Patent ID: 9694481
Date: 2017-07-04
CPC Classifications: B25B

Claim:
1. A torque limiting wrench for tightening threaded splined or grooved nuts on a threaded male fitting, the threaded nuts having a circumference dimension, the wrench comprising: a handle structure; a rigid jaw structure comprising a curved jaw arm portion and a tongue portion, the jaw structure pivotably connected to the handle for movement about a pivot point between a tightening position of the tongue portion relative to the handle structure and a fully tightened position of the tongue portion relative to the handle structure, the pivot point disposed between a tip of the tongue portion and the jaw arm portion; a mechanism carried by the handle structure, the mechanism configured to apply a force to hold the jaw structure in the tightening position until the amount of torque applied to the pivot connection between the jaw structure and handle exceeds a pre-determined limit, and then allows the jaw to pivot to the fully tightened position, wherein the mechanism includes a sliding engaging member pushed into engagement with the jaw tongue portion by a spring element applying a bias force to determine the torque limit; the jaw structure including a plurality of spaced teeth supported on the curved jaw arm portion, the curved jaw arm portion having a circumferential extent so dimensioned as to be less than one half the circumference dimension of the nut to be tightened, so that the jaw structure can be engaged to the nut without requiring an axial movement from a first end of the nut toward a second end of the nut; and wherein the jaw structure is so configured that clearance spaces are defined between the jaw structure and top-most surfaces of engaged splines or grooves with the jaw structure in the tightening position; and wherein each of the clearance spaces is defined by the first surface of one of the plurality of spaced teeth that engages against spline or groove surfaces and the second inclined or rounded surface of an adjacent tooth of the plurality of teeth connected to said first surface by an interconnecting surface therebetween.