Not applicable.
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Not applicable.
(1) Field of the Invention
This description is directed toward sockets used in ratchet wrenches for tightening nuts and bolts. In particular, it is directed toward convenient methods to vary the size of the socket in order to adjust a variety of nut/bolt sizes without changing the tool.
(2) Description of Related Art
Others have designed variable sized tools that are adjustable for varying nut sizes. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,339,439 is an example of a varying socket that requires the user to maintain downward pressure to work. This can be an inconvenience when tightening or loosening a nut. Though this method is simple, its usefulness is limited due to the fact that downward pressure is required for it to work correctly.
Another example is U.S. Pat. No. 4,022,086 where the adjustable socket is a pivoting opening between two members that pivot about a pin. Another member adjusts the opening and torque is transferred through keys. Where this provides important flexibility, the length required does not fit well within needs of common socket parts and requires a lot of overhead distance.
Another example is U.S. Pat. No. 4,366,732 which is another gripping jaw design. Axial force onto the pressure is not needed to make the gripping force maintained. However, the resulting method requires a lot of complicated and intricately made parts.
Other existing adjustable socket patents are designs where movable sides are wedged into position so as to be able to apply torque to different sized nuts.
The present design uses a weave of cables to position six arms which are used to torque a nut. The nut is gripped on the flat sides and not at the corners. This prevents rounding at the corners and allows for higher torque applications.
The design also allows for a quick and easy adjustment of the size setting. The adjustable socket operates in two different modes: size adjustment and operational. When the top assembly of the socket is separated from the bottom assembly, it is in size adjustment mode. In the adjustment mode, the top and the bottom portions of the socket body are twisted relative to each other and the arms can be moved in and out to accommodate different nut sizes. When the top and bottom assemblies of the socket are pushed back together, it is in operational mode and the socket is used as a traditional fixed sized socket.
The features of the preferred embodiment of the adjustable socket are useful for attaching to the end of a ratchet wrench, and its useful extensions as needed, to fit over a nut or bolt head. The embodiment discloses the use of six arms, which is useful for a hex nut, although this is not a strict requirement and four arms could equally be used for a square nut. A square nut would only require re-working the geometry of the arm carrier from a hexagonal to a square so as to accommodate a square nut.
The preferred embodiment is designed to simplify the process of changing sizes between nuts. To change sizes, the adjustable socket is designed to separate into two parts. They are pulled apart and twisted relative to each other. This tightens or loosens the cable weave around the arms causing the arms to move toward or away from each other. Then the two adjustable socket parts are then pushed back together to lock the arms at the new position (i.e. new nut size). A trial and error approach can be used to get the nut size exactly right or bolt size markings may be imprinted on the outside of the adjustable socket (see
To aid the reader, the following labels in the figures are identified as follows:
In
In
In
In
In an assembly, the socket top 100 is upside down as shown in
A carrier 200 used to hold the inner parts in place and also to allow axial movement of the two parts of the socket when the socket top is pulled up or pushed down. Moving the socket top up or down is the method of adjusting the socket for the bolt size.
A tube 201 slides over the center post 102 of the socket top 100 (not shown in
In
It is important to place the stop 505 next to the upper stops 305 in the correct location during the assembly as shown in
The cable guide plate 600 is shown in
The position of the screw hole locations 506 are keyed such that the socket bottom will only fit in the correct orientation.
In
On the outside of each arm 801, there are two cable guide grooves 802, 803. They are machined in a groove as a semicircular tube shape and they make an ‘x’ shape between the top and the bottom guides as shown in
Assembled arms are shown in
A spring plate 1101 (shown in
Once the spring plate 1101 is in place, the locking ring 901 (
At the bottom of the rod 102 a stop plate 1001 (
Looking at the wire from the top of the socket, the wires from the bottom gear plate 502 run clockwise from the attachment point 504 to cable termination point 804 and the wires from the top gear plate 301 run counter clockwise from the attachment point 304 to cable termination point 804.
All the wires terminate at the bottom of a cable termination point 804 on the movable arm. From there, it is routed through the lower cable guide 803 of the arm next to it and then through the upper cable guide 802 of the arm next to it in a continuing direction.
The bottom gear plate wires 503 are terminated at an attachment point 504 as illustrated. The top gear plate wires 302 are first routed through cable slots 601 in the cable guide plate 600 and are terminated at the attachment point 304.
After wires are weaved into place, cable guide covers 806, 807 are screwed in place and the final termination of the wires 302, 503 are carried out at the cable termination point 804. Again the type of termination would depend upon the type wire being used. The termination would be similar to the termination 304, 504 except that the termination would be parallel to the surface running horizontally. A variation in design would combine both guide covers 806, 807 as a single piece. Another variation would combine both guide covers 806, 807, and the termination crimping cover for (if crimping is used as the termination method) as a single unit. (See
The weaving of the wire is performed when the arms are opened to the maximum amount and the gear plates are at the stop location in the proper position. The maximum outward movement of the arm is controlled by the shape of the arm carrier 810 overhang. It is expected the bottom sides of the arms will be nearly perpendicular when the socket is at the maximum sized position.
From the stopped position, as the top and the bottom of the socket is rotated relative to each other, the cables will cause the weave to tighten the arms, draw them closer together, and pull the arms toward each other to form a smaller opening for smaller size nut/bolts. When the top and the bottom are rotated in the opposite direction, the cable weave will loosen and push out the arms to accommodate larger size nut/bolts. The spring plate 1101 will aid in extending the arms outward by providing outward force against the arms.
In this position, a torque applied from a socket wrench through the rectangular opening 101 will be transferred to the gear plates 301, 502 which in turn pulls on the set of wires 302, or 503. The wires in turn will pull against the cable termination point 804 and at the same time keep the arms in place. The end result is that when torque is applied to the rectangular opening 101, the arms will apply torque to the bolt/nut.
To adjust to a different size nut/bolt, the top of the socket top 100 is pulled up to release the bottom gear plate 502 from the inside gear ring to the open area 107. The separated parts of the socket assembly are then twisted relative to each other to adjust the movable arm 814a-f position so they touch the middle of each face of a nut/bolt 1201 as shown in
At the top of
While various embodiments of the present invention have been described, the invention may be modified and adapted to various operational methods to those skilled in the art. Therefore, this invention is not limited to the description and figure shown herein, and includes all such embodiments, changes, and modifications that are encompassed by the scope of the claims.