Year: 1886

page_text: I, ANDREW PATRICK QUIGLEY, of Jamestown, Chantanqua Co, New York,
United States of America, Blacksmith, 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 improvements in Wrenches, and it consists in the
peculiar and novel construction and combination of parts, substantially as herein-
after set forth and specifically pointed out in the claims.
The primary object of my invention is to provide an improved monkey wrench
with an adjustable or movable jaw, which can be moved very rapidly and easily
on the handle bar, and which shall be held firmly and rigidly thereon without
danger of becoming displaced or having any retrograde movement after the jaw
has been once adjusted to a nut or other class of work.
A further object of the invention is to provide a wrench that will open to
double the ordinary capacity of an ordinary monkey or screw wrench of the same
size, and thus adapt a single wrench to a wider range of uses while at the same
time the cost of manufacture and sale of my improved device is reduced to a
minimum.
The improved device is very simple strong and durable in its construction
thoroughly effective and reliable in its operation, easy and quick of adjustment,
and cheap to manufacture.
In the accompanying drawings
Figure 1 is a perspective view of a wrench constructed in accordance with my
invention.
Figure 2 is a vertical central longitudinal sectional view thereof.
Figure 3 is a detailed perspective view of the adjustable or movable jaw,
detached from the handle-bar.
Figure 4 is a similar view of the binding sleeve, and
Figure 5 is a vertical sectional view of a modification of my invention.
Referring to the drawings, in which like letters of reference indicate corre-
sponding parts in all the figures,
A. designates the handle bar of my improved wrench, which is made preferably
square or rectangular in cross section as is usual, and B the rigid jaw permanently

page_text: ,
affixed to or cast with the handle bar at the upper free end thereof. C designates
the movable jaw that corresponds in shape to the rigid jaw B. both of which are
of the common well known or any preferred forms. The movable jaw C. has an
opening c therein that corresponds to the shape of, and is a little larger in one
direction than the shape and size of the handle bar A. in cross section. The
movable jaw is free to slide on the handle bar longitudinally thereof, and on the
inner faces of the walls of the opening c (which are a further distance apart than
one of the transverse diameters of the bar A), the movable jaw has shoulders d. d¹
formed thereon which are of a depth equal to or a little greater than one half of
the depth of the opening these shoulders being arranged on opposite sides and
edges, that is to say, the shoulder d is on the upper edge and one side of the
opening while the shoulder is on the opposite side and lower edge of said
opening.
E designates a binding sleeve fitted on the bar beneath the movable jaw and
also having an opening e to fit the bar, two of the inner faces of the opening having
shoulders e e similar to the shoulders d. d¹ but reversed in their relative position
to each other as shown more clearly in Figure 2 of the drawings, that is to say,
the shoulder e that lies and bears on, the same side of the bar as the shoulder & is
arranged at the lower edge of the sleeve E and the shoulder e¹ which bears against
the bar on the same side as the shoulder dis arranged at the upper edge of
the sleeve E.
F designates a pressure spring which is rigidly connected to the jaw C by
means of a screw or other suitable means and bears against a curved end or face
of the binding sleeve.
The rear end of the binding sleeve is curved as at f to present a broad bearing
surface for the outwardly and rearwardly curved end f¹ of the pressure spring,
and the inner face of the extended end of the sleeve is curved or hollowed out
to provide a socket or bearing f' for the lower curved end h of a brace-plate or
detent H which is curved upwardly as at h¹ and bears against the lower under
side of the rear end of the movable jaw and against the rear face of the bar A.
This brace plate is inclosed within and protected from injury by the movable jaw,
the sleeve and spring, and on its lower face the brace plate has a stud i that
fits loosely in a socket i¹ of the binding sleeve E to prevent accidental displacement
thereof.
The pressure spring F serves to cause the projecting shoulders or faces d. d' e e¹
to bite or bind on the front and rear faces of the handle bar, so that the sleeve and
movable jaw will be held rigidly and immovably on the bar.
A space or chamber is left between the handle-bar and the remaining depth
of the inner faces of the jaw and sleeve not occupied by the shoulders thereon so
that the shoulders can be thrown out of engagement with the bar by a slight
upward pressure on either the free outer end of the sleeve or movable jaw, which
pressure will be sufficient to overcome the resistance of the spring and will he
transmitted thereby to either the jaw or sleeve which the hand of the operator
does not act upon. Thus if pressure by hand is exerted on the outer end of the
movable jaw the spring will be caused to release its tension on the sleeve and
will serve to release the shoulders e e¹ from engagement with the handle-bar, and
vice versa.
It will thus be seen that the movable jaw can be rapidly moved to any desired
adjustment on the handle-bar to open the jaws to the necessary extent by simply
pressing on either the movable jaw or sleeve and sliding them along the handle-
bar, and that they instantaneously re-engage the bar when the pressure thereon
is released.
When the jaws have been fitted to a nut or other piece of work and the handle
is turned to operate on the work, the strain or force will be brought onto the
outer end of the movable jaw, so that its shoulders will be forced into more close
and intimate engagement or contact with the handle-bar, and the greater the force
exerted on the jaw, the firmer will the shoulders bite on the bar thus holding the

page_text: jaw rigid and immovable in place. The lateral strain on the jaw will be trans-
mitted in a measure to the brace-plate or detent and thence to the binding sleeve
which will likewise be more firmly and securely held on the bar and thus serve to
brace and very materially strengthen the device.
In the modification shown in Figure 5 of the drawings the bearing or socket f
and the brace-plate or detent H are arranged at the outer end of the binding-
sleeve, and the plate bears against the front end of the movable jaw, the operation
of this form of my invention being substantially the same as that herein before
described and which will be readily understood.
From the foregoing description taken in connection with the accompanying
drawings it will be seen that I provide a wrench that is very simple strong and
durable in its construction which can be adjusted with great ease and in a
minimum of time, which is very cheap and inexpensive to manufacture and
thoroughly effective and reliable in its operation.
My improved wrench entirely dispenses with the use of an adjusting screw
which is expensive to manufacture is liable to soon wear out and become broken,
and requires time and labour to adjust the same. The improved wrench can be
used advantageously on bridge railroad and other heavy work and will answer the
same purpose as a key wrench.
I do not desire to limit myself to the peculiar construction herein shown and
described as an embodiment of my invention as I am aware that many changes
can be made therein without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the
advantages of my invention.
Having now fully 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. In a wrench the combination of a bar, a rigid jaw, a movable jaw having
binding shoulders at opposite edges with an intermediate space, a binding sleeve
having similarly disposed shoulders and a pressure spring connecting the movable
jaw and sleeve to adapt them for simultaneous adjustment, and normally hold the
shoulders thereon in contact with the bar, substantially as described.
2. The combination of a bar having a rigid jaw, the movable jaw, a binding
sleeve, a spring and a brace plate or detent fitted between the movable jaw and
sleeve substantially as described.
3. The combination of a bar, having a rigid jaw, a movable, a binding sleeve
a pressure spring connecting the movable jaw and binding sleeve, and a brace plate
or detent fitted between and carried by the movable jaw and binding sleeve and
bearing against the bar substantially as described.
4. In a wrench the combination of a bar having a rigid jaw, a movable jaw
having the binding shoulders d, d' a sleeve having the shoulders e e² a pressure
spring carried by the movable jaw and bearing on the sleeve, and a brace-plate or
detent H fitted between the movable jaw and sleeve and having a stud i fitted to
the sleeve, substantially as described.
Dated th. 1721 J... 1000