Abstract:
There is provided an articulating tool assembly for performing a mechanical task in a confined area, e.g., applying the torque to install or remove nuts threaded onto machine bolts or other hooks in confined or recessed areas. The articulating tool assembly has an elongated body portion having a handle section and a yoke section, a head portion including a head section and a head retaining section, and an actuation member defining an axle shaft with two spaced apart sprockets. The actuation member is provided for effectuating incremental articulating movements of the wrench head portion with respect to the elongated wrench body portion.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
       [0001]     The present application is a divisional application which claims the benefit of and priority to U.S. application Ser. No. 10/341,143, filed on Jan. 13, 2003, which claims the benefit of and priority to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/347,363, filed Jan. 11, 2002, each of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND  
       [0002]     1. Field of the Invention  
         [0003]     The present invention relates to an articulating tool assembly. More particularly, the present invention relates to an articulating tool assembly of the socket driver type having an articulating head portion that is selectively movable into a plurality of angular orientations with respect to a body portion. The present invention also relates to an articulating tool assembly having a body portion including one or more articulating members.  
         [0004]     2. Description of the Related Art  
         [0005]     It is often necessary to install a nut onto or remove a nut from a machine bolt in a confined area or to perform some other task using a tool in a confined area. For example, conventional ratchet wrenches are not suitable for use in confined areas because restricted access to the confined space interferes with the back and forth motion of the wrench handle or because a mechanic cannot access the confined area in such a way as to transmit the necessary torque to the wrench handle to facilitate the nut installation or removal process. Accordingly, there is a need for a simple, convenient, economical tool, such as a wrench, capable of adapting to use in a confined area to allow a user to operate the tool and perform the necessary tasks, e.g., the removal or installation of nuts.  
       SUMMARY  
       [0006]     An object of the present invention is to provide a novel type of articulating tool assembly, which is simple to manufacture and convenient to use. In one preferred embodiment, the articulating tool assembly includes an articulating ratchet wrench assembly including a socket driver.  
         [0007]     In accordance with the present invention, the articulating tool assembly has an elongated body portion having a handle section and a yoke section with first and second opposed yoke arms. Preferably, at least one of the yoke arms has a toothed aperture. A head portion includes a head section and a head retaining section having a bore which partly consists of teeth. An actuation member defines an axle shaft with two spaced apart sprockets. The axle shaft extends through the toothed apertures of the two yoke arms and the bore of the head retaining section. In an engaged position, the first sprocket of the axle shaft engages the toothed aperture of the first yoke arm and a first toothed area of the bore of the head retaining section, while the second sprocket engages the toothed aperture of the second yoke arm and a second toothed area of the bore of head retaining portion. In this position, the actuation member prevents articulation of the head portion of the tool assembly in relation to the elongated body portion. In the disengaged position, the second sprocket is rotatably positioned within a raceway area of the bore of the head retaining portion while the first sprocket engages only the toothed aperture of the first yoke arm. In this position, the head portion is free to articulate in relation to the elongated body portion. Alternatively, in the disengaged position, the first sprocket may engage only the raceway area of the bore of the head retaining section while the second sprocket may engage only a toothed aperture of the second yoke arm.  
         [0008]     It is envisioned that two or more yoke sections may be provided along the length of the elongated body portion to provide a tool having a plurality of areas of articulation.  
         [0009]     Therefore, users can easily utilize the adjustable articulating tool for accessing a confined area by using the articulated movements of the tool head portion with respect to the elongated body portion to perform a desired task, e.g., to tighten and loosen bolts. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0010]     The above objects and other advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:  
         [0011]      FIG. 1  illustrates a perspective view of an articulating ratchet wrench assembly constructed in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0012]      FIG. 2  illustrates a plan view, in partial cut-away, of a yoke section, a wrench head portion, and an actuation member disposed in an engaged position of the ratchet wrench assembly of  FIG. 1 ;  
         [0013]      FIG. 3  illustrates a plan view, in partial cut-away, of a yoke section, a wrench head portion and an actuation member moved into a disengaged position to permit movement of the wrench head portion relative to the elongated body portion of the ratchet wrench assembly of  FIG. 1 ;  
         [0014]      FIG. 4  illustrates a plan view, in partial cut-away, of a yoke section, a wrench head portion and an actuation member moved into another disengaged position to permit movement of the wrench head portion relative to the elongated body portion of the ratchet wrench assembly of  FIG. 1 ;  
         [0015]      FIG. 5  illustrates a side elevational view showing various selected positions of the wrench head portion of the ratchet wrench assembly of the present invention;  
         [0016]      FIG. 6  illustrates a perspective view of an actuation member of the ratchet wrench assembly of the present invention;  
         [0017]      FIG. 7  illustrates an exploded perspective view of the ratchet wrench assembly of the present invention;  
         [0018]      FIG. 8  is a schematic diagram of a linkage assembly for remotely actuating the actuation member of the presently disclosed wrench assembly;  
         [0019]      FIG. 9  is a side view of another preferred embodiment of the presently disclosed invention; and  
         [0020]      FIG. 10  is a side view of the actuation member of the embodiment of the invention shown in  FIG. 9 .  
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0021]     A preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described hereinbelow with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following description, like reference numerals identify similar or identical elements throughout the several views, while well-known functions or constructions are not described in detail so as not to obscure the invention in unnecessary detail. Although this description refers specifically to an articulating wrench assembly, it is to be understood that this disclosure may be incorporated into other tool assemblies, e.g., screw drivers, magnetic retrieval devices, prying devices, hammers, paint brushes, a variety of different medical and/or surgical tools, articulating devices, etc.  
         [0022]     Referring to  FIG. 1 , the articulating wrench assembly  10  essentially comprises an elongated body portion  12 , a wrench head portion  20  and an actuation member  30 . The elongated body portion  12  defines an ergonomically configured wrench handle section  13  along a major portion thereof and a yoke section  14  at a front or distal end thereof. The yoke section  14  of the elongated body portion  12  has two opposed yoke arms  14 A,  14 B. The wrench head portion  20  includes a socket adaptor  26 , a wrench head section  24  and a wrench head retaining section  22 . The elongated body portion  12  may include an additional yoke section or sections along the length thereof to provide multiple areas of articulation on the tool assembly. Each area of articulation would preferably include an actuation member to control articulation of the tool assembly.  
         [0023]     Referring now to  FIGS. 6 and 7 , the yoke section  14  of the elongated body portion  12  has two opposed yoke arms  14 A,  14 B, at least one of which includes an engagement area, e.g., a toothed aperture  16 ,  18  which extends at least partially through a respective yoke arm  14 A,  14 B. In a preferred embodiment, both yoke arms  14 A and  14 B include toothed apertures. The wrench head portion  20  includes a wrench head section  24  and a wrench head retaining section  22  which has a bore  40  consisting of first and second spaced apart engagement areas, e.g., annular toothed areas  42  and  44  (See  FIGS. 2, 3  and  4 ) and an annular raceway area  28  with no teeth positioned between annular toothed areas  42  and  44 .  
         [0024]     Actuation member  30  includes an axle shaft  32  extending through the toothed apertures  16  and  18  of two yoke arms  14 A and  14 B and the bore  40  of the wrench head retaining section  22  (See  FIGS. 1 and 7 ). The actuation member  30  is utilized to control articulated movement of the wrench head portion  20  with respect to the elongated body portion  12  (See  FIG. 5 ) and includes first and second locking members or sprockets  34  and  36 .  
         [0025]     Each sprocket  34  and  36  has a plurality of annularly disposed gear teeth which are configured to interact with complementary toothed engagement areas  16 ,  18 ,  42 ,  44  formed within the yoke arms  14 A and  14 B and the wrench head retaining section  22 . Alternately, the number of teeth provided on the sprocket may differ from the number of teeth provided on the yoke arms and/or the wrench head retaining portion, i.e., only a single tooth may be provided on the sprocket (or the yoke arms and/or the wrench head retaining portion). Toothed areas  16  and  18  of the aperture of yoke arms  14 A and  14 B and toothed areas  42  and  44  of bore  40  of wrench head retaining section  22  should be configured to receive sprockets  34  and  36 . In a preferred embodiment, sprockets  34  and  36  provided on axle shaft  32  have the same number of teeth formed thereon as the toothed areas  16 ,  18 ,  42  and  44 .  
         [0026]     Alternately, only one sprocket may be provided on the axle shaft and only a single toothed area may be provided on each of retaining section  22  and yoke section  14 . In such an embodiment, the teeth of the one sprocket are dimensioned to simultaneously engage the teeth on both retaining section  22  and one of yoke arms  14 A and  14 B. The number of the spaced apart annular toothed areas and the spaced annular raceway areas of the bore  40  will be determined based upon the number of sprockets. The size and the number of teeth of the first sprocket  34  may be different from those of the second sprocket  36  provided each sprocket is configured to engage apertures or recesses of a corresponding yoke arm or arms  14 A and  14 B and the toothed areas  42  and  44  of bore  40  of the wrench head retaining section  22 , respectively. The axle shaft  32  may define a tapered shape to prevent sliding of the axle shaft  32  out of one side of yoke section  14 . Any type of interlocking teeth can be used on the toothed areas  16 ,  18 ,  42 ,  44 , and sprockets  34 ,  36 . For example, the gear teeth may be triangular, spherical, conical, etc.  
         [0027]      FIGS. 2, 3  and  4  illustrate the positions of the axle shaft  32  with spaced apart sprockets  34  and  36  which extend through toothed apertures  16  and  18  of yoke arms  14 A and  14 B and bore  40  of wrench head retaining section  22 . Sprockets  34  and  36  are provided on axle shaft  32  for controlling incremental articulation of wrench head portion  20  with respect to elongated body portion  12 . The width of each of sprockets  34  and  36  is narrower than that of spaced annular raceway area  28  of wrench head retaining section  22  to permit articulation of wrench head portion  20  in relation to elongated body portion  12  when one of the sprockets  34  and  36  is moved into raceway area  28 .  
         [0028]     As seen in  FIG. 2 , when moved into an engaged position, first sprocket  34  simultaneously engages toothed aperture  16  of first yoke arm  14 A and first toothed area  42  of bore  40  of wrench head retaining section  22 , while the second sprocket  36  simultaneously engages toothed aperture  18  of second yoke arm  14 B and second toothed area  44  of bore  40  of wrench head retaining section  22 . At such a time, the wrench head portion  20  is locked against rotation of any desired position and the wrench can be used for installing or removing a nut or performing some other mechanical operation. Alternately, only a single sprocket need be provided.  
         [0029]     As seen in  FIG. 3 , when axle shaft  32  is pushed in a first direction indicated by arrow “A”, first sprocket  34  disengages from first toothed area  42  of bore  40  of wrench head retaining section  22  and is engaged only in toothed aperture  16  of first yoke arm  14 A, and second sprocket  36  moves into raceway area  28  of bore  40  of wrench head retaining section  20  where there are no teeth to engage. In this position, i.e., the disengaged position, wrench head portion  20  can be freely articulated relative to body portion  12  of articulating wrench assembly  10 , since wrench head portion  20  can be rotated about axle shaft  32  to change the angular position of wrench head portion  20  in relation to body portion  12  can be adjusted.  
         [0030]     Alternatively, as seen in  FIG. 4 , actuation shaft  32  can be moved into the disengaged position by moving axle shaft  32  in a direction indicated by arrow “B” such that second sprocket  36  disengages from second toothed area  44  of bore  40  of wrench head retaining section  22  and engages toothed aperture  18  of second yoke arm  14 B, while first sprocket  34  disengages from toothed aperture  16  of first yoke arm  14 A and from first toothed area  42  of bore  40  of wrench head retaining section  22 , and moves into raceway area  28  of bore  40  where there are no teeth. Wrench head portion  20  can also be freely articulated relative to body portion  12  of the articulating wrench assembly  10  in this position. Thereupon, the wrench head portion can be moved into a desired angular orientation and thereafter retained in the desired position via movement of actuation member  30  to the position shown in  FIG. 2 .  
         [0031]     The two disengaged positions can be selected by manually pushing or pulling on actuation member  30 . Actuation member  30  can be pushed or pulled by the user or by other means, such as a mechanism including a biasing spring or a remotely actuated mechanism. For example, a linkage assembly may be provided to facilitate movement of actuation member  30  between engaged and disengaged positions from handle section  13 . One preferred embodiment of the linkage assembly illustrated in  FIG. 8  includes a linear translatable link  80  and a pivotal lever  82 . Link  80  is slidably positioned within a bore (not shown) in elongated body portion  12  and includes a proximal end  80   a  and a distal end  80   b . Proximal end  80   a  preferably includes a finger engagement member  81  which is accessible from handle section  13  to facilitate translation of link  80  from a retracted to an advanced position. Distal end  80   b  of link  80  is pivotally secured to one end  82   a  of pivotal lever  82 . A central portion  82   b  of lever  82  is pivotally secured about pin  90  to elongated body portion  12 . The other end  82   c  of lever  82  is slidably secured to actuation member  30  by a pin  84  slidably positioned within a slot  86  formed in actuation member  30 . Wrench head portion  20  must be adapted to facilitate connection of lever  82  to actuation member  30  (not shown). In use, when link  80  is advanced in the direction indicated by arrow “C”, lever  82  is pivoted about pin  90  in the direction indicated by arrow “D” such that pin  84  urges actuation member  30  in the direction indicated by arrow “E”. As actuation member  30  moves in the direction indicated by arrow E, pin  84  moves upwardly in slot  86 .  
         [0032]     It is also envisioned that axle shaft  32  may have protrusions or extensions, e.g., a gripping member or O-ring, at the either or both ends thereof so that the actuation member  30  can be more easily manipulated. In an alternate embodiment, a protrusion or protrusions  60  may be formed and positioned on the wrench retaining section  22  (and/or yoke section  14 ) to contact an inner wall of yoke section  14 , e.g., a rubber surface, etc. Contact between protrusions  60  and the inner wall of yoke section  14  provides a frictional resistance to articulation when the actuation shaft is in the disengaged position to prevent head portion  20  from flopping around in relation to body portion  12 . Alternately, a resilient pad may be substituted for protrusions  60  to increase the frictional contact between retaining section  22  and yoke section  14 .  
         [0033]      FIG. 5  shows various selectively adjustable positions of wrench head portion  20  relative to body portion  12  of wrench assembly  10 . The number of articulated positions of the wrench assembly will depend upon the number of teeth provided on sprockets  34  and  36  on the axle shaft  32 , and/or in bore  40  and/or apertures  16  and  18  of yoke  14 . The number of teeth may vary, preferably from as few as one to as many as fifty. Depending on the number of teeth, the number of the selective positions of the articulating wrench is decided. In a preferred embodiment of the present inventions, twenty-six teeth are provided on each sprocket of the axle shaft  32  so that the wrench head portion  20  can be oriented into an incremental position every 13.85°. Alternately, more or fewer teeth may be provided to provide a greater or lesser increment of articulation of head portion  20 .  
         [0034]     It is envisioned that a movable actuator such as described above may be suitable for use in a variety of other types of articulatable devices to control articulation of a component of the device. For example, in one preferred embodiment a hinge  200 , shown in  FIGS. 9 and 10 , includes a first hinge member  202 , a second hinge member  204  and an actuation member or hinge pin  206 . Each hinge member includes a plurality of circular lobes  208  for receiving actuation member or hinge pin  206 . At least one and, preferably a plurality of circular lobes  208  on each hinge member includes engagement structure (not shown). Hinge pin  206  also includes engagement structure  210  positioned to releasably engage the engagement structure of circular lobes  208 . Hinge pin  206  is movable between a first position in which the engagement structure of the at least one circular lobe of each hinge member  202  and  204  is engaged by engagement structure  210  of hinge pin  206  and a second disengaged position in which engagement structure  210  engages the engagement structure of only one of the first and second hinge members. In the second disengaged position, first hinge member  202  can be articulated with respect to second hinge member  204 . In the first position, engagement structure  210  prevents articulation of first hinge member  202  in relation to second hinge member  204 . As discussed above, the engagement structure  210  on hinge pin  206  and the engagement structure on circular lobes  208  of hinge members  204  and  206  preferably includes an annular array of teeth. As discussed above, the engagement structure may include other known interlocking configurations.  
         [0035]     Hinge pin  206  can be manually moved between the engaged and disengaged positions. Alternately, a link  212  can be used to fasten one or both ends of pin  206  to a suitable drive mechanism, e.g., motor, solenoid, etc. Although illustrated as a hinge assembly, the assembly shown in  FIGS. 9 and 10  may be formed integrally with any articulation assembly. For example, the first hinge member may be in the form of a door, whereas the second hinge member may be in the form of a door jam.  
         [0036]     Although the invention has been described in its preferred form with a certain degree of particularity, variations and modifications may be made therefrom within the scope of the accompanying claims without departing from the principle of the invention and without sacrificing its chief advantages.