Patent Publication Number: US-2016243683-A1

Title: Wrench With Integrated Support Rest

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSED TECHNOLOGY 
     Presently, tools such as wrenches, such as pipe-wrenches, have elongated left and right sides, but narrow back and front sides. While this is useful for grasping onto an item of various sizes in the wrench, a problem arises in that the wrench will only rest on a surface on it&#39;s side, with the item held there-in hitting the ground. One may hold the wrench in his hand, or have a colleague do same while working on an item in the wrench, but this requires a second person&#39;s time and is not as sturdy as a vice. By using a vice, generally bolted to a stable work surface, one can grasp an item in place, and have it held there while working on the item which is grasped, but on the job (at a work site) vices are generally not available. 
     What is needed in the art is something which has the positive aspects of a stable vice, with the portability of a wrench. 
     SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSED TECHNOLOGY 
     Embodiments of the disclosed technology include a wrench or other tool with a top side, bottom side, left side, and right side. A working end of the tool has a clamp open or openable on the top, left, and right sides. A handle region defined by an elongated shape is adapted for gripping. A mid-region of unitary construction is attached to the handle region and a head region, wherein the head region is a separate piece fastened to the mid-region, such as by threads or bolts. A base with a flat side is formed of unitary construction, such as forged in the same metallurgy process, as the mid-region. The flat bottom side of the base may be angled to entirely rest on a surface when a corresponding bottom side of the handle region rests on the surface. 
     The terms “top”, “bottom”, “left”, and “right” are used universally to refer to an orientation with reference to the body of the wrench, as a whole, with the “bottom” referring to a side with the base, facing the ground, and the other directions relative to the ground. As such, the clamp is open or openable on a top, left, and right side, corresponding to the top, left, and right side of the wrench, and the bottom side is closed such that the top side of the clamp faces away from the bottom side of the base. 
     In a method of using a wrench, such as the one described above, one clamps an item to be worked on into the clamp, rests the tool on the base and an extreme end of the tool, the extreme end opposite an end of the tool where the clamp resides, and acts on the item with another object while the tool rests on the base and the extreme end. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  shows a side perspective view of a wrench resting on a support disposed opposite a center region of an open side of the wrench. 
         FIG. 2  shows a reverse perspective side, compared to  FIG. 1 , of the wrench. 
         FIG. 3  shows a front elevation view of the wrench of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 4  shows a side view of the wrench of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 5  shows a top view of the wrench of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 6  shows a bottom view of the wrench of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 7  shows a back elevation view of the wrench of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 8  shows a side view of the wrench of  FIG. 1  which rests on a surface. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS OF THE DISCLOSED TECHNOLOGY 
     The disclosed technology is a wrench or other tool with a top side, bottom side, left side, and right side. A working end of the tool has a clamp open or openable on the top, left, and right sides. A handle region defined by an elongated shape is adapted for gripping. A mid-region of unitary construction is attached to the handle region and a head region, wherein the head region is a separate piece fastened to the mid-region, such as by threads or bolts. A base with a flat side is formed of unitary construction, such as forged in the same metallurgy process, as the mid-region. The flat bottom side of the base may be angled to entirely rest on a surface when a corresponding bottom side of the handle region rests on the surface. 
     Embodiments of the disclosed technology will become clearer in view of the following description of the drawings. 
       FIG. 1  shows a side perspective view of a wrench resting on a support disposed opposite a center region of an open side of the wrench. The working portion of the wrench  15 , which opens, closes, and grasps objects is on the head (top) section  10 . A handle section  20  is at the opposite, bottom end. A mid region  30  connects between the handle  20  and head region  10 . The mid region is defined as the region or separately constructed piece of the wrench which comprises the base  40 . The head section  10  is defined as a region with a clamping head or working/business portion of the device  15 . The handle section  20  is defined as an elongated, generally (as recognizable to an ordinary observer) equal circumference region adapted for grasping. The base  40 , which will be discussed in greater detail below, 
       FIG. 2  shows a reverse perspective side, compared to  FIG. 1 , of the wrench. Here, the bottom  42  of the base  40  is visible along with the back side  44 . The base forms a unitary structure with the mid-region  30  of the wrench, and in embodiments, has a flat and/or planar and/or rectangular bottom side  42 . The front  44  and back sides ( 46 —see  FIG. 4 ) have rounded and/or half-moon and/or flat sides. In this manner, the base  40  is stable, solid, and able to support the weight of the wrench-thereon, while using a minimum of extra material in order to keep the mass of the wrench down. The base  40  is narrower towards the body (mid-section  30 ) of the wrench, and wider at the bottom side  42 , in embodiments of the disclosed technology. 
       FIG. 3  shows a front elevation view of the wrench of  FIG. 1 . Here, the top side  44  of the base  40  is shown, and may be equal in size to that of the bottom side ( 46 —see  FIG. 4 ). 
       FIG. 4  shows a side view of the wrench of  FIG. 1 . The side  48  of the base  40  is visible, with the opposite side being identical in embodiments of the disclosed technology. The side  48  shares a continuous surface with the entire side of the mid-section  30  of the device. In this figure, a portal  15  within the clamping device is shown, the portal being the place where an item to be worked on is grasped with the working end  10  of the device. The base  40  has a bottom side, on which the base  40  and a bottom side of the handle  20  rest (the ‘bottom side’ defined as on the same side of the device as the bottom  42  (see  FIG. 6 ) of the base  40 ). In this manner, the portal  15  is open on three sides, a top side, left side, and right side, while a bottom side is closed and is a wall of the working end  10  of the tool, corresponding to the bottom side of the base  40 . 
       FIG. 5  shows a top view of the wrench of  FIG. 1 . As seen here, the sides  48  of the base  40  extend past the plane of the rest of the body of the mid-section  30  when viewed from the top. As such, the elongated tool (wrench) rests at an extreme end of the handle  20  and on the base  40 , with the working end  10  held above the ground, when resting on the bottom of the base. 
       FIG. 6  shows a bottom view of the wrench of  FIG. 1 . Here, the bottom  42  of the base  40  is seen, and is rectangular, in this embodiment. 
       FIG. 7  shows a back elevation view of the wrench of  FIG. 1 . The curved sides and flat back  44  of the base  40  are visible. 
       FIG. 8  shows a side view of the wrench of  FIG. 1  which rests on a surface. The side  48  of the base  40  is visible, with the opposite side being identical in embodiments of the disclosed technology. The side  48  shares a continuous surface with the entire side of the mid-section  30  of the device. In this figure, a portal  15  within the clamping device is shown, the portal being the place where an item to be worked on is grasped with the working end  10  of the device. The base  40  has a bottom side, on which the base  40  and a bottom side of the handle  20  rest. The base  40  is angled and entirely rests on a surface  99  and is acute with the handle region  20  in this embodiment. 
     This wrench design allows one to place the wrench on the floor and keep it stable, so that it cannot tip move or slip, resulting in a much safer and easier way to perform this everyday task that plumbers regularly encounter. Although there are products on the market that are used to accomplish this goal (i.e., by placing the wrench in a rest to keep it stable), the problem is you need to carry an extra part to perform this task, making it more time consuming in that you have to constantly look for this separate piece. This wrench design allows a single, everyday wrench to be used, but when a plumber needs to separate two small pieces of pipe, the plumber simply places it on the floor and completes the work without missing pausing, saving time, money and frustration. 
     While the disclosed technology has been taught with specific reference to the above embodiments, a person having ordinary skill in the art will recognize that changes can be made in form and detail without departing from the spirit and the scope of the disclosed technology. The described embodiments are to be considered in all respects only as illustrative and not restrictive. All changes that come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are to be embraced within their scope. Combinations of any of the methods, systems, and devices described hereinabove are also contemplated and within the scope of the invention.