece 7. As a result, when the
operating piece 7 is pressed, as shown in FIG. 6, the first
inclined section 721 of the second V-shaped push surface
72 of the operating piece 7 pushes the pushing member 61
to compress the third spring 62. The operating piece 7
can further be pushed on its different side faces by means
of the actuating portion 521 of the pin 52 and the pushing
member 61, so that the operator can press the operating
piece 7 more stably. When the front end of the movable
jaw 2 is pushed by an obtuse corner of the polygonal screw
piece 8, the movable jaw 2 and the screw 3 interlocked
with the shaft 4 are pushed and moved outwardly together,
so that the first spring 32 in the receiving recess 11
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is compressed by the screw 3 and in a compression state
(as shown in FIG. 6) . Thus, the spacing of the clamping
opening 21 is slightly increased to achieve the effect
of rotating the wrench in the counter direction. When the
wrench is rotated to another two opposing clamping surfaces,
the screw 3 would be pushed by the restoring resilient
force of the first spring 32 so as to drive the movable
jaw 2 to move and decrease the spacing of the clamping
opening 21.
Subsequently, when the user moves his or her thumb
away from the operating piece 7 to release the pressing
operation, the pin 52 wouldbe driven by restoring resilient
force of the second spring 51 and caught within the blocking
portion 42 of the shaft 4 again (as shown in FIG. 4) . At
this time, the operating piece 7 is pushed by the actuating
portion 521 of the pin 52 driven by the second spring 51
and returns to an unpressed position again. Inthismanner,
the polygonal screw piece 8 can be screwed tight again.
It is possible to perform one-directional continuous screw
locking action by continuously repeating the above steps,
thereby eliminating the repeating operation, such as
moving away, leaning against, etc. Furthermore, the
operating piece 7 can be pushed on its different side faces
by means of the actuating portion 521 of the pin 52 and
the pushing member 61, so that the operating piece 7 can
reset in a relatively stable manner.
Moreover, the operating piece and the through hole
of the present invention are adapted to mate with each
other. As a result, this can further effectively prevent
dusts and impurities from entering and clogging the through
hole so as to extend the service life.
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