Patent ID: 7722054

Claim:
A chuck for use with 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 tail section being configured to rotate with the drive shaft of the driver and 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; c. 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; d. a nut retainer member including a first portion and a second portion, said first portion being fixed to said body and said second portion being configured to engage said nut; e. a plurality of recesses, and f. at least one deflectable pawl biased toward and continuously engaging said plurality of recesses, wherein one of said plurality of recesses and said at least one deflectable pawl travel with said nut, and the other of said plurality of recesses and said at least one deflectable pawl travels: with said body when said chuck is in a first state in which said jaws are clamped on a shank of a tool thereby causing an audible click, and with said one of said plurality of recesses and said at least one deflectable pawl when said chuck is in a second state.