Adjustable wrench

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6568301
  • Patent Number
    6,568,301
  • Date Filed
    Friday, October 5, 2001
    23 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, May 27, 2003
    21 years ago
  • Inventors
  • Examiners
    • Smith; James G.
    Agents
    • Rosenberg, Klein & Lee
Abstract
An adjustable wrench including a main body, a slide block, a movable jaw and a handle. The main body is formed with a hollow section in which the slide block is transversely slidably disposed. An adjustment bolt is pivotally disposed on the slide block and engaged with the movable jaw. One side of the slide block adjacent to the handle is formed with a dented section. The handle has at least one stop member corresponding to the dented section for abutting against the slide block. When the handle is wrenched, the stop member abuts against and locate the slide block so as to fix the movable jaw. At this time, the fixed jaw and movable jaw can clamp and wrench a work piece. When the handle is wrenched in reverse direction, the stop member is disengage from the slide block, whereby the slide block and the movable jaw are pushed open by the work piece and idle. Accordingly, the adjustable wrench can one-way wrench the work piece.
Description




BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION




The present invention is related to an adjustable wrench which has simple structure and can truly one-way wrench a work piece.





FIGS. 6 and 7

show a conventional adjustable wrench


8


having a main body


81


. A fixed jaw


82


extends from one side of the main body


81


, while a handle


83


is pivotally connected with the other end of the main body


81


. A movable jaw


84


is slidably disposed in a slide slot


811


of the main body


81


. The movable jaw


84


has a push block


841


protruding out from the main body


81


. A driving section


831


is formed at front end of the handle


83


in the main body


81


. The driving section


831


abuts against a slide block


85


having a toothed section


851


. The driving section


831


serves to drive the slide block


85


to make the toothed section


851


thereof disengage from or engage with a toothed section


842


of the movable jaw


84


. When the handle


83


is clockwise wrenched to drive the slide block


85


to engage with the movable jaw


84


, the fixed jaw


82


and the movable jaw


84


can cooperatively clamp and wrench a work piece


9


such as a bolt or a nut. When the handle


83


is counterclockwise wrenched, the slide block


85


is moved away from the movable jaw


84


. Therefore, when the main body


81


is driven by the handle


83


, the movable jaw


84


is pushed open by the work piece


9


and idles. Accordingly, when reciprocally turned, the adjustable wrench


8


can only one-way wrench the work piece


9


.




The above structure is relatively complicated and is hard to manufacture. Moreover, when reciprocally turning the adjustable wrench


8


, the toothed section


851


of the slide block


85


will frequently reciprocally move to engage with or disengage from the toothed section


842


of the movable jaw


84


. As a result, the toothed section


851


of the slide block


85


and the toothed section


842


of the movable jaw


84


are subject to wear after a period of use. Such toothed sections can hardly further truly engage with each other. This will make the movable jaw


84


unable to firmly clamp a work piece


9


.




SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION




It is therefore a primary object of the present invention to provide an adjustable wrench in which the main body is formed with a hollow section. A slide block is transversely slidably disposed in the hollow section. An adjustment bolt is pivotally disposed on the slide block and engaged with the movable jaw. One side of the slide block adjacent to the handle is formed with a dented section. The handle has at least one stop member corresponding to the dented section for abutting against the slide block. When the handle is wrenched, the stop member abuts against and locate the slide block so as to fix the movable jaw. At this time, the fixed jaw and movable jaw can clamp and wrench a work piece. When the handle is wrenched in reverse direction, the stop member is disengage from the slide block, whereby the slide block and the movable jaw are pushed open by the work piece and idle. Accordingly, the adjustable wrench is durable and can one-way wrench the work piece.




The present invention can be best understood through the following description and accompanying drawings wherein:











BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS





FIG. 1

is a perspective assembled view of the present invention;





FIG. 2

is a perspective exploded view of the present invention;





FIG. 3

is a sectional assembled view of the present invention;





FIG. 4

shows the use of the present invention in one state;





FIG. 5

shows the use of the present invention in another state;





FIG. 6

shows a conventional adjustable wrench; and





FIG. 7

shows the operation of the conventional adjustable wrench.











DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT




Please refer to

FIGS. 1

to


3


. The adjustable wrench of the present invention includes a main body


1


, a slide block


2


slidably mounted in the main body


1


, a movable jaw


3


partially and slidably received in the main body and a handle


4


attached to the main body


1


. The main body


1


has a fixed jaw


11


projecting therefrom and corresponding to the movable jaw


3


. A slide channel


12


is defined in a top section of the main body


1


and the movable jaw


3


is partially slidably disposed in the slide channel


12


. The movable jaw


3


has a rail


31


slidably received in the slide channel


12


. One end of the main body


1


opposite to the fixed jaw


11


is pivotally connected with the handle


4


. A hollow section


13


is defined in and extends through the main body


1


. The slide block


2


is mounted in the hollow section


13


. The handle


4


has two panels


401


,


402


connected with a top and a bottom faces of the handle


4


for clamping the main body


1


.




A pin member


25


extends through the slide block


2


to assemble the slide block


2


with the main body


1


in the hollow section


13


, whereby the slide block


2


can be transversely slid within the hollow section


13


. An adjustment bolt


21


is pivotally connected with the slide block


2


. The movable jaw


3


has a toothed section


32


engaged with the adjustment bolt


21


. By means of turning the adjustment bolt


21


, the position of the movable jaw


3


can be changed. One side of the slide block


2


opposite to the adjustment bolt


21


is formed with a dented section


22


. The handle


4


has a first stop member


41


and a second stop member


42


extending therethrough and corresponding to the dented section


22


. A first spring


24


is positioned between the second stop member


42


and a lateral wall


131


of the hollow section


13


. The first spring


24


serves to resiliently push the second stop member


42


, making the first stop member


41


abut against a bottom of the dented section


22


of the slide block


2


. A second spring


23


is positioned between the slide block


2


and the lateral wall


131


of the hollow section


13


. The first and second springs


24


,


23


resiliently push and locate the slide block


2


. The first and second stop members


41


,


42


are rotatable about the pivot member


43


of the handle


4


and the main body


1


. The hollow section


13


has an engaging notch


132


defined in a bottom of the hollow section


13


and corresponding to the first stop member


41


in home position. The first stop member


41


is inlaid in the engaging notch


132


to locate the slide block


2


.




Referring to

FIG. 4

, in use, the fixed jaw


11


and the movable jaw


3


clamp a work piece


5


, when a user clockwise wrenches the handle, the first stop member


41


is rotated about the pivot member


43


to abut against the dented section


22


of the slide block


2


and push the slide block


2


in a direction to the fixed jaw


11


. By means of the adjustment bolt


21


, the movable jaw


3


is forced to clamp the work piece


5


. Then, the work piece


5


can be clockwise wrenched. Referring to

FIG. 5

, when the user counterclockwise wrenches the handle


4


, the first stop member


41


is counterclockwise rotated about the pivot member


43


and disengage from the dented section


22


of the slide block


2


. Under such circumstance, the slide block


2


and the movable jaw


3


are in a free state. At this time, the work piece


5


will push away the movable jaw


3


and idle. Accordingly, when reciprocally turned, the adjustable wrench can one-way wrench the work piece S.




The first stop member


41


abuts against and forces the slide block


2


to make the movable jaw


3


and the fixed jaw


11


clamp the work piece


5


. Therefore, the problem of failing to truly clamp the work piece caused by the wear of toothed sections is eliminated.




The above embodiment is only used to illustrate the present invention, not intended to limit the scope thereof. Many modifications of the above embodiment can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.



Claims
  • 1. An adjustable wrench comprising a main body, a slide block slidably mounted in the main body, a movable jaw partially and slidably received in the main body and a handle pivotally attached to the main body by a pivot member, the main body having a fixed jaw projecting therefrom and corresponding to the movable jaw, a slide channel defined in a top section of the main body and the movable jaw partially slidably disposed in the slide channel, one end of the main body opposite to the fixed jaw being pivotally connected with the handle, a hollow section defined in and extending through the main body, the slide block mounted in the hollow section, said adjustable wrench being characterized in that the slide block is only transversely slid within the hollow section, an adjustment bolt pivotally connected with the slide block, the movable jaw having a toothed section engaged with the adjustment bolt, by means of turning the adjustment bolt, the position of the movable jaw being changeable, one side of the slide block opposite to the adjustment bolt being formed with a dented section, the handle having a stop member extending therethrough and corresponding to the dented section for abutting against the slide block, a first resilient member being positioned between the stop member and a lateral wall the hollow section, the first resilient member serving to resiliently push the stop member to push the slide block to move in a direction toward the fixed jaw.
  • 2. The adjustable wrench as claimed in claim 1, wherein the stop member is rotatable about the pivot member of the handle and the main body, the hollow section having an engaging notch defined in bottom of the hollow section and corresponding to the stop member in home position, whereby the stop member is inlaid in the engaging notch to locate the slide block.
  • 3. The adjustable wrench as claimed in claim 1 further comprising a second resilient member positioned between the slide block and the lateral wall of the hollow section distal from the fixed jaw for resiliently pushing and locating the slide block.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a Continuation-In-Part Application of Ser. No. 09/667,627, filed Sep. 22, 2000, and entitled “ADJUSTABLE WRENCH” now U.S. Pat. No. 6,336,384.

US Referenced Citations (7)
Number Name Date Kind
1490903 Anderson Apr 1924 A
2562060 Pehrsson Jul 1951 A
2733626 Mesojedec Feb 1956 A
3349654 Nordgren Oct 1967 A
5297459 Stojanowski Mar 1994 A
5941142 Janson Aug 1999 A
6336384 Huang Jan 2002 B1
Continuation in Parts (1)
Number Date Country
Parent 09/667627 Sep 2000 US
Child 09/970863 US