Patent Publication Number: US-8978524-B2

Title: Ratchetable open-ended wrench

Description:
This application is a continuation of U.S. Ser. No. 12/418,188, filed Apr. 3, 2009, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,347,764, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. Ser. No. 12/136,132, filed Jun. 10, 2008, and which these applications are incorporated herein by reference. To the extent appropriate, a claim of priority is made to the above disclosed applications. 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The invention relates to a ratchetable open-ended wrench which allows application of sequential back and forth strokes to a rotatable workpiece W without removing the wrench from the workpiece, and more particularly to a ratchetable open-ended wrench that achieves a “smooth, continuous operation” for the operators when retracting a workpiece W with sequential back and forth strokes. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     A ratchetable open-ended wrench is known as an improved hand tool which not only achieves the functions of conventional open-ended wrench but also provides the advantage of ratchetable operation. In view of the convenience, efforts and improvements have been made in this field, for example, Patent Nos. TW228757, TW278060, TW327619, U.S. Pat. No. 5,533,428 (W09615879), TWM310772, U.S. Pat. No. 7,111,529, U.S. Pat. No. 7,077,035 and U.S. Pat. No. 3,165,015. Further, some adjustable spanners are also provided with similar ratchetable operation mechanism, such as Patent Nos. TW501515, TW511564, U.S. Pat. No. 7,010,999, TW262313, and U.S. Pat. No. 2,879,681. 
     TW228757 discloses an open-ended wrench which allows application of sequential back and forth strokes for driving a screw/workpiece. The wrench relies on a pair of retractable claws/jaws (2, 3) parallel to each other and disposed in the wrench head, which move along the same direction as a pair of drive springs coupled to the claws/jaws. Therefore, TW228757, which is characterized by the retractable claws/jaws (2, 3) moving back or forth along the activation direction of the springs, can rotate a screw clockwise, and turn back in a counterclockwise direction without rotating the screw. However, a wrench needs the counterforce or friction from the retractable claws/jaws, which are abutted against the screw, to tighten or loosen the screw. In this regard, the retractable claws/jaws (2, 3) of the wrench of TW228757 are formed with toothed surfaces which are parallel to each other to contact a parallel pair of sides of the screw so as to rotate the same. The problem with the wrench is that, since the toothed surfaces of the jaws are substantially parallel to each other and are not perpendicular to the screw sides, the tightening/loosening performance of the wrench is poor, and the toothed structure can be easily abraded after long-term usage. Moreover, due to the complicated jaw-pair structure, the jaw opening (the opening between the jaws) of the wrench must be made larger than the size of the screw/workpiece to be driven, and the retractable claws/jaws (2, 3) may be continuously abraded during operation. Therefore, such a wrench is inconvenient in use. Nevertheless, the through slots (111,121) accommodating the claws/jaws weaken the wrench head structure. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 5,533,428 (W09615879) and TW327619 remedy some of the above defects by providing a wrench providing a single L-shaped retractable claw/jaw 15 which moves in the same direction as a driving spring coupled therewith within a slot 23 inward facing a base portion of the wrench driving head which is near a handle 21, with a modified driving head structure. The retractable jaw 15 has a second engaging surface 14 in parallel to a first engaging surface 13 on a first jaw 11. However, the problem with this wrench is that, during the wrench “reverse rotation” at which the nut is not rotated, the wrench cannot be operated smoothly. One reason is that, the wrench reverse rotation is easily held up because a corner 75 of the nut 60 will block the retracting action of the retractable jaw 15 may tend to block the retractable jaw member 15. Though the inventions provide a chamfered edge 16 between forward surface 30 and engaging surface 14 to allow for improved ratchetability of the retractable jaw 15 to alleviate the above problem, there remain some other defects. Specifically, the driving opening of the wrench driving head is characterized by a complicated structure including bearing surface 50 and recesses 51-53 which are not smoothly connected to each other, and the jaw opening must be larger than the nut/screw/workpiece to be driven, which results in an increased weight of the wrench and inaccurate sizing of jaw opening. Besides, since the driving opening is not smoothly contoured with bearing surface 50 and recesses 51-53, during the wrench reverse rotation when the nut is not rotated, a series of sequential partial-turn strokes are required to find different points for force application. This slows the rate of each wrench reverse rotation operation. Therefore, such a wrench is very inconvenient for a professional user. 
     The aforementioned or similar problems exist in various other conventional wrenches, such as TWM310772, U.S. Pat. No. 3,165,015, U.S. Pat. No. 7,077,035 and U.S. Pat. No. 7,111,529 which use a retractable claw/jaw moving in the same direction as a driving spring coupled therewith. Another common problem of conventional wrenches is that during the tightening/loosening operation, the spring and the retractable claw/jaw directly bear a great torque, which may adversely affect the wrench service life. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 6,637,300 (TW501515), U.S. Pat. No. 7,010,999 (TW200637692) and TW511564 issued to Arthur Wu disclose ratchetable adjustable spanners which adopt “pivot-type claw/jaws.” In particular, U.S. Pat. No. 6,637,300 discloses slots 14 which laterally penetrate a fixed jaw 11, and rotatable devices (pivoted jaws) 40, 66 with a symmetrical, paired structure pivotally fixed in said two slots 14, so that the rotatable devices 40, 66 can be clamped between stopping portions 15. With the above structure, the wrench can tighten/loosen a screw in one direction, and turn back without rotating the screw in the opposite direction. However, U.S. Pat. No. 6,637,300 has the following disadvantages: (1) The rotatable devices (pivoted claws) 40, 66 are complicated by providing symmetrical, T-shaped and paired structures. (2) The rotatable devices 40, 66 clamped between the two stopping portions 15 cannot be retracted into the slots 14 receiving said rotatable devices 40,60, so the wrench driving opening must be made larger, which results in an increased weight, and the ratachetable structure can only be used with an “adjustable spanner” instead of an “open-ended wrench.” (3) The springs 50, 67 are disposed on a pivot, so the rebounding force of the rotatable devices 40, 66 is small, and the operation performance is not good. (4) The slot 14 for accommodating the rotatable devices 40, 66 penetrates the head portion of the wrench, which weaken the strength of the wrench head. TW511564 and U.S. Pat. No. 7,010,999 (TW 200637692) change the through slot 14 of U.S. Pat. No. 6,637,300 to an arcuated, C-shaped opening to acquire a higher strength, and change the “rotatable devices (pivoted claws) 40, 66” of TW501515 with “driving rollers” activated by springs. These driving rollers are big, however. To accommodate the “driving rollers,” the fixed jaw must be made larger. Moreover, the above prior arts are only applicable to an adjustable spanner which is equipped with a “moving jaw” and a “worm” so that these elements can actually engage a screw/nut/workpiece. Thus, the whole adjustable spanner with these elements is even more clumsy and inconvenient to operate. 
     Among various ratchetable wrenches, those with a retractable jaw moving in the same direction as a driving spring coupling therewith are simpler in structure than those with a pivot-type jaw, and thus have a lower cost. However, the conventional design of the former is highly complicated and has the following disadvantages. (1) The retractable jaw must work with a slot penetrating the fixed jaw of the wrench head, which results in a weak wrench head structure that may be easily ruptured under a great torque for a long time. (2) To engage fasteners or workpieces such as screws/nuts, the wrench is provided with a retractable jaw which is usually designed with a complicated engaging surface, or provided with several retractable jaws working together, so the difficulty in and cost of the fabrication are increased. (3) The retractable jaw is not properly designed to bear great force, and is easily broken. (4) The wrench driving opening/fastener room for accommodating a fastener or workpiece such as a screw/nut has a complicated structure, which brings inconvenience during operation. 
     Therefore, it is necessary to provide a ratchetable open-ended wrench to eliminate the above disadvantages. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Accordingly, the present invention is directed to a ratchetable open-ended wrench, which includes a handle for a hand to grasp, a wrench head located on one end of the handle, and a fastener room located in the wrench head for accommodating a workpiece to be rotated. The wrench head further includes a first jaw having a first driving wall, a second jaw having a second driving wall facing the first driving wall, an inner wall extending from the second driving wall toward the inside portion of the second jaw, a fastener jaw concavity, an auxiliary jaw retracting opening, an auxiliary jaw elastically and longitudinally slidable along the auxiliary jaw retracting opening, and an auxiliary jaw limiting member coupled with the limiting slot. The auxiliary jaw further includes an exterior end having a pillow in contact with the inner wall and a pushing surface for working together with the first jaw to grip and rotate the workpiece W, an interior end, and a limiting slot. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIGS. 1A to 1B  are schematic three-dimensional views of the present invention; 
         FIG. 2A  is a plane view of the present invention; 
         FIG. 2B  is a plane view of  FIG. 1B  of the present invention; and 
         FIGS. 3A to 3G  are schematic views showing the wrench reverse rotation operation during which the workpiece is not rotated according to the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     In  FIGS. 1A to 2B , a preferred embodiment of a ratchetable open-ended wrench  1  for turning a rotatable workpiece W is shown. The “workpiece” refers to, for example, a fastener like screw/nut, or any other hand tool having a polygonal driven part and capable of being driven by a wrench. However, the workpiece W hereinafter only stands for to the driven part of the workpiece W (e.g., a bolt head or a driven end of an adaptor) that is driven by the wrench. The ratchetable open-ended wrench  1  substantially comprises a handle H for a hand to grasp and a wrench head  100  for rotating the workpiece W, which includes a drive opening therein and located on one end of the handle H. 
     The wrench head  100  preferably includes a first jaw  110  having a first driving wall  114 , a second jaw  120  substantially extending from a base portion  200  of the wrench head  100  adjoining the handle to a free end  122 , and a fastener room  160  located in the drive opening of the wrench head  100  for accommodating the workpiece W to be rotated. 
     The first jaw  110  is preferably formed with a recessed portion  112  capable of accommodating the angled portion of the workpiece W is an inner section (a section away from the first driving wall  114 ) thereof (see  FIG. 2A ) to facilitate smooth operation during the reverse rotation of the wrench at which the workpiece W is not rotated. According to an alternative embodiment, the recessed portion  112  of the first jaw  110  may be omitted, and the inside portion of the second jaw  120  is made larger so as to accommodate the workpiece W during the reverse rotation of the wrench without rotating the workpiece W. In this alternative embodiment, although the weight of the wrench is increased, the functions of the wrench of the present invention can still be achieved. 
     The second jaw  120  comprises:
         a second driving wall  124 , formed on the free end  122  of the second jaw  120  and facing the first driving wall  114 ;   an inner driving wall  126 , extending from the second driving wall  124  toward the inside portion of the second jaw  120 ;   a rear-end wall  127  provided adjacent to the base portion  200 , said rear-end wall  127  facing said first jaw  110  so as to work with said first jaw  110  to clamp a portion of the workpiece W to be rotated;   a concavity  128  formed between said second driving wall  124  and said rear-end wall  127  and having a wall forming a portion of said inner wall  126 ;   an auxiliary jaw retracting opening  130 , which extends from the base portion  200 , faces a jaw opening  170  (which will be explained below) and adjoins the concavity  128 , wherein the auxiliary jaw retracting opening  130  preferably does not penetrate the second jaw  120 ;   an auxiliary jaw  140 , partially disposed in the auxiliary jaw retracting opening  130 , and elastically (see a spring S in the drawings) and longitudinally slidable along the auxiliary jaw retracting opening  130 ;   an interior end  146  for elastically coupled to the auxiliary jaw retracting opening  130  (with the spring S);   a limiting slot  148 ; and   an auxiliary jaw limiting member  150 , extending (from a surface of the second jaw  120 ) through an opening  152  to the auxiliary jaw retracting opening  130 , and coupled with the limiting slot  148 , for confining the auxiliary jaw  140  to move between a first position in which the auxiliary jaw  140  is non longitudinally biased and a second position in which the auxiliary jaw  140  is longitudinally biased.       

     The inner wall  126  is preferably formed with a slot having a U-shaped cross-section so as to allow the auxiliary jaw  140  to slide thereon. Specifically, the U-shaped slot extends from the auxiliary jaw retracting opening  130  toward the jaw opening  170  and has a longitudinal opening facing the auxiliary jaw  140 . Therefore, the auxiliary jaw  140  can be partly embraced in the U-shaped inner wall  126  during its movement in the slot. 
     The rear-end wall  127  is preferably arranged in a way that it does not exceed a half of a workpiece contact edge WS that is adjacent to the base portion  200  (i.e., the rear-end wall  127  does not exceed an inner half portion of the workpiece contact edge WS). Accordingly, when the open-ended wrench  1  is used to rotate a workpiece W, the rear-end wall  127  will share a part of the torque required to drive the workpiece W; whereas when the open-ended wrench  1  is ratcheted back with no loosening/tightening action, the rear-end wall  127  will not obstruct the movement of the auxiliary jaw  140  relative to the associated contact edge WS of the workpiece W. Preferably, the smallest width between the rear-end wall  127  and the first driving wall  114  of the first jaw  110  is approximately the size of the workpiece W. 
     The auxiliary jaw  140  preferably comprises a pillow  142  facing the inner wall  126  for contacting/abutting it and a “fastener contact surface” for contacting the workpiece W. The “fastener contact surface” comprises a driving surface  143  and a pushing surface  144 . Preferably, when the auxiliary jaw  140  is located in the first position in which the auxiliary jaw  140  is unbiased and fully extended by spring S, the minimum width between the “fastener contact surface” thereof and the first driving wall  114  of the first jaw  110  is substantially equal to the size of the workpiece W. The driving surface  143  substantially faces a workpiece contact edge WS of the workpiece W to be rotated, so that it can work with the first jaw  110  to grip the workpiece W and apply a force (torque) thereto during operation. The driving surface  143  is preferably formed with corrugations shown in the drawings or similar friction structure to obtain a better gripping force. The pushing surface  144  is substantially directed toward the drive opening and adjacent to the portion of the workpiece contact edge WS that is away from the base portion  200  (which means that the pushing surface  144  faces an outer portion of the contact edge WS, as shown in  FIG. 2A ), so that it can be pushed by the outer portion of the contact edge WS of the workpiece W to be rotated when the ratchetable open-ended wrench  1  is ratcheted back with no loosening/tightening action, while at the same time the auxiliary jaw  140  is retracted into the auxiliary jaw retracting opening  130  as workpiece W enters the concavity  128 . The pushing surface  144  preferably includes a gentle cambered/curved surface. The driving surface  143  is connected to the pushing surface  144  preferably by a smooth cambered/curved surface. More specifically, the “fastener contact surface” of the auxiliary jaw  140  extends with a curved surface from the driving surface  143  to the pushing surface  144  (that is, the pushing surface  144  itself has a cambered/curved surface, and the pushing surface  144  is connected to the driving surface  143  by a cambered/curved surface), thereby making the workpiece W smoothly slide from the driving surface  143  to the pushing surface  144 . With this configuration, when the ratchetable open-ended wrench  1  is ratcheted back without rotating the workpiece W from a gripping position (holding the workpiece W), a smooth, continuous operation can be obtained. Accordingly, users who tighten/loosen the workpiece W by the ratchetable open-ended wrench  1  of the present invention can perform a series of smooth, continuous operation steps, including inserting the ratchetable open-ended wrench  1  to the workpiece W, rotating the workpiece W by the wrench  1 , and ratcheting the wrench  1  back without loosening/tightening the workpiece W. Compared with prior art references such as U.S. Pat. No. 5,533,428 and U.S. Pat. No. 7,111,529 in which the back-ratcheting rotation require a series of sequential partial-turn strokes which are not continuous or smooth due to the complicated wrench head structures (in these patents, users must partially “move” the wrench during back-ratcheting operation of the wrench to find appropriate positions for force application), the present invention significantly improves back-ratcheting operation of the wrench. 
     Advantageously, with the above structure, when the open-ended wrench  1  of the present invention is the driving operation, the rear-end wall  127  and the driving surface  143  of the auxiliary jaw  140  work together to provide the torque required to drive the workpiece W; whereas when the open-ended wrench  1  is ratcheted back with no loosening/tightening action, the pushing surface  144  of the auxiliary jaw  140  can be pushed by the outer portion of the contact edge WS of the workpiece W and the end of rear-end wall  127  will not obstruct the movement of the auxiliary jaw  140  relative to the associated contact edge WS of the workpiece W. Therefore, a smooth operation of the open-ended wrench  1  can be obtained no matter if it is in the driving operation or reverse operation. 
     The limiting slot  148  is preferably in the form of a longitudinal notch located on one side of the auxiliary jaw  140 , and defined between a shoulder  154  of the pillow  142 , a shoulder  156  of the interior end  146 , and the inner wall  126 . According to this embodiment, the limiting slot  148  is a notch having a U-shaped structure near a side of the auxiliary jaw  140 , and is surrounded by the inner wall  126  so as to work as a groove/slot. With this structure, the auxiliary jaw limiting member  150  is coupled in the limiting slot  148 , so that auxiliary jaw  140  moves between a first position (at which the auxiliary jaw  140  is unbiased by the workpiece W and fully extended by the spring S) and a second position (in which the auxiliary jaw  140  is biased and fully compressed by the workpiece W), due to the blocking of the shoulders  154  and  156 . According to another embodiment of the present invention, the limiting slot  148  is a longitudinal notch substantially located in the auxiliary jaw  140  and spaced a distance (not shown) from the periphery of the 10 auxiliary jaw  140  and the inner wall  126 . 
     Preferably, in order to achieve a better effect, the included angle between the driving surface  143  and a longitudinal centerline of the auxiliary jaw  140  is made as small as possible, so that when the user uses the ratchetable open-ended wrench  1  to rotate (tighten or loosen) the workpiece W, at least a large part of or the overall torque on the auxiliary jaw  140  is converted into a component force along the radial direction of the auxiliary jaw  140 . In another preferred embodiment, the pushing surface  144  of the auxiliary jaw  140  extends from an end adjacent to the inner wall  126  to the driving surface  143  preferably shaped as a gentle cambered/curved surface. With this feature, during the back-ratcheting operation of the wrench  1  without rotating the workpiece W, a direction of force application between the contact edge WS of the workpiece W and the pushing surface  144  is mostly or almost parallel to the longitudinal centerline of the auxiliary jaw  140  (or of the auxiliary jaw retracting opening  130 ), so all or most of the force applied to the pushing surface  144  can be parallel to the longitudinal centerline of the auxiliary jaw  140 , thus reducing the abrasion between the pillow  142  and the inner wall  126 . 
     The fastener room  160  is used to accommodate the workpiece W to be rotated, which is substantially located between the auxiliary jaw  140  and the first driving wall  114 , and adjoins the concavity  128 . The fastener room  160  and the concavity  128  work together in such a way that they form a working space which is sufficiently large to allow the workpiece W to remain therein for a full 360-degree turn of the wrench head  100 /handle H. Therefore, whenever the ratchetable open-ended wrench  1  is operated to rotate the workpiece W or is ratcheted back without rotating the same, there is no need to remove the wrench  1  from the workpiece W. That is, the steps of rotating the workpiece W by the wrench  1  and ratcheting the wrench  1  back without rotating the workpiece W can be completed with the workpiece W remaining in the working space formed by the fastener room  160  and the concavity  128 . 
     A jaw opening  170  is defined between the first driving wall  114  of the first jaw  110  and the second driving wall  124  of the second jaw  120 . The width of the jaw opening  170  is substantially the same as the size of the workpiece W to be rotated, so that the first jaw  110  together with the second jaw  120  may tighten/loosen the workpiece W as a typical open-ended wrench. 
     In prior art references such as U.S. Pat. No. 7,111,529, in order to provide the function of back-ratcheting rotation without loosening/tightening action, the width of the jaw opening of the wrench must be larger than the workpiece W (i.e., the size of the jaw opening is inconsistent with that of the workpiece W) with the complicated structure of the fastener room and the auxiliary jaw  11  facing the base area  19 . Moreover, cover plates  23 ,  25  and a welding process are required. An advantage of the present invention is that the width of the jaw opening  170  can be made substantially the same size as that of the workpiece W to be rotated. This allows the appearance and size of the wrench head  100  of the ratchetable open-ended wrench  1  of the present invention to be almost identical to those of conventional open-ended wrenches without ratchetable functions. The ratchetable open-ended wrench  1  can be manufactured with less material, and can be applied to small-sized wrenches for small workpieces W. Further, as indicated above, according to the present invention, the minimum width between the “fastener contact surface” of the auxiliary jaw  140  and the first driving wall  114  of the first jaw  110  may be substantially equal to the size of the workpiece W. Thus, the overall operation, including gripping the workpiece W with the jaw opening  170  of the ratchetable open-ended wrench  1 , rotating the workpiece W by the wrench  1 , ratcheting the wrench  1  back without loosening/tightening the workpiece W, and again rotating the workpiece W again, is very smooth. Another advantage is that the auxiliary jaw retracting opening  130  of the present invention is formed in the base portion  200 , which does not need the cover plates of U.S. Pat. No. 7,111,529 or a welding process. The above advantages are a great improvement as compared with the prior arts. 
       FIGS. 3A to 3G  are schematic views showing how the back-ratcheting movement of ratchetable open-ended wrench  1  without loosening/tightening the workpiece W is achieved. The workpiece W is a hexagonal nut, so each back-ratcheting movement of wrench  1  around an angle of workpiece W requires a turn of 60°, as illustrated in  FIGS. 3A to 3G .  FIGS. 3A-3B ,  3 B- 3 C,  3 C- 3 D and  3 D- 3 G show the relative positions between the auxiliary jaw  140  and the contact edge WS of the workpiece W each time the wrench head  100  turns back 10°. In  FIG. 3A , the auxiliary jaw  140  reaches the first position in which the workpiece W does not longitudinally bias the auxiliary jaw  140 , with the driving surface  143  preferably close to the contact edge WS. In this position, the auxiliary jaw  140  and the rear-end wall  127  work with the first jaw  110  to grip the nut. Accordingly, if the ratchetable open-ended wrench  1  turns in the clockwise direction, the nut can be tightened/loosened. As shown in  FIG. 3B , when the ratchetable open-ended wrench  1  turns in the counterclockwise direction, the counterforce applied by the nut to the pushing surface  144  forces the auxiliary jaw  140  to retract into the auxiliary jaw retracting opening  130  and travel toward the base portion  200 , in which step the auxiliary jaw  140  moves from the first position to the second position in which the auxiliary jaw  140  is in a fully compressed position closest to base portion  200 . Since the length of the rear-end wall  127  should not obstruct the back-ratcheting operation, it is preferred that the end of the rear-end wall  127  should not exceed the inner half portion of the workpiece contact edge WS of the workpiece W to be rotated. Further, as shown in  FIGS. 3C to 3G , by continuing turning the wrench  1  to pass around an angle of the nut (as shown in  FIG. 3F ), the auxiliary jaw  140  returns to its first position (as shown in  FIG. 3G ) fully extended by the spring S. Thus, the wrench  1  is ready for another tightening/loosening action in the clockwise direction again. 
     All the above descriptions are intended to demonstrate the preferred embodiments of the present invention rather than limit the present invention. Since the present invention is not limited to the specific details described in connection with the preferred embodiments, changes to and implementations of certain features of the preferred embodiments without altering the overall basic function of the invention are contemplated within the scope of the appended claims.