Patent Publication Number: US-2011056338-A1

Title: Contractible wrench structure

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a contractible wrench, in particular to a contractible wrench structure that provides a convenient way for users to operate and contract a wrench between a handle and a rod body of the wrench. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     Since a contractible wrench has a specific size, manufacturers need to take the portability of the wrench and the strength required for operating the wrench to secure or remove an object into consideration, and a novel design of the contractible wrench with a feasible solution is needed. 
     A conventional contractible wrench generally includes a handle, a space defined in the handle, a fixing element installed outside the handle, a torque spring installed in the space, and a wrench body in contact with the torque spring. The wrench body further includes an axial guide slot formed on a surface of the wrench body, left and right interconnected slots extended from both ends of the axial guide slot respectively, and left and right positioning slots, each having an opening and extended downwardly from the vertical interconnected slots respectively. 
     However, the two vertical interconnected slots of the aforementioned conventional contractible wrench are spatially disposed opposite to each other, and the axial guide slot is used as a basis for separating the two positioning slots at both ends of the axial guide slot, such that when a path is provided for moving a fixing element or limiting the position of the fixing element, a user cannot intuitively adjust the wrench for a contraction or an extension between a handle and a wrench body for a convenient operation, and the user has to operate the wrench with a trial and error approach before the user has a correct hand feel of the operation. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Therefore, it is a primary objective of the present invention to provide a contractible wrench structure with a design that allows a user to position a rod body of the wrench at a second guide section and a second position limiting slot, which are symmetric to a first guide section and a first position limiting slot respectively, so that the user can contract or extend the wrench between its handle and rod body to obtain a convenient operation. 
     To achieve the foregoing objective, the present invention provides a contractible wrench structure, comprising: 
     a handle, having a containing space defined therein and interconnected to one end of the handle only, and a hole formed at an appropriate position proximate to an interconnected external surface of the handle for installing a fixing element, and an end of the fixing element being protruded towards the containing space and extended into the containing space; 
     a resilient element, installed in the containing space, and an end of the resilient element being stopped inside the containing space; 
     a rod body, being propped by another end of the resilient element, and having a driving head disposed at an end of the rod body and away from the containing space, and another end of the rod body being contained into the containing space, such that the rod body is ascended or descended by a resilience force of the resilient element; 
     a groove, situated at the rod body and formed on an external surface inside the containing space, for displacing and positioning the fixing element, and the groove including a slide section disposed in the same direction of an axis of the handle, a first guide section and a second guide section disposed at both ends of the slide section and extended in the same direction perpendicular to an axis of the slide section, a second position limiting slot extended in a direction from the second guide section towards the bottom of the handle, and a first position limiting slot extended from the first guide section and towards the same direction of the second position limiting slot, and the slide section, the first guide section, the second guide section, the second position limiting slot and the first position limiting slot are disposed continuously. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is an exploded view of the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a perspective view of a rod body extended from a handle in accordance with the present invention; 
         FIG. 3  is a schematic view of a rod body situated in a handle completely in accordance with the present invention; 
         FIG. 4  is a schematic view of passing a rod body towards a containing space of a handle in accordance with the present invention; and 
         FIG. 5  is a schematic view of extending and protruding a rod body externally towards a containing space of a handle in accordance with the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     With reference to  FIGS. 1 to 5  for a structure in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the preferred embodiment is provided for illustrating the present invention only, but not intended for limiting the scope of the invention. 
     The preferred embodiment provides a contractible wrench structure as shown in  FIGS. 1 to 3 , and the contractible wrench structure comprises a handle  1 , a resilient element  3 , and a rod body  4 . 
     The handle  1  includes a containing space  12  defined therein and interconnected to one end of the handle  1  only, and a hole  14  formed at an appropriate position of the handle  1  and proximate to the interconnected external surface for accommodating a fixing element  2 . The fixing element  2  is protruded towards an end of the containing space  12  and extended into the containing space  12 . In this preferred embodiment, the fixing element  2  includes a peg  22  disposed towards an end of the containing space  12 , wherein the peg  22  is in a circular cylindrical shape. 
     In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a screw-thread section  142  is formed at an internal periphery of the hole  14  of the handle  1 , and a line pattern  24  is formed on an external surface of another end of the fixing element  2  and engaged with the screw-thread section  142  of the hole  1 . The technical measure of screwing the fixing element  2  into the hole  14  for a fixation. However, the fixation method is not limited to such arrangement only. 
     The resilient element  3  is installed in the containing space  12 , and an end of the resilient element  3  is abutted and stopped in the containing space  12 , and another end of the resilient element is provided for propping the rod body  4  to ascend the rod body  4  to a predetermined height for a support action. In this preferred embodiment, the resilient element  3  is a spring. 
     The rod body  4  includes a driving head  41  disposed at an end of the rod body  4  and away from the containing space  12 , and another end of the rod body  4  is contained in the containing space  12 . With the resilience force of the resilient element  3 , the rod body  4  can be ascended or descended. The rod body  4  further includes groove  42  formed on an external periphery in the containing space  12  and provided for displacing and fixing the peg  22  of the fixing element  2 . 
     In  FIG. 1 , the groove  42  includes a slide section  421  disposed in the same direction of the axis of the handle  1 , a first guide section  422  and a second guide section  423  disposed at both ends of the slide section  421  and extended in the same direction perpendicular to the axis of the slide section  421 , a second position limiting slot  424  extended from the second guide section  423  towards the bottom of the handle  1 , and a first position limiting slot  425  extended from the first guide section  422  towards the same direction of the second position limiting slot  424 , wherein the slide section  421 , the first guide section  422 , the second guide section  423 , the second position limiting slot  424  and the first position limiting slot  425  are disposed continuously. 
     After the aforementioned components are assembled, the contractible wrench structure of the invention is formed. In a practical application of the present invention as shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , a vast majority of the rod body  4  is exposed from the containing space  12 , since the resilience force of the resilient element  3  is extended outward to provide a vertical height for supporting and extending the rod body  4  out of the handle  1 . In addition, the peg  22  of the fixing element  2  is always embedded and latched into the first position limiting slot  425 , so that the rod body  4  can be extended and fixed. 
     With reference to  FIGS. 1 and 3 , when the rod body  4  is retracted into the containing space  12  of the handle  1 , the bottom of the rod body  4  is supported and abutted by the resilient element  3 , and the peg  22  of the fixing element  2  is still latched into the second position limiting slot  424 . 
     With reference to  FIGS. 1 and 4 , when a user wants to descent the rod body  4 , the user can hold the handle  1  by one hand, and slightly press the rod body  4  down by the other hand, such that the peg  22  of the fixing element  2  is moved and separated from the first position limiting slot  425 , and then the groove  42  of the rod body  4  is displaced into the first guide section  422 , and the slide section  421  of the groove  42  is provided for moving the peg  22  upward, and then the peg  22  of the fixing element  2  is entered from the slide section  421  into the second guide section  423 , and latched into the second position limiting slot  424  for completing the entire retraction process of the rod body  4 . The left and right rotational arrows in  FIG. 4  indicate the direction of rotating the rod body  4  during the process of retracting the rod body  4 . 
     With reference to  FIGS. 1 and 5 , when the user wants to ascend the rod body  4 , the user can also hold the handle  1  by one hand and slightly press the rod body  4  down by the other hand, such that the peg  22  of the fixing element  2  is moved and separated from the second position limiting slot  424 , and then the rod body  4  is rotated to the second guide section  423 , such that the peg  22  can be moved into the slide section  421 , and then the peg  22  is entered into the first guide section  422 , and finally moved and latched into the first position limiting slot  425 . The left and right arrows in  FIG. 5  refer to the direction of rotating the rod body  4  during the process of rotating the rod body  4 . 
     In the present invention, the second guide section  423  and the second position limiting slot  424  of the rod body  4  and the first guide section  422  and the first position limiting slot  425  situated at the rod body  4  in the containing space  12  are designed in the same direction, so that a user can use both hands to hold the wrench structure between the handle  1  and the rod body  4 , such that the peg  22  can be moved along the path of the groove  42  composed of the slide section  421 , the first guide section  422 , the second guide section  423 , the second position limiting slot  424  and the first position limiting slot  425 . 
     When a user operates the wrench to extend or contract between handle  1  and the rod body  4  or rotates the wrench to a fixed position, the user simply needs to move along the aforementioned groove  42  for a convenient operation, and thus the invention can overcome the problem of the conventional contractible wrench that cannot provide a correct operation for contracting or extending the wrench between the handle and the wrench body. 
     While the invention has been described by means of specific embodiments, numerous modifications and variations could be made thereto by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention set forth in the claims.