Improvements in Wrenches.
Year: 1891

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Wrenches.
We, GEORGE FRANKLIN HALL, of No. 399 Springfield Avenue, Newark,
County of Essex, and State of New Jersey, United States of America, Inventor,
and GEORGE WILKINSON STORM, of Nos. 320 and 322 Market Street, Newark
County of Essex, and State of New Jersey, United States of America, Manu-
facturer, do hereby declare the nature of our invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
WRENCHES," and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
The present invention relates to improvements in wrenches and has for its object
to provide a tool in which the clamping mechanism forming the means for holding
the parts which are adjustable toward one another, holds said parts more securely
in their proper relation when adjusted.
The present invention therefore consists in certain arrangements and combinations
of parts, as will be hereinafter more fully described and finally embodied in the
clauses of the claim.
In the accompanying sheet of drawings, in which similar reference letters are
employed to indicate like parts in the several views,
Figure 1 is a side elevation of the improved wrench;
Figure 2 is an end view of the same; and
Figure 3 is a vertical section of the wrench.
Figure 4 is an end view of the fixed jaw removed from the handle;
Figures 5 and 6 are a side view and a plan of a sleeve used in the present form
of construction, and
Figure 7 is a perspective view of a cotter employed and provided with teeth or
serrations.
Figures 8 and 9 are vertical sections of modified forms of constructions of the
wrench embodying the invention.
Figures 10 and 11 are side views of the upper end of the handle and the jaws,
provided with means for automatically closing said jaws when the clamp has been
released.
In the above described views, A indicates the handle, which in the construction
illustrated in Figures 1, and 3, is of metal and preferably hollow, the end of the
handle being provided with a threaded perforation. Into this threaded perforation
is arranged a screw-threaded stem a provided on its upper end with a cylindrical
portion a¹ formed at its extreme free end into a holding jaw a² and provided with a
hole, preferably rectangular, as a³, as will be seen from Figure 4.
The cylindrical portion a¹ is of smaller diameter than the perforated end of the
handle whereby a shoulder a' is formed for a sleeve b, provided with the recesses
or cut-away portions and the slightly flattened portions 2 directly beneath said
recessed portions. Thus the lower end of said sleeve is in contact with the
shoulder at on the handle upon which the sleeve is placed so that its recessed
portions coincide with the hole a³ in the holding jaw a². Within said hole and
upon said sleeve in the recesses or cut-away portions thereof is placed a cotter c
provided with downwardly extending ears or lugs c' and c which fit in close contact
with the flattened ends 63 of the sleeve.
Above said cotter and sliding within the rectangular hole a³ is an adjustable
bar d provided with a holding jaw d. The sides of said bar and the cotter which
are in contact are preferably provided with teeth or serrations d² and c³ respectively,
fitting into each other and thereby forming a secure means for preventing the
sliding movement of the bar d and its jaw when the same has been set and clamped
by the clamping mechanism, and while tightening up a nut.

page_text: In order to adjust the jaws, the handle A is slightly turned to permit the bar to
be moved either backward or forward upon the cotter and adjust the same
according to the size of the nut to be tightened, after which, by turning the handle,
the longitudinal thrust of the screw will cause the shoulder at to force the sleeve
upwards which jams the cotter tightly against the bar, causing the locked or holding
engagement of the serrations or teeth on the cotter and bar d and securely holding
said bar and its jaw in the adjusted portions.
A slight turn of the handle in the opposite direction will release the bar which
can then be moved in or out, as will be evident.
In lieu of the construction shown in Figures 1, 2 and 3, the handle portion A
can be provided with the screw formed directly thereon, as shown in Figure 8, in
which case the sleeve is threaded upon the inside. When the handle is turned, the
space between the shoulder at of the handle and the lower part of the sleeve, allows
of enough movement to tightly jam the free end a' of the screw against the under
side of the cotter, which locks the bar d in the same manner, as has been previously
described. The handle A may be made of wood and provided with a ferrule upon
which the screw-portion has been formed.
In Figure 9 is illustrated still another modified form of construction, in which
the handle is made of wood, being socketed and the sleeve being formed with a
downwardly extending portion 63 which is also provided with a cylindrical bore 6*
extending down into the socket in the handle and a portion 68 serving as a ferrule
to the end of the handle. A bolt e serves to secure said sleeve to the handle, as
will be seen from said Figure 9. The upper end of the sleeve is of larger diameter
than the bore forming a pocket for the cylindrical portion a¹ of the screw-plug
or stem a which is secured to and upon which turns the upper and threaded end of
the sleeve . The construction of the remaining parts is similar to that described
in connection with Figures 1, 2 and 3, and the operation of adjusting the jaws and
clamping the same is precisely similar in all the constructions illustrated.
In Figures 10 and 11, I have shown a means for automatically closing the jaws
when the clamp mechanism has been released, the serrations being small enough to
allow the bar d to slide freely on the serrated side of the cotter.
The means for automatically returning the jaw is a spring f, either of the
construction shown in Figure 10, one end of which is attached to the fixed jaw and
the other to the bar d. Said bar may be slotted, as shown in Figure 11, and
provided with a spiral spring f1 working against a slide fin said slot. The
operation will be evident from said figure.
The essential feature of the present invention consists in the sleeve and the
threaded stem provided with a jaw and the recesses in the sleeve and the hole in
the stem adapted to be arranged coincident with each other, and adapted to receive
the cotter and the transverse sliding bar, and the whole carried by a handle having
a screw-thread for pressing the stem or the sleeve longitudinally against the cotter
to clamp the transverse bar in the desired position.
In the present form of construction, by the employment of the cotter a greater
holding surface has been obtained and hence there is less danger of the bar d and
its jaw from slipping and becoming loose, and another great advantage is that the
several parts can be provided with serrations or teeth which serve to firmly retain
the bar in its adjusted position, while the cotter cannot slip on account of its
downwardly projecting ears which engage with the flat surface e².
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim is :-
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1. In a tool, the combination, with the handle, of a stem and a sleeve carried by
the same, recesses in said sleeve and a hole in said stem adjacent to each other, a
wrench jaw formed upon the outer end of the same, a cotter arranged in said hole
and in the said recesses provided with cars for holding the same in position, a cross

page_text: bar movable on said cotter and provided at its outer end with a jaw, and the handle
provided with a screw-thread to actuate the sleeve, for the purposes set forth.
2. In a tool, the combination, with the handle, of a stem and a sleeve carried by
the same, recesses in said sleeve and a hole in said stem adjacent to each other, a
wrench jaw formed upon the outer end of the same, a cotter arranged in said hole
and in said recesses provided with ears for holding the same in position extending
down the sides of said sleeve and provided in its upper side with teeth or
serrations, a cross bar movable on said cotter, provided with teeth or serrations
adapted to engage with the teeth or serrations on the cotter provided at its outer
end with a jaw, and the handle provided with a screw-thread to actuate the sleeve,
for the purposes set forth.
3. In a tool, the combination, with the handle, of a stem and a sleeve carried by
the same, recesses in said sleeve and a hole in said stem adjacent to each other, a
wrench jaw formed on the outer end of the stem, a cotter arranged in said hole and
said recesses, provided with ears for holding the same in position, a cross bar
movable in said hole in the stem provided with a jaw, a spring connecting said stem
with the movable cross bar, and a handle provided with a screw-thread to actuate
the sleeve, for the purposes set forth.
*והוי
A1 1
2
GEORGE FRANKLIN HALL.
GEORGE WILKINSON STORM.
Haseltine, Lake & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, Agents for the Applicants.