The invention relates generally to socket ratchet wrenches, and more particularly to socket ratchet wrenches and sockets of the type for receiving and allowing an externally threaded member to pass through the socket and wrench as a fastener threaded on the threaded member is torqued or driven with the socket and ratchet wrench.
Over the years various ratchet wrenches and sockets for use therewith have been developed for allowing an externally threaded member to pass through the socket and wrench as a fastener threaded on the threaded member is driven with the socket and ratchet wrench. By allowing the threaded member to pass through the socket and wrench, these wrenches eliminate the need for deep well sockets which are expensive and break more easily than shallow sockets. These wrenches are commonly referred to as “pass through” wrenches and two known wrenches of this type which are commercially available today are the Armstrong Eliminator wrench which is available from the Danaher Tool Group of Lancaster, Pa. and the O-Ratchet wrench which is available from Summit Tools of Denton, Tex. A wrench similar to the Eliminator wrench is generally described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,857,390 to Whiteford while a wrench similar to the O-Ratchet wrench is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,602,534.
While both of these wrenches work with varying degrees of success neither has been particularly successful in the marketplace because neither offers all the advantages of conventional sockets and ratchet wrenches which use the conventional square male drive to connect the socket to the wrench and drive the socket. The Eliminator and O-Ratchet wrenches seem to have particular difficulty in holding the socket on the wrench. They are also more complicated and more expensive to manufacture than conventional wrenches and sockets. Other “pass through” type wrenches found in a search of the patent literature include U.S. Pat. No. 5,626,062 to Colvin and U.S. Pat. No. 4,328,720 to Shiel as well as our own previously developed “pass through” ratchet wrench which is described in International application No. WO 98/49455.
The present invention addresses the deficiencies of the foregoing “pass through” type sockets and ratchet wrenches by providing a novel socket and ratchet wrench combination which utilizes an insertable socket and a toothed or detented wheel/gear in a fashion similar to some other pass through type wrenches but which transmits force to the socket through the front side of the wheel/gear as opposed to the wheel's center as described in more detail herein. This type of force transmission is sometimes referred to herein as being offset or “out of the hole” and it is advantageous in a pass through wrench because it enables the provision of a larger diameter hole through the wrench's wheel/gear which allows the wheel/gear to pass larger diameter bolts, thereby increasing the through hole capacity of the wrench/socket combination.
In general, the novel socket of the socket and wrench combination of the present invention has a fastener receiving end defining a drive socket cavity for engagingly receiving a fastener to be driven and an oppositely facing insertable end defining a through hole passageway in communication with said drive socket cavity for receiving and allowing an externally threaded member to pass through the socket as the fastener is driven on the threaded member with the novel ratchet wrench of the present invention. The socket is also provided with a first drive member on its exterior surface which is preferably provided in the form of a lug that extends partially around the circumference of the socket's mid-section and which enables the socket to be driven by the wrench of the present invention as described in detail below.
The unique ratchet wrench of the present invention includes a ratchet wheel/gear having a front side and a back side with a detented/toothed rim located between the wheel/gear's front side and back side. The wheel/gear defines a through hole which is axially aligned about the rotational axis of the wheel/gear for receiving the insertable end of the wrench socket through the front side of the wheel/gear. The wheel/gear's through hole extends through the ratchet wheel/gear from the wheel/gear's front side to and through its back side to allow an externally threaded member to pass through the socket's through hole passageway as a fastener is driven on the threaded member with said ratchet wrench and socket. The ratchet wheel/gear further defines a second drive member, preferably a notch, in the wheel/gear's front side for engaging the socket's first drive member, preferably the aforementioned lug, to enable the socket to be driven with the wrench.
The ratchet wrench also includes a pawl and a wrench body which receives the ratchet wheel/gear for rotation relative to each other. The wrench body also receives the pawl for (1) engaging the detented/toothed rim of the ratchet wheel/gear when the wrench body is rotated in a first direction relative to the ratchet wheel/gear to prevent the wrench body and the ratchet wheel/gear from rotating relative to each other and for (2) releasing the detented/toothed rim of the wheel/gear to permit the wrench body and the ratchet wheel/gear to rotate relative to each other when the wrench body is rotated in a second direction opposite the first direction.
In addition, the wheel/gears's through hole and the insertable end of the socket are preferably cylindrical since a cylindrical shape enables the inside diameter of the socket's through hole passageway to be as large as possible which means the socket and wrench of the present invention can pass bolts having larger diameter threaded shafts than wrenches having non-cylindrical insertable ends such as those of the aforementioned Colvin and Shiel patents which have hex-shaped insertable ends.
Also, in all preferred embodiments, the insertable end of the socket is sized to fit closely in the through hole of the wheel/gear. This limits wobbling of the socket when it is inserted in the wrench.
In addition, in the preferred embodiment which utilizes a lug and notch as discussed above, the notch opens into the through hole on the front side of the wheel/gear and indeed must do so to receive the drive lug of the socket.
Finally, the present invention includes a socket retention means, preferably a snap ring or a permanent magnet, for releasably holding or retaining the socket in the wrench after it has been fully inserted in the through hole of the wrench's wheel/gear, i.e. when the socket's first drive member, preferably the above mentioned lug, is engaging the wheel/gear's second drive member which is preferably the notch as mentioned above. As part of the socket retention system, the socket is preferably provided with a predetermined length so that when it is fully inserted into the through hole of the wrench, its bottom edge (i.e. the bottom edge of the insertable end of the socket) extends beyond the back side of the wheel/gear or the exterior surface of the wrench head. This enables the socket's bottom edge to be easily pushed by a user of the wrench, preferably pressed against with one's thumb, to release of the socket from its retention means, preferably the aforementioned snap ring or magnet, thereby facilitating the socket's easy removal from the wheel/gear.
One significant advantage of this socket retention system is that it makes socket removal so easy that the system can be designed to require the application of as much as 8 lbs of force or more for socket removal. This is a lot of force for socket removal which typically only requires the application of about 4 pounds of force. However, 8 pounds or more of force for socket removal is desirable since it virtually eliminates the need for any type of system for locking the socket to the wrench. Locking systems are undesirable since they add complexity, cost and take up valuable space in the wrench head.
The foregoing socket retention system of the present invention is preferably used in conjunction with the “out of the hole” type drive system of the present invention as described above. However, it may be utilized on more conventional hex drive systems as well as the spline drive system of the Eliminator ratchet wrench described above and its use on such other systems is considered to be within the scope of the present invention.
In addition to the foregoing socket and wrench combination, the present invention provides novel sockets, a novel socket set, socket extensions and methods of inserting and removing a socket from the wrench.
The invention will be more readily understood by reference to the accompanying drawings wherein like reference numerals indicate like elements, and wherein reference numerals sharing the same last two digits of the embodiments of
a is a perspective view showing the position of the snap ring of
As mentioned, socket 12 is insertable in wrench 10 and that portion of the socket which is inserted in wrench 10 is referred to herein and identified in the drawings as insertable end 28 of the socket which as shown and as described in more detail below is inserted into a cut-out or through hole 30 extending through the wheel of the wrench. The insertable end of socket 12 as best shown in
It will also be appreciated that the insertable end 28 of socket 12 defines a through hole passageway 34 which is axially aligned about the socket's rotational axis A as shown in
Turning now to
As is also conventional and found in the above mentioned wrenches, switch 40 includes a piece 42 which slidably receives switch 40 and which presses against either pawl 38a or 38b depending upon which position switch 40 is in. Pawls 38 are also spring loaded with conventional springs 44 as is also known to those skilled in the art and found in the aforementioned wrenches. Finally and as is also conventional, wrench 10 includes a pair of screws 46 which are inserted through bores 48 of the wrench's body 50 and which thread into threaded bores 52 of wrench's cap 54 to hold the aforementioned components of the wrench together.
Returning to wheel or gear 26, as shown in
Wheel 26 also includes a ring-like section or collar 58 on the front side 56 of the wheel. Collar 58 serves as an axle for the wheel in that it provides an axle like member for the wheel which rotates within hole 97 defined by the sidewall 96 of the wrench's cap 54. Wheel 26 also has an integral cylindrical rear axle 75 on its back side 74 which similar to collar 58 provides an axle like member for the wheel which rotates within hole 51 defined by the sidewall 53 of the wrench body 50.
Returning to collar 58, it will be appreciated that in addition to serving as the wheel's axle, collar 58 also defines the entrance of through hole 30 as well as that of aforementioned drive notches 24 which open into through hole 30 so that they can receive lugs 22a, b when the socket is inserted into the through hole. Collar 58 is preferably integral with the wheel but offset in the sense that it is located to the side of teeth 36 or as discussed in the claims appended hereto along a different axial segment of the wheel's axis of rotation than that in which teeth 36 are located or the force receiving section of the wheel is located. Generally, the force receiving section of the wheel and the teeth would be the same. However, they could be slightly different and the teeth could cover a larger axial segment of the wheel than the force receiving section of the wheel which, as defined herein only includes that section of the teeth or wheel which actually makes direct engaging or driving contact with the pawls.
Similarly, the term “force transmitting section” is sometimes used herein, particularly in the claims appended hereto and as used herein it includes those sections or areas of notches 24 such as sidewalls or edges 60 (See
The term “offset” is also sometimes used herein in connection with the location of the notches or force transmitting section and as so used it refers to the fact that while the notches extend into the wheel through its front side, they are nonetheless located on one side, the front side, of the wheel, specifically to the side of the an imaginary plane (not shown) passing through the center of the force receiving section (or teeth) of the wheel which is transverse to the axis of the wheel.
The offset positioning of the notches or force transmitting section of wheel 26 is advantageous in a pass through wrench (also sometimes referred to herein as a through hole wrench) because it facilitates driving of the socket outside of hole 30, i.e. not in hole 30 of the wheel, as is the case with the through hole wrench disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,626,062 to Colvin. It is desirable in a through hole wrench to be able to drive out of the hole because it enables the wall 33 (see
It has been determined and it will be appreciated that in order to drive “out of the hole” as discussed above the maximum radius of hole 30 of the wheel should and would normally be less than the maximum distance the lugs 22 extend from the socket's axis of rotation. The radius of hole 30 is identified in
Returning now to notches 24 and lugs 22, as best shown in
Turning now to the means for holding or retaining socket 12 in wheel 26, as best shown in
The snap ring is capable of receiving the socket and its lugs 22a, b even through its inside diameter is less than the distance of 2× between the lugs because split 66 of the snap ring allows the snap ring to expand when the socket's lugs 22a, b are pushed into the ring as the socket is inserted into hole 30 of the wheel. After insertion, the snap ring holds the socket in hole 30 by its lug 22a, b because it elastically contracts and attempts to return to its original diameter as soon as the snap ring is received in the lugs' grooves 68. The snap ring elastically contracts, actually attempts to snap back to its original diameter, and thereby snappingly receives the socket because the snap ring is preferably made from a spring steel which provides it with the discussed elasticity.
Finally and as will be appreciated from
It has been discovered that the pushing of the two lugs into the snap ring takes much less force than pushing a cylindrical member such as the socket disclosed in Colvin in which a cylindrical end portion of the having an annular groove is pushed through the snap ring until the ring seats in the groove. The need for less force for insertion of the socket of the present invention is believed to be attributable to the fact that each lug of socket 12 extends in it elongate direction only about 45 degrees around the periphery or circumference of the socket. The fact that the lugs are positioned on opposite sides of the socket, i.e. 180 degrees from each other, may also facilitate insertion and removal as well. In any event, this sizing and positioning of the lugs is believed to cause the snap ring to actually contract in the area located halfway between the lugs even though the snap ring expands in the in the area where the lugs enter the ring.
In contrast, when the aforementioned socket of Colvin is pushed into its snap or retaining ring every other sixty degree section of the end portion of the socket must be pushed through the snap ring. Since this requires expansion of almost all 360 degrees of the snap ring, i.e. the entire circumference of the snap ring, it is clear that it would take much more force to insert a Colvin socket than the lug type sockets of wrench 10 if the snap rings employed in the two systems were of the same thickness or gauge. Therefore, a system such as Colvin's must use thin snap rings since thick snap rings such as those preferably employed in wrench 10 would be nearly impossible for an individual to expand if used in a Colvin style wrench.
While this may not at first glance appear to present a problem, thinner snap rings in actuality lack several advantages possessed by thicker snap rings. One, thinner snap rings do not have the springing or snapping action of thicker snap rings and therefore will not pop the socket out of the wrench's wheel or head as such is discussed above in connection with the thicker snap rings of wrench 10. Two, thinner snap rings are more likely to break or wear out than thicker snap rings. Three, thinner snap rings are more likely to be pushed or moved out of their operative position and therefore would require more maintenance. Four, sockets held by thin snap rings are believed to be much more likely to fall out of the wrench head than those held by thicker stronger snap rings. In the preferred embodiment of the present invention wherein the snap ring has an inside diameter of about one inch, the diameter of the ring of the snap ring is preferably greater than about 0.050 inches and optimally about 0.085 inches.
In addition, ease of socket insertion and removal is believed to be facilitated by the internal mounting of the snap ring 64 on the collar's outer cylindrical surface 62. Internal mounting, i.e. mounting of the snap ring on its inside surface, is believed to facilitate insertion and removal because the ring is free to expand outwardly when the socket's lugs are pushed into the ring. In contrast, all known wrenches using snap or retainer-like rings to hold the socket in the wrench mount the ring externally, i.e. on its outside surface, (usually in a groove in the wall of a hole such as hole 30) which may restrain, limit or even prevent outward expansion of the ring, thereby making it more difficult and require more force to insert and remove the socket. While it may appear from the drawings that snap ring 66 is mounted in the sidewall 96 of cap 54 defining hole 97 of the cap, it is actually mounted under cap 54 between the cap's underside surface 98 and surface 99 of the front side 56 of the wheel (See
In view of the foregoing, it will be appreciated that wrench 10 and socket 12 are not only “through hole”, (i.e. capable of passing the threaded shaft 18 of bolt 20 onto which nut 14 is being threaded as such is shown in
To remove the socket from the wrench, one merely pushes against the bottom edge 32 of the socket (which as mentioned above projects a short distance beyond the back side 74 of the wheel) until the socket's lugs snap out of the snap ring, i.e. the snap ring snaps out of or pops out of the lugs' grooves 68. Again, if the snap ring is strong enough, i.e. has enough elastic springing action, the socket will actually snap or pop out of the hole or at least pop out of its engaged position in which the lugs are located between the snap ring and the bottom of the notch. At this point, the socket is released from the snap ring and if the socket is still in the hole it can be simply grabbed and pulled out of the hole or the wrench can be turned over to allow gravity to cause the socket to fall out of the hole.
While it is not exactly clear what positioning and sizing of the lugs provides the aforementioned snapping or popping action, it is believed that if only one lug or drive projection is provided on socket 12 it should extend less than about 180 degrees around the circumference of the socket. If two lugs or drive projections are used as shown in the drawings each lug should extend less than 90 degrees around the circumference of said socket and preferably no more than about 60 degrees. Forty five degrees as shown in the drawings (see included angle C of
Turning now to wheel 226, it will be appreciated that wheel 226 is similar to wheel 26. However, the notches 224 do not penetrate into the toothed section of the wheel as notches 24 do in wheel 26. As shown, notches 224 are located in their entirety in collar 58 of the wheel. In addition, since this embodiment utilizes a magnet instead of a snap ring to hold the socket in the wrench, the wheel 226 of this embodiment defines an axial cutout 265 in the through hole of the wheel which receives magnet 264. Cutout 265 also receives an axial plug 280 which abuts up against the bottom surface (not numbered) of magnet 264 as shown in
As also shown, plug 280 has a flanged end 282 which is sized to closely but not tightly fit within the hole 51 of the wrench body. This insures that the wheel will rotate uniformly and smoothly in the hole 51 of the wrench body 50. Plug 280 may be threaded into cutout 265 or it may be sized to tightly fit into cutout 265 by interference fit so that it will not come out easily. Plug 280 also defines the lower portion 230b of the wrench's through hole which is flush with the inside surface 286 defining the hole of the ring magnet 264. Inside surface 286 and through hole portion 230b are also in communication with the upper through hole portion 230a of the wheel and together define a through hole which is similar to through hole 30 of the first embodiment for receiving the insertable end 228 of socket 212. While similar, it will be appreciated that through hole portion or section 230b has a slightly larger inside diameter than that of through hole portion 230b and ring magnet 264. The larger inside diameter of through hole 230a is provided to expose the top surface 288 of the ring magnet so that it is capable of contacting and magnetically holding a ledge surface 290 of socket 212.
Turning now to socket 212, as shown in
As best shown in
The extension body 311 also has a hollow cylindrical socket receiving end 314 which defines the entrance of through hole passageway 312 for engagingly receiving socket 12. To engagingly receive the socket, end 314 defines a pair of extension drive member receiving sections or notches 316 in the wall (not numbered) of end 314 for engagingly receiving the socket's drive members or lugs 22a and 22b. When engagingly received, the socket can be driven with the extension to drive a nut such as nut 14 shown in
As best shown in the exploded view of
Extension 310 is also provided with a predetermined length so that when the extension is inserted in the wrench as shown in
As shown in
As indicated above and as shown in the Figures, the socket receiving end 314 of the extension is essentially a hollow cylinder having a cylindrical wall (not numbered) of predetermined thickness which terminates at an end edge 336 of the wall. Notches 316 extend through the cylindrical wall and open into the end edge 336 of the wall. To facilitate removal of the socket from the extension which as indicated above is magnetically held in the extension by the ring magnet 328, the socket's lugs 22 may be provided with a predetermined thickness so that each lug extends slightly (and outwardly) beyond the outer surface (not numbered) of the cylindrical wall of the extension when the lugs are received in notches 316 of the extension. This slight predetermined extension or thickness of the lugs would facilitate removal of the socket from the extension by enabling one to easily grip or grasp the lugs and pull the socket out of the extension.
The socket's grooves 68 which are provided on each lug of the socket also facilitate removal of the socket from the extension since they provide surfaces which can be gripped in removing the socket from the extension. Additional grooves, knurls or other texturing could also be provided on the surface of the socket's lugs 22 to further enhance gripping of the socket. Indeed, it is believed that the socket's grooves should provide enough of a gripping surface to obviate the need for providing the socket's lugs with a thickness that extends them beyond the outer surface of the extension. This would be desirable since it would reduce the overall width of the socket, thereby making it easier to use the socket/extension combination in tight spaces. In view of the above, it will also be appreciated that the provision of the pair of opposing notches 316 in the cylindrical wall of end 314 is an important aspect of the present invention because it enables one to get a firm grip on a socket received in end 314 with ones thumb and a finger and thereby easily remove the socket from the extension.
Socket removal can also be enhanced by selecting a ring magnet 328 having magnetic strength which enables easy removal of the socket from the extension. However, the magnet should not be so weak as to allow the socket to easily fall out of the wrench. Accordingly, the ring magnet should have a strength which firmly holds the socket in the extension but which also enables the socket to be easily removed from the extension by grasping the lugs and pulling on them as discussed above. Neodymium magnets are the preferred type of magnet because of their high strength and the ability to easily vary the strength of the magnet by varying the thickness of the magnet. Neodymium magnets can also be ordered with different strengths.
While a ring magnet is the preferred means for holding the socket in the extension other means may also be utilized such as a snap ring, wire, flexible grommet, spring loaded ball/detent system, spring loaded switch or other differently shaped magnet(s).
The invention has been described in detail with reference to particular embodiments thereof, but it will be understood that various other modifications can be effected within the spirit and scope of this invention. For example, the inside diameter of the collars 58 and 258 of wrenches 10, 210 which actually define the mouth or entrance of the through holes of the wheels of these wrenches could be increased if it is deemed necessary to provide the sockets for these wrenches with a corresponding collar to strengthen the sockets in this area. Such a modification would also probably require an increase in the outside diameter of the collars 58, 258 as well as the use of a larger diameter snap ring on collar 58. The lugs of such sockets having this collar would be located on the collar similar to socket 212 described herein and the use of such collared sockets as well as the corresponding larger diameter collar on the wheel would enable the walls of the lower insertable ends of these collared sockets to be extremely thin which would be desirable since it would further increase the through hole capacity of the wrench.
In addition, while the disclosed embodiments use a permanent magnet or a snap ring as the means for retaining or holding the socket in the wrench other mechanisms such as a wire, flexible grommet, spring loaded ball/detent system and spring loaded switch (such as that employed in the through hole wrenches sold by Lowell Corp. of W. Boylston, Mass.) could also be used as the socket retention mechanism of the present invention and such use is considered to fall within the scope of the present invention as well as the use of any other socket retention means.
In addition, while the socket projections or lugs of the disclosed embodiments are provided on the socket and the notches are provided in the wheel's collar it, will be appreciated that the location of these members could be switched with the lugs projecting from the front side of the wheel and the notches provided in the wall of the socket.
This application is a national stage filing under 35 U.S.C. 371 of PCT application No. PCT/US02/30377 filed Sep. 25, 2002 which claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. 119(e) of U.S. provisional patent applications Ser. Nos. 60/380,343 filed May 13, 2002; 60/346,535 filed Jan. 8, 2002 and 60/325,880 filed Sep. 27, 2001, the disclosures of which are incorporated by reference herein in their entireties.
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
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PCT/US02/30377 | 9/25/2002 | WO | 00 | 3/24/2004 |
Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
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WO03/026852 | 4/3/2003 | WO | A |
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2869410 | Prichard | Jan 1959 | A |
3869945 | Zerver | Mar 1975 | A |
3877328 | Sullivan | Apr 1975 | A |
4328720 | Shiel | May 1982 | A |
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4602534 | Moetteli | Jul 1986 | A |
5203240 | Sorter | Apr 1993 | A |
5259278 | Leas | Nov 1993 | A |
5277088 | Vasichek | Jan 1994 | A |
5295422 | Chow | Mar 1994 | A |
5365807 | Darrah | Nov 1994 | A |
5450773 | Darrah | Sep 1995 | A |
5626062 | Colvin | May 1997 | A |
5669273 | Huang | Sep 1997 | A |
5901620 | Arnold | May 1999 | A |
6006630 | Vasichet | Dec 1999 | A |
RE36797 | Eggert et al. | Aug 2000 | E |
6164166 | Whiteford | Dec 2000 | A |
6260447 | Hutt | Jul 2001 | B1 |
6389931 | Delaney et al. | May 2002 | B1 |
Number | Date | Country | |
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20040244543 A1 | Dec 2004 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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60380343 | May 2002 | US | |
60346535 | Jan 2002 | US | |
60325880 | Sep 2001 | US |