Patent Publication Number: US-7584845-B2

Title: Wrench rack

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
   The present invention generally relates to wrench racks, and more particularly to a wrench rack that is able to lock and release wrenches, which prevents the wrenches from being taken away easily from the wrench rack. 
   BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   A conventional wrench rack includes a board provided with at least one clip that consists of two parallel jaws. To use the wrench rack, just insert the wrench handle into said two jaws and the wrench will be retained on the wrench rack. However, the conventional clip device does not have a better lock device, the wrench is easy to fall off or be taken away from the wrench rack, that causes inconvenience of use and storage. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   The primary objective of the present invention is to provide an improved structure about the wrench rack that is able to lock a wrench, prevent the wrench from moving, and operate easily. The structure includes a rack, a sliding board and at least a lock piece. The rack has a sliding groove and a plurality of clips that are provided on both sides of the sliding groove in pairs. Every pair of clips is placed in parallel for retaining different sizes of wrenches. Each of the clips consists of two opposite jaws, one of the jaws is equipped with an elastic piece to press on the wrench, and thus the wrench is retained between the jaws stably. The sliding board connects in sliding with the rack, and a plurality of positioning hooks are provided on one side of the sliding board in parallel, the positioning hooks can grip wrenches by sliding with the sliding board, so as to prevent the wrench from taking out. The lock piece can lock the sliding board on the rack when the positioning hook locks the wrench. 
   The present invention will become more obvious from the following description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings that show, for purposes of illustration only, a preferred embodiment in accordance with the present invention. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       FIG. 1  is a perspective view of the first embodiment of the present invention; 
       FIG. 2  is a partial enlarged view of the first embodiment of the present invention; 
       FIG. 3  is a rear view of  FIG. 1 ; 
       FIG. 4  is a perspective view of assembly of  FIG. 1 ; 
       FIG. 5  is a perspective view of assembly of  FIG. 3 ; 
       FIG. 6  is a cross-sectional view of the first embodiment of the present invention; 
       FIG. 7  is a cross-sectional view of the first embodiment of the present invention showing that a wrench is not locked; 
       FIG. 8  is a partial enlarged view of  FIG. 7 ; 
       FIG. 9  is a cross-sectional view of the first embodiment of the present invention showing that a wrench is locked; 
       FIG. 10  is a partial enlarged view of  FIG. 9 ; 
       FIG. 11  is a cross-sectional view of one embodiment of the present invention showing that the elastic piece has a protrusion; 
       FIG. 12  is a partial enlarged view of  FIG. 11 ; 
       FIG. 13  is a perspective view of one embodiment of the present invention showing that the jaw has an open groove; 
       FIG. 14  is a partial enlarged view of  FIG. 13 ; 
       FIG. 15  is a cross-sectional view of one embodiment of the present invention showing that the elastic piece is formed from extension of the jaw; and 
       FIG. 16  is a partial enlarged view of  FIG. 15 . 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
   Referring to  FIG. 1 , according to the embodiment of the present invention, a wrench rack includes a piece of rack  1  that has a front side and a rear side. Two guiding tracks  14  are formed on the rear side. A long sliding groove  10  penetrated the front side and rear side is located on the center of the rack  1 , on the front side a plurality of clips  11  are provided on both sides of the sliding groove  10 . Every two clips  11  pair one set and each of the clips  11  comprises two opposite jaws  110 / 111  for retaining a wrench. A fixing hole  12  is defined under the sliding groove  10  of the rack  1  and an opening  13  is defined in the upper portion of the rack  1  for hanging or carrying. 
   A sliding board  2  has an extruding portion  20  on the front side for being sliding-fitted into the sliding groove  10  of the rack  1 . On the extruding portion  20  a plurality of spaced L-figure positioning hooks  21  line up in parallel, the positioning hooks  21  can grip wrenches by sliding with the sliding board  2 . The sliding board  2  has a lock hole  22  relative to the fixing hole  12 . 
   A lock piece  3  penetrates the fixing hole  12  and the lock hole  22  to lock the sliding board  2  to the rack  1 . The lock piece  3  may be an expanding fixing bolt that is made of plastic material, which has a compressible head. 
   Referring to  FIG. 2 , the clip  11  consists of two opposite jaws  110 / 111 , and one of the jaws  110  is equipped with an elastic piece  114  that is elastic and able to press the wrench. The elastic piece  114  may be located on the inside of the jaw  110 . One embodiment shown in  FIG. 2  is a closed groove  1140  that is formed between the elastic piece  114  and the jaw  110 , wherein the groove  1140  may be in figure of U or an arc. Another embodiment shown in  FIGS. 13 and 14  is an open groove  1141  that is formed on each two sides of the elastic piece  114  between the elastic piece  114  and the jaw  110 . Referring to  FIGS. 15 and 16 , the elastic piece  114  is formed reversely from extension of the jaw  110 . As shown in  FIGS. 11 and 12 , a protrusion  115  that is formed on the pressing side of the elastic piece  114  would press on the wrench  4  and then pressing force of the elastic piece  114  on the wrench  4  would be increased. 
   As shown in  FIG. 1 , the sliding board  2  includes two positioning fringes  26 . The distance between two positioning fringes  26  is longer than the length of the guiding tracks  14 . While the sliding board  2  moves relative to the rack  1 , one of the positioning fringes  26  touches the ends of the guiding tracks  14  to stop the sliding board  2  getting out completely from the guiding tracks  14 . 
   Referring to  FIG. 3 , the rack  1  has two apertures  15 , and the sliding board  2  has two hemi-spherical bulges  25  for inserting into the apertures  15 . The diameters of two ends of the aperture  15  are bigger than the center, so that when the bulge  25  slides to two ends of the aperture  15 , which will have an effect of positioning. 
   Referring to  FIGS. 7 and 8 , the wrench  4  is inserted into the clip  11 , but the sliding board  2  and the positioning hooks  21  are not moved down yet, the jaws  110 / 111  already clip the wrench  4  appropriately, just apply a proper pull to the wrench  4  to conquer the gripping force of the jaws  110 / 111 , the wrench  4  can be taken out. The extending direction of the jaws  110 / 111  and the rack  1  have an angle that is less than 90.degree, so that when the wrench  4  is positioned on the rack  1 , which will has a better visual angle. 
   Referring to  FIGS. 9 and 10 , while the sliding board  2  is moved downward, the positioning hooks  21  are also moved downward, and then the positioning hook  21  hook the handle of the wrench  4 . The wrench  4  is fastened on the rack  1  and unable to be taken out easily. Meanwhile, the lock hole  22  of the sliding board  2  is positioned to the fixing hole  12  of the rack  1 , insert the lock piece  3  into the lock hole  22  and the fixing hole  12 , so that the sliding board  2  and the rack  1  are coupled together and the wrench  4  is locked thereon. To get the wrench  4 , take out the lock piece  3  from the lock hole  22  and the fixing hole  12 , and then push the sliding board  2  upward for the positioning hook  21  to depart from the wrench  4 . 
   In the general, the present invention uses the clips of the rack and the positioning hooks of the sliding board to lock the wrench effectively, so that the objective of preventing the wrench from falling off is attained. 
   While we have shown and described the embodiment in accordance with the present invention, it should be clear to those skilled in the art that further embodiments may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.