Improvements in Pipe Wrenches.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 13th Mar., 1894
Complete Specification Left, 11th Dec., 1894-Accepted, 12th Jan., 1895
Improvements in Pipe Wrenches.
I, CHARLES HALL, of No. 111 East 64th Street, in the City, County and State
of New York, United States of America, Manufacturer, do hereby declare, the
nature of the said invention to be as follows:-
This invention relates to that class of wrenches that are especially intended for
grasping and rotating pipes, rods or bolts, and in which a lever handle is employed
in combination with a swinging jaw.
In the present improvement the swinging jaw is made with a hooked-shaped end,
and the end of the handle forms the other jaw that is usually provided with
chisel-shaped edge that is pressed into the pipe or rod sufficiently to rotate such
pipe or rod by the movement of the lever.
The swinging jaw is upon a pivotal connection to the lever handle, and there is
a screw for adjusting the swinging jaw and adapting the same to whatever sizes of
circular articles the wrench is applied to.
In one form of my wrench the lever handle is slotted longitudinally for the
reception of the screw that acts upon the pivot of the swinging jaw, there being a
bur or head to the screw by which such screw is rotated, and the screw passes
through the pivot of the swinging jaw to adjust the same longitudinally in the slot.
and there are movable bearings at the end of the slot for the journal or pivot of
the screw.
In a modified form the position of the parts is transposed, the slot being in the
swinging jaw and the pivot passing through a hole in the lever handle in which it
is secured by a nut, and the pivot pin slides in the slot of the swinging jaw and is
acted upon by the screw which is in said slot, and either passes through the pivot
piu or acts against it.
I find it advantageous to make an internal offset to the hook portion of the
swinging jaw, so as to adapt the same to larger sized pipes and sometimes I provide
a stop or a stop with a screw to limit the movement of the swinging jaw towards
the lever jaw and thereby lessen the risk of the pipe being crushed by the leverage,
and in order to prevent the swinging jaw dropping away from its position when the
strain is slackened, I apply a spring connected with the pivot pin and acting
against a pin upon the swinging jaw to move such swinging jaw towards the lever
handle jaw.
Dated this 13th dox of March 1894
:
Improvem po
I, CHARLES HALL, of No. 111 East 64th Street in the City, County and State
of New York, United States of America, Manufacturer, do hereby declare the
O 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 that class of wrenches that are especially intended for
-

page_text: grasping and rotating pipes, rods or bolts, and in which a lever handle is employed
in combination with a swinging jaw.
In the present improvement the swinging jaw is made with a hook-shaped end
and the end of the handle forms the other jaw that is usually provided with a
chisel-shaped edge that is pressed into the pipe or rod sufficiently to rotate such
pipe or rod by the movement of the lever.
10%
The swinging jaw is upon a pivotal connection to the lever handle, and there is a
screw for adjusting the swinging jaw and adapting the same to different sizes of
circular articles the wrench is applied to.
In one form of my wrench the lever handle is slotted longitudinally for the
reception of the screw that acts upon the pivot of the swinging jaw, there being a
bur or head to the screw by which such screw is rotated, and the screw passes
through the pivot of the swinging jaw to adjust the same longitudinally in the slot,
and there are movable bearings at the end of the slot for the journal or pivot of
the screw.
In the modified form the position of the parts is transposed, the slot being in the
swinging jaw and the pivot passing through a hole in the lever handle in which' it
is secured by a nut, and the pivot pin slides in the slot of the swinging jaw and is
acted upon by the screw which is in said slot, and either passes through the pivot
pin or acts against it.
I find it advantageous to make an internal offset to the hook portion of the
swinging jaw, so as to adapt the same to larger sized pipes, and sometimes I provide
a stop or a stop with a screw to limit the movement of the swinging jaw towards
the lever jaw and thereby lessen the risk of the pipe being crushed by the leverage,
and in order to prevent the swinging jaw dropping away from its position when the
strain is slackened, I apply a spring connected with the pivot pin and acting
against a pin upon the swinging jaw to move such swinging jaw towards the lever
handle jaw.
In the drawing,
Fig. 1 is a side view of the wrench with the handle bar broken off.
Fig. 2 is a section at the line xx.
Fig. 3 is a cross section of the swinging jaw at the line
y.
Fig. 4 is a detached view showing a different shape of handle bar and mode of
supporting one end of the screw.
Fig. 5 is a cross section at the line z =.
Fig. 6 represents a cap for the spring in section, and Fig. 7 is a cross section
through the cap and jaw of the swinging hook.
:
Fig. 8 is a side view, and Fig. 9 is a longitudinal section at 22 of Fig. 8 of a
modification in the wrench.
The handle bar A is of suitable size and length, and. it is formed at one end
with either a metallic handle or a wooden handle as common in wrenches, and the
other end of the handle bar is made as a jaw 2 at an acute angle, and hence the
edge thereof is chisel-shaped and adapted to press against and rotate the pipe when
the parts are in the position represented by dotted lines in Fig. 1, and there may
also be teeth upon the edge of the handle bar, as shown at 16.
The swinging jaw E is hook-shaped, and the inner face 5 of the hook is parallel
with the jaw 2 at the end of the handle bar, and this book-shaped jaw is preferably
made with a ribbed back, as represented in Fig. 3, and it is also formed with two
strap portions 6 that pass at opposite sides of the handle bar A, and through these
strap portions 6 the pivot pin C passes, upon which the jaw E may be swung, and
this pivot pin C goes through a longitudinal slot 3 in the handle bar, within which
lot is the screw D that acts to adjust the pivot pin C and regulate the distance
between the handle bar jaw 2 and the inner face 5 of the swinging jaw E; and it
will be observed that when the swinging jaw E is in the position represented in
Fig. 1, the portion 14 of the jaw E forms a stop against the edge 11 of the handle
bar, so that the parts are in a position adapted to use as an ordinary wrench upon
anut or bolt. The inner surface of the hook may be in line with the edge 11 and

page_text: stop 14, but preferably the surface 10 of the swinging jaw E is, at a distance from
but parallel to the edge 11 of the handle bar which gives a greater depth to the
"hook-shaped jaw E for the reception of a large sized pipe, as represented by the
"dotted lines in Fig. 1; and I usually provide an adjusting screw H passing through
the swinging jaw E and having its end adjacent to the portion 14 of the hook-
shaped jaw E, so that by adjusting this screw H the hook-shaped jaw E may be
retained in a definite position relative to the handle bar and the jaw 2 at the end
thereof, so that the chisel-shaped edge of the jaw 2 may not imbed itself unduly in
the pipe or tend to crush or flatten the same when the wrench is in use.
It will be observed that the screw D passes through the pivot pin C, such pivot
pin forming a nut to the screw, so that by rotating the screw the pivot pin and the
hook-shaped jaw may be adjusted as aforesaid, and this screw D is within the slot
of the handle lever, and when the handle lever is made in the form represented in
Fig. 1, the screw D passes through a hole in the handle lever at an offset therein,
so that the head or bur 4 may be easily grasped and rotated for adjusting the parts.
If the handle lever is made straight or nearly so and without the offset shown in
Fig. 1, then the pivot at the back end of the screw D is advantageously made in
the bearing block F which is usually made in two parts, as shown in Fig. 5 and
connected by a screw 9, so that the two parts of the bearing block may be placed
at opposite sides of the rib 8 and screwed together, the hole for the reception of
the end of the screw D being in the face of this bearing block adjacent to the bur
or head 4 of the screw D.
4
It is advantageous to swing the hook-shaped jaw E towards the handle bar
jaw 2, and with this object in view a spring I is provided, the same being connected
at one end to the pivot pin C and acting against a stud i upon one of the strap
portions 6 of the swinging jaw E.
It is advantageous to make the spring I in the form of a coil, represented in
Fig. 6, with one end of the coil introduced into a slot in the pivot pin C and the
other end hooking around the stud i, and to protect the parts from injury a cap L
may be made use of,' formed of sheet metal and having a rim sufficiently deep to
enclose the spring I, such cap being held by a screw 10 passing into the pivot pin C,
as represented in Fig. 7.
When the slot is in the swinging jaw E' as shown in Figs. 8 and 9, the pivot
pin C passes through a round hole in the lever handle A¹ and is secured by a nut
so that it may turn, and the part of the pivot pin that is in -the slot of the jaw E¹
is polygonal to fit such slot, and the screw D' passes through a nut on the swinging
jaw at the end of the slot and acts against one side of the pivot C¹ in adjusting
the jaw for use. In this case the slotted shank of the jaw E¹ lies against one side
of the lever handle A' and the jaw at the end of such handle projects towards one
side to be in line with the hook-shaped jaw E'.
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 :-
:―
First. The combination with a handle lever having a jaw at its end and slotted
longitudinally, of an adjusting screw within the slot, a swinging hook-shaped jaw
having a pivot pin passing through such jaw near one end and through the slot of
the handle lever, the adjusting screw passing through the pivot pin, and such pivot
pin forming a nut to the screw for adjusting the parts, substantially as set forth.
Second. The combination with a handle lever having an acute angled end
forming at the end a chisel-shaped jaw and siotted longitudinally, of a swinging
hook-shaped jaw one side of the jaw being parallel to the side of the handle bar
lever and offset from the same when the parts are in contact, a pivot pin for the
swinging jaw passing through the same near one end and through the slot in the
handle bar lever, and a screw passing through such pivot pin for adjusting the parts,
substantially as set forth.
Third. The combination in a wrench, of a handle bar lever having an acute

page_text: angled jaw at the end thereof, a swinging hook-shaped jaw, a pivot pin passing
through one end of the swinging jaw, a screw for adjusting the same, and a screw
passing through the swinging jaw and forming a stop to determine the relative
position of the swinging jaw to the handle lever, substantially as set forth.
Fourth. The combination in a wrench, of a handle bar lever having a jaw at
the end thereof, a hook-shaped jaw, a pivot pin upon which the hook-shaped jaw
swings, a screw for adjusting the pivot pin longitudinally, of the handle bar lever,
and a spring for swinging the hook-shaped jaw towards the handle bar lever,
substantially as set forth.
Fifth. The combination in a wrench, of a handle bar lever having an acute
angled jaw at the end thereof, a swinging hook-shaped jaw, the inner surface of
the hook being parallel with the acute angled jaw on the handle bar when the
swinging jaw stops against the handle bar, and a screw for adjusting the hook-
shaped jaw, substantially as set forth.
.-
Sixth. The combination in a wrench, of a handle bar lever having an acute
angled jaw at the end thereof, a swinging hook-shaped jaw, the inner surface of the
hook being parallel with the acute angled jaw on the handle bar when the swinging
jaw stops against the handle bar, a screw for adjusting the hook-shaped jaw, and a
spring for swinging the hook-shaped jaw towards the handle bar jaw, substantially
as set forth.
Seventh. The combination in a wrench with the swinging jaw and the handle
bar lever slotted longitudinally, of the adjusting screw acting on the swinging jaw,
and a removable bearing for the screw at the end of the slot, substantially as
specified.
Eighth. The combination with the lever handle having a jaw at its end, of a
swinging hook-shaped jaw with a slotted shank, a pivot in the slot and a screw
acting against the pivot, substantially as specified.
Dated this 11th day of December 1894.