Improvements in Wrenches.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 10th Apr., 1894-Accepted, 12th May, 1894
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Wrenches.
I JAMES ALLEN LOWE of No. 263, West Twelfth Street in the City and
County of New York, in the State of New York, United States of America, Lead
Trap Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement :-
This invention relates to wrenches with movable or loose jaws; its special object
is to provide for the automatic adjustment of the movable or loose jaw to such
variations in the size as commonly occur in nuts or bolt-heads, which are supposed
or intended to be of the same size,-such automatic adjustment ensuring the
tightening of the wrench on the nut or head, notwithstanding such variations in the
size thereof.
Fig. 1 in the accompanying drawing is a side view of a wrench embodying my
invention.
Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken at right angles to Fig. 1.
Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken parallel with Fig. 1.
Fig. 4 is a side view of a wrench illustrating a modification of my invention.
Fig. 5 is a back view of the same.
Fig. 6 represents a side view, partly in section, of such parts of a wrench as are
necessary to illustrate a modification of the example shown in Figs. 1, 2, 3.
Fig. 7 represents a transverse section in the line x x of Fig. 6.
In
I will first describe the example of my invention shown in Figs. 1, 2, 3.
these views, B is a bar constituting the principal part of the stock of the wrench,
and having permanently affixed to it the jaw A. To this bar, the handle C,
forming the other portion of the stock, is firmly attached by being fitted to a
tapered portion of the said bar, and secured by a nut b or a screw-thread a on the
end thereof. D is the loose jaw, fitted to slide towards and from the fixed jaw
upon the bar B. The said loose jaw is tapped to receive a screw E, by which the
said jaw is adjustable towards and from the fixed jaw A, but the said screw E,
instead of abutting against or being attached directly to the stock, as is common,
abuts against, and is attached to a movable abutment F, which is so fitted to the
bar B as to be capable of a limited movement thereon lengthwise thereof, along
with the loose jaw D and screw E. The attachment of the screw to the movable
abutment is represented in Fig. 3 as made by a pin h passing through the abutment
and through a groove in the head of the screw.
G is a wedge which is mortised as shown at d, for the bar B to pass through it,
and is fitted between the back of the movable abutment F hereinbefore mentioned,
and the face of a shoulder or abutment c provided on the handle C, which is
virtually a part of the stock of the wrench. The face of the said abutment c and
the back of the abutment F are sloped to correspond with the taper of the
wedge.
The wedge is loose upon, but entirely surrounds the bar B of the stock, and as
it bears against the abutments c and F all around the stock, it has large bearing
and wearing surfaces. The wedge is fitted at its sides, by tongues and grooves, as
shown at ein Fig. 2, to the abutments c and F respectively, for the purpose of
confining the said wedge to the abutment c and confining the abutment F to the
wedge. These tongues and grooves have of course the same slope as the wedge
and abutments.
The portion of the handle which forms the abutment c is extended in the

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direction of the length of the wedge sufficiently to receive a lever H, the so
extended part being mortised for the reception of the said lever, which has its
fulcrum on a pin finserted across the said mortise. The end of the shorter arm
of this lever enters, as shown in Fig. 3, into a mortise in the wedge. The longer
arm of the said lever projects downwards in front of the handle C, in a position to
be grasped in the hand along with the handle. Between the lever H and the
handle is applied a spring 9, which tends to press the lever outwards from the
handle.
By grasping the handle C and the lever H together in the hand, and so pressing
the lever towards the handle, the wedge is forced inward between the two
abutments F and c, and the loose jaw D is thus set up automatically towards the
fixed jaw. This setting up is only intended to be sufficient to compensate for slight
variations in the size of nuts or bolt-heads when the jaw is adjusted by the screw
to the fullest sized heads, and to tighten the wrench upon the nut or bolt-head.
This may be understood by reference to Fig. 3, where the parts of the wrench are
shown in bold outline in the position which they occupy when the lever is left free,
and in dotted outline in the position they occupy when the lever is pressed
downwards towards the handle.
The spring not only serves the purpose of drawing back the wedge G, but
serves the purpose of drawing back the loose jaw to loosen the wrench upon the
nut or bolt-head, the drawing back of the loose jaw being effected by the tongues e
on the wedge operating in the grooves of the abutment.
In the example of my invention shown in Figs. 4 and 5, the loose jaw D, to
which the setting up movement is applied, is attached to the handle by means of a
tongue and groove engagement e, as shown in Fig. 5, between the sides of the
wedge G and the handle C and loose jaw D respectively.
The adjustment of the wrench for different sizes of nuts is effected by the
movement of the bar B and its permanently attached jaw A relatively to the
handle, by means of a screw E¹, fitted to turn, but confined longitudinally in
the butt of the handle, and screwing in a screw-thread provided in the rear end of
the bar B.
In this example, as in the first described example, the abutment c for the back
of the wedge is on the handle C, which in this case, as in the other, is a part of
the stock, but the abutment F for the face of the wedge, instead of being in a
separate abutment piece, as in the first described example, is constituted by the
back of the loose jaw D.
In this example also, as in that first described, the wedge is loose upon and
surrounds the bar, and has bearings between the abutments all around the stock.
In Fig. 4 there is shown on the lever H, a hook q, to engage in a notch r in the
end of the shank B, so that when the jaws are completely closed, the lever H may
be held snugly against the stock C.
It will be observed, that in the example illustrated by Figs. 1, 2, and 3, the
adjustment for different sizes of nuts and bolt-heads, and the setting up or
tightening movement, are both made in the loose jaw D, but in the example
illustrated by Figs. 4 and 5, the adjustment is made by means of the jaw A, and
the setting up or tightening movement is in the jaw D.
In the modification shown in Figs. 6 and 7, an excentric N is substituted for the
lever H to operate the wedge G, the said excentric working within an opening in
the wedge.
The spindle n of this excentric is fitted to bearings in the movable
abutment F and in the stationary abutment c, which in this case is represented as
made in a separate piece from the handle, and fitted tightly on the shank B, and
held in place by the handle. The spindle n is provided with a short lever-like
projection n, to be taken hold of by the finger and thumb of the operator, to turn
the excentric in such manner as to move the wedge back and forth, as may be
desired for adjusting the movable jaw. The excentric spindle n is held in place
by being provided with a collar n¹', under or behind which is a projection c¹ on the
handle.

page_text: Wrenches constructed according to my invention being capable of being
tightened upon the nuts or bolt-heads, as described, do not require to have the
operating surfaces of their jaws toothed, and are therefore well adapted for
operating on plated or highly finished nuts or bolt-heads without marring them.
It is obvious that the lever and wedge, operating in the same way for the adjust-
ment of the loose jaw, might be applied to a wrench without a screw suitable only
for one size of nut or bolt-head.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is
1. The combination of a wrench stock having a permanently attached jaw, and
provided with an abutment, a loose jaw, a wedge applied between said abutment
and loose jaw, and a lever connected with the stock and engaging with said wedge,
substantially as aud for the purpose herein set forth.
2. The combination of a wrench stock having a permanently attached jaw, and
provided with an abutment, a loose jaw, a wedge applied between the said abut-
ment and loose jaw, and a lever connected with the stock and engaging with the
said wedge, for setting up the loose jaw, and a spring between said lever and stock
for drawing back said wedge, substantially as herein set forth.
3. The combination of a wrench stock having a permanently attached jaw, and
provided with an abutment, a loose jaw, a screw for adjusting one jaw relatively to
the other, a wedge applied between the said abutment and the loose jaw, and a
lever connected with the stock and engaging with the wedge, for setting up the
loose jaw, substantially as herein set forth.
4. The combination of a wrench stock having a permanently attached jaw, and
provided with an abutment, a loose jaw, and a wedge applied between said abut-
ment and loose jaw, and connected with the said abutment and jaw by tongues and
grooves, whereby the said wedge operates both to set up and loosen the loose jaw,
substantially as herein set forth.
5. The combination with the stock and the movable jaw of the wrench, of a
wedge G and excentric N as described with reference to Figs. 6 and 7.
Dated this 10th day of April 1894.
NEWTON & SON,
Agents for the Applicant.