Патент USA US2582593

Jan. 15, 1952
M. K, HlcKs ETAL
2,582,591
LATCH FOR SLIDABLE SIDE JAW WRENCHES
Filed June 26, 1950
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FT‘E 5
ATTORNEY
Patented Jan. 15, 1952
2,582,591
PATENT’ OFFICE v
.- UNI-TED .
» .1 ' ‘2,582,591,
' ‘LATCH FoR SLIDABLE SIDE
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WRENCHES'
. ‘ Maxwell
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and Arthur G. Hicks, “
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},Denver,0olo.
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Application .iu'iieizs', 1950', Serial No. 170,398
1 Claim. 101. 81-145)’
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and‘ in particular to an adjustable wrench with‘
be apparent by reference to the following speci-i
?cation in connection with the accompanying
one ?xed jaw and one sliding jaw‘ with. rack and
drawing in which:
‘This invention relates in general to wrenches
racklengaging lock.-
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‘In the'design' of adjustable‘ wrenches; with
which the prior art is replete, several important
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leased- position.
line 5—5 of Fig. 4.
sary precaution to properly adjustrtherwrench',
and when‘forceis applied whileturning a nut
20'
-?In other wrenches; once setto the nut; adjust-'
ment may be accidently altered when the wrench
is laid downand moved around,.,and when .the
mechanicstarts to use it. again he ‘.must readjust
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therefrom.
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in transverse relation to vthe ?xed jaw 3.‘ A re-;
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duced slotp5 cooperates with slotted guide 4 in a'"
manner hereinafter ‘disclosed. A recessed cham
ber 6 receives ‘locking mechanism which will be
described later in this speci?cation. '
' A ‘sliding jaw .1 has reduced guide portion'or
web 8 slidable in the reduced slot 5 and a trans-l.
verse rack 9 mountable for sliding movement in‘
the transverse ‘slotted ‘guide 4. A stop pin l0
easily made and once set the wrench will remain
in adjusted position regardless of'ho‘w the wrenc
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ZTheobjects of our invention are, ?rst; -'to pro
vide an adjustable wrench with one ?xed jaw
and one movable jaw, a rack on the movable jaw,
a. rack catch or lock normally urged into engage
ment with the rack to hold the movable jaw
against movement, and means for temporarily '
moving the rack lock out of engagement with
the rack to permit sliding movement of the mov
able jaw for adjustment thereof in relation to
the ?xed jaw.
Second; to provide a wrench of the class de
scribed which can be easily and quickly adjusted
to the nut which is to be turned and which can
prevents removal of the sliding jaw ‘I and limits
its'maximum opening' The rack as shown is
substantially the same length as the slotted guide
4 in which it is positioned. The jaws 3 and ‘I
will always remain in parallel relation.
A rack catch or look I l is positioned in chamber
6 and is normally urged into engagement with
rack 9 by spring l2 held in place at one end in
the body of the wrench. The bottom edge H’
of rack lock ll rides on surface 6’ of chamber 6.
The upper end of the rack lock H abuts ?at
tened pin l3 against which the rack lock slides
as it is moved into and out of rack locking po
sition.
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Third; to provide a wrench of the class de
scribed which can be adjusted in small incre
merits.
Fourth; to provide a wrench which when ad
justed will not have any play to affect the ad
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' The head 2 ,is provided with a slotted guid
;_With_ our wrench the setting; is quickly“ and
be quickly released therefrom.
.
Referring now to the drawing by numerals of
reference, 1' designates the wrench handleor body
with enlarged head 2 and ?xed jaw 3 extending
the wrench will slip, resulting in “injury to the
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Fig. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view on the’
Oftentimes, 'a mechanic who is a bit careless
or;v who; is presse'dfor time .willnot take thelneces
is handled until a new setting is desired.
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with parts in section showing the jaws abutting
each‘ other and the jaw engaging member in re-"
it is desirable to‘ eliminate the old time-consum
.
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Fig. 4 is a fragmentary view of the wrench
ing process'of repeated-setting and trying the
wrench until its adjustment is correct.
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to better illustrate certain other parts.
When setting a wrench to a bolt head or ‘nut
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Fig. 3 is a view similar toFig. 1 with parts“
broken away in section on line 3—3 of Fig. 2,
of adjustment and release. Second; is "simplicity
it.
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Fig. 2' is a top plan view of the same.
of construction-witha minimum number of parts
andj'third; is strength and'a high ‘factor-of safety.
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comprising our invention, with'the jaws in open"
position.
factors ‘are involved. First; is ease and rapidityv
mechanic and damage to the nut.
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Fig. 1 is a front elevational view of the wrench
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A rack lock lever I4 is pivoted at [5 in cham
ber 6 and is provided with circular end l6 which
engages slightly larger circular opening I‘! in the
rack lock H. Pressure on the rack lock lever M
justment.
will cause rectilinear movement of the rack lock
Fifth; to provide a wrench with one ?xed and 50 to release the rack lock from the rack 9 permit
one sliding jaw, and a sliding jaw engaging mem
ting free sliding movement of the rack and slid
ber movable transversely into and out of jaw
able jaw ‘I. Release of ?nger pressure on the
engaging position.
rack lock lever will permit the spring ‘I2 to urge
Other objects and advantages as well as the
the rack lock into engagement with the rack.
construction and operation of our invention will 55 This essentially is the operation of our wrench.
2,582,591,
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With the rack released by ?nger pressure on
the rack lock lever, the wrench is placed on a
?xed jaw extending from the head,,a slotted
nut with the ?xed jaw bearing against the nut.
The slidable jaw is then forced against the other
slots on two sides of the slotted guide, a rack
slidably carried in the slotted guide, a reduced
side of the nut and the rack lock lever released.
The wrench can be taken oif the nut without af
fecting the adjustment. When laid down the
toothed web on one side of the rack and posi
tioned in one of the reduced slots, at second re
duced web carried by the opposite side of the
adjustment ‘of the wrench will not ‘change as is
true with rather adjustable wrenches which ‘may
rack and positioned in vthe “other deduced slot,
a saw barlried by the "last mentioned Aweb,‘ an
guide in the head, oppositely disposed reduced
be moved around on a bench top or the like.
10 exterior bearing surface on the enlarged head,
.‘bearing surface on the jaw adapted to ride
If it is desired to move the slidable jaw to
fully extended position it is merely necessary
to hold the wrench with the rack ‘in *s‘ubs'tane
the exterior bearing surface on the enlarged
a
the ‘rack ‘bearing aganist the slotted guide
"at the reduced slots therein, a reduced slot ex
tension in ‘the-"enlarged head, a ?at surface in
‘the ‘reduced slot extension transverse to the slot
The teeth on the rack and rack lock can be
made as small as practical consistent with gobd
engineering and machining practice so that-tine J
increments of wrench adjustment can be ob 20
tedvguide in the head, a pin spaced from the flat
tially vertical position and the slidable jaw dow‘n- '
ward, and then push the rack lock :leve'r I4, ‘the '
rack and jaw gravitating to full open positionl
tained.
surface and having a ?at portion parallel to
said ?atisurface, a rack lock positioned in the
enlarged head and slidable between the ?at sur
face
the reduced-slot and the ‘?at- portion-‘on
Theraek'look g-H will engage a substantialiporQ
the :pin, a rack Jock -,1ever opera-tiv-ely ¥connecteglh
tion of ' the rack, and the stresses,‘ when the
, to the rack vlock and having a ‘(portion thereoi
extending from the enlarged head, agspring-non
wrenches under pressure, will be Well distributed,
although .very' little ‘force is transmitted-through
mally urging the racklock .into engagement with '
theteeth of'the rack or rack lock except-what,
the rack tow-lock the second mentioned-jaw in
immovable adjusted relation to the ?xedjaw,
pressure on the rack locklever releasingthe rack
passes therethrough and isy-exerted on thesur- '
facet’ of the chamber 6.
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'-When underfpressure
turning a nut, the
shoulder I8 ofsliding-j-aw ‘I will bear ‘against the
lock from the I rack and :permitting a {tree slideble
movement, “of the rack and the .jaw -:carried
face’ idoithev-enlargedhead ;2 and also the off
thereby.
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set edges 20 of the rack will ‘bear againstvedges
2] of thewftransverse slotted guide 4.‘ The-large
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K. ‘HICKS.
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amount of bearing surface will provide a much
greater factor~of> safety than
CIT ED
necessary in such
a tool.
The zfollowing 'irefei‘enees iare smwdrmem
{From the, foregoing it will ‘be ‘seen that we
file or this lpaitent';
have provided a ‘relatively simple and ei?cient
adjustable ‘wrench which can. be Quickly and
_ ‘UNITED ‘STATESPATEN'I'S V
e‘a's'ily'ad'justed to ?’t'the nut on’which "it is-to The
used, and which will not have its adjustment Jac
ciden'tally changed when ‘the wrench is ‘not being
used.
‘It
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obvious “that changes in ‘form, proportion
and ‘details bi'honstrue'tioh ‘may "be ‘resorted ‘to ,
Without departing “from ‘the shift of ‘dur'i'nven
tion, and we ‘reserve all “rights ‘to such ‘changes
as :come within‘ thescjope of ‘these speci?cations
and'th‘e claim which follows.
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.Wh‘a’t 'we‘v'claim ‘as‘new and'd'esire to ‘secure by
Heftters Patent is:
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* ‘In "an "adjustable ‘Wrench, 'an ‘enlarged head, ' a
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