An Improved Wrench or Spanner for Pipes, Bolts, and Nuts, and other purposes.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 22nd Nov., 1894-Accepted, 22nd Dec., 1894
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
An Improved Wrench or Spanner for Pipes, Bolts, and Nuts, and
other purposes.
We, CAMILLE CHEVILLARD, and ACGUSTE ADRIEN GIRARD, both of
15 Rue Peclet, Paris, France, Engineers, 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 an improved construction of pipe wrenches or spanners
for bolts and nuts and the like, the main feature of which consists in the use of a
chain, metal cord or flexible band which is laid round the entire periphery of the
pipe or nut and is operated in combination with a lever so as to grip the pipe &c.
firmly and uniformly on its entire circumference so that it can be turned round or
handled by means of the lever.
We will describe the said wrench or spanner with reference to the accompanying
drawing in which Fig. I shews a side view, Fig. 2 a plan, Fig. 3 a plan of the lever
detached, and Fig. 4 a view of the slide detached.
It consists firstly of a steel lever a one end of which is formed with a rounded
groove and having on its one side face a row of notches or recesses t t¹¹¹. The
other end of the lever is formed as a handle. Secondly it consists of a slide b
which embraces three sides of the lever, along which it can slide and which carries,
above the fourth side, a pin m on which is pivotted a catch e.
Thirdly it consists of a chain c, preferably of the flat link kind as shewn, but
which may be of any other form or in lieu thereof may be used a metal band or
cord and one end of which is attached to the pin m of the catch e, while the other
end is pivotted to an abutment piece d of hardened steel which rests upon the
object to be turned and constitutes the abutment of the lever a that is made to
bear with its grooved end thereon; the piece d is formed with serrations on the
face resting against the object while the other face is rounded to correspond to the
groove of d.
The catch e has a beak adapted to take into the notches of the lever a and to
bear with a flat face against the flat face of the notch, the outer end of the catch
being formed with a handle for keeping it disengaged with the notch, a spring r
being provided for pressing the handle upward when released by the hand.
For operating with the wrench or spanner, the chain c is laid round the pipe or
other object to be operated upon, and, the lever a having had its grooved end laid
against the piece d, the slide b is drawn along the lever, the handle of the catch
being depressed to keep it disengaged until the chain is tightened round the pipe
when the catch e being released springs into one of the notches forming an
abutment whereupon on pressing upon the handle of the lever, the chain will be
made to grip the pipe so firmly that it cannot slip so that on turning. round the
lever the pipe will be carried round with it.
As the chain exercises a uniform pressure all round the pipe, there is no danger
of crushing or deforming the pipe, such as occurs with ordinary pipe wrenches
that do not exercise a uniform grip all round. In addition to this great advantage,
the improved spanner has the further one that no matter what is the size of pipe,
nut, &c. to be turned, the wrench only requires an amount of room beyond it equal
to the thickness of the chain cord or band to enable the tool to operate effectually
whereas ordinary wrenches or spanners require considerably more room for the

page_text: strong gripping jaws, so that the improved wrench is applicable in localities where
an ordinary wrench could not be employed.
It is essential for the proper action of the wrench that the fulcrum piece d should
touch the extended part of the chain cord or band so that the chain in conjunction
with the piece d, embraces the pipe all round, and the lever a is in a position
tangential to the pipe.
It will be seen that the same wrench can be applied to pipes or nuts greatly
varying in diameter, the only limiting condition being that the catch e shall be able
to take into one of the notches of the lever.
°
The wrench is particularly applicable to gas, water, or steam pipes of greatly
varying diameters also to the air brake pipes of railway trains; it is also used with
advantage as spanner for screw bolts and nuts, and various other purposes such as
for merely gripping a tube, rod or other object in order to obtain a firm purchase
thereon, for various purposes, such as for bending it.
It will be evident that the details of construction of the instrument can be
variously modified so long as the main feature of the invention is retained whereby
a chain cord or band applied round the entire circumference of a tube or other
object and is made to grip the same by the action of a lever acting tangentially to
the circumference of the object.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that
what we claim is :-
1. An improved wrench or spanner wherein a chain cord or band is so arranged
in combination with a lever that the chain is made to entirely encircle the object to
be acted upon, the one end of the chain, or an abutment piece attached thereto,
serving as abutment for one end of the lever lying in a tangential position relatively
to the object while the other end of the chain adjustably secured to an intermediate
part of the lever, substantially as described.
2. An improved wrench or spanner composed of a chain cord or band c abutment
piece d, notched lever a, slide b, and catch e, combined and operating substantially
as herein described with reference to the drawings.
Dated this 22nd day of November 1894.
ABEL & IMRAY,
Agents for the Applicants.