Patent ID: 7527273

Claim:
A chuck for releasably attaching a tool with a shank to 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 receive the drive shaft and said nose section having an axial bore formed therein and a plurality of passageways formed therethrough and intersecting said axial bore; a plurality of jaws movably disposed in said passageways; a generally cylindrical sleeve rotatably mounted about said body; a nut rotatably mounted about said body and in operative communication with said jaws so that rotation of said nut in a closing direction moves said jaws toward an axis of said axial bore and rotation of said nut in an opening direction moves said jaws away from said axis; a first ring adjacent said nut, a second ring adjacent said body, wherein said second ring defines a ratchet, wherein said first ring is rotationally fixed to said nut and defines a deflectable first pawl biased away from said ratchet and wherein said ratchet and said first pawl are configured so that when said first pawl engages said ratchet, said ratchet and first pawl permit said first ring to rotate in said closing direction with respect to said second ring but prevent said first ring from rotating in said opening direction with respect to said second ring; and a third ring, wherein said third ring includes a second deflectable pawl, wherein said second pawl is biased toward an inner circumferential surface of said sleeve and wherein said inner circumferential surface defines at least two recesses disposed with respect to said third ring, wherein said sleeve is in operative communication with said nut so that said sleeve rotationally drives said nut through said second ring but is rotatable with respect to said nut between a first rotational position and a second rotational position, wherein said sleeve defines a cam surface disposed with respect to said first pawl so that said cam surface engages said first pawl with said ratchet when said sleeve is in said second position with respect to said nut and releases said first pawl to disengage said ratchet when said sleeve is in said first position with respect to said nut, and wherein said second pawl is received by a first said recess when said sleeve is in said first position and so that said second pawl is received by a second said recess when said sleeve is in said second position.