Tools – Wrench – screwdriver – or driver therefor – Rigid jaws
Reexamination Certificate
1999-08-11
2001-03-20
Eley, Timothy V. (Department: 3723)
Tools
Wrench, screwdriver, or driver therefor
Rigid jaws
C081S003400
Reexamination Certificate
active
06202514
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates generally to torque-applying tools and, more particularly, to a wrench that is especially useful in tightening or loosening a nut on a bolt.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Wrenches secure or loosen and remove a nut from a bolt by applying torque to the nut or the head of the bolt. Conventional wrenches comprise a wrench head and an elongated wrench handle extending therefrom. With such conventional wrenches, the required torque is generated by engaging the nut or bolt within the wrench head and then applying force to the distal end of the elongated wrench handle to rotate it about the nut or bolt, thereby causing the wrench head—and the nut or bolt engaged therein—to rotate in the direction of the handle's rotation. Clockwise rotation traditionally tightens the nut and counter-clockwise motion loosened the nut. As the length of the wrench handle is increased, the user can generate more torque while reducing the amount of force applied to the distal end of the handle.
There are significant shortcomings to conventional wrenches in certain situations or environments. First, because of the length of a conventional wrench handle, conventional wrenches often cannot be used on nuts and bolts located in tight spaces. And, even if the nut or bolt can be accessed by a conventional wrench, space limitations may prevent the user from rotating the wrench handle a full rotation. In this situation, the user must disengage the wrench head, reposition the wrench and reengage the nut, and rotate the wrench handle in the appropriate direction. These time-consuming and inconvenient steps need to be repeated until the nut is completely tightened or removed from the bolt.
Another shortcoming of conventional wrenches is that they typically do not fit nuts and bolts of various sizes. Accordingly, where variously sized nuts and bolts are present or a user is not sure what size wrench a given nut or bolt requires, the user must purchase and keep handy multiple wrenches of various sizes. Or, if the wrench head is adjustable or replaceable, the user must repeatedly adjust or replace the head to finish the task at hand.
Yet another shortcoming of conventional wrenches is that they offer no way to quickly remove a nut from a bolt once the nut has been initially loosened on the bolt. With a conventional wrench, a user must continue to turn the loosened nut by (1) engaging it with the wrench head, rotating the handle and, in tight locations, disengaging and re-engaging the wrench head over the nut to rotate it again—a time-consuming and inefficient process—or (2) by disengaging the loosened nut from the wrench handle and manually turning the nut with one's fingers—an even more time-consuming and inefficient process that has the additional disadvantage of increasing the likelihood of injury to a user's knuckles and fingers.
Also, with conventional wrenches, the risk of loosing a nut is high because the wrench does not prevent a nut from falling after the nut is completely loosened from a bolt. This problem is especially prevalent when one is working on nuts and bolts that are located above an open work area, such as while working on the under side of a car.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In general, the present invention solves the foregoing shortcomings of conventional wrenches by providing a tool comprising a flat wrench plate with a central opening therein. The central opening includes notches of various sizes, and each notch is sized and shaped to fit around and engage a different sized nut or bolt. Between each pair of adjacent notches is a protrusion or tooth directed towards the center of the central opening.
The flat wrench plate is mounted within and at one end of a short, hollow handle. Preferably, the wrench plate is generally circular and the hollow handle is a cylinder sized to fit easily within a user's hand so that the user can easily grip and rotate the handle. In one embodiment, a clear cover plate having an aperture therein is mounted within the cylindrical handle at the end opposite the wrench plate. In a different embodiment, a second wrench plate with different sized notches from those of the first wrench plate is mounted in the handle opposite the first wrench plate.
To use the present invention to loosen and remove a nut from a bolt, the cylindrical handle is placed over the nut so that it is encompassed by the central opening in the wrench plate. The appropriately sized notch is then slid towards the nut so that the notch fits around and engages the nut. If a clear cover plate is mounted opposite the wrench plate, the user can look through the clear cover plate to more easily engage the nut with the appropriate notch. If an opaque cover plate or second wrench plate is mounted within the handle, then the user can look through the aperture in the cover plate or the central opening in the second wrench plate to properly engage the nut.
When the nut is engaged within the appropriate notch, the handle is then rotated in a counter-clockwise motion about the notch, thereby rotating the notch and the nut engaged therein. If desired, the user can continue to loosen the nut by rotating the handle in this manner until the nut falls free from the bolt. However, the nut can be removed much faster if, once the nut has been suitably loosened (but the nut is still on the bolt), the notch is then slid away from the nut so that the nut is once again encompassed by the central opening in the wrench plate. The handle is then rapidly spun about the nut so that the protrusions individually and successively contact and exert force on the circumference of the nut, thereby rotating and loosening the nut until it falls free from the bolt. If a plurality of nuts are closely located, this method can also be used to simultaneously remove those loosened nuts: once the nuts are loosened sequentially, they may be, depending on their location, simultaneously encompassed within the central opening and simultaneously removed by spinning the wrench handle thereabout.
Instead of falling to the ground at this point, the nut (or nuts) will be captured within the handle by the cover plate (or the second wrench plate). The nut can then be removed from the handle by dropping the nut through the aperture in the cover plate (or the central opening in the second cover plate) and into the user's hand.
To tighten a nut to a bolt, the above-described process is reversed.
REFERENCES:
patent: 5259281 (1993-11-01), Burke
patent: 5271299 (1993-12-01), Wadsworth
patent: 5440957 (1995-08-01), Rogers
Eley Timothy V.
Laff, Whitesel & Saret, Ltd.
Meunier William A.
Nguyen Dung Van
Saret Larry L.
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