An Improved Combined Adjustable Spanner, Pipe Wrench, and Pipe Cutter.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 3rd Feb., 1894-Accepted, 10th Mar.,
1894
COMPLETE SI
An Improved Combined Adjustable Spanner, Pipe Wrench, and
Pipe Cutter.
A communication from abroad by THEODORE FLETCHER, of Macdona, in the
County of Bexar and State of Texas, United States of America.
I, ROBERT CROMPTON FLETCHER, of The Rectory, Tarleton, near Preston, in
the County of Lancaster, Clerk in Holy Orders and Rector of Tarleton, 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 an appliance or arrangement of apparatus constituting
a combined adjustable spanner, pipe wrench, and pipe cutter, the object of my said
invention being to provide, in one tool, a spanner or wrench for ordinary purposes,
a pipe wrench, and a pipe cutter.
A further object of my invention is to so construct the improved tool or appliance
-hereinafter termed the " wrench "--that it will be simple, durable, and economical,
and capable of being expeditiously and conveniently manipulated,-turning the nut,
or cutting the pipe to which the cutter is applied without removing the wrench
from the object upon which it is to work.
The invention consists in the novel construction and combination of the several
parts, as will be hereinafter fully set forth and pointed out in the claims.
Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this
Specification, in which similar figures and letters of reference indicate corresponding
parts in all the views.
Fig. 1 is a central vertical section through the jaws of the wrench and through
the adjusting nut, the remaining portion of the wrench being shewn in side elevation,
and the section is indicated by the line 1-1 in Fig. 2.
Fig. 2 is a view of one side edge of the wrench;
Fig. 3 is a view of the opposite side edge; and
Fig. 4 is a transverse horizontal section taken practically on the line 4-4 of
Fig. 3.
In carrying out the invention the lower jaw A of the wrench has made integral
with its under side at one end a screw 10, or the screw may be secured to the jaw
in any suitable or approved manner. The screw 10 virtually constitutes the shank,
as its lower end 11 is plain and is adapted to constitute one of the handles of the
wrench. The lower jaw, upon its upper surface at one end is flat, as shewn at 12 in
the drawings; and at its opposite end, upon its upper face, the said lower jaw is
provided with a concaved surface 13, said surface being preferably toothed. The
square portion 12 of the lower jaw is adapted for engagement with a nut or like
device, while the concaved surface 13 is adapted to receive a pipe; and in the flat
surface of the under jaw a cavity or recess 14 is produced, in which cavity or recess
a cutter 15 of the rotary type is preferably removably secured by means of a pin 16,
the pin being adapted to be entirely removed from the jaw when occasion may
require. The cavity 14 extends some distance back, and one or more apertures may
A nut 17 is mounted upon
be provided to receive the pivot pin 16 of the cutter.
the screw 10 of the handle 11 of the wrench, and the nut is preferably made of the
spool type, the upper exterior surface being roughened, and the lower projecting
surface is preferably made removable, it being screwed upon the body of the sleeve,
and a collar 18 is loosely mounted upon the sleeve between its two ends, whereby

page_text: the sleeve may be rotated and made to travel up or down the screw 10 without
affecting the position of the collar. The upper jaw B is located immediately above
the lower jaw A. The upper jaw upon its under face is provided at one end with
a flat surface 19, facing the flat surface 12 of the under jaw; and at the opposite
end a concaved toothed surface 20 is provided which faces the corresponding
surface 13 of the lower jaw. About centrally of the lower face of the upper jaw
a shank 21 is located which extends downward at a right angle to the said jaw.
This shank is provided with a vertical central slot 22, as shewn in Fig. 3, which
extends from the top practically to the bottom; and the members of the shank 21
are made to fit and slide in the recesses 22ª made in opposite sides of the central
portion of the lower jaw, as is best shewn in Fig. 4. The formation of the wrench
is completed by pivotally attaching to the collar 18 the upper end of a lever 23 and
pivotally connecting the lever with the shank 21 of the upper jaw by means of a
link 24 or its equivalent. One end of the link is preferably inserted and pivotally
attached to the lever in the outer end of a slot 25 made in its upper end surface
the other end of the link being pivotally connected between the members of the
shank of the upper jaw.
In the operation of the wrench in will be observed that, by screwing the sleeve 17
upward or downward upon the screw 10, the upper jaw may be made to approach
more or less closely to the lower jaw, the latter being the fixed one; and further,
that by moving the lever 23 outward and upward from the screw the upper jaw may
be carried to a greater or less distance towards or from the lower jaw after the
adjustment has been effected between the two, by the movement of the sleeve 17.
Thus it will also be observed that the wrench may be readily employed as an
When
adjustable spanner or "monkey wrench," a pipe wrench, or a pipe cutter.
used as a monkey wrench the cutting disc is removed from the lower jaw; further-
it will be distinctly understood that the monkey wrench may be provided
with a single clamping surface only, adapted to receive either a nut or a section of
pipe, if in practice it is found desirable.
more,
"
In the operation of the wrench, supposing a nut is to be screwed downward
for example, grasp the two handles 11 and 23 in one hand and keep the side of
the wrench shewn in Fig. 1 uppermost, close the handles as shewn by the dotted
lines in Fig. 1, and with the other hand adjust the jaws by means of the sleeve
nut 17, keeping the handles parallel meanwhile. The nut is then taken hold of,
and, by gently squeezing the handles together, is firmly held. The pull which
is now exerted on the handle or lever 23 causes the grip of the jaws to be very
great, and the operator need not fear to exert his strength, because the harder
he pulls on 23, the more firmly the nut is held; after the nut has been turned
as far as possible at one turn, it is not necessary to disengage the wrench from
the nut to effect another turn, but, by slackening the grip between the two
handles and shoving on 11 in an opposite direction, the jaws automatically open
and the lever 23 opens out, (this happens unless the nut is loose, in which case a
wrench is not required). By this arrangement the jaws slip round the nut to the
first position; the handles are again brought together, the nut is taken hold of,
and another turn made. In this respect it acts as a ratchet whereby much time is
saved in either putting on or taking off a nut; and, as it always grips the nut
tightly, it is not possible to bruise it by frequently taking it on or off, as it is with
a common wrench.
The pipe wrench is used in the same manner as the monkey wrench.
When the
cutter is to be used, after the wheel 15 has been put in place so as to adjust it with
the pipe between it and 19 that the lever 23 is close to 11, then work it as an
ordinary cutter until the lever 23 comes against 11; then screw down 17 which
again gives leverage by means of 23 on the cutter 15.
This wrench is exceedingly simple, it is durable and it is economical, and
furthermore it is capable of being used expeditiously and conveniently wherever
an ordinary pipe wrench, monkey wrench, or pipe cutter is capable of being
brought into operation.

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 a wrench, the combination, with the lower jaw having a threaded handle
attached thereto, and a sleeve held to travel upon the threaded portion of the
handle, of an upper jaw, the shank attached to the upper jaw having sliding and
guided movement in the lower one, a lever connected with the sleeve, and a link
connection between the lever and the shank of the upper jaw, substantially as shewn
and described.
2. In a wrench, the combination, with a lower jaw, a threaded handle attached
thereto, a sleeve held to travel upon the threaded surface of the handle, and a
collar loosely mounted upon the sleeve, of an upper jaw, a shank projected down-
ward from the upper jaw and having sliding and guided movement in the lower jaw,
a cutter removably located in the lower jaw, a lever pivotally attached to the
collar upon the handle sleeve, and a link connection between the handle and the
shank of the upper jaw, as and for the purpose specified.
3. In a wrench, the combination, with a lower jaw having a slot at one end to
receive a cutter and provided with a pipe-receiving surface at its opposite end, a
threaded handle secured to the lower jaw beneath the recess receiving the cutter, a
sleeve held to travel upon the screw surface of the handle, and a collar loosely
mounted upon the sleeve, of an upper jaw extending over the slotted surface of the
lower jaw and likewise the pipe-receiving surface of the said lower jaw, the upper
jaw having a corresponding pipe-receiving surface, a shank projected downward
from the central portion of the upper jaw and having guided movement in the lower
jaw, and extending below said jaw, a lever adapted also to serve as a handle
pivotally secured to the collar of the said sleeve, and a link connection between the
lever and the shank of the upper jaw, as and for the purpose set forth.
D. 1
T
1004
For the Applicant,
W. LLOYD WISE,
46, Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, W.C., Chartered Patent Agent.