Patent Application
20060042424
This invention relates to a tool with adjustable jaws for installing and removing fasteners such as bolts and screws and, more particularly, to a tool with adjustable jaws that is in the form of a socket allowing significant tool integrity and in which tool jaw adjustment is facilitated.
Adjustable socket wrenches are, of course, well known in the trade. Le Duc U.S. Pat. No. 4,864,901, Carnesi U.S. Pat. No. 6,073,522, Roder U.S. Pat. No. 4,136,555, Kolari et al U.S. Pat. No. 4,967,625, McClure U.S. Pat. No. 5,375,489 and Voskanyan U.S. Pat. No. 6,662,689 teach such representative prior art. However, there are disadvantages inherent in such prior art sockets. The aforementioned le Duc, Carnesi, Roder, Kolari et al and Voskanyan references teach a non-integral housing or a housing of limited dimensions which housing fails to encompass the circumference of the fastener grasping jaws during operation. Thus, substantial torque transfer to the housing does not result which adversely affects tool integrity during operation. A further disadvantage of prior art is that jaw adjustment is tedious and play in the jaws occurs with the adjustment mechanisms there described. Yet a further disadvantage of the prior art is that the jaws move outside of the housing during operation. Changing the external shape of the tool may require more space. It is desirable to maintain the external dimensions of the socket under use because tool space may be at a premium.
According to one aspect of the invention, there is provided an adjustable tool used to grasp and loosen or tighten a fastener, said tool comprising a set of jaws, at least one of said jaws being movable on an axis transverse to said axis of said fastener to be tightened or loosened, said jaws defining an opening ranging between fully open and fully closed positions, said movable jaw being located within a housing adjacent to and surrounding the periphery of said jaw, said housing being an integral member and said movable jaw being movable by an adjustment mechanism, said movable jaw operably contacting said housing in a force transfer relationship during said fastener loosening or fastener tightening operation.
According to a further aspect of the invention, there is provided an adjustable tool having a set of jaws operable to grasp a fastener to be removed or installed, said tool having at least one movable jaw within said housing and mounted on a shaft radial to the axis of said fastener, said jaw being positioned within said housing, and an adjusting wheel accessible by a user and being connected to said shaft, said shaft having at least one groove formed therein and at least one ball within said groove which ball is rotatable within said groove.
According to yet a further aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of loosening or tightening a fastener using a set of adjustable jaws, at least one of said jaws being movable within a housing, said method comprising forming an opening between said jaws to operably allow the grasping of said fastener, applying a torque to said jaws to rotate said fastener and transferring a substantial portion of said torque from said jaws to said housing while loosening or tightening said fastener.
According to still yet a further aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of loosening or tightening a fastener using a set of adjustable jaws, at least one of said jaws being movable within a housing, said method comprising forming an opening between said jaws to operably allow the grasping of said fastener by rotating a shaft with a groove formed therein and a ball rotatable within said groove, said rotation of said shaft adjusting said opening of said jaws.
Specific embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with the use of drawings in which:
Referring now to the drawings, an adjustable tool or adjustable socket is generally illustrated at 100 in
The adjustable jaws 102 fit entirely within the housing 101 and have two radial holes 110 in their inner portion which holes 110 allow the adjustment shaft 104 to pass therethrough. Two further radial holes 111 (only one of which is illustrated in
The adjusting wheel 103 is mounted on the adjustment shaft 104 and is retained in position on adjustment shaft 104 by way of retaining pin 121.
Adjusting wheel 103 conveniently utilises a detent mechanism generally illustrated at 105 and which includes a plurality of recesses or indentations 122 machined around one of the circumferential faces of the adjusting wheel 103 and which further includes a ball 123, a spring 125 and a set screw 130. The recesses 122 serve as indexing positions to maintain the jaws 102 in predetermined positions as the adjusting wheel 103 is rotated.
Ball 123 is located in housing 101 and is inserted through a complementary hole 124. Spring 125 is positioned outside the ball 123 for providing an inwardly directed force on ball 123 and set screw 130 maintains the ball 123 and spring 125 in position within the housing 101. Ball 123 therefore rolls on the face of the adjusting wheel 103 between the recesses 122 and, when a recess or indentation 122 is reached, the ball 123 will fall partially into the recess 122 and therefore tend to maintain the adjusting wheel 103 and adjustment shaft 104 in their selected position.
Adjusting wheel 103 may conveniently also have grooves 131 about its circumference which grooves allow for easier manual rotation by the finger or hand of a user.
The housing 101 may conveniently include graduations 132 printed thereon as seen in
With reference to
The housing 101 and its assembled components are then again inverted back to their normal position and the balls 113 previously inserted into holes 142 will move under gravity into contact with the adjustment shaft 104. Adjustment shaft 104 is rotated by way of adjusting wheel 103 until the balls 113 enter the left and right hand grooves 112 respectively. The retaining pins 114 are each inserted into the jaws 102 by way of holes 120 and the balls 113 are then held in place in contact with the grooves 112 as best seen in
In the event the detent mechanism 105 is incorporated in the adjustable tool 100, ball 123 is inserted into hole 124 in housing 101 and is followed by the insertion of spring 125 and set screw 130 to hold the ball 123 and spring 125 in their operating position with ball 123 being forced against the facing surface of adjusting wheel 103. When the adjusting wheel 103 is rotated, the ball 123 will enter one of the various recesses 122 which serve an indexing function for the adjusting wheel 103 and jaws 102.
In operation following assembly, the jaws 102 are then adjusted by way of manual rotation of the adjusting wheel 103 to fit, for example, a bolt 134 shown in phantom in
When the bolt 134 is tightly grasped by the jaws 102, the adjustable tool 100 is rotated by the insertion of the square drive of a ratchet or force bar (not illustrated) into the female and complementary cavity 154 (
As the adjusting tool 100 is rotated under the influence of the ratchet or force bar, the flats 160 of the jaws 102 will contact with the inside surfaces 153 of the housing 101. This allows the torque acting on the jaws 102 during rotation of the fastener 134 to be transferred to the housing 101. This is useful since the integrity of the jaws 102 which are grasping the fastener 134 is maintained because of the lower forces absorbed by the jaws 102. It further allows an increased torque to be applied to the fastener 134 during fastener rotation. The use of the grooves 112 and balls 113 further allows for considerably less play between the jaws 102 as opposed to a screw with a helical flight formed around the screw.
Many modifications will readily occur to those skilled in the art to which the invention relates. For example, the ball detent mechanism described as comprising ball 123, spring 125 and set screw 130 may be simply deleted with the adjusting wheel 103 being rotated without the various detent positions. Alternatively, the detent mechanism can remain but the recesses 122 in the face of the adjusting wheel can be deleted. This might be useful, for example, where it is desired to make a finer adjustment for closing or opening the jaws 102 than would be provided by subsequent recesses 122. The adjustment shaft 104 and its associated hardware could likewise be replaced with alternative mechanisms for moving the jaws 102, such as a wedge type mechanism with a V-groove and a wedge for a follower and it is intended that the term “adjustment shaft” cover those additional mechanisms when used in association with the housing 101. A locking mechanism for the adjusting wheel 103 could be provided to securely hold the jaws 102 in position once the desired position of the jaws 102 is obtained. Further, the insertion of the balls 113 and the retaining pins 114 could take place in the jaws 102 a different manner from that described; that is, the balls 113 could be inserted into holes drilled in the bottom of the jaws 102 rather than in the top portion as is described. And an alignment mechanism for the jaws 102 additional to the adjustment shaft 104 could be provided such as a horizontal shaft which extends through the jaws 102 in a position separate from that of the axis of holes 110. This could likewise provide improved tool integrity during operation.
While the adjusting tool 100 is described in association with adjustable jaws 102 which grasp the outside of a fastener, it is apparent that the jaws 102 could instead grasp the inside of a cavity within the fastener. The jaws could then take the form, for example, of an adjustable allen wrench. Likewise, while the adjusting tool 100 is described as being separate from a ratchet or force bar 106, the latter being illustrated in
While it is contemplated that a pair of jaws are provided and that this pair moves simultaneously under the influence of the adjustment shaft 104 and adjusting wheel 103, it is clear that only one jaw might move while the adjustment process occurs with the remaining jaw being stationary. The stationary jaw could also be formed as part of the inside of the housing 101.
Many further modifications will readily occur to those skilled in the art to which the invention relates and the specific embodiments described herein should be taken as illustrative of the invention only and not as limiting its scope as defined in accordance with the accompanying claims.
