Patent ID: 8171765

Claim:
A manually operated tube bender for bending a workpiece such as a tube, pipe or rod, said manually operated tube bender comprising: a drive wheel with a generally circular shaped perimeter to define a central axis, said perimeter having a plurality of uniformly spaced ratchet teeth, each of said ratchet teeth having a predetermined length; a drive platform rotatably joined to said drive wheel by a central joint assembly aligned with said central axis of said drive wheel; said drive platform extending toward said perimeter of said drive wheel, and said tube bender including a bending die, a counter die and a hook die adapted to securely receive and grip the workpiece; a rocker arm pivotally joined to one of either said central joint assembly and said drive platform, said rocker arm extending toward said perimeter of said drive wheel and carrying a driver biased into engagement with one of said ratchet teeth of said drive wheel; a power drive assembly including a lever and a pull bar, said lever having a first section pivotally joined to said drive platform by a fulcrum, a second section that receives an elongated torque bar, and a midsection with at least first and second power control positions, said pull bar being set to one of either said first and second power control positions, said pull bar extending toward and being secured to said rocker arm, said first power control position being spaced a first incremental distance from said fulcrum, and said second power control position being spaced a second incremental distance from said fulcrum; and wherein said torque bar is stroked back and forth in a cyclical motion through a stroke cycle to bend the workpiece, said torque arm being stroked in one direction during each cycle with said driver in locked engagement with said one ratchet tooth to draw said rocker arm and drive wheel toward said drive platform to bend the workpiece an incremental amount, and said torque arm being stroked in an opposite direction during each cycle to advance said driver to another ratchet tooth, said driver being advanced one ratchet tooth each stroke cycle and the workpiece being bent a first incremental amount corresponding to one ratchet tooth each stroke cycle when said pull bar is set to said first power control position, and said driver being advanced two ratchet teeth each stroke cycle and the workpiece being bent a second larger incremental amount corresponding to two ratchet teeth each stroke cycle when said pull bar is set to said second power control position.