Patent ID: 11911878
Assignee: nan
Field: Machine tools (Mechanical engineering)
Classification: CPC B | IPC B

Claim 10:
11. A ratchet wrench comprising:
a wrench head comprising a housing having an outer sidewall and a housing aperture defined by an inner sidewall provided with a plurality of housing ramps;
a handle having a first end connected with said wrench head;
a clutch ring disposed in said housing aperture, said clutch ring having an outer surface and an inner surface that defines a clutch aperture, said outer surface of said clutch ring having a plurality of clutch transmission ramps and at least a portion of said inner surface of said clutch ring having a plurality of clutch teeth; and
a drive element disposed in said clutch ring, said drive element having an outer surface provided with a plurality of drive teeth and an inner surface defining a drive aperture provided with fastener engaging surfaces,
wherein said clutch ring is a split ring having opposing ends and a circumference defining oppositely directed circumferential directions, a first one of said opposing ends having a radially projecting clutch protrusion held in a recess provided in said inner sidewall of said housing,
wherein rotation of said handle in a first direction causes said housing ramps to move along said clutch transmission ramps in a first direction to force said clutch ring to contract against said drive element to lock said housing, clutch ring and drive element together and rotation of said handle in a second direction opposite said first direction causes said housing ramps to move along said clutch transmission ramps in a second direction that is opposite said first direction along said clutch transmission ramps to release said wrench head for rotation relative to said drive element, and wherein in said circumferential directions, said recess is larger than said protrusion to permit back and forth rotation of said recess relative to said protrusion in said circumferential directions in response to said rotation of said handle in said first and second directions.