Improvements in Pipe Wrenches.
Year: 1893

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Pipe Wrenches.
I GEORGE WILLIAM BUFFORD of No. 189, West State Street in the City of
Ithaca, County of Tompkins, State of New York, and United States of America,
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 :-
My invention relates to improvements in pipe wrenches in which an adjustable
gripping jaw is mounted in the handle, and free to be adjusted in a direction
laterally by means of an adjusting screw engaged with the jaw, or its stem, and
with the handle.
In the accompanying drawings,
Fig. 1 is a view, in side elevation, of my preferred form, a portion of the handle
being broken away to show the manner of mounting the spring-actuated jaw.
Fig. 2 is a view, in longitudinal section, taken transversely through the handle
from side to side; and
Fig. 3 is a view of another form in which the spring-actuated jaw is omitted.
The handle is preferably formed in two longitudinal sections A and A', secured
together by suitable fastening devices, such, for example, as screws a, and suitably
interlocked by means of a boss a¹ on the face of one of the sections, which is adapted
to fit within a shallow recess a² in the inner face of the opposite section. The
end of the handle, toward the adjustable jaw, is beveled, as shown at a³, and on
said beveled portion is seated a spring-actuated sliding jaw B. The jaw B is
provided with a web portion b, adapted to enter a recess between the sections of
the handle, and is secured in position by means of a pin or screw 6', extending
through an elongated slot 62 in the web portion. The sliding jaw B is held normally
in outermost adjustinent by means of a spring C, inserted between the inner end of
the web and the base of the recess in which the web is seated.
The
The adjustable jaw is represented by D, and its stem or shank by d. It
may either
be made reversible, as shown in Fig. 1, a second jaw D¹ being provided at the
opposite end of the stem d, or it may be made single, as shown in Fig. 3.
stem d of the adjustable jaw is mounted in sliding adjustment within a transverse
recess a, preferably formed partly in one of the handle sections, and partly in the
other, as shown in Fig. 2. An adjusting screw E is engaged in a screw-threaded
socket as, preferably formed, as shown in Fig. 2, partly in one handle section and
partly in the other. The opposite ends of the screw E may engage with oppositely-
faced abutments d¹ and d² on the jaw D or its shank d. The screw E is con-
veniently provided with a milled head e for operating it.
In practice, the screw E, having been turned to force the jaw D toward or away
from the jaw B, to fit the pipe to be held, and the wrench having been adjusted
with the pipe between its jaws, a pull upon the handle in the direction to turn the
pipe, will cause the jaw B to gradually slide inwardly along the beveled face a³ of
the handle, until it reaches the limit of its sliding movement, at which point the
teeth on the jaw will have embedded themselves in the pipe to a sufficient extent
to prevent the wrench from slipping, and this will have been accomplished without
any serious flattening or distortion of the pipe.
In the form shown in Fig. 3, the principle of operation, so far as the jaw D is
concerned, is the same as that already described, but in this case the beveled end
of the handle is relied upon to take place of the sliding jaw B, and to co-act with
the jaw D to grip the pipe.

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. In combination, a handle, a movable a jaw seated in the handle, an adjusting
screw engaged with the handle and with oppositely faced abutments on the movable
jaw, and a co-acting jaw on the handle, substantially as set forth.
2. In combination, a handle, a movable jaw seated in the handle, an adjusting
screw engaged with the handle, and with oppositely faced abutments on the
movable jaw, and a sliding co-acting jaw mounted on the handle, substantially as
set forth.
3. In combination, a handle, a spring-actuated sliding jaw seated at the end of
the handle, and set oblique to the longitudinal axis of the handle, an adjustable
jaw seated in the handle, to move toward and away from the spring-actuated jaw,
and means for operating the adjustable jaw, substantially as set forth.
4. In combination, a sectional handle provided with a gripping jaw, removable
fastening devices for securing the sections of the handle together in removable
adjustment, a movable jaw seated transversely between the sections of the handle,
and means for adjusting the movable jaw, substantially as set forth.
5. In combination, a handle provided with a gripping jaw, a reversible movable
jaw seated in the handle and provided with abutments on its shank, and a screw
engaged with the handle and with the abutments, for adjusting the movable jaw,
substantially as set forth.
Dated this 0th love of Ianu 1002