RATCHET WRENCH STRUCTURE

A ratchet wrench structure includes a handle portion, a head portion, a ratchet hole, a ratchet portion, an extending rod and a driving portion. The head portion is connected to the handle portion. The ratchet hole penetrates the head portion and includes a plurality of first tooth portions, and the ratchet hole has a driving axis. The ratchet portion is detachably disposed at the ratchet hole, the ratchet portion includes a plurality of second tooth portions, and the second tooth portions correspond to the first tooth portions. A first end of the extending rod is integrally connected to the ratchet portion, and the extending rod extends along the driving axis. The driving portion is integrally connected to a second end of the extending rod and detachably connected to a workpiece.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to Taiwan Application Serial Number 112108370, filed Mar. 7, 2023, which is herein incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to a wrench structure. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to a ratchet wrench structure.

Description of Related Art

For assembling various tools, wrenches are applied in different industrial fields, and a ratchet wrench can rotate a workpiece in one direction, which may provide a convenience of operation. However, to meet the different requirements of products, a tool element such as a screw may be disposed in a narrow hole or other narrow working environments which are unfavorable for operating the ratchet wrench. For a conventional ratchet wrench, it is hard for a user to operate the conventional ratchet wrench in this kind of the working environments, or even impossible for the user to operate. Therefore, the practitioners in the filed developed a connecting element connected to the ratchet wrench to extend a driving head of the ratchet wrench so as to insert the driving head into the narrow working environments for operation. Nevertheless, a torque of the user rotating the ratchet wrench cannot be fully transmitted to the driving head because of a gap contained between the connecting element and the ratchet wrench, and the connecting element may be detached from the ratchet wrench due to the excessive torque, so that an operation of the ratchet wrench is limited.

Accordingly, a ratchet wrench which is capable of operating in a narrow working environment and fully transmitting a torque is still a pursued target of practitioners.

SUMMARY

According to one aspect of the present disclosure, a ratchet wrench structure includes a handle portion, a head portion, a ratchet hole, a ratchet portion, an extending rod and a driving portion. The head portion is connected to the handle portion. The ratchet hole penetrates the head portion and includes a plurality of first tooth portions, and the ratchet hole has a driving axis. The ratchet portion is detachably disposed at the ratchet hole, the ratchet portion includes a plurality of second tooth portions, and the second tooth portions correspond to the first tooth portions. A first end of the extending rod is integrally connected to the ratchet portion, and the extending rod extends along the driving axis. The driving portion is integrally connected to a second end of the extending rod and detachably connected to a workpiece.

According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a ratchet wrench structure includes a handle portion, a head portion, a ratchet hole, a ratchet portion, an extending rod and a driving portion. The handle portion includes a pivot hole. The head portion is pivotally connected to the pivot hole. The ratchet hole penetrates the head portion and includes a plurality of first tooth portions, and the ratchet hole has a driving axis. When the head portion rotates about the pivot hole by a force, an angle is formed between the driving axis and a longitudinal direction of the handle portion. The ratchet portion is detachably disposed at the ratchet hole, the ratchet portion includes a plurality of second tooth portions, and the second tooth portions correspond to the first tooth portions. A first end of the extending rod is integrally connected to the ratchet portion, and the extending rod extends along the driving axis. The driving portion is integrally connected to a second end of the extending rod and detachably connected to a workpiece.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The embodiments will be described with the drawings. For clarity, some practical details will be described below. However, it should be noted that the present disclosure should not be limited by the practical details, that is, in some embodiment, the practical details is unnecessary. In addition, for simplifying the drawings, some conventional structures and elements will be simply illustrated, and repeated elements may be represented by the same labels.

It will be understood that when an element (or device) is referred to as being “connected to” another element, it can be directly connected to the other element, or it can be indirectly connected to the other element, that is, intervening elements may be present. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being “directly connected to” another element, there are no intervening elements present. In addition, the terms first, second, third, etc. are used herein to describe various elements or components, these elements or components should not be limited by these terms. Consequently, a first element or component discussed below could be termed a second element or component. Besides, a combination of these elements (unite or circuits) of the present disclosure is not a common combination in this art, so it cannot be predicted whether a relation of the combination hereof can be easily done by a person having skill in the art by these elements (units or circuits).

Please refer toFIG.1, andFIG.1shows an exploded view of a ratchet wrench structure100according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown inFIG.1, the ratchet wrench structure100includes a handle portion110, a head portion120, a ratchet hole130, a ratchet portion140, an extending rod150and a driving portion160. The head portion120is connected to the handle portion110, the ratchet hole130penetrates the head portion120and includes a plurality of first tooth portions131, and the ratchet hole130has a driving axis I1. The ratchet portion140is detachably disposed at the ratchet hole130, the ratchet portion140includes a plurality of second tooth portions141, and the second tooth portions141correspond to the first tooth portions131. A first end of the extending rod150is integrally connected to the ratchet portion140, and the extending rod150extends along the driving axis I1. The driving portion160is integrally connected to a second end of the extending rod150and detachably connected to a workpiece S1(shown inFIG.2).

Therefore, a user can handle the handle portion110and insert the driving portion160into a narrow working environment where a conventional ratchet wrench is incapable of operating (as a working groove S shown inFIG.2), and a rotated torque driven by the user can be fully transmitted to the driving portion160via a long-rod structure integrally formed by the ratchet portion140, the extending rod150and a driving portion160. That is, a problem that a torque cannot be fully transmitted to a driving portion because of the connection between a ratchet portion and an extending rod of the conventional ratchet wrench can be avoided so as to increase a torque output of the driving portion160. The detailed structure of the ratchet wrench structure100will be described in the following.

Please refer toFIG.2withFIG.1, andFIG.2shows a schematic view of the ratchet wrench structure100according to the embodiment inFIG.1connected to the workpiece S1which is disposed in the working groove S. As shown in FIGS.1and2, the handle portion110and the head portion120can form an integrally formed wrench, and a reversing mechanism can be disposed at the head portion120so as to allow the ratchet portion140to be rotated in one direction or dual directions. The reversing mechanism is conventional and is not an improving feature of the present disclosure, so it won't be described herein. In other embodiments, the head portion can be detachably connected to the handle portion, and the ratchet wrench structure can further include a torque trip mechanism connected to the head portion so as to set an upper limit of a torque output to prevent the extending rod from being broken by an excessive torque.

The extending rod150can include a first extending region151, a tapering region153and a second extending region152. The first extending region151is integrally connected to the ratchet portion140and has a first radial width W1. The tapering region153is integrally connected to the first extending region151, and a radial width of the tapering region153is tapered from an end of the tapering region153connected to the first extending region151towards the driving portion160. The second extending region152is integrally connected between the tapering region153and the driving portion160and has a second maximum radial width W2, and the first radial width W1is larger than the second maximum radial width W2. It is worthy to be mentioned that there is no real boundary between the first extending region151and the tapering region153, or between the tapering region153and the second extending region152, dividing the extending rod150into the first extending region151, the tapering region153and the second extending region152is only for descriptive convenience, and the present disclosure is not limited thereto. The radial width of the extending rod150is tapered from the first radial width W1of the first extending region151to the other end of the tapering region153connected to the second extending region152, and then is gradually increased to the second maximum radial width W2in the second extending region152. The radial width of the extending rod150changes smoothly to avoid of an excessive stress occurred at a point where the radial width of the extending rod150changes when the user rotates the ratchet wrench structure100so that the loading of the extending rod150can be improved. In other embodiments, the extending rod can exclude the tapering portion and radial widths of regions of the extending rod are equal, that is, the extending rod is a straight rod so as to reduce a manufacturing difficulty.

The first radial width W1can be larger than or equal to 15 mm and less than or equal to 20 mm, the second maximum radial width W2can be larger than or equal to 14 mm and less than or equal to 19 mm. In the present embodiment, the first radial width W1is 17.5 mm, the second maximum radial width W2is 16.5 mm, but the present disclosure is not limited thereto. Via a design that the first radial width W1is larger than the second maximum radial width W2, the user can insert the driving portion160into a narrow work space such as the working groove S of a working element shown inFIG.2, and then connect the driving portion160to the workpiece S1to drive the workpiece S1. In other embodiments, the second maximum radial width of the second extending region can be larger than the first radial width of the first extending region so as to drive a workpiece with large radius, but the present disclosure is not limited thereto.

A length d1of the first extending region151can be larger than or equal to 25 mm and less than or equal to 35 mm, a length d2of the tapering region153can be larger than or equal to 25 mm and less than or equal to 35 mm, and a length d3of the second extending region152can be larger than or equal to 15 mm and less than or equal to 25 mm. The length d1of the first extending region151, the length d2of the tapering region153and the length d3of the second extending region152are 30 mm, 30 mm and 20 mm, respectively, but the present disclosure is not limited thereto. Therefore, the extending rod150can be inserted into a hole of a working environment and applied for most of working environments of the ratchet wrench structure100to improve the convenience of operating the ratchet wrench structure100in a narrow space.

Moreover, the extending rod150can be substantially cylinder-shaped. A cylinder-shaped structure can avoid that a stress is focused at a specific point of the extending rod150so as to transmit the torque driven by the user to each point of the extending rod150averagely. Thus, the stress on the extending rod150does not change rapidly to prevent the extending rod150from being broken owing to an excessive stress at a certain region of the extending rod150, so that the lifetime of the extending rod150can be increased. In other embodiments, the extending rod can be cuboid-shaped or other polygon prism-shaped, but the present disclosure is not limited thereto.

In other embodiments, the ratchet wrench structure can further include a torque sensor, and the torque sensor is disposed at the driving portion and is configured for sensing a torque value of the driving portion acting on the workpiece. Compared with a conventional torque sensor disposed at the handle portion of the ratchet wrench, via disposing the torque sensor at the driving portion, the torque value of the driving portion acting on the workpiece can be sensed more accurately, and the accuracy of the torque sensor can be improved.

Please refer toFIG.3, andFIG.3shows an exploded view of a ratchet wrench structure200according to another embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown inFIG.3, a structure of the ratchet wrench structure200is similar with the ratchet wrench structure100of the embodiment inFIG.1. It is worthy to be mentioned that a handle portion210of the ratchet wrench structure200can include a pivot hole211, and a head portion220is pivotally connected to the pivot hole211. When the head portion220rotates about the pivot hole211by a force, an angle is formed between a driving axis I1and a longitudinal direction of the handle portion210. In detail, the ratchet wrench structure200is a swing-type ratchet wrench. Via the configuration of the pivot hole211, a user can rotate the head portion220to deflect the head portion220relatively to the handle portion210so as to incline an extending rod250relatively to the longitudinal direction of the handle portion210, which is convenient for the user to adjust an angle between the driving axis I1and the handle portion210and then insert the extending rod250into a narrow and convoluted working environment, thereby improving the convenience of operating the ratchet wrench structure200.

In summary, the ratchet wrench structure of the present disclosure has the following advantages. First, via the configuration of integrally forming the ratchet portion, the extending rod and the driving portion, the torque value of the driving portion acting on the workpiece can be increased. Second, via the configuration of the deflectable handle portion, the angle between the driving axis and the handle portion can be adjusted to improve the convenience of operating the ratchet wrench structure. And, third, via disposing the torque sensor at the driving portion, the torque value of the driving portion acting on the workpiece can be sensed more accurately.