Patent Publication Number: US-2022212319-A1

Title: Cover plate structure of ratchet wrench

Description:
This application is a Continuation-In-Part of application Ser. No. 16/819,064, entitled COVER PLATE STRUCTURE OF RATCHET WRENCH, filed on Mar. 14, 2020. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Field of Invention 
     The present invention relates to a hand tool, and more particularly to a cover plate structure of ratchet wrench capable of increasing the strength of bearing a force. 
     Related Art 
     The conventional ratchet wrench mainly uses a ratchet mechanism to apply unidirectional force to drive a workpiece, and the direction of force being applied can be changed by changing the direction of operation. For example, the prior art ratchet wrench described in the Taiwan utility model patent M576088 has a main body, a chamber is provided in a head portion of the main body, and inside the chamber is provided with a ratchet mechanism; and a cover plate is fixedly screwed on the main body with two bolts, so that the ratchet mechanism can be accommodated in the chamber. 
     Since bolts are required for fixedly screwing the cover plate of the conventional ratchet wrench on the main body, the main body needs to be provided with screw holes near by the chamber, so that the cover plate can be fixedly screwed over the chamber, which relatively increases the volume of the main body; and since the cover plate can only be placed on the main body, the cover plate is incapable of bearing the force applied to the main body caused by the load generated by the ratchet mechanism during operation, and therefore the strength of the head portion to bear a force cannot be increased, and the overall strength of the ratchet wrench to withstand force cannot be increased. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     A main object of the present invention is to provide a cover plate structure of ratchet wrench capable of increasing the strength. 
     In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a cover plate structure of ratchet wrench comprising:
         a main body having a head portion and a shaft, the head portion is provided at a front end of the shaft, the head portion has an accommodating space therein, a peripheral wall is formed at a rear end of the accommodating space, and the accommodating space is formed with at least one opening located at a top surface or a bottom surface of the head portion; a front end of the opening of the accommodating space is provided with a slot;   a ratchet mechanism provided in the accommodating space and having a drive portion;   a cover plate having a cover portion and a snap-abut portion, a thickness of the snap-abut portion is larger than a thickness of the cover portion, the cover plate is placed in the opening of the accommodating space, the cover portion is provided with a through hole corresponding to the drive portion of the ratchet mechanism, and the snap-abut portion is snapped and abutted against the peripheral wall of the accommodating space; and   an elastic fastener member having a c-shaped ring body, the outer diameter of the ring body can be elastically reduced or expanded, the ring body having two terminals, an open end of the fastener member being formed between the two terminals, and an end of the ring body opposite to the open end being a closed end; the fastener member being installed in the accommodating space, disposed between the head portion and the cover plate, the terminals being inserted into the slot and elastically snapped against a peripheral surface of the slot, and the closed end of the fastener member contacting a front end of the snap-abut portion of the cover plate, the fastener member applying an elastic force to push the cover plate to move toward a rear side of the accommodating space, the snap-abut portion of the cover plate elastically snapping against the peripheral wall of the accommodating space.       

     In this way, when the cover plate is placed in the opening of the accommodating space of the main body, the snap-abut portion is capable of abutting on the peripheral wall of the accommodating space, so that the snap-abut portion is capable of partially bearing a force borne by the main body, Thereby, force that can be borne by the ratchet wrench is increased, the load bearing strength of the accommodating space can be improved, and the service life can be extended. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The objects, features and efficacies of the present invention can be understood from the description of the following preferred embodiment: 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is an exploded perspective view of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 3A  is a perspective view of a cover plate of the present invention; 
         FIG. 3B  is a cross-sectional view of the cover plate of the present invention; 
         FIG. 4  is a partial cross-sectional view of  FIG. 1 ; and 
         FIG. 5  is a bottom view of a snap-abut portion of the cover plate of  FIG. 1  connected to a peripheral wall of a head portion. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Please refer to  FIGS. 1 to 4 , which are a cover plate structure of ratchet wrench provided by a preferred embodiment of the present invention. A ratchet wrench  10  mainly includes a main body  20 , a ratchet mechanism  30 , a cover plate  40 , and a fixing element  50 . 
     The main body  20  has a head portion  21  and a shaft  22 , the head portion  21  is disposed at a front end of the shaft  22 , and a bottom surface of the head portion  21  is recessed with an accommodating space  211 . The accommodating space  211  is formed with an opening  212  at the bottom surface of the head portion  21 , a peripheral wall  213  is formed inside the accommodating space  211 , a front end of the opening  212  is provided with an arcuate slot  214 , and the peripheral wall  213  is provided at a rear end of the accommodating space  211  near the shaft  22 . A shoulder  215  is formed in the accommodating space  211 . There is a distance H 1  between an end surface of the shoulder  215  and the opening  212 . A top of the accommodating space  211  is communicated with a connection hole  216 . The accommodating space  211  can also pass through a top surface and the bottom surface of the head portion  21 . 
     The ratchet mechanism  30  is disposed in the accommodating space  211 , and includes a ratchet  31 , a ratchet tooth  32 , and a reversing button  33 . A drive portion  311  is provided on the ratchet  31 , and a positioning stud  331  is protruded from a bottom end of the reversing button  33 . When being installed, the reversing button  33  is inserted into the accommodating space  211  from a top end of the connection hole  216 , and the ratchet tooth  32  and the ratchet  31  are sequentially inserted into the accommodating space  211  from the opening  212 , so that the ratchet tooth  32  is disposed between the ratchet  31  and the reversing button  33 . The structure and operation mode of the ratchet mechanism  30  are known structure, which will not be additional described here. 
     Please refer to  FIGS. 3A and 3B . The cover plate  40  has a cover portion  41  and a snap-abut portion  42 . The cover plate  40  covers the opening  212  of the accommodating space  211  and is located at the end of the shoulder  215  of the accommodating space  211 . The cover portion  41  is provided with a through hole  411  for the drive portion  311  of the ratchet  31  to pass through. A thickness H 2  of the snap-abut portion  42  is greater than a thickness of the cover portion  41 , and the thickness H 2  of the snap-abut portion  42  is equivalent to the distance H 1  between the opening  212  and the shoulder  215 , so that when the cover plate  40  covers the opening  212 , the snap-abut portion  42  is flush with a bottom surface of the main body  20 , and the snap-abut portion  42  is in contact with the peripheral wall  213  of the accommodating space  211 . A front end of the snap-abut portion  42  of the cover plate  40  nears the cover portion  41  of the cover plate  40 , a groove  420  is formed at the front end of the snap-abut portion  42 , a peripheral surface of the groove  420  forms an arcuate connecting surface  421 . The snap-abut portion  42  is provided with a flange  422  protruding from a bottom end of the arcuate connecting surface  421 . In addition, a top surface of the snap-abut portion  42  in contact with the accommodating space  211  is provided with a positioning hole  423 , and the positioning hole  423  is used to insert and limit the positioning stud  331  of the reversing button  33  therein, the reversing button  33  is more stability when it is rotating. 
     The fixing element  50  is an elastic fastener member  51 , such as a C-shaped retaining ring capable of producing the effect of elastic snap and restraint. The fastener  51  has a c-shaped ring body  52 . The ring body  52  has two terminals  53 , an open end  54  of the fastener member  51  is formed between the two terminals  53 , and an end of the ring body  52  opposite to the open end  54  is a closed end  56 . The outer diameter of the ring body  52  can be elastically retracted inwardly and expanded outwardly. When the ring body  52  is compressed, the outer diameter of the ring body is reduced, and the two terminals  53  move close to each other. When the compression force is released, the outer diameter of the ring body  52  expands elastically, the terminals  53  are far away from each other, the original state of the ring body  52  is restored. The fixing element  50  is elastically snapped between the slot  214  of the head portion  21  and the arcuate connecting surface  421  of the cover plate  40 , so that the cover plate  40  can be snapped over the opening  212  of the accommodating space  211 , and the fastener member  51  is capable of elastically pushing the snap-abut portion  42  of the cover plate  40  to press tightly toward the peripheral wall  213  of the accommodating space  211 . Please refer to  FIG. 5 , the contour of the peripheral wall  213  is matched with the contour of the snap-abut portion  42 . The configuration of the peripheral wall  213  and the snap-abut portion  42  are tapered, and the width W of the peripheral wall  213  and the snap-abut portion  42  decreases from a front side to a rear side thereof. 
     Please refer to  FIGS. 2 and 4 . When being installed, the reversing button  33  of the ratchet mechanism  30  is firstly inserted into the accommodating space  211  through the connection hole  216  at a top of the main body  20 , and then the ratchet tooth  32  is inserted into the accommodating space  211  from the opening  212  of the head portion  21 , so that the ratchet tooth  32  is located in front of the reversing button  33 . Then the ratchet  31  is inserted into the accommodating space  211  from the opening  212 , so that the reversing button  33  is capable of changing the direction of the ratchet tooth  32 , and the ratchet  31  is capable of driving the drive portion  311  unidirectionally in order to drive a workpiece. 
     Please refer to  FIGS. 4 and 5 . After the ratchet mechanism  30  is assembled in the accommodating space  211 , the cover plate  40  is inserted in the accommodating space  211  through the opening  212 , and the cover plate  40  is placed to be positioned on a bottom of the shoulder  215 , and a bottom surface of the snap-abut portion  42  is flush with the bottom surface of the main body  20 , so that it is smoother overall when the cover plate  40  is assembled with the main body  20 . Then, the fastener member  51  is firstly contracted by applying a compressing force to reduce the outer diameter of the ring body  52 , and the fastener member  51  is inserted through the opening  212  of the main body  20  with the open end  54  of the fastener member  51  is located at a front end of the opening  212 , away from the cover plate  40 , and the closed end  56  of the fastener member  51  faces the snap-abut portion  42  of the cover plate  40 . Then, the elastic buckle  51  is released from the compressing force, so that the ring body  52  of the fastener member  51  generates elastic restoring force and stretches outward. The open end  54  of the fastener member  51  is inserted into and elastically snapped against the slot  214  of the head portion  21  and the closed end  56  of the fastener member  51  is inserted into the groove  420  of the cover plate  40  and contacts the arcuate connecting surface  421  of the cover plate  40 , so that the cover plate  40  can be elastically snapped inside the accommodating space  211 . The installation of the ratchet mechanism  30  and the cover plate  40  is completed. 
     Please refer to  FIG. 5 , after the fastener member  51  is inserted into the slot  214  and the groove  420 , the two terminal ends  53  of the fastener member  51  elastically expand outward in the S direction and contact the peripheral surface  2141  of the slot  214 , while the closed end  56  of the fastener member  51  contacts the arcuate connecting surface  421  of the cover  40 . Since the peripheral surface  2141  of the slot  214  is inclined, when the two terminals  53  expand outward and contact the peripheral surface  2141  of the slot  214 , the fastener member is urged to move backward (which means to move toward the rear side of the accommodating space  211 ), and the closed end  56  of the fastener  51  provides a backward elastic force F on the arcuate connecting surface  421  to pushes the cover plate  40  backward, that is, toward the rear side of the accommodating space  211 , so that the snap-abut portion  42  of the cover plate  40  is kept elastically pressed on the peripheral wall  213  tightly and attached to the peripheral wall  233 , and the snap-abut portion  42  supports the accommodating space  211 . In this way, when the shaft  22  of the main body  20  exerts a force to drive the ratchet mechanism  30 , force borne by the head portion  21  of the main body  20  is partially transmitted to the snap-abut portion  42 , and therefore the load bearing strength of the accommodating space  211  of the main body  20  can be increased through the cover plate  40 , so that deformation due to bearing excessive force will not easily occur to the accommodating space  211 . 
     In addition, since the fastener member  51  couples the main body  20  with the cover plate  40  in an elastic snap manner, there is no need to additionally provide screw holes. Compared with the traditional fixing method, the overall volume can be reduced; at the same time, it does not need to be fixed by locking with screws, which can relatively reduce the assembling time and increase the production speed. 
     According to the ratchet wrench of the present invention, by having the cover plate stuck against the peripheral wall of the main body with the elastic force of the fastener member  51 , force borne by the main body is transmitted to the cover plate, which strengthens the strength of the accommodating space, so as to increase the overall strength of the head portion and avoid damage, and thus can extend the service life. Compared with the conventional cover plate, which is only locked on the main body and the strength to bear a force cannot be increased, the cover plate of the present invention is capable of relatively increasing the load bearing strength of the head portion of the ratchet wrench, and reducing the space required for disposing the screw holes and the assembling time of screwing. 
     It is to be understood that the above description is only preferred embodiments of the present invention and is not used to limit the present invention, and changes in accordance with the concepts of the present invention may be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention, for example, the equivalent effects produced by various transformations, variations, modifications and applications made to the configurations or arrangements shall still fall within the scope covered by the appended claims of the present invention.