Patent ID: 8191902

Claim:
A chuck for securing a tool with a shank to a manual or powered driver having a drive shaft, said chuck comprising: a. a generally cylindrical body having a nose section and a tail section, said nose section having an axial bore formed therein; b. a plurality of jaws movably disposed with respect to said body in communication with said axial bore, said jaws defining a tool engaging surface on one side thereof and a first plurality of threads on an opposite side; c. a nut rotationally mounted on said body and defining a plurality of threads on an inner circumference thereof, said nut being in threaded engagement with said jaws such that rotation of said nut causes said jaws to move with respect to said body; d. a generally cylindrical sleeve rotatably mounted about said body and in driving engagement with said nut so that rotation of said sleeve in a closing direction moves said jaws toward said axial bore and rotation of said sleeve in an opening direction moves said jaws away from said axial bore; e. a first ring defining a plurality of teeth formed thereon; and f. a second ring that is rotatable relative to said nut over a limited arc and that defines at least one pawl thereon, said at least one pawl being biased toward said first ring of teeth so that, when said chuck is in a first state, said second ring is non-rotatable relative to said first ring in both said opening and closing directions, said first ring and said second ring being rotatable about said body, and when said chuck is in a second state in which said jaws clamp onto the shank of the tool, said second ring is rotatable relative to said first ring in said closing direction but is non-rotatable relative to said planar first ring in said opening direction.