EP0580177B1 - Clé d'utilisation rapide - Google Patents

Clé d'utilisation rapide Download PDF

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Publication number
EP0580177B1
EP0580177B1 EP93111906A EP93111906A EP0580177B1 EP 0580177 B1 EP0580177 B1 EP 0580177B1 EP 93111906 A EP93111906 A EP 93111906A EP 93111906 A EP93111906 A EP 93111906A EP 0580177 B1 EP0580177 B1 EP 0580177B1
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
wrench
fastener
driving
surface portion
throat
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Expired - Lifetime
Application number
EP93111906A
Other languages
German (de)
English (en)
Other versions
EP0580177A1 (fr
Inventor
Frank Mikic
Jeffrey H. Hoff
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Snap On Inc
Original Assignee
Snap On Tools Corp
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Snap On Tools Corp filed Critical Snap On Tools Corp
Publication of EP0580177A1 publication Critical patent/EP0580177A1/fr
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of EP0580177B1 publication Critical patent/EP0580177B1/fr
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical
Expired - Lifetime legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B25—HAND TOOLS; PORTABLE POWER-DRIVEN TOOLS; MANIPULATORS
    • B25B—TOOLS OR BENCH DEVICES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR, FOR FASTENING, CONNECTING, DISENGAGING OR HOLDING
    • B25B13/00—Spanners; Wrenches
    • B25B13/46—Spanners; Wrenches of the ratchet type, for providing a free return stroke of the handle
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B25—HAND TOOLS; PORTABLE POWER-DRIVEN TOOLS; MANIPULATORS
    • B25B—TOOLS OR BENCH DEVICES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR, FOR FASTENING, CONNECTING, DISENGAGING OR HOLDING
    • B25B13/00—Spanners; Wrenches
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B25—HAND TOOLS; PORTABLE POWER-DRIVEN TOOLS; MANIPULATORS
    • B25B—TOOLS OR BENCH DEVICES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR, FOR FASTENING, CONNECTING, DISENGAGING OR HOLDING
    • B25B13/00—Spanners; Wrenches
    • B25B13/02—Spanners; Wrenches with rigid jaws
    • B25B13/08—Spanners; Wrenches with rigid jaws of open jaw type
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B25—HAND TOOLS; PORTABLE POWER-DRIVEN TOOLS; MANIPULATORS
    • B25B—TOOLS OR BENCH DEVICES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR, FOR FASTENING, CONNECTING, DISENGAGING OR HOLDING
    • B25B13/00—Spanners; Wrenches
    • B25B13/10—Spanners; Wrenches with adjustable jaws
    • B25B13/12—Spanners; Wrenches with adjustable jaws the jaws being slidable

Definitions

  • This invention relates in general to wrenches of the type commonly known as "speed wrenches" which provide a ratcheting-type action.
  • the prior art includes a number of different designs of wrenches which provide a ratchet-type action without the use of any ratchet wheel or dog or other additional moving parts to provide the ratcheting action.
  • Such wrenches are commonly referred to as "speed wrenches” and are typically characterized by jaws respectively having long and short driving surfaces for respectively engaging opposite sides or flats of an associated fastener, such as a hexagonal fastener.
  • speed wrenches Both open-end wrench and adjustable wrench versions of such ratcheting-type speed wrenches have been provided.
  • the driving surfaces In operation, when the wrench is rotated in a forward torque applying direction, the driving surfaces will firmly grip the fastener for applying torque to it, while when the wrench is rotated in the reverse direction the driving surfaces will slip or "ratchet" over the fastener surfaces to facilitate movement of the wrench to engagement with a different set of fastener flats without having to lift the wrench from the fastener.
  • a common prior art speed wrench configuration is designated by the numeral 10 in FIGS. 1 and 2 and includes long and short driving surfaces 11 and 12 interconnected by a generally V-shaped throat which includes flat throat surfaces 13 interconnected by an arcuate corner recess 14. Such recesses 14 may also be provided at the junctions between the throat surfaces 13 and the driving surfaces 11 and 12.
  • the wrench 10 is illustrated as used with a hexagonal fastener 15 having six flats or side surfaces 16 interconnected at six equal-angle corners 17.
  • the wrench 10 is designed so that when an appropriately-sized fastener 15 is disposed between the jaws, the corner recesses 14 will provide clearance for the fastener corners 17. Ideally, if both the wrench 10 and the fastener 15 are accurately sized, the fastener 15 will fit snugly between the wrench jaws and the fastener corners 17 will remain in the corner recesses 14 during a torque applying operation.
  • the wrench 10 When, because of tolerance variations in the parts, the wrench 10 must be rotated through several degrees in order to bring the driving surfaces 11 and 12 into firm torque applying engagement with opposed fastener flats 16, the corner 17 disposed in the wrench throat will ride up out of the corner recess 14 in the throat and onto the adjacent throat surface 13, as can be seen in FIG. 2. This creates a camming action between the throat surface 13 and the fastener corner 16 which tends to urge the fastener 15 outwardly away from the throat.
  • the short driving surface 12 is slid down closer to the adjacent corner of the fastener and, if this relative rotation between the wrench 10 and the fastener 15 continues far enough, the short driving surface 12 will slip off the fastener.
  • U.S. patent no. 3,921,476 to Evans corresponding to the preamble of claim 1, discloses a speed wrench wherein the throat includes a short flat surface portion inclined at an angle of 120° to the short driving surface and positioned and sized so that, during a torque-applying rotation, it does not engage a corner of the fastener.
  • US-A-1,954,141 discloses a wrench comprising a short and a long driving surface and a throat therebetween, including a straight surface portion bearing full length against the across-side dimension of a hexagonal fastener.
  • the straight face is substituted by a projection inwardly curved towards the side of the fastener thus clearing the corners of the fastener.
  • the reference lacks to disclose the particular length of said face and the angle of inclination between the short driving surface and said face being different from 120°. Accordingly, there is no initial contact between said face and the fastener which includes only one corner thereof.
  • An important feature of the invention is a speed wrench which significantly increases the ultimate torque which can be applied by the wrench.
  • another feature of the invention is the provision of a speed wrench which maintains consistent fastener engagement and torque application despite tolerance variations in fastener size.
  • Still another feature of the invention is the provision of a speed wrench of the type set forth which inhibits slippage of the wrench from an associated fastener during a torque applying operation.
  • Yet another feature of the invention is the provision of a speed wrench of the type set forth which minimizes damage to the corners of an associated fastener.
  • Still another feature of the invention is the provision of an open-end speed wrench of the type set forth.
  • Yet another feature of the invention is the provision of an adjustable speed wrench of the type set forth.
  • an open-end speed wrench (20) for use in torque applying forward rotation and ratcheting reverse rotation with a fastener (15) having a plurality of substantially flat sides (16) each having the same side dimension (S) and intersecting at a plurality of corners (17), the fastener having an across sides dimension (X), the wrench including a wrenching head (22) including two jaws (23,24) and a throat (30) interconnecting said jaws, said jaws respectively including short and long driving surfaces (25,26), respectively defining first and second driving planes spaced apart a distance (W) slightly greater than the across sides dimension (X) and respectively disposed for driving engagement with opposed sides of the fastener, said throat including a generally flat first surface portion (31) adjacent to said short driving surface (25) and inclined with respect thereto at a predetermined angle (Z) and having a length (L) substantially less than the side dimension (S), said throat (30) including a recessed second surface portion (35) interconnecting said first surface portion (31) and said long
  • the wrench 20 includes a handle or shank 21 provided with a wrenching head 22 at the end thereof. It will be appreciated that another wrenching head could be provided at the other end of the handle (not shown).
  • the wrenching head 22 has a short jaw 23 and a long jaw 24, respectively having substantially flat planar driving surfaces 25 and 26 thereon and respectively terminating at the outer or distal ends thereof in truncated angled ends 27 and 28.
  • the driving surface 25 is substantially shorter than the driving surface 26 and, at the inner end thereof, intersects a short arcuate recess 29.
  • the driving surfaces 25 and 26 are spaced apart a distance W slightly greater than the nominal across-sides dimension X of an associated hexagonal fastener 15 of the size for which the wrench 20 is intended to be used.
  • the driving surfaces 25 and 26 are generally parallel, but they may slightly converge outwardly at a small angle of approximately 3° to improve the flat engaging contact with the opposite sides of an associated fastener 15 despite tolerance size variations in the fastener.
  • the length of the short driving surface 25 is long enough to ensure adequate gripping of the fastener 15 during forward rotation and short enough to ensure ratcheting slippage during reverse rotation, and is typically approximately one-tenth the across sides dimension X of the fastener 15.
  • the wrench head 22 has a throat 30 which interconnects the jaws 23 and 24.
  • the throat 30 includes a generally flat support surface portion 31 which extends from the arcuate recess 29 downwardly away from the driving surface 25. More specifically, the support surface portion 31 is inclined with respect to the driving surface 25 at an angle Z in the range of from about 120° to about 140° and, preferably, approximately 123°. While the support surface portion 31 may be a flat planar surface, in the preferred embodiment it is very slightly convex for ease of manufacturing, having a large radius R which is more than twice the distance W between the driving surfaces 25 and 26.
  • the support surface portion 31 terminates at an inner end 32 and has a length L which is substantially less than the nominal side dimension S of the associated fastener 15. In particular, the length L may be in the range of from about 1/3 to about 2/3 the fastener side dimension S and is preferably approximately 1/2 S.
  • the throat 30 also includes an arcuate portion 35 which extends from the inner end 32 of the support surface portion 31 to the inner end of the driving surface 26. While the arcuate portion 35 may have any desired shape, in the preferred embodiment, it is a compound surface including a relatively small radius portion 36 and a relatively large radius portion 37, so that the arcuate portion 35 slopes more steeply away from the support surface 31.
  • the essential aspect of the arcuate portion 35 is that it be so dimensioned and shaped that it will not contact the associated fastener 15 in use, as will be explained in greater detail below.
  • the wrench 20 is applied to the fastener 15 in the manner illustrated in FIG. 4 in which, to facilitate the description, the corners of the fastener 15 have been respectively designated A through F, lettered clockwise.
  • the fastener 15 is received between the wrench jaws 23 and 24 until a corner A of the fastener 15 engages the support surface portion 31 of the throat 30 at point 38, with the driving surface 25 disposed in engagement with the adjacent one of the fastener flats 16.
  • the opposite one of the fastener flats 16 will be disposed for engagement with the driving surface 26 at a location adjacent to the outer or distal end thereof, which location may be spaced a slight distance therefrom, depending upon tolerance variations in the fastener size.
  • the wrench 20 In applying torque to the fastener 15, the wrench 20 is rotated further in a clockwise direction. In low torque applications, this will not result in any deformation of the fastener 15. After the fastener 15 has been rotated the desired amount, the wrench 20 is then rotated in a counterclockwise direction, as illustrated in FIG. 6, so that it will slip with respect to the fastener 15 in a ratcheting manner to reposition the wrench 20 at a new wrenching location, in a known manner. It is a significant aspect of the invention that the support surface portion 31 supports the corner A of the fastener 15 during the initial part of the rotation of the wrench 20 to a new wrenching location.
  • the length L of the support surface portion 31 must be great enough to provide support for the fastener corner A during reverse rotation through a sufficient angle to prevent lockup of the wrench 20 on the fastener 15. Yet the length L must be short enough so that the surface portion 31 will not come in contact with the corner B of the fastener or cause the arcuate portion 35 of the throat 30 to contact the corner B, during the torque application.
  • the angle Z must be large enough, preferably at least 120°, so that it will not engage the flat of the fastener 15 between corners A and B too soon, and thereby start to push it out of the wrench before wrenching engagement of the driving surfaces 25 and 26 with the fastener 15 has been achieved.
  • the angle Z should be small enough to permit this to happen.
  • the arcuate portion 35 of the throat 30 remains spaced from the fastener corners B and C.
  • the corner recess 29 permits a clearance space for fastener material to flow as a result of deformation by the driving surface 25, as illustrated in FIG. 5.
  • the length L and the angle Z are compromises between adequate support for one fastener corner during reverse rotation, while ensuring clearance of the arcuate portion 35 of the throat from the fastener and good engagement of the jaws with the fastener flats during forward rotation.
  • the above-described design of the wrenching head 22 results in dramatic improvement of the ultimate torque which can be applied by the wrench 20. More specifically, with fasteners of nominal size, the wrench 20 has achieved ultimate torques approximately twice those achieved with the prior art wrench 10 of FIGS. 1 and 2 and, with fasteners about 97% of nominal size, the wrench 20 has achieved ultimate torques approximately four times those achieved with the prior wrench 10 of FIGS. 1 and 2. It is a significant aspect of the invention that the fastener 15 will make single-point initial contact with the support surface 31 at point 38, despite tolerance variations in the size of the fastener 15.
  • a serrated wrench driving surface which comprises a series of recesses or grooves 75 spaced apart by coplanar lands 73.
  • Each of the recesses 75 has a 60° flat 76 and a 30° flat 77 disposed substantially perpendicular to each other and interconnected by an arcuate root 78.
  • the recesses 75 are oriented so that the 30° flats 77 are disposed at the lower or inner end of the recess, but they could be oriented so that the 30° flats 77 are disposed at the upper end of the recess.
  • the serrations reduce slippage between the jaws and the fastener 15 and, thereby, further increase the ultimate torque which can be achieved with the wrench. In the case of a speed wrench the serrations would be formed only on the long driving surface.

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  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
  • Details Of Spanners, Wrenches, And Screw Drivers And Accessories (AREA)

Claims (15)

  1. Clé rapide à extrémité ouverte (20) permettant l'application d'un couple par rotation vers l'avant et le décrochement par rotation inverse sur un organe de fixation (15) comportant une pluralité de faces sensiblement plates (16), chacune présentant la même dimension de face (S) et se coupant sur une pluralité d'arêtes (17), l'organe de fixation présentant une dimension entre faces (X), la clé comportant une tête de serrage (22) comprenant deux mâchoires (23, 24) et une gorge (30) reliant lesdites mâchoires, lesdites mâchoires comprenant respectivement des surfaces d'entraînement courte et longue (25, 26), définissant respectivement des premier et second plans d'entraînement espacés l'un de l'autre d'une distance (W) sensiblement supérieure à la dimension entre faces (X) et disposés respectivement en contact d'entraînement avec des faces opposées de l'organe de fixation, ladite gorge comprenant une première partie de surface globalement plane (31) adjacente à ladite surface d'entraînement courte (25) et inclinée par rapport à celle-ci d'un angle prédéterminé (Z) et présentant une longueur (L) sensiblement inférieure à la dimension de face (S), ladite gorge (30) comprenant une seconde partie de surface (35) en creux reliant ladite première partie de surface (31) et ladite surface d'entraînement longue (26) et étant formée et dimensionnée de manière à rester espacée par rapport à un organe de fixation associé (15) lorsqu'il est engagé sur lesdites surfaces d'entraînement,
    caractérisée en ce que ladite première partie de surface (31) s'étend à partir d'une première extrémité (32) entre lesdits plans d'entraînement vers une seconde extrémité espacée de ladite surface d'entraînement courte (25) et disposée sur la face opposée dudit premier plan d'entraînement de ladite surface d'entraînement longue (26), ledit angle prédéterminé (Z) étant compris entre 120° et 140° et ladite longueur (L) de ladite première partie de surface étant telle que ladite première partie de surface attaque, initialement une partie de l'organe de fixation qui comprend seulement son arête (A) lors d'une rotation vers l'avant pour application de couple et supporte cette arête lors d'une rotation inverse de décrochement sur un angle suffisant pour empêcher le blocage de ladite clé sur l'organe de fixation.
  2. Clé selon la revendication 1, dans laquelle chacune desdites surfaces d'entraînement est une surface plane sensiblement plate.
  3. Clé selon la revendication 1, dans laquelle lesdites surfaces d'entraînement convergent dans un sens opposé à ladite gorge avec un angle de 3° approximativement.
  4. Clé selon la revendication 1, dans laquelle ledit angle prédéterminé est de 123° approximativement.
  5. Clé selon la revendication 1, dans laquelle ladite première partie de surface est très légèrement convexe.
  6. Clé selon la revendication 5, dans laquelle ladite première partie de surface présente un rayon supérieur au double de ladite dimension entre faces.
  7. Clé selon la revendication 1, dans laquelle ladite tête de serrage est formée d'une pièce.
  8. Clé selon la revendication 1, et comprenant, en outre, une petite cavité courbe (29) formée dans l'une desdites mâchoires entre ladite surface d'entraînement courte et ladite première partie de surface.
  9. Clé selon la revendication 1, dans laquelle ladite première partie de surface présente une longueur sensiblement égale à la moitié de la dimension de face.
  10. Clé en bout selon la revendication 1, dans laquelle ladite seconde partie de surface est de forme courbe.
  11. Clé selon la revendication 1, et comprenant, en outre, des moyens (45, 46) adaptés à un mouvement relatif desdites mâchoires afin de modifier la distance entre lesdites surfaces d'entraînement pour s'adapter à différentes tailles d'organes de fixation.
  12. Clé selon la revendication 11, dans laquelle une pluralité de dents (73 à 78) est formée au moins sur ladite surface d'entraînement longue.
  13. Clé selon la revendication 12, dans laquelle chacune desdites dents comporte une cavité asymétrique (75) formée sur ladite surface d'entraînement, ladite cavité comportant deux parties sensiblement planes (76, 77) disposées sensiblement perpendiculairement l'une par rapport à l'autre et disposées respectivement avec des angles de 30° et 60° approximativement par rapport à ladite surface d'entraînement.
  14. Clé selon la revendication 12, dans laquelle ledit angle prédéterminé est de 133° approximativement.
  15. Clé selon la revendication 1, dans laquelle la longueur (L) de la première partie de surface est sensiblement égale à 0,29 fois la distance (W) entre les premier et second plans d'entraînement.
EP93111906A 1992-07-23 1993-07-23 Clé d'utilisation rapide Expired - Lifetime EP0580177B1 (fr)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US91736392A 1992-07-23 1992-07-23
US917363 1992-07-23

Publications (2)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP0580177A1 EP0580177A1 (fr) 1994-01-26
EP0580177B1 true EP0580177B1 (fr) 1997-10-29

Family

ID=25438691

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP93111906A Expired - Lifetime EP0580177B1 (fr) 1992-07-23 1993-07-23 Clé d'utilisation rapide

Country Status (7)

Country Link
EP (1) EP0580177B1 (fr)
JP (1) JPH06155320A (fr)
KR (1) KR100304988B1 (fr)
AU (1) AU660551B2 (fr)
CA (1) CA2100511A1 (fr)
DE (1) DE69314863T2 (fr)
MX (1) MX9304457A (fr)

Families Citing this family (12)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
FR2735711B1 (fr) * 1995-06-23 1997-09-12 Facom Cle cliquetante pour entrainer un organe a tete hexagonale, notamment une vis ou un ecrou
GB2307658A (en) * 1995-11-28 1997-06-04 Jonathan Williams Open-ended spanner
FR2752183B1 (fr) * 1996-08-12 1998-10-16 Simplet Serge Cle plate a commande de rotation alternative et manuelle
GB2326984A (en) * 1997-07-01 1999-01-06 Olusola Olumide Akindele Oni Fluid pump with magnetic operation
US6371681B1 (en) * 1999-09-20 2002-04-16 Bell Helicopter Textron Inc. Anti-rotation clip
KR100862208B1 (ko) * 2007-10-31 2008-10-09 김재수 자동스패너
JP5041531B2 (ja) * 2007-11-15 2012-10-03 中国電機製造株式会社 スパナ
CN102248502B (zh) * 2010-05-20 2013-09-18 刘文斌 超高扭力的快速往复扳动开口扳手
JP6360689B2 (ja) * 2014-03-06 2018-07-18 大和ハウス工業株式会社 スパナ
CN106112886B (zh) * 2016-08-19 2017-11-28 北京实验工厂 一种小空间螺纹副快速拧紧装置
US11219985B2 (en) 2017-11-03 2022-01-11 WrightTool Company Wrench for maximizing torque
KR101995445B1 (ko) * 2019-04-02 2019-07-02 김미옥 과삽입방지단이 구비된 콤비네이션 렌치

Citations (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
GB190929246A (en) * 1909-12-14 1910-08-04 George Amborn Improvements in and relating to Spanner Wrenches.

Family Cites Families (7)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US1954141A (en) * 1932-08-05 1934-04-10 Albert G W Nelson Wrench
US2652735A (en) * 1949-03-22 1953-09-22 Glenn W Wilder Open-end wrench
US3242775A (en) * 1965-08-11 1966-03-29 Walter F Hinkle Wrench for engaging nut flats to inhibit marring the nut
US3881377A (en) * 1972-12-15 1975-05-06 James P Evans Ratcheting wrench for octagonal members
US3921476A (en) * 1973-11-23 1975-11-25 James P Evans Combination torqueing and ratcheting wrench for irregular hexagonal members
JPS522499U (fr) * 1976-05-04 1977-01-08
US5117714A (en) * 1989-10-16 1992-06-02 Snap-On Tools Corporation One-piece, open-end wrenching head with serrated jaws

Patent Citations (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
GB190929246A (en) * 1909-12-14 1910-08-04 George Amborn Improvements in and relating to Spanner Wrenches.

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
AU4210893A (en) 1994-01-27
AU660551B2 (en) 1995-06-29
KR100304988B1 (ko) 2001-11-22
CA2100511A1 (fr) 1994-01-24
DE69314863D1 (de) 1997-12-04
JPH06155320A (ja) 1994-06-03
DE69314863T2 (de) 1998-03-05
KR940002007A (ko) 1994-02-16
MX9304457A (es) 1994-01-31
EP0580177A1 (fr) 1994-01-26

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