Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 25th Jan., 1898-Accepted, 12th Mar., 1898
I, JOSHUA PUSEY, of 905, Walnut Street, in the City and County of Philadelphia,
State of Pennsylvania, United States of America, Attorney-at-law, 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 :-
My improved wrench is composed of a combination of the following essential parts;
viz.: : a forward and a rear jaw, a guide-stem connecting them upon which one of the
jaws is adapted to slide and a handle between bifurcations of which the jaws are
placed, and to which the front or outer jaw is pivoted; together with lugs or projections
of the handle which are adapted to bear and slide against rear surfaces of the rear or
inner jaw. The construction and arrangement of the parts being as shown in the
accompanying drawings and hereinafter described, whereby when the position of such
parts is such that the jaws are open and they are placed over and against a nut or
bolt head in a suitable manner, and the handle is at the same time rotated in the
direction towards the said inner jaw (as indicated by the arrow in Figure 1) the inner
jaw will be caused to gradually advance toward the other jaw, by the cam-like action
of the aforesaid projections against the said surfaces of the inner jaw against which
they bear and slide, and thus the nut, or bolt-head, will be caused to be firmly gripped
by and between the two jaws; and the handle being further turned in the same
direction, the nut will be unscrewed or screwed up, as the case may be. The greater the
resistance of the nut to turning, the more firmly will the jaws be caused to grip or bite
the nut. Further, when the handle is rotated in the opposite direction, whilst the nut is
yet between the jaws, the latter will automatically open by passing over the corners
of the nut; and when the direction of the movement of the handle is again reversed,
as hereinafter described, the jaws will again grip the nut.
Although not absolutely essential, but a useful adjunct to the operation of the
wrench, I usually provide a means for causing the inner jaw to slide back and so
separate from the outer jaw when the handle is rotated on its pivot in a direction
away from the inner jaw. The means which I consider the best and simplest for this
purpose are shown in the drawings and will be hereinafter described.
Referring now to the drawings-in which Figure 1 is a side elevation with the jaws
open to the full extent, and Figure 2 is a section on the line a-b, Figure 1-1 is the
outer jaw. 2 is the inner jaw, which is adapted to slide on a stem, 3, which is fixed to
the outer jaw and passes through a longitudinal slot in the inner jaw. 4 is the handle
of any suitable shape desired and bifurcated at its forward end. A pin; 5, passing
through the bifurcations of the handle and the jaw 1, pivots the two together. On the
inner sides of the handle are two projections, 6, which are arranged to bear and slide
against edges or surfaces, 7, of the rear or inner jaw, in the manner to be described.
When the jaws are open to their full extent, as in the drawings, the said projections
will be against or contiguous to the upper end of the bearing surfaces or edges, 7.
When, however, the handle is rotated towards the inner jaw, 2, the projections, 6,
moving with the handle in the arc of a circle against said surfaces, 7, will cause the
inner jaw to advance toward the outer jaw and thus grip between the jaws the nut, 8.
If now the handle, and consequently the wrench itself, be further turned in the same

page_text: direction, the nut will be unscrewed, or screwed up, as the case may be. Further, if
now the handle be turned sufficiently in the opposite direction the jaws will be opened
by the opposite corners of the nut which are of course wider apart than parallel faces
thereof, and when the movement of the handle is again reversed with at the same
time a slight pressure of the stem against the edge of the nut, the jaws will again be
caused to automatically grip the nut between them, and so on until the nut shall have
been screwed up or unscrewed.
If, however, the distance between diagonal corners of the nut is greater than the
width of the jaws when open to the full extent, it will be necessary to remove the
jaws from the nut in order to take a new hold of the latter.
As hereinbefore stated, it is desirable that means be employed to always insure
the automatic opening of the jaws when the handle is rotated away from the inner
jaw. To this end, I use a small pin or projection, 9, on the inner side of one of the
bifurcations of the handle, which pin, or projection, is so placed as to bear against
the forward edge, 10, of the inner jaw on that side, whereby it, the pin, will carry
back the latter jaw, when the handle is turned on its pivot as stated; or the inner
jaw is moved in a direction away from the handle.
This pin or projection may also, when the jaws are entirely open, strike against a
forward extension, 11, of the jaw 2, and will stop the movement of the handle and
so prevent the projections, 6, from going beyond the end of the bearing surfaces, 7.
It is important that the shape or direction of the bearing surfaces, 7, shall be such
that the tendency of the nut to open the jaws in turning it, the nut, shall always be
overcome by the force applied to the handle; in other words the angle made by the
are of a circle in which the points of contact of the projections, 6, move on the pivot
pin 5 for a centre must not be too great. This explains why I have made the lower
part or half of the said surfaces to gradually approach towards the lower part of the
front edge of the inner jaw. I found by experiments that if this be not done, the
jaws would not hold well on nuts smaller than a certain size.
I would always have the parts adapted to move freely so that when the wrench is
held with the jaws pointing downwardly the gravity of the stem and inner jaw will
cause the outer jaw to turn on its pivot, and, at the same time, cause the pin, 9, to
slide back the inner jaw. I have made the wrench with the inner jaw fixed to the
stem, which latter would then slide in a slot in the outer jaw, but I consider the stem
fixed to the outer jaw, as shown in the drawings, to be much preferable.
It will be clear that this wrench is quite simple, not only in its operation, but in
its construction, and that it can be easily and cheaply made and is not liable to get
out of order.
Whilst I have shown in the drawings and have hereinbefore described that form
and construction of my wrench which, at the present time, I believe to be the best
or most desirable, the same may be varied, within considerable limits, without
departing from the essential principles of construction and operation of the
invention.
By having the gripping faces of the jaws of suitable form with teeth, the wrench
may be used for turning pipes or round bars.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said invention,
and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. An automatic wrench composed of the combination of an outer jaw, an inner
jaw, a stem connecting the two jaws upon which one of the jaws is adapted to slide,
and a handle pivoted to the outer one of the said jaws, which handle has lugs or
projections adapted to bear and slide against suitable surfaces of the inner jaw,
whereby when the handle is rotated on its pivot towards the inner jaw, the latter
will be caused to move towards the outer jaw, and grip a nut or the like, between
the two jaws.
2. An automatic wrench having in combination, an outer and an inner jaw, a stem
connecting the two jaws on which one of them is adapted to slide, a bifurcated.

page_text: handle pivoted to the head or upper part of the outer jaw, and having projections
adapted to bear and slide against surfaces of the inner jaw, and having also a pin or
projection adapted to bear against the forward edge of said inner jaw and thus to
carry back the latter jaw when the handle is rotated on its pivot away from said jaw ;
together with a suitable stop for limiting the outward throw or movement of the
handle, substantially as and for the purposes described.
Dated this fourth day of January A.D. 1898.
JOSHUA PUSEY.
Wm. P. Thompson & Co.,
Agents.