Abstract:
An extension bar apparatus and methods are usable for enhancing or applying increased torque to mechanical tools, such as wrenches and ratchets, to reduce or minimize the force applied by a user to the mechanical tool for producing work. The extension bar apparatus comprises a metallic tube with a hollow on one end for receiving a mechanical tool handle, which then engages with a plurality of bracing dogs that are each perpendicular to the other and affixed to the mechanical tool through multiple threaded members, some of which extend through the inner surface to the outer surface, and wherein the application of a rotational force to the extension bar apparatus applies torque to the mechanical tool.

Description:
PRIORITY 
       [0001]    This application claims the benefit of and priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/153,981, filed Apr. 28, 2015, by David C. Wright, entitled “Tool for Enhancing Torque Application to Rotating Tools.” The disclosure of this provisional application is herein incorporated by reference. 
     
    
     FIELD 
       [0002]    The present application relates generally to an apparatus and methods for enhancing or applying increased torque to mechanical tools, which serves to reduce or minimize the applied force required by the user. 
       BACKGROUND 
       [0003]    “Cheater bars” are well-known in the field of mechanical engineering as devices which clamp onto the handle of a tool, such as a wrench or ratchet, and increase the effective radius of the rotation of the tool, thereby allowing the proportional application of more torque force to the rotation of the tool head. The simplest, improvised cheater bars are often simply pieces of pipe scrapped from elsewhere. 
         [0004]    However, these cheater bars often come with disadvantages. Most pertinently, the connection between the cheater bar and the tool handle must be strong enough to withstand the force necessary to generate the torque at the head of the tool, or else the cheater bar may come loose and be propelled into the apparatus being torqued, possibly with the user in tow, resulting in damage and injury. 
         [0005]    Prior art cheater bars, such as those described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,570,617, or U.S. Pat. No. 6,257,102, have attempted to overcome this weakness by utilizing various clamping mechanisms to secure the cheater bar to the base handle of the tool. However, these clamping mechanisms ultimately rely on an attachment force that is normal to the direction of the torque, rather than directly bracing the tool against the direction in which the tool is being rotated. Embodiments of the apparatus described herein represent a significant improvement to these concepts. 
         [0006]    A need exists for an apparatus that can be used to enhance or apply increased torque to mechanical tools, such as wrenches or ratchets, and thereby minimize or reduce the amount of force, including a rotational force or partially rotational force, which is required by the user to produce work. 
         [0007]    A need exists for methods of using an apparatus to enhance or apply increased torque to mechanical tools, such as wrenches or ratchets, minimizing or reducing the amount of force, including a rotational force or partially rotational force, that is required by the user to produce work. 
         [0008]    Embodiments of the present disclosure, described herein, meet these needs. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0009]    In the detailed description of the embodiments, presented below, reference is made to the accompanying drawings: 
           [0010]      FIG. 1  depicts an external view of an embodiment of the claimed tool. 
           [0011]      FIG. 2  depicts a cutaway view of an embodiment of the claimed tool. 
           [0012]      FIG. 3  depicts a detail view of an embodiment of the claimed tool. 
           [0013]      FIG. 4A  depicts a schematic view of an embodiment of the claimed tool. 
           [0014]      FIG. 4B  depicts a view along line B-B in  FIG. 4A . 
           [0015]      FIG. 4C  depicts a detail view of area C in  FIG. 4B . 
           [0016]      FIG. 5A  depicts a side view and a front view of an embodiment of the claimed tool. 
           [0017]      FIG. 5B  depicts a view along line B-B in  FIG. 5A . 
           [0018]      FIG. 5C  depicts a view along line C-C in  FIG. 5A . 
           [0019]      FIG. 5D  depicts a detail view of area D in  FIG. 5B . 
           [0020]      FIG. 5E  depicts a detail view of area E in  FIG. 5E . 
           [0021]      FIG. 5F  depicts an isometric view of the embodiment depicted in  FIGS. 5A-5E . 
       
    
    
       [0022]    One or more embodiments are described below with reference to the listed Figures. 
       DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS 
       [0023]    Before describing selected embodiments of the present disclosure in detail, it is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to the particular embodiments described herein. The disclosure and description herein is illustrative and explanatory of one or more presently preferred embodiments and variations thereof, and it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that various changes in the design, organization, order of operation, means of operation, equipment structures and location, methodology, and use of mechanical equivalents may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. 
         [0024]    As well, it should be understood the drawings are intended to illustrate and plainly disclose presently preferred embodiments to one of skill in the art, but are not intended to be manufacturing level drawings or renditions of final products and may include simplified conceptual views as desired for easier and quicker understanding or explanation. As well, the relative size and arrangement of the components may differ from that shown and still operate within the spirit of the invention. 
         [0025]    Moreover, it will be understood that various directions such as “upper,” “lower,” “bottom,” “top,” “left,” “right,” and so forth are made only with respect to explanation in conjunction with the drawings, and that the components may be oriented differently, for instance, during transportation and manufacturing as well as operation. Because many varying and different embodiments may be made within the scope of the concept(s) herein taught, and because many modifications may be made in the embodiments described herein, it is to be understood that the details herein are to be interpreted as illustrative and non-limiting. 
         [0026]    The present disclosure relates generally to an apparatus and methods for enhancing or applying increased torque to mechanical tools, such as wrenches or ratchets, which serves to reduce or minimize the applied force required by the user for producing work. 
         [0027]    Referring to  FIG. 1 , the apparatus comprises a tool extender  10  that is fitted around a hand tool  11 , depicted as an enclosed ratchet in this embodiment. It is to be understood that the hand tool may be any hand tool, including a wrench or any other rotational tool which has a handle. The tool extender  10  can be attached to the hand tool  11  via a plurality of bracing members  12 ,  13 ,  14 ,  15  ( 14  and  15  not visible in  FIG. 1 ), which will be described in more detail. 
         [0028]      FIG. 2  depicts a cutaway view of the tool extender  10  depicted in  FIG. 1 , showing the structure of bracing members  12 ,  13 ,  14 , and  15  ( 15  not visible in  FIG. 2 ). As shown, bracing members  12  and  14  are located on opposite sides of the hand tool  11 , as are bracing members  13  and  15 . The relative positions of the bracing members around the tool extender  10  can allow the hand tool  11  to be directly braced from at least one direction that is opposed to the direction of the torqueing. In this embodiment, the hand tool  11  is depicted having a handle  16  with bracing surfaces  17 ,  18  aligned against a respective pair of bracing members  12 ,  14  and  13 ,  15  although in other embodiments the hand tool  11  may constitute a single bracing surface along the length of handle  16 , or none at all. 
         [0029]      FIG. 3  depicts a close-up view of the bracing members  12 ,  14  as depicted in  FIG. 2 . 
         [0030]    Each bracing member  12 ,  13 ,  14 ,  15  can comprise a dog  20 , at least one center thread  22 , and at least two lateral threads  24 ,  25 . As depicted, the center threads and lateral threads have “ratchet-dog” heads for mating with an Allen wrench or similar hex tool for loosening and tightening; however, it can be appreciated that other loosening and tightening methods could be used without departing from the scope of this disclosure. 
         [0031]    Each bracing member can comprise a center thread  22  that can vary in size, including a width and/or a length of the threads, in comparison to the size of each of the lateral threads  24 ,  25 . In an embodiment, the center thread  22  can comprise a length that is shorter and/or a width that is smaller than the length and/or width of the lateral threads. As depicted in  FIG. 3 , the embodiment of the bracing member comprises a center thread  22  that includes a shorter thread length and a smaller thread width than each of the two lateral threads  24 ,  25 . 
         [0032]      FIGS. 4A, 4B, and 4C  depict a schematic view of an embodiment of the tool, with the angle of  FIG. 4B  indicated by the B-B line of  FIG. 4A, and 4C  enlarging the area depicted by the C-region of  FIG. 4B . Particularly, as indicated by the cutaway zoom of  FIG. 4C , the center thread  22  of each bracing member extends at least partially through the dog  20 , while the lateral threads  24 ,  25  end at the surface of the dog  20 , in order to brace and fit the tool extender  10  against and/or around the hand tool  11 . This allows the dogs  20  to be positioned within the hand tool  11  using the center thread  22 , before being tightened with the lateral threads  24 ,  25 , to accommodate a variety of tool sizes. In addition, the embodiments of  FIGS. 4A and 4B  depict notches  18   a - 18   d  located on the distal handle portion of tool extender  10 . The depicted arrangement follows the same pattern as the handle  16  of the tool depicted in  FIG. 1 , aligning the handle of the tool extender  10  with bracing members  12 ,  13 ,  14 , and  15  to allow the use of multiple tool extenders  10  (depicted as tapered in the  FIG. 4A and 4B  embodiments), although it can be appreciated than any pattern of notches, including a circumferential notch, may be within the scope of this disclosure. 
         [0033]      FIGS. 5A, 5B, 5C, 5D, 5E, and 5F  illustrate the relative positioning of the bracing members on the tool extender  10 , pictured without the hand tool  11 .  FIG. 5B  is oriented along the B-B line of  FIG. 5A , while  FIG. 5C  is cut-away along the C-C line.  FIG. 5D and 5E  are enlargements of regions D and E, respectively, while  FIG. 5F  is an external isometric view. In this embodiment, bracing members  12 ,  14  constitute one paired set that is positioned opposite of one another and closer to the hand tool  11  than bracing members  13 ,  15 , which constitute a second paired set that is positioned opposite of one another, and farther down the tool extender  10 . The bracing members can be arranged in this way, as depicted in  FIGS. 5D and 5E , to avoid the dogs  20  impacting on one another during the tightening of the tool extender  10  on especially small tools. While the depicted embodiment shows the bracing members  12 ,  13 ,  14 ,  15  positioned on the tool extender  10  at substantially right angles to one another, it can be appreciated that other arrangements of the bracing members may be made on and about the tool extender  10 .  FIG. 5F  shows the inner surface  21  of dog  20  as toothed, for improved gripping of tools which may not have distinct mating surfaces. 
         [0034]      FIGS. 5A-5F  further depict the center thread  22  and the lateral threads  24 ,  25  of the extender tool  10  comprising grooves, which can be used for mating with screwdrivers, rather than Allen wrenches, as the embodiments shown in  FIGS. 1-3 . 
         [0035]    While various embodiments usable within the scope of the present disclosure have been described with emphasis, it should be understood that within the scope of the appended claims, the present invention can be practiced other than as specifically described herein.