Improvements in Adjustable Screw Wrenches or Spanners.
Year: 1891

page_text: Date of Application, 27th Jan., 1891
Complete Specification Left, 23rd Sept., 1891-Accepted, 7th Nov., 1891
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Adjustable Screw Wrenches or Spanners.
I JOSEPH ASBURY of Homer Street Balsall Heath in the County of Worcester
Manufacturer do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
My invention consists of the improvements hereinafter described in adjustable
screw wrenches or spanners whereby they are made more efficient in use and their
manufacture is simplified and economized.
In those kinds of adjustable screw wrenches or spanners in which the movable
jaw is adjusted by a rotating screw situated at the back edge of the bar of the
wrench the said screw is usually supported by a band around the said bar the said
band being fixed on the bar by rivetting. According to my invention I dispense
with the said band and use in place thereof a bearing for the adjusting screw to
work in the said bearing consisting of a short upright projecting the required
distance from the back edge of the bar of the wrench. This upright is made
separately from the bar and may be connected to the bar in various ways. For
example the base of the short upright may be made of a dovetail figure and a
dovetail recess be formed in the back edge of the wrench bar to receive the said
base of the upright; or the base of the upright may be provided with a nearly
circular projection for engaging by a lateral motion with a correspondingly shaped
recess in the bar the end of the upright in both cases being secured in the recess
by rivetting or expanding its edges. Or the base of the short upright may be
furnished on its underside with a taper peg and the edge of the bar with a hole or
recess into which the said peg is forced.
Or the upright for supporting the adjustable screw may be cast on the edge of
the bar or made by forging. In these cases the head or fixed jaw of the bar is
made separate from the said bar and is fixed thereto by rivetting.
In adjustable screw wrenches or spanners in which the movable jaw is worked by
a rotating tubular handle the upper end of the said handle being made into a screw
box in which the screw on the movable jaw works I make the said handle in the
following way whereby the grip of the hand upon the handle is improved and the
working of the wreuch facilitated.
The rotating hollow handle is usually made externally of an octagonal figure in
cross section. According to this part of my invention I make the hollow handle of
a cylindrical figure externally and flute it longitudinally or parallel to the axis of
the handle; that is 1 cut in the cylindrical surface of the handle a series of equi-
distant longitudinal flutes or channels which may be curved or angular in cross
section. The said longitudinal flutes or channels may extend along a portion only
of the handle or along the whole of the handle; and the grip of the hand upon the
fluted cylindrical handle may be still further improved by milling portions of the
cylindrical or uncut away parts of the handle by parallel cross millings; or by
ring like millings above the fluted part of the handle when short flutes are used.
My invention consists further in making the jaws of screw wrenches or spanners
of the last described kind in the following manner. I make the fixed and movable
jaws longer than usual and give the long jaws externally a conical or tapering
figure and instead of making the gripping faces of the jaws flat as usual I make
each gripping face hollow and either of a V figure or of a semi-circular figure for
gripping the article to be turned. A wrench having V shaped hollow gripping
faces is especially useful for unscrewing the caps of carriage wheels and other
articles which are difficult of access; and a wrench having semi-circular hollow
gripping faces is useful for turning tubes and other circular articles.
The jaws constructed as described may be made double; that is they may extend

page_text: on either side the bar or body of the wrench so as to form a cross head on the bar
or body. The gripping faces at one end of the jaws are of a different size from
those on the other end so as to fit the wrench to operate upon screwed articles of
different sizes.
In this kind of wrench I prefer to make the fixed jaw with a sleeve or tubular
extension so as to conceal the whole of the screw of the movable jaw the rotating
handle by which the movable jaw is worked turning in a screw box in the said
sleeve or tubular extension.
Dated the 27th day of Iowa 1901
W. T. WHITEMAN,
Agent for the Applicant.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Adjustable Screw Wrenches or Spanners.
I JOSEPH ASBURY of Homer Street Balsall Heath in the County of Worcester
Manufacturer do hereby declare the nature of my 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 consists of the improvements hereinafter described in adjustable
screw wrenches or spanners whereby they are made more efficient in use and their
manufacture is simplified and economized.
In those kinds of adjustable screw wrenches or spanners in which the movable
jaw is adjusted by a rotating screw situated at the back edge of the bar of the
wrench, the said screw is usually supported by a band around the said bar, the said
band being fixed on the bar by rivetting. According to my invention I dispense
with the said band and use in place thereof, a bearing for the adjusting screw to
work in, the said bearing consisting of a short upright projecting the required
distance from the back edge of the bar of the wrench. This upright is made
separately from the bar and may be connected to the bar in various ways. For
example the base.of the short upright may be made of a dovetail figure and a dove-
tail recess be formed in the back edge of the wrench bar to receive the said base of
the upright or the base of the upright may be provided with a nearly circular
projection for engaging by a lateral motion with a correspondingly shaped recess
in the bar, the end of the upright in both cases being secured in the recess by
rivetting or expanding its edges. Or the base of the short upright may be
furnished on its underside with a taper or cylindrical peg and the edge of the bar,
with a hole or recess into which the said peg is fixed.
Or the upright for supporting the adjustable screw may be cast on the edge of
the bar or made by forging. In these cases the head or fixed jaw of the bar is
made separate from the said bar and is fixed thereto by rivetting.
In adjustable screw wrenches or spanners in which the movable jaw is worked by
a rotating tubular handle, the upper end of the said handle being made into a
screw box in which the screw on the movable jaw works, I make the said handle in
the following way, whereby the grip of the hand upon the handle is improved and
the working of the wrench facilitated.
The rotating hollow handle is usually made externally of an octagonal figure in
cross section. According to this part of my invention i make the hollow handle
of a cylindrical figure externally and flute it longitudinally or parallel to the axis
of the handle; that is, I cut in the cylindrical surface of the handle a series of
equi-distant longitudinal flutes or channels which may be curved or angular in
cross section. The said longitudinal flutes or channels may extend along a portion
only of the handle or along the whole of the handle; and the grip of the hand
upon the fluted cylindrical handle may be still further improved by milling portions
of the cylindrical or uncut away parts of the handle by parallel cross millings; or
by ring like millings above the fluted part of the handle when short flutes are used.

page_text: My invention consists further in making the jaws of screw wrenches or spanners
of the last described kind in the following manner. I make the fixed and movable
jaws longer than usual and give the long jaws externally a conical or tapering
figure and instead of making the gripping faces of the jaws flat as usual I make
each gripping face hollow and either of a V figure or of a semi-circular figure for
gripping the article to be turned. A wrench having V shaped hollow gripping
faces is especially useful for unscrewing the caps of carriage wheels and other
articles which are difficult of access; and a wrench having semi-circular hollow
gripping faces is useful for turning tubes and other circular articles.
The jaws constructed as described may be made double: that is, they may extend
on either side the bar or body of the wrench so as to form a cross head on the bar
or body. The gripping faces at one end of the jaws are of a different size from
those on the other end so as to fit the wrench to operate upon screwed articles of
different sizes.
In this kind of wrench I prefer to make the fixed jaw with a sleeve or tubular
extension so as to conceal the whole of the screw of the movable jaw, the rotating
handle by which the movable jaw is worked turning in a screw box in the said
sleeve or tubular extension.
I will now proceed to describe with reference to the accompanying drawings the
manner in which my invention is to be performed.
Figure 1 represents in side elevation, an adjustable screw wrench or spanner
containing one of my improvements and Figure 2 is a separate view of the screw
supporting bearing or upright of the same.
a is the bar of the wrench and its head or fixed jaw is the movable jaw
sliding on the bar ad is the adjusting screw situated at the back edge of the
bar a.
The said screw d works in a screw box at e in the back edge of the movable
jawe and is supported and turns in the bearing or upright secured in and pro-
The bearing or
jecting the required distance from the back edge of the bar a.
upright is shown separately in Figure 2. The separate bearing or upright is
secured in the bar a by means of its dovetail base 2 being fixed in a dovetail
recess in the back edge of the said bar, the said dovetail basef being secured in
the said recess by rivetting or expanding the edges of the said base.
The adjusting screw d is rotated for adjusting the movable jaw by the milled
collar which works in a recess or cut away part in the edge of the bar a as usual.
Instead of making the base of the separate upright of a dovetail figure it may
be made of a nearly circular figure as represented in Figure 3 and marked f³ the
said nearly circular part taking into a correspondingly shaped recess g² in the back
edge of the bar a.
Or the separate upright may be provided at back with a fork
the back edge of the bar a as represented in elevation in Figure
portion of the same in Figure 5. In this modification the fork
back edge of the bar, is secured in its place by the cross rivet
Figure 5.
4
for embracing
and section of a
embracing the
as best seen in
Figure 6 represents in side elevation, partly in section, and Figure 7 a portion of
the same in cross section, another method of securing the separate upright or
bearing in the bar. In this modification the back of the upright is provided
with a cylindrical (or taper) peg f' for taking into a correspondingly shaped
hole in the back edge of the bar a, the said peg being secured in its place by the
cross pink taking partly into the bar and partly into the peg f³ as seen in the
sectional views.
Figure 8 represents in front elevation (partly in section) and end elevations of
the jaws, a wrench or spanner constructed according to my invention having
double jaws for unscrewing the caps of carriage wheels of different sizes and for
other like purposes, the movable jaws of the wrench being worked by a rotating
hollow tubular handle fluted externally.
T
Figure 9. represents a cross section of the wrench taken on the line A A

page_text: Figure 10 represents à longitudinal vertical section taken through the jaws, the
frame like shank of the fixed jaw and a portion of the rotating handle;
Figure 11 represents the upper end of the said shank of the fixed jaw;
Figures 12 and 13 represent the upper end of the handle and exhibits a method
of connecting the milled ring or nipple to the said handle.
The same letters of reference indicate the same parts in Figures 8 to 13.
7 is the rotating tubular handle of the wrench having at its upper end the screw
box in which the screw m² on the flat bar m of the movable jaw works and is
guided. The exterior of the said handle is cylindrical and fluted, preferably with
longitudinal equi-distant flutes or channels, of the kind represented but I do not
limit myself to that kind of flutes.
The longitudinal flutes may be used in conjunction with the cross flutes and millings
at . By the use of the longitudinal flutes alone or in conjunction with cross flutes and
millings the grip of the hand upon the metallic cylindrical handle is improved.
A. rod or lever may be introduced into a hole near the bottom of the handle for
rotating it when an extra pinch of the jaws is required to be put on the cap or
article being screwed or unscrewed. The two pairs of jaws of the wrench are marked
respectively, p and, p², the fixed jaws » and a being secured to the frame like
sbank 77 and the movable jaws, to the head of the middle bar m. The
gripping jaws p² ² at one side of the wrench are of a different size from the
gripping jaws p, at the opposite side of the wrench; the double wrench is thus
fitted to operate upon screwed articles of different sizes. The gripping jaws of
each pair are hollow or tubular and of a V or angular form internally as repre-
sented in the end elevations of Figure 8 for gripping and unscrewing the hexagonal
or other angular part of the caps of carriage wheels or other articles.
Instead of making the gripping faces of the hollow double jaws angular they
may be made semi-circular for gripping tubes and other cylindrical articles but the
angular gripping jaws may also be used for gripping cylindrical articles.
For the purpose of facilitating the turning of the wrench after its jaws have
gripped the cap or article to be screwed or unscrewed holes at p³, p³ are made in the
movable jaws p p for the insertion of hand levers or bars.
The frame like shank y of the fixed jaws n, n² is provided with lips q², which
overhang the edges of the bar m of the movable jaws p, p³ as best seen in the cross
section Figure 9. By means of the said overhanging parts or lips of the shank q
the guiding of the bar mis improved and the strength of the wrench increased as
the said bar m is supported on opposite sides of its longitudinal edges by the said
overhanging parts or lips of the shank. y. The shank of the fixed jaws is
composed of several pieces rivetted together, that is, the edges y, g and collar g
are made in one piece and the separate lip pieces q² ² and cross pieces 93, 9 are
rivetted to the said edges 7, as seen in Figure 9.
°
The pegs at the tops of the edges 7, of the shank are passed into holes in
the fixed jaws, n² and secured therein by screw pins 9", 7 but the lip shank may
be made in one piece by casting.~
"
The rotating handle is prevented from being withdrawn from the shank,
while capable of turning therein, by the milled ring or nipple working on the
inner side of the collar of the said shank. The ring is shrunk on the top of
the handle and the handle is securely fixed to it by expanding or flanging the end
of the handle into the V shaped annular space (see Figure 13) between the inner
side of the ring and the outside of the handle as seen in Figure 12. The ring ris
thereby effectually prevented from being detached from the top of the handle 7.
Figure 14 represents in side elevation a single jawed cap wrench or spanner
constructed according to my invention and Figure 15 represents an end elevation
of a portion of the same. In this wrench or spanner the handle 1, screw box 1,
screw m², and bar m carrying the movable hollow jaw p, angular internally are
constructed and act as hereinbefore described with respect to the double
wrench Figure 8, but the shank 7, 7 carrying the fixed hollow jaw n angular

page_text: internally, is made in one piece and is without the lips or overhanging parts
referred to in the said Figure 8 for strengthening the wrench.
In order to fit either the double wrench Figure 8 or the single wrench Figures 14
and 15 to cut tubes and the like, a cutter or cutters may be combined with one of
the fixed jaws and the gripping face of the upper jaw be properly recessed to
receive the tube to be cut. In Figures 14 and 15 I have represented a circular
cutter applied to the lower jaw n, the said cutter working in a slot made in the
lower jaw. The inner face of the upper jaw has a concavity or recess at
receiving the tube to be cut. The tube being placed between the two jaws it is
held in a vice or holder and the movable jaw p being adjusted the said tube is
gripped between the cutter and the concavity or recess in the upper jaw, the
said movable jaw having been adjusted sufficiently far to cause the cutter to
penetrate the tube.
for
The wrench is then rotated about the tube while the movable jaw is gradually
closed upon the fixed jaw. The tube is thereby cut or divided.
The hollow angular or semi-circular jaws may be combined with wrenches in
which the actuating screw is concealed or covered by the shank of the. fixed jaw
and also to wrenches having fixed handles.
P
The last described modification applied to a wrench having double jaws is
represented in front elevation in Figure 16 and side elevation in Figure 17 where w
is the fixed handle to which the screw is affixed the said screw carrying at its
end the fixed jaws and p²; and n² are the movable jaws sliding on the said
screw a and actuated by the rotating screw box y working on the said screw the
movable jaws being carried backwards and forwards on the rotation of the screw
boxy by the arm n³ on them engaging in the annular depression n' in the said
screw box y.
Figure 18 represents in elevation a screw wrench or spanner the jaws of which
have ordinary flat gripping faces, to which wrench my improvements are applied ;
Figure 19 represents a cross section of the same; and
Figures 20 and 21 represent methods of connecting the rings to the head of the
rotating hollow handle.
In this arrangement the lip edged shank q 2 of the fixed jaw m (in which
shank the bar m of the movable jaw m works) together with the fixed jaw m' and
collar are made in one piece. The fluted handle is secured in its place in the
shank by means of the ring which is shrunk on the top of the handle and the
said handle expanded into an annular recess in the inside of the said ring as
described with respect to the wrench represented in Figures 12 and 13. Or the
arrangement represented in Figure 21 may be employed in place of that repre-
sented in Figure 20. In the arrangement represented in Figure 21 the ring
shrunk on the top of the handle 1 and by means of a milling tool the part of the
handle above the ring is milled at 2 over the top edge of the ring as represented
and the handle is thereby prevented from being withdrawn from the shank 7 of the
fixed jaw.
is
Figure 22 represents in elevation, a wrench of the same kind as that represented
in Figure 18 but the overhanging or lip shank of the fixed jaw is made in several
parts;
Figures 23, 24 and 25 represent the parts of which the shank of the fixed
jaw is made. The shank of the fixed jaw consists of the side pieces q, q² having
the sectional figure represented in Figure 24, and provided with pegs q, q' at top
and pegs 7, 9 at bottom. The upper pegs are fitted in and fixed to the jaw m
and the lower pegs are fitted in and fixed to the separate collar of. The acting
faces of the jaws may be steeled in the ordinary way or the said faces may be
steeled by thin plates of steel fixed thereon, preferably by dovetailing.
Figure 26 represents in elevation a wrench of the kind last described but having
only half a lip shank, that, is a shank on one side only of the wrench;
Figure 27 represents a longitudinal vertical section of a portion of the same and
Figure 28 a cross section of the same.

page_text: bar
In this wrench the lip pieces 72, 72 are made separate from and rivetted to the
which is made in one piece with the collar q¹.
The fixed jaw m is secured to the top of the bar by the rivet represented and
the edge of the flat bar m of the movable jaw m engages and works between the
lip pieces q², on one side of the wrench in the manner seen in Figure 28.
:-
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my invention
and the manner in which the same is to be performed I declare that I claim
as my invention of "Improvements in adjustable screw wrenches or spanners" -
First Supporting the adjusting screw of the movable jaw of those kinds of
wrenches or spanners in which the said screw is situated at the back edge of the
bar of the wrench by means of a separate bearing or upright made and fixed to
the back edge of the bar in the several ways hereinbefore described and illustrated
in Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 of the accompanying drawings.
Secondly Constructing the jaws of single and double wrenches or spammers
hollow or tubular and with their gripping faces either angular or semi-circular for
screwing and unscrewing the caps of carriage wheels, and, tubes and for other like
purposes substantially as hereinbefore described and illustrated in Figures 8, 14,
15, 16 and 17 of the accompanying drawings.
Thirdly The combination with adjustable wrenches or spanners in which the
movable jaw is worked by a rotating hollow handle of a lipped shank carrying the
fixed jaw in which shank the bar of the movable jaw slides, whether the said
lipped shank he made in one piece or in several pieces substantially as herein-
before described and illustrated in Figures 8, 9, 10, 11, 18, 19, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26,
27 and 28 of the accompanying drawings.
Fourthly The combination with wrenches or spanners of the kind referred to
in Claim 3 of a longitudinally fluted cylindrical handle for the purpose and sub-
stantially as hereinbefore described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings:
also fixing the ring or nipple on the head of the rotating handle to prevent its
withdrawal from the shank of the fixed jaw in the several ways hereinbefore
described and illustrated in Figures 12, 18, 20 and 21 of the accompanying
drawings.
Dated the 19th day of September 1891.
JOSEPH ASBURY.