Lockable adjustable wrench

A lock for an adjustable jaw wrench of the type including a sliding jaw having a rack gear integral therewith and a rotatable gear or finger wheel in meshing engagement therewith so that by rotation of the rotatable gear, the slidable jaw may be moved toward and away from a stationary jaw for adjusting the effective size of the wrench. The lock of the present invention includes a movable component which lockingly engages both the rack gear and the rotatable gear or finger wheel thus locking these two components stationarily in relation to the body of the wrench and also locking them in stationary relation to each other. The movable lock includes a laterally slidable component disposed in a transverse opening in the body of the wrench with peripheral edge surface portions of the movable component including teeth engageable with the teeth on the rack gear and the teeth on the rotatable gear to maintain the gears locked in relation to each other and in relation to the body of the wrench with the movable lock component having the end portions thereof flush with the body of the wrench when in locked position and having one end projecting slightly outwardly of the body of the wrench when in unlocked position to facilitate lateral sliding movement thereof between a locked and unlocked position.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
The present invention generally relates to an adjustable jaw wrench of the 
type including a sliding jaw having a rack gear rigid with respect thereto 
for moving the jaw in response to rotational movement of a rotatable gear 
or finger wheel in meshing engagement therewith with the wrench including 
a movable lock component which can be manually manipulated for 
simultaneously lockingly engaging the teeth on the rack gear and the teeth 
on the rotatable gear thereby locking these two components rigidly with 
respect to the body of the wrench and rigidly with respect to each other 
thereby securely locking the wrench in adjusted position to enable 
repetitive use thereof on a nut, bolt or the like with the component being 
laterally movable in a transversely extending recess or opening in the 
body of the wrench. 
2. Description of the Prior Art 
Adjustable jaw wrenches of various types have been known and used for many 
years with such wrenches including a rack gear unitary with or integrally 
connected with the movable or sliding jaw of the wrench with the rack gear 
meshing with a rotatable gear, finger wheel or the like to move the 
sliding jaw in relation to the stationary jaw when the rotatable gear or 
finger wheel is rotated. One of the problems which exists with this type 
of wrench is the tendency of the wrench to change its setting during use 
which may be due to the hand of the person using the wrench coming into 
contact with and rotating the rotatable gear or pressure exerted on the 
jaws of the wrench causing rotation of the rotatable gear to some extent 
thus enabling the size of the wrench to be effectively enlarged. Such 
maladjustment of this type of wrench results in the wrench not properly 
fitting the bolt or nut causing it to sometimes slip off of the nut or 
bolt thereby resulting in injury to the hand, particularly the knuckles, 
of the user, and also rounding off the corners of the nut or bolt. Some 
attempts have been made to provide lock devices for locking the adjustable 
wrench in adjusted position. The following U.S. patents are exemplary of 
the development of the art in this field of endeavor. 
U.S. Pat. No. 765,059 
U.S. Pat. No. 984,280 
U.S. Pat. No. 1,056,275 
U.S. Pat. No. 1,265,925 
U.S. Pat. No. 1,648,519. 
While the above patents include locking structures, they generally are 
somewhat difficult to manipulate and serve to lock only a single component 
of the movable components of the wrench. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
An object of the present invention is to provide an adjustable jaw wrench 
including a lock mechanism in the form of a movable component which 
lockingly engages both the movable jaw of the wrench and the mechanism for 
moving the movable jaw. 
Another object of the invention is to provide a lock for a movable jaw 
wrench in which the movable component is oriented in a transversely 
extending opening or recess in the body of the wrench so that the locking 
component can be moved laterally in relation to the body of the wrench 
between a locked and unlocked position by exerting inward pressure on one 
of the end portions of the locking component to cause it to slide 
laterally in relation to the body of the wrench. 
A further object of the invention is to provide a lock for an adjustable 
jaw wrench in accordance with the preceding objects in which the wrench 
includes a rack gear on the adjustable jaw and a rotatable gear in meshing 
engagement therewith in order to move the adjustable jaw to a desired 
position by rotating the rotatable gear with the lock member including 
teeth thereon engaging both the teeth on the rack gear and the teeth on 
the rotatable gear for locking the rack gear and rotatable gear to the 
body of the wrench and locking them in relation to each other. 
Still another object of the invention is to provide a lock for an 
adjustable jaw wrench in accordance with the preceding objects which is 
relatively inexpensive to incorporate into a wrench, easy to manipulate, 
long lasting and dependable in operation. 
These together with other objects and advantages which will become 
subsequently apparent reside in the details of construction and operation 
as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to 
the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals 
refer to like parts throughout.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
Referring now specifically to the drawings, the adjustable end wrench 
having the lock of the present invention incorporated therein is generally 
designated by numeral 10 and includes an enlongated handle 12 of any 
conventional shape and configuration and the length thereof may be 
commensurate with the size of the wrench so that the handle 12 can be 
easily grasped and manipulated by the hand 14 of a user. At one end of the 
handle 12, the wrench includes a body or head generally designated by 
numeral 16 which includes a stationary jaw 18 integral therewith or of 
unitary construction therewith in which the stationary jaw 18 includes a 
jaw face 20 that is in acute angular relation to the longitudinal axis of 
handle 12 as is conventional practice in constructing an adjustable open 
end wrench. The angle of the jaw face 20 can vary from a parallel relation 
to the longitudinal axis of the handle 12 to any other desired acute 
angle. The body 16 merges with and is integral with the handle 12 and has 
a thickness generally equal to the width of the handle 12 although it may 
be somewhat thicker if desired. The vertical and horizontal dimensions of 
the body or head 16 of the wrench may vary depending upon the size 
characteristics of the wrench and includes an inner end edge 22 to engage 
one of the flats on a bolt head or nut when the jaw face 20 is engaged 
with another flat on the bolt head or nut in perpendicular relation to the 
inner edge 22. Thus, the inner end edge 22, in effect, limits the 
insertion of the wrench onto the bolt or nut in a conventional manner. 
The wrench 10 also includes a movable jaw 24 having a jaw face 26 thereon 
in parallel relation to the jaw face 20 to engage a flat surface on a bolt 
head or nut in opposed relation to the jaw face 20 in a conventional 
manner so that rotation of the bolt or nut can be accomplished by exerting 
torque on the handle 12 of the wrench 10. The interior of the body 16 
includes a through passageway 28 communicating with the inner edge 22 
thereof thus defining a slot communicating with the inner edge 22 or 
throat of the wrench for slidably receiving the elongated and projecting 
rack gear 30 on the movable jaw 24 with the rack gear 30 including a 
plurality of longitudinally spaced teeth 32 along the edge thereof remote 
from the movable jaw face 26. The aforementioned structure is conventional 
adjustable open-end wrench structure such as that found in many 
commercially available adjustable jaw wrenches. The rack gear 30 guides 
and retains the slidable jaw 24 in proper orientation with respect to the 
stationary jaw 18. 
The passageway 28 is provided with an enlarged area 34 at its upper edge 
terminating in a rear wall 36 as illustrated in FIG. 3 for receiving a 
rotatable gear 38 therein. The recess defined by the enlarged portion of 
the passageway 28 as designated by the reference numeral 34 and the rear 
wall 36 is sufficiently large to receive the rotatable gear with a portion 
of the periphery thereof projecting above the upper edge of the wrench 
body 16 as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 3 so that the thumb 40 on the user's 
hand 14 can be used to rotate the rotatable gear 38. The rotatable gear 38 
includes teeth 42 on the periphery thereof in meshing engagement with the 
teeth 32 on the rack gear 30 as illustrated in FIG. 3 so that upon 
rotation of the gear 38, the movable jaw 24 will be moved toward and away 
from the stationary jar 18. A transversely extending shaft 44 rotatably 
supports the gear 38 in position and may be in the form of a screw 
threaded member countersunk into one side of the body 16 and threaded into 
the other as illustrated in FIG. 4 thereby rotatably but removably 
supporting the rotatable gear 38 in the body 16 so that it can be removed 
when desired and when the gear 38 is removed, the rack gear 30 and the 
movable jaw can also be removed for cleaning, repair, replacement and the 
like. 
A lock assembly generally designated by numeral 46 is associated with the 
body 16 and includes a lock member 48 in the form of a block or body which 
is laterally slidably mounted in a transverse opening or recess 50 in the 
body 16 which is in communication with the passageway 28 and the recess 
defined by area 34 and wall 36 as illustrated in FIG. 3. The lock member 
48 has a length substantially equal to the thickness of the body 16 and is 
of generally square or rectangular configuration although this may vary. 
The lock member 48 is provided with two sets of lock teeth 52 and 54 on 
the periphery thereof which are capable of sliding meshing engagement with 
the teeth 32 on the rack gear and the teeth 42 on the rotatable gear 38 as 
illustrated in FIG. 3 when in the locked position. As illustrated in FIG. 
4, the lock teeth 52 and 54 only extend partially along the longitudinal 
length of the lock member 48 so that when the lock member 48 is in the 
locked position as illustrated in FIG. 4, the lock teeth 52 and 54 are in 
meshing engagement with the teeth 32 and teeth 42 but when the lock member 
is moved to an unlocked position as shown in broken line in FIG. 4, the 
lock teeth 52 and 54 will not be engaged with the rack teeth 32 and the 
rotatable gear teeth 42 thereby enabling the rotatable gear 38 to be 
rotated to adjust the sliding jaw 24. The lower surface of the opening 50 
is provided with a spring loaded ball detent assembly 56 associated with 
spaced recesses or sockets 58 in the lower surface of the lock member 48 
to frictionally and releasably lock the lock member in either its locked 
position or its unlocked position. Thus, by exerting lateral pressure from 
either end of the lock member 48, the lock member can be moved from a 
locked position to an unlocked position. When the lock member is in the 
locked position, the teeth 52 and 54 thereon simultaneously engage and 
simultaneously lock both the rack gear 30 and rotatable gear 38 to prevent 
them from movement in relation to the body 16 and also this locking 
engagement prevents relative movement between the rotatable gear and rack 
gear. 
As illustrated in FIG. 1, a graduated scale and indicia generally 
designated by numeral 60 is provided on the surface of the body 16 so that 
when the jaw face 26 is aligned therewith, there will be an indication as 
to the size of the wrench or a separate index line may be provided on the 
movable jaw 24 if desired. In any event, the graduations on the graduated 
scale 60 may correspond with the spacing of the teeth 32 and 42 so that 
movement of the rotatable gear 38 a distance equal to one tooth will move 
the sliding gear one increment of the graduated scale. For example, if the 
graduated scale 60 is divided into 1/16-inch increments, the teeth 32 and 
teeth 42 will be constructed so that for each tooth 42 passing into the 
recess 34, there will be corresponding 1/16-inch movement of the sliding 
jaw 24 thereby enabling the adjustable jaw wrench to be preset prior to 
engaging it with a bolt head or nut thereby eliminating the necessity of 
actually placing the wrench on the bolt head or nut and tightening the 
sliding jaw into position. This capability of being able to preadjust the 
wrench to the standard size of the bolt head or nut effectively enhances 
the utilization of the wrench and the lock assembly, when moved into the 
locking position will maintain the adjustment of the wrench during 
repetitive use thereof thereby rendering the wrench more efficient in use 
with less chance of injury to the user and damage to the nuts or bolt 
heads with which the wrench is used. 
The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the 
invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily 
occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the 
invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and 
accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted 
to, falling within the scope of the invention.