US2596882A - Automatically adjustable wrench - Google Patents

Description

May 13, 1952 B. wlEsEN A2,596,882

AUTOMATICALLY ADJUSTABLE WRENCH v Filed sept. 9, 195o 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 g (5/ /m 4 J/wz Z May 13, 1952 B. wir-:SEN 2,596,882

AUTOMATICALLY ADJUSTABLE WRENCH Y 2 vSA1-1EE'rs-SHEET 2 Filed Sept. 9, 1950 Patented May 13, 1952 UNITED STATES ArtNr 4 Claims.

This invention relates to tool or spanner structures and more particularly to novel wrench constructions.

It is one of the objects of the invention to provide means affording an inexpensive, universal and quick-acting Wrench structure employable in connection with various dimensions or sizes of screw bolt heads, nuts, nut locks, and so forth.

It is another object of the present invention to provide means facilitating in a very practical and simple manner automatic adjustment of the wrench structure to the size of the bolt head or the like to which said wrench structure is to be applied.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide means ensuring great efciency of the wrench structure and permitting rapid individual fitting thereof in accordance with a predetermined range of dimensions of bolt heads and so forth from, say, 116 of an inch to one inch.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide means materially reducing the cost of manufacture and storing of wrench structures, and enhancing their saleable and other commercial possibilities.

A further object of the present invention is the provision of means contributing to a sturdy and compact wrench structure which is capable of achieving an efficient hold on and of accommodating various shapes (square or hexagonal) of screw or like heads.

It is still a further `object of this invention to provide means offering the possibility of applying the wrench to a screw or bolt head with or without any preadjustment of the distance between the jaws of the wrench in accordance with the particular shape or dimension of said head.

With the above and other objects in view, the invention will be hereinafter more fully described and the combination and arrangement of parts will be shown in the accompanying drawings and pointed out in the claims which form part of the specification.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of a wrench device embodying the invention.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary view similar to that of Fig. l with a bolt head in applied position;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken along lines 3-3 of Fig. l;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken along lines 4--4 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4a is a fragmentary top plan view of one modified form of the invention;

Fig. 5 is a top plan View of a wrench device Z in modified form and made according to the invention;

Fig. 6 is a sectional view taken along lines 6-6 of Fig. 5;

Fig. 7 is a top plan view of a further modified device according to the invention;

Fig. 8 is a sectional view taken along lines 8-3 of Fig. 7;

Fig. 9 is asectional view taken along lines 3--9 of Fig. 8;

Fig. 10 is a sectional view of a still further modified form of the invention; and

Fig. 1l is a transverse sectional view taken on line II-II of Fig. 10.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, there is disclosed in Figs. 1 to 4, inclusive, a wrench device I0 made in accordance with the invention and provided with an elongated body portion I2 having a top surface II and a bottom surface I3. The body portion I2 terminates in a handle I4. At the forward end of wrench I3 there project two xed jaws I3 and I8 which are spaced from each other and have opposed linear surfaces I1 and I9, respectively, facing each other. Jaw I6 preferably projects further Voutwardly than jaw I8 for a purpose later to be described. Between the opposed surfaces I1 and I9 and rear surface 20 there is dened an opening or slot 2|. Body portion I2 further includes an opening 22 which is in communication with slot 2 I.

On the top and bottom surfaces II, i3 of body I2 there are arranged two cover plates 23 and 26.. which are xed to the body l2 by means of rivets 25. Cover plate 23 includes the opening 22 which through opening 22a is in direct communication with slot 2i. Within opening 22 there are movably arranged a plurality of slat or shim- like elements 33, 3|, 32, 33, etc., each of which being provided with a nose or projection 33u, 3 la, etc., whereby these elements may be slid from the rear edge or end wall 26 of opening 22 for abutment against the front edge or wall 2l of the aforesaid opening 22. As can be seen in Fig. l, ail the elements 3|, 32, 33, etc. have been moved into their foremost positions whereby the finger pieces or projections 33a, 3Ia, 32a, etc. abut against the front wall 27. The aforesaid shim-like element-s 3|, 32, 33, etc. are substantially alignedly arranged so as to form a continuous line of transition to extend from the outer boundary edge 23 of jaw I8, as can be seen from Fig. l. Thus, the shim-like elements in their most forward position constitute an inclined edge 23a with respect to linear surfaces I1 and I9.

If it is now desired to t the wrench device D on a bolt head 40, for instance, as seen in Fig. 2, it will be immediately visualized that all shim elements extending beyond shim element 34 will be moved or pushed to retracted position in which they abut against rear wall 26 of opening 22.

Shim elements 30 to 34, inclusive, form a composite or unitary wall whereby the innermost surface |911l thereof faces the surface of jaw I5, thereby defining a jaw opening 2|a. which is reduced in size as compared with opening or slot 2| (when all the shim elements are retracted and abut against rear wall 26) It will be noted from Fig. 1 that jaw i6 has an inclined edge Hic which along with the inclined edge 29a of the shim-like elements forms pointed gripping jaws which permit easy access to conned spaces.

Preferably, the wrench according to the invention, can be utilized with bolt heads varying from Tg of an inch to one inch in diameter. However, it is to be understood that it iswithin the scope of this invention to vary the range of diameters of bolt heads that may be accommodated in this wrench device. Shim elements 35, 3|, etc. may be made from hardened steel and the jaws l5, i8 may also be hardened. It is well understood that any suitable material may be selected for the parts of which the device IG consists.

Figs. and 6 show another form of the wrench device according to the invention. One end of body portion 4| terminates in a handle 42 and the other end in a box-like portion 43 having a large opening 44, as seen in Fig. 5.

Bolt head 65 fits in opening 44 of the wrench device, thereby causing all shim elements which extend beyond shim element 48 to be pivoted about a pivot pin 49 in a direction indicated by arrow A in Fig. 6 and shown in dot-dash lines. The pivotal movement about pin 4S which is riveted at 45a, 49h takes place automatically by the abutment action of the bolt head 40 against the shim elements when said head moves into opening 44. The wall 55 of body portion 4| serves as a stop to prevent further clockwise movement of the shim-like elements 5|, 52, 53, etc. when the bevelled end surfaces of these elements come in contact with wall 55. The shimlike elements move, in this instance, by gravity, back to normal position when the bolt head is removed from the wrench.

As seen in Fig. 5, a plurality of shim- like elements 45, 45, 47,48, 5|, 52, 53, etc. are journalled on pivot pin 45 which extends across box-shaped portion 43 and terminates in riveted ends 49a, 4gb. The forward wall 54 of box-shaped portion 43 is downwardly and inwardly inclined and the forward end of the shim-like elements, say, (as exemplified in Fig. 6) the forward end 5 a of shim element 5| is accordingly shaped to contact the inclined forward wall 54. Portion 43 has further the inner lead edge 43a against which the bolt head 5i) abuts which, when inserted in the opening 44 of wrench portion 43 will automatically lift shim elements 5 52, 53, etc. whereby the bolt head 5U extends between the lead edge 43a and the inner face 48a, of shim elements 45, 43 and 48 which, in this instance, become effective as a unitary element.

As can be seen from Fig. 6, shim element 5| is swung according to arrow A to its inoperative or upper position where the shims 5|, 52, 53, etc. overlie head 60 without becoming' obstructive or in any way participating in the operation of the wrench device.

Figs. 7 and 8 show a wrench device it in a further modied form. The device 'lil has a downwardly directed head piece 'H while the handle of wrench device 10 is omitted on the drawing for claritys sake. Head piece 1|' terminates in an open ended portion 12 into which the slidable shim elements 13, 14, 15, 16 are slid, as can be seen from Figs. '7 and 8, whereas the shim-like elements 75, i9, etc. are shown in their retracted position in which they may abut against or are positioned adjacent the rear wall 55 of the hollow wrench head '5|, It will be further seen from Fig. 8 that the cover plate 3| of the head piece 'H is provided with a slot 82 into which extend iinger pieces or projections t3 of the slidable shim elements. Fig. 'l shows shim element ''l in its retracted position, whereas shim element T5 is shown in abutting relation with the forward edge 84 dening opening' S5 of the head piece 1|.

Ii, as seen in Figs. 7 andB, head 5e of a screw bolt is inserted within opening S5 of the head piece 1|, head 90 of the screw bolt will abut against the lead edge 55 and will automatically displace shims l?, 78, 19 etc. whereas the opposite face of screw bolt head 55 abut-s against the inner surface 15a. of shim element 'i5 which, together with shim elements "i3, '54, 'l5 forms a unitary element deiining the extent or dimension oi the screw bolt head 5B when inserted in opening 85.

It will be further visualized that the sliding shim elements may be readily retracted by means of the finger operated projections 53, as seen in Fig. '7, whereby, for instance, shim elements 1l, i8, l5, etc. are moved in the direction ci arrow B (Fig. S).

In Fig. fia, 55 represents 'the handle carrying a box-like portion 56 providing an opening into which the head of a bolt or a nut can be extended. The opening i?? has a rearwardiy extending part Sla to receive the operating ends or" a plurality of U-shaped gauge elements iet, il, |52 and |53 nested together and a instable within the opening (il and relative thereto and relative to each other. Each of the Ll-shaped gauge elements have long operating legs etc, 55o., etc. which can be adjusted into the rearwardly extending part Sic of the opening 5,7 and which respectively have upwardly extending finger projections 93h, 59h etc. that extend out of the top of the opening to be accessiblek for engagement with the linger to eiect the adjustment of the respective elements. A top cover plate 54 is secured to the handle by screws 95 in the respective corners thereof. This lplate has an opening |54@ through which the iinger projections of the gauge elements may extend. r.he gauge elements are limited in their movement by the ends of the opening of the plate |54. The elements are slid in and out depending upon the size of the square nut or head to be gripped. The square opening provided between. two of the elements may also receive a hexagonal nut and the wrench can thus effectively beused on either square or hexagonal nuts or head portions.

In Figs. l0 and ll, there is shown a `still further form of the invention where the features thereof are incorporated in a socket, Ytype of wrench. In this form, a channel member l is secured to a handle |08 by long rivets l, only one being shown. Upon the assembly of the wrench, a plurality of nested gauge elements HB are assembled in the member 101 and a cover lplate IH is secured by the same rivets 109 to the handle |08 and by small screws H2 to the sides of the channel flanges. The gauge elements are in the form of channel elements and have finger projections extending from one flange thereof, as indicated at H3, through a slot H4 in the flange of the member ll.V Each of the elements H has an elongated slot Illia into which extends a stop pin H projected inwardly from the cover plate HI. The stop pin IE5 prevents the outward displacement of the elements from the lower end of the member |01. Upon placing the wrench over a bolt head IIS, the inner elements H0 will be lifted depending upon the size of the head-as to the number of such elements that will be lifted. This lifting of the elements is accordingly effected automatically and Without the need of any manual adjustment of the elements. The inner faces which are angled relative to each other provide the faces with which to engage the side faces of the head of the bolt or nut.

It should now be apparent that there has been provided a socket wrench construction which is operable upon a plurality of different size .bolt heads or nuts wherein the single Wrench is easily adjusted to these different sizes and according to certain of the forms this adjustment is effected automatically and without need for the manual manipulation of the elements,

The form of the invention, as shown in Figs. 1 and 4a, 7 and 8, permit the manual adjustment of the gauge-or shim-like elements, while in Figs. 5 and 10, the adjustment of the elements is effected automatically as the Wrench construction is applied to the bolt head or nut.

While various changes may be made in the detail construction, it shall be understood that such changes shall be within the spirit and scope of the present invention as dened by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A wrench construction comprising a body including a depending head, said head being provided with a downwardly directed bolt-receiving opening and having at least one wall defining a stationary bolt-engaging jaw, said body being provided with a guideway upwardly-inclined at an angle with respect to said bolt-receiving opening and` communicating with the latter, a stack of shim-like elements juxtaposed within said guideway and movably supported therein, each of said shim-like elements including ajaw-forming portion and being urged downwardly in said guideway under the force of gravity to a position wherein said jaw-forming portions are disposed within said bolt-receiving opening in spaced opposed relation with respect to said stationary jaw, one or more of said shim-like elements being upwardly movable relative to the remaining shimlike elements and relative to said stationary jaw in response to the insertion of a selected bolt Within said bolt-receiving aperture whereby the size of the latter is adjustable in accordance with the size of said selected bolt.

2. A wrench according to claim l wherein another wall of said bolt-receiving opening forms an abutment for limiting the downward movement of said shim-like elements under the force of gravity.

3. A wrench according to claim l, including means carried by each of said shim-like elements actuable exteriorly of said body for separately effecting the upward movement of said shim-like elements.

4. A wrench according to claim 1, including means carried by each of said shim-like elements actuable exteriorly of said body for separately electing the upward movement of said shim-like elements.

BERNARD WTESEN.

REFERENCE S CTEH) The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 562,709 Courtright et al. June 23, 1896 1,080,064 Huber Dec. 2, 1913 1,204,433 Hanna Nov. 14, 1916 1,343,882 `Woodward June 15, 1920 1,346,061 Rosenberg July 6, 1920 1,550,564 Nagano Aug. 18, 1925 1,618,715 Lammers et al. Feb. 22, 1927 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 181,103 Canada Dec. 18, 1917 167,955 Great Britain Aug. 25, 1921

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