Patent Publication Number: US-6336384-B1

Title: Adjustable wrench

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to an adjustable wrench which is able to change the one-way-wrenching direction of the adjustable wrench during repeated wrenching operation for a work piece. 
     FIGS. 11 and 12 show a conventional adjustable wrench  8  having a main body  81 . A jaw section  82  extends from one side of the main body  81 , while a grip  83  is pivotally disposed at the other end of the main body  81 . A slidably movable jaw  84  is disposed in a slide way  811  of the main body  81 . The movable jaw  84  has a push block  841  protruding out of the main body  81 . One side of the front end of the grip  83  inside the main body  81  has a driving section  831  for pushing and driving a slide block  85  to disengage a toothed section  851  thereof from or engage the toothed section  851  with a toothed section  842  of the movable jaw  84 . When the grip  83  is wrenched clockwise in a direction of the figure, the slide block  85  is driven to engage with the movable jaw  84  and the jaw section  82  of the main body  81  and the movable jaw  84  cooperatively clamp a work piece  9  (such as a bolt and a nut) and rotate the same. When the grip  83  is counterclockwise wrenched, the slide block  85  is moved away from the movable jaw  84 . Therefore, when the main body  81  is driven by the grip  83 , the movable jaw  84  will be forced away by the work piece  9  to idle, whereby when repeatedly wrenching the adjustable wrench  8 , the work piece  9  can be only one-way rotated. 
     The work piece  9  can be one-way rotated by means of repeatedly wrenching the above adjustable wrench  8 . However, when it is necessary to reversely rotate the work piece  9 , (for example, in order to control the nut and bolt to have unified pre-load, the nut is often first tightened and then untightened by one third cycle) a user needs to take up and separate the adjustable wrench  8  from the work piece  9  and re-adjust the position of the movable jaw  84  and then reversely fit the adjustable wrench  8  onto the work piece  9  so as to reversely wrench the work piece  9 . Such procedure is quite troublesome. In the case that the work piece  9  is a bolt for adjustment, the user will have to continuously repeat the above procedure to adjust the work piece  9 . 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     It is therefore a primary object of the present invention to provide an adjustable wrench in which the projecting rail of the movable jaw and the projecting section of the slide block are together inlaid in the slide channels of the main body. A bolt is passed through the concave face of the movable jaw and the semicircular groove of the slide block with the bolt screwed with the thread of the concave face for driving the movable jaw to move along the slide channels. A movable retaining block is disposed on one side of the top end of the grip opposite to a leaning section of the slide block. The retaining block can be switched, whereby when the grip is wrenched in different directions, the retaining block abuts against and pushes the leaning section of the slide block so as to move the movable jaw toward the jaw section of the main body for clamping and wrenching a work piece. When the retaining section does not abut against and the leaning section and the grip is wrenched, the slide block and the movable jaw are shifted by the work piece to make the main body idle. By means of switching the retaining block, the one-way wrenching direction of the adjustable wrench during repeated wrenching operation for the work piece can be changed. 
     The present invention can be best understood through the following description and accompanying drawings wherein: 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective assembled view of the present invention; 
     FIG. 2 is a perspective exploded view of the present invention; 
     FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line  3 - 3  of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line  4 — 4  of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along line  5 — 5  of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 6 shows the adjustment of the movable jaw of the present invention; 
     FIG. 7A shows the use of the present invention in one state; 
     FIG. 7B shows the use of the present invention in another state; 
     FIG. 8A shows the use of the present invention in still another state; 
     FIG. 8B shows the use of the present invention in still another state; 
     FIG. 9 is a perspective assembled view of a second embodiment of the present invention; 
     FIG. 10 is a sectional view taken along line  10 — 10  of FIG. 9; 
     FIG. 11 is a perspective assembled view of a conventional adjustable wrench; and 
     FIG. 12 shows the use of the conventional adjustable wrench. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Please refer to FIGS. 1 to  5 . The adjustable wrench of the present invent ion includes a main body  1 , a slide block  2 , a movable jaw  3  and a grip  4 . 
     The main body  1  is composed of two cover plates  11 . A jaw section  12  upward extends from one side of the main body  1 . The lower port ion of the main body I has a hollow section  13  in which the slide block  2  and the movable jaw  3  are disposed. The grip  4  is pivotally connected with the hollow section  13 . The hollow section  13  passes through the top and bottom faces of the main body  1 . Two sides of upper portion of the hollow section  13  are respectively formed with two slide channels  14  passing through two sides of the main body  1 . 
     The upper portion of the slide block  2  is formed with a projecting section  21  having a profile complementary to that of the slide channels  14  of the main body  1 . The projecting section  21  is movably inlaid in the slide channels  14  of the main body  1 . The top face of the projecting section  21  is formed with a semicircular groove  22  passing through two sides of the projecting section  21 . A middle portion of the slide block  2  is formed with a receiving slot  23 . The main body  1  has a pin member  15  passing through the middle portion of the receiving slot  23 . Two restoring springs  16  are respectively positioned between two side walls of the receiving slot  23  and the pin member  15 . In addition, a leaning section  24  projects from the lower portion of the slide block  2 . 
     The lower portion of the movable jaw  3  is a projecting rail  31  complementary to the slide channels  14  of the main body  1 . The bottom face of the projecting rail  31  is formed with a concave face  32  cooperating with the semicircular groove  22  of the slide block  2 . The concave face  32  is formed with a thread. The projecting rail  31  of the movable jaw  3  and the projecting section  21  of the slide block  2  together form a shape complementary to the shape of the slide channels  14  of the main body  1 . A bolt  33  is passed through the concave face  32  of the movable jaw  3  and the semicircular groove  22  of the slide block  2  with the bolt  33  screwed with the thread of the concave face  32 . Two locating blocks  34  are respectively disposed at two ends of the bolt  33  to respectively abut against two end faces of the projecting section  21  of the slide block  2  for locating the bolt  33 . 
     The upper section of the grip  4  is pivotally connected with the lower portion of the hollow section  13  of the main body  1 . A movable retaining block  5  is disposed on one side of the top end of the grip  4  opposite to the leaning section  24  of the slide block  2 . One side of the retaining block  5  has a projecting block  51  which is slidably inserted in a slot  41  of the grip  4 . A locating steel ball  53  pushed by a spring  52  is disposed in the retaining block  5 . The lateral edge of the grip  4  is formed with two dents  42  corresponding to the moving position of the retaining block  5 . The locating steel ball  53  can be engaged in the dent  42  for locating the retaining block  5 . A rod member  54  is passed through the retaining block  5 . The main body  1  is formed with an arch slot  17  corresponding to the moving track of the retaining block  5 . The rod member  54  passes through the arch slot  17  and extends out of the main body  1  to connect with a shifting block  55 . One side of the top end of the grip  4  is formed with a recessed section  43  opposite to the retaining block  5 . The main body  1  is formed with a hole  101  corresponding to the recessed section  43 . A spring  18  and a steel ball  19  pushed by the spring  18  to lean against the recessed section  43  are disposed in the hole  101 . 
     In use, a user can via the locating block  34  of the bolt  33  rotate the bolt  33  so as to drivingly move the movable jaw  3  within the slide channels  14  as shown in FIG. 6 so as to adjust the distance between the movable jaw  3  and the jaw section  12  of the main body  1  for clamping different work pieces a (such as bolt, nut, etc.) with different sizes. 
     Please refer to FIGS. 7A and 7B. When the user shifts the shifting block  55  upward to a fixed position, the locating steel ball  53  is engaged in the upper dent  42  of the grip  4  to locate the shifting block  55 . At this time, the retaining block  5  is positioned on a lateral side of the leaning section  24  of the slide block  2 . Under such circumstance, in the case that the user counterclockwise wrenches the grip  4  in a direction as shown in the figure, the retaining block  5  will abut against the leaning section  24  of the slide block  2  to push the slide block  2  toward the jaw section  12  of the main body  1 . The bolt  33  is located on the slide block  2  by the two locating blocks  34  so that the movable jaw  3  screwed with the bolt  33  is driven to tightly clamp the work piece a and wrench the work piece a counterclockwise. When the user clockwise wrenches the grip  4 , the retaining block  5  is moved away from the leaning section  24  of the slide block  2 . When the main body  1  is driven by the grip  4  to rotate clockwise, the movable jaw  3  and the slide block  2  are not pushed and will be forced open in reverse direction by the work piece a. Therefore, when the main body  1  is rotated, the work piece a is not driven to rotate so that the main body  1  is idled. Please refer to FIGS. 8A and 8B, when the user desires to clockwise wrench the work piece a, the user only needs to push the shifting block  55  downward to make the retaining block  55  move downward to the lower side of the leaning section  24  of the slide block  2 . At this time, by means of clockwise wrenching the grip  4 , the retaining block  5  will abut against the leaning section  24  of the slide block  2 . Under such circumstance, the movable jaw  3  is driven to tightly clamp the work piece a and wrench the work piece a clockwise. When the user counterclockwise wrenches the grip  4 , the retaining block  5  is moved away from the leaning section  24  of the slide block  2  to make the main body  1  idle. Accordingly, by means of switching the shifting block  55 , the wrenching direction of the adjustable wrench of the present invention during repeated wrenching operation for the work piece a can be changed. 
     When wrenching the grip  4 , the steel ball  19  is pushed by the spring  18  of the main body I to resiliently abut against the recessed section  43  of the grip  4 . Therefore, after wrenched, the spring  18  pushes the steel ball  19  to resiliently push the recessed section  43  of the grip  4  so as to restore the grip  4  to its home position. 
     In conclusion, when the retaining block  5  abuts against the leaning section  24  of the slide block  2 , the jaw section  12  of the main body  1  and the movable jaw  3  cooperatively clamp the work piece a to rotate. When the leaning section  24  is not pressed by the retaining block  5  and the grip  4  is wrenched, the slide block  2  and the movable jaw  3  are shifted by the work piece a to make the main body  1  idle. By means of switching the shifting block  55 , the one-way wrenching direction of the adjustable wrench of the present invention during repeated wrenching operation for the work piece a can be changed. 
     FIGS. 9 and 10 show a second embodiment of the present invention, in which the top face of a middle portion of the slide block  6  is formed with a groove  62 . A spiral rod  66  via a shaft  65  is rotatably disposed in the groove  62 . The bottom face of the movable jaw  7  is formed with teeth  72  corresponding to the spiral rod  66 . Each cover plate  11  is formed with a notch Ill corresponding to the spiral rod  66 . Accordingly, a user can rotate the spiral rod  6  outsides so as to drive the movable jaw  7  to move within the slide channels  14  of the main body  1  and adjust the gap between the movable jaw  7  and the jaw section  12  in accordance with the size of the work piece a. This can achieve the same function as the first embodiment. 
     The above embodiments are only used to illustrate the present invention, not intended to limit the scope thereof. Many modifications of the above embodiments can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.