Tool for extracting anchor bolt from wall

A hand-held tool capable of removing an anchor bolt, such as a molly bolt, from attachment to a wall. The tool of the present invention includes a pair of jaw members which move into gripping relationship onto the exposed end flange of an anchor bolt, following which a lead screw on the tool engages the attachment screw of the anchor bolt and forces the attachment screw inwardly of the wall. This action causes the legs of the anchor bolt to bend and to be straightened and to become sufficiently narrow in transverse dimension so that the anchor bolt can be manually pulled out of the wall through the hole provided therefor. In this way, the tool permits a quick and easy removal of an anchor bolt from a wall without having to damage the wall in any way.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
This invention relates to improvements in hand tools, and, more 
particularly, to a tool for use in removing anchoring devices from walls 
or the like. 
Anchor bolts sometimes called "molly" bolts, are well known and have been 
used for years. Such anchor bolts are provided with bendable legs which 
are bent and spread apart after the anchor bolt has been placed in a hole 
in a wall and as a screw is threaded into a sleeve rigid to the inner ends 
of the legs. The expanded legs engage the inner surface of the wall and 
secure a front flange on the anchor bolt to the exposed surface of the 
wall. The screw threaded into the sleeve can be used to hang objects from 
the wall, such as picture frames. 
Often it is desired to remove such an anchor bolt from the wall for one or 
more reasons. For instance, it may be desirable to re-paper the exposed 
surface of the wall and such re-papering task cannot be done properly if 
one or more anchor bolts are exposed on the wall. Generally, the wall must 
be cut or otherwise damaged to remove the anchor bolts therefrom. This 
requires repair of the wall which is a tedious and time consuming job. 
2. Description of Prior Art 
Several attempts have been disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,802,666 and 
3,139,675 for removing objects from a wall. 
U.S. Pat. No. 1,802,666 describes a combination screw driver and pliers 
unit having jaws which open up and straddle the head of a bolt to be 
screwed into or out of a support. However, the patent fails to teach or 
suggest a tool for removing an anchor bolt from the wall. 
U.S. Pat. No. 3,139,675 relates to the extraction of an expandable blind 
bolt, especially a bolt with a self-contained, multi-part nut and 
centering sleeve. However, this patent also fails to teach or suggest a 
tool for removing an anchor bolt from a wall. 
Because of the problems of removing anchor bolts from walls and because of 
deficiencies in the prior art, a need exists for an improved tool for 
removing anchor bolts from walls. The present invention satisfies this 
need. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention is directed to a handheld tool capable of removing an 
anchor bolt, such as a molly bolt, from attachment to a wall. The tool of 
the present invention includes structure, such as a pair of jaw members, 
which move into gripping relationship onto the exposed end flange of an 
anchor bolt, following which a device, such as a lead screw, ratchet or 
other mechanism on the tool, engages the attachment screw of the anchor 
bolt and forces the attachment screw inwardly of the wall. This action 
causes the legs of the anchor bolt to bend and to be straightened and to 
become sufficiently narrow in transverse dimension so that the anchor bolt 
can be manually pulled out of the wall through the hole provided therefor. 
In this way, the tool of the present invention permits a quick and easy 
removal of an anchor bolt from a wall without having to damage the wall in 
any way. Thus, the hole in which the anchor bolt was originally placed can 
be filled with plaster or the like and left with an appearance which does 
not reveal that it once had a hole in it. 
Moreover, the anchor bolt is not damaged by its being removed from the wall 
by the tool. Thus, the anchor bolt can be used again. 
The primary object of the present invention is to provide an improved hand 
tool for removing an anchor bolt from a wall wherein a tool operates to 
change the shape of several parts of the anchor bolt when the latter is in 
place within a wall so that the anchor bolt can cleanly be removed from 
the wall without damage to the wall. 
Other objectives of this invention will become apparent as the following 
specification progresses, reference being made to the accompanying 
drawings for an illustration of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
A first embodiment of the tool of the present invention is broadly denoted 
by the numeral 10 and includes a pair of relatively shiftable jaw members 
12 and 14 pivotally mounted by shaft 16 on a tube 18 near one open end 
thereof, the tube having an internally threaded boss 20 for threadably 
receiving a lead screw 22 having a turning handle 24 at the outer end 
thereof. Tool 10 is adapted for removing an anchor bolt 26 (FIGS. and 3) 
from anchored relationship in a wall 28. The anchor bolt 26 is of the type 
known as a molly bolt and has a pair of bendable legs 30 and 32 coupled at 
first ends thereof to an internally threaded sleeve 34. A sleeve 36 is at 
the other end of the legs. Sleeve 36 has an annular flange 38 for engaging 
the adjacent outer face 40 of wall 28 after the anchor bolt 26 has been 
inserted into a hole 42 in the wall and projects inwardly from the inner 
surface 41 of wall 28. The hole 42 is of a diameter sufficient to allow 
insertion of the anchor bolt 26 through the hole when the legs 30 and 32 
are in retracted (straightened) or collapsed positions. 
A screw 44 having a head 46 thereon is inserted into and through sleeve 36 
of the anchor bolt 26, and the screw is threaded into sleeve 34. As head 
46 of screw 44 engages flange 38 of anchor bolt 26, the screw 44 tends to 
extend out of the inner end of sleeve 34 and as it does, sleeve 34 moves 
axially of screw 44 to the left when viewing FIG. 2 because the screw is 
prevented from moving to the right when viewing FIG. 3 by virtue of its 
engagement with flange 38. As sleeve 34 moves axially to the left, legs 30 
and 32 yield or bend at their center points and assume the configuration 
of FIGS. 2 and 3 in which the legs bear against the inner surface 41 of 
wall 28, thereby anchoring the anchor bolt 26 in the wall since the anchor 
bolt cannot be removed from the hole 42 in the wall because of the 
expansion of the legs 30 and 32. 
The anchor bolt 26 as described above is of conventional construction and 
the way in which it is used is also conventional. 
Tool 10 is used to change the configuration of the anchor bolt so that its 
legs 30 and 32 will be collapsed or straightened to permit the anchor bolt 
26 to be small enough in transverse dimension to be manually removed from 
wall 28 by pulling it outwardly through hole 42 in the wall. 
Tube 18 (FIG. 1) of tool 10 has an open end 48 shown in FIG. 1. Open end 48 
is adjacent to shaft 16 which pivotally mounts jaw members 12 and 14 on 
tube 18. 
FIG. 9 shows jaw member 12 as having a web 50 provided with a central hole 
52 therethrough for receiving shaft 16. A handle 54 is on one end of web 
50 and extends normally parallel with tube 18 when the jaw members 12 and 
14 are in their closed positions as shown in FIG. 2. 
Jaw member 12 has a blade 56 on web 50 at the opposite end of the web as 
shown in FIGS. 9 and 10. Blade 56 extends laterally from web 50 as does 
handle 54. 
Jaw member 14 as shown in FIGS. 6-8 includes a web 60 provided with a 
central hole 62 therethrough for receiving shaft 16. A handle 64 is 
integral with one end of web 60 and is normally parallel with tube 18 and 
handle 54 as shown in FIG. 2 when the jaw members are in their closed 
conditions. A blade 66 is secured to web 60 at the opposite end thereof. 
Blade 66 extends laterally from web 60 as shown in FIG. 7. 
Shaft 16 is coupled to a flat side 68 of a tubular element 70 (FIGS. 12 and 
13), the element 70 having an inner surface 72 which is complemental to 
the outer surface of tube 18 so that element 70 can be press fitted or 
otherwise secured onto tube 18 near open end 48 thereof. When so placed on 
the tube 18, element 70 will orient the shaft 16 so that it passes through 
holes 52 and 62 of webs 50 and 60, respectively. When so mounted, webs 50 
and 60 are in juxtaposition to each other so they can pivot relative to 
each other. Thus, element 70 and shaft 16 mount jaw members 12 and 14 on 
tube 18 for pivotal movement so that the blades 56 and 66 can be moved 
toward and away from each other. Blades 56 and 66 are shown in their 
closed, operative positions in FIG. 3 and in their open positions shown in 
FIG. 1. In a sense, blades 56 and 66 operate as the jaws of a pair of 
pliers. 
The inner end of lead screw 22 of tool 10 includes a follower member 72 
(FIGS. 1-3) having inclined, end surface portions 74 as shown in FIG. 1. 
The surface portions 74 are adapted to engage the head 46 of screw 44 for 
pushing the screw to the right when viewing FIG. 2 and 3 when lead screw 
22 is moved to the right when viewing FIG. 1 upon the rotation of handle 
24 relative to boss 20. 
Tool 10 is assembled by threadably mounting lead screw 22 on boss 20 so 
that follower member 72 is near the open end 48 of tube 18. Then, jaw 
members 12 and 14 are coupled to shaft 16 so that their assembly appears 
as shown in FIGS. 5 and 5A with webs 50 and 60 side by side with respect 
to each other. Then element 70 which carries shaft 16 is press fitted or 
otherwise secured on tube 18 near open end 48 thereof so that, when the 
jaw blades 56 and 66 are closed, handles 54 and 64 will be parallel with 
each other and on opposite sides of tube 18 as shown in FIGS. 3 and 5. To 
open the jaws, handles 54 and 64 move away from tube 18 and the jaw blades 
open as shown in FIG. 1. 
In use, it will be assumed that an anchor bolt 26 is in wall 28 in the 
manner shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 in which legs 30 and 32 of the anchor bolt 
are spread apart relative to each other. 
Screw 44 is backed off into the position shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 yet the 
screw is still threadably coupled to sleeve 34 of anchor bolt 26. With jaw 
blades 56 and 66 open as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the tool 10 is brought 
close to side 40 of wall 28 and the outwardly projecting portion of screw 
44 is received within the open end 48 of tube 18. Blades 56 and 66 are 
then closed underneath flange 38 of anchor bolt 26 so that the tool is 
effectively coupled to the anchor bolt. 
Handle 24 is then rotated until the screw follower member 72 engages head 
46 of screw 44. After engagement with the head and continued rotation of 
handle 24, screw 22 moves to the right when viewing FIGS. 2 and 3 and as 
it does so, it forces screw 44 to the right when viewing FIGS. 2 and 3. 
This action causes legs 30 and 32 to be bent so that the legs straighten 
and become generally parallel with each other once again. This is possible 
because screw 44 is threadably coupled with sleeve 34 of the anchor bolt. 
Finally, legs 30 and 32 will become sufficiently parallel so that the 
transverse width of anchor bolt 26 is small enough to allow the anchor 
bolt to slip through hole 42 and out of the wall 28. 
Tool 10, therefore, provides a simple means to quickly and easily remove an 
anchor bolt from a wall without damaging the wall or the anchor bolt 
itself. Thus, the anchor bolt can be used again, if desired. The tool can 
be used without an special skills and can be made inexpensively and can be 
used indefinitely without repair or replacement. 
Handles 54 and 64 may be pivotally mounted by a pair of screws 80 and 82 
which pass through webs 50 and 60 of handles 54 and 64. Thus, a single 
handle design can be used for handles 54 and 64. The webs are on opposite 
sides of the center element 70, and the screws 80 and 82 are threadably 
coupled to the element 70 after the screws have passed through holes 50A 
and 60A of webs 50 and 60. Tool 10 with the two screws 80 and 82 thereon 
have the appearance as shown in FIGS. 16-18. The tool is used in the same 
way as that described above with respect to tool 10 of FIGS. 1-13. 
Other embodiments of the tool could be provided if desired. For instance, a 
pistol grip version could be provided in which handle 54 and 64 would be 
replaced with a pistol grip arrangement. Screw 22 can be a left-hand 
threaded screw. This feature keeps the anchor bolt screw 44 from turning 
when engaged by follower 72. Instead of a screw 22, a ratchet or other 
mechanism could be used to advance the anchor bolt screw 44.