Patent ID: 8029000

Claim:
A chuck for use with a manual or powered driver having a rotatable drive shaft, said chuck comprising: a generally cylindrical body having a nose section and a tail section, said tail section being configured to rotate with said drive shaft and said nose section having an axial bore formed therein; a plurality of jaws movably disposed with respect to said body and in communication with said axial bore; a nut rotatably mounted about said body and in operative communication with said jaws so that rotation of said nut in said closing direction moves said jaws toward a longitudinal center axis of said axial bore and rotation of said nut in said opening direction moves said jaws away from said longitudinal center axis; a first sleeve rotatably mounted to said body in operative communication with said jaws so that rotation of said first sleeve in said closing direction moves said jaws toward said longitudinal center axis of said axial bore and rotation of said first sleeve in said opening direction moves said jaws away from said longitudinal center axis; and a second sleeve rotatably mounted to said body and rotatably fixed to said nut, said second sleeve including a first portion and a second portion, each said first and second portions being movable in a direction transverse to said longitudinal center axis along a first radial axis and a second radial axis, respectively, wherein said first portion of said second sleeve moves radially outward along said first radial axis and said second portion of said second sleeve moves radially inward along said second radial axis when said chuck transitions from a first state in which said nut is rotatable about said body to a second state in which said nut is rotatably fixed to said body.