US2491623A - Basin wrench having rotatably adjustable inner jaw and multiaxispivoted outer jaw - Google Patents

Description

2,491,623 JAW C- 1949 s. G. SESAK BASIN WRENCH 'HAVING ROTATABLY ADJUSTABLE INNER AND MULTIAXIS-PIVOTED OUTER-JAW F'lled Sept 19 1947 IN VEN TOR.

6. smwr STEVE/V ATTORNEY Patented Dec. 20, 1949 BASIN WRENCH HAVING ROTATABLY AD- JUSTABLE INNER JAW AND MULTIAXIS- PIVOTED OUTER J AW Steven G. Sesak, Redwood City, Calif. Application September 19, 1947, Serial No. 774,936

2 Claims. 1

This invention relates to a wrench, and particularly of the type, commonly called basin wrench.

An object of this invention is to provide a wrench suitable for use in confined spaces otherwise inaccessible to ordinary wrenches, for example, beneath basins for application and removal of nuts, nipples and the like in mounting and removing water cocks, faucets and the like. The features of the wrench herein described and claimed include a pair of opposite and serrated jaws, one fixed to the top of a handle and the other pivoted about a fulcrum off center with respect to the fixed jaw and around two axes at right angles to one another for adjustment to either side of saidfixed jaw for right handed or left handed operation, and also to swing away from or toward the fixed jaw in operation; also a feature of the invention is the use of the resilient member, in this illustration a leaf spring, to urge the movable jaw against the nut in ratchet-like action; another feature of the invention is the mounting of the movable jaw with respect to the fixed jaw and the relation of the jaws to the top of the handle or stem so as to allow quick adjustment of the jaws to desired angles and relative positions.

I am aware that some changes may be made in the general arrangements and combinations of the several devices and parts, as well as in the details of the construction thereof without departing from the scope of the present invention as set forth in the following specification, and as defined in the following claims; hence I do not limit my invention to the exact arrangements and. combinations of the said device and parts as described in the said specification, nor do I confine myself to the exact details of the construction of the said parts as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, which will be made manifest in the following detailed description, reference is had to the accompanying drawings for the illustrative embodiment of the invention, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a wrench constructed in accordance with my invention.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the jaw arrangement and mounting of my wrench for operation in opposite direction to that shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the top of the wrench and the jaws and the mountings relatively to a nut; the alternative adjusted position being shown in broken lines.

Fig. 4 is a side view of the top of my wrench and the jaw mounting elements.

The preferred form of my invention includes a handle I in the form of a comparatively long bar, in one end of which is a transverse hole 2 to slidably accommodate a cross bar 3 for facilitating the gripping and turning of the handle I and the wrench around the axis of said handle I.

The other end or top of the handle I has a forked head 4 the parallel ears 6 of which are provided with transverse aligned holes 1 through which a pivot screw 8 is extended.

A fixed jaw 9 bears against the outside of one of the ears 6 and has a threaded hole II therein into which is screwed the end of the screw 8 for holding the fixed jaw in an adjusted position tightly against the adjacent ear 6. In this illustration the screw 8 has a flat countersunk head I2 concealed in the countersunk recess l3 of the hole I. In the preferred application of the wrench the fixed jaw 9 is adjusted and secured in a position wherein the gripping face l4 thereof is generally parallel with the axis of the handle I. The gripping face M of the fixed jaw 9 has thereon a plurality of serrations or teeth i5 arranged on a substantially semi-cylindrical periphery which is eccentric with respect to the axis of the handle i.

On the portion of the pivot screw 8 exposed between the ears 6 is pivoted a yoke 16. The stem ll of the yoke It is rotatable between the ears 6 around an axis transverse with respect the axis of the handle I so that the yoke I6 may be swung 180 from the extreme position on one side of the handle shown in Fig. 1 to the extreme position on the other side of the handle shown in Fig. 2, or to any intermediate position. The lugs I8 of the forked end of the yoke 16 are in planes substantially parallel with the axis of the pivot screw 8. Aligned holes on the yoke lugs (8 accommodate a second pivot screw is at right angles to the first pivot screw 8 and spaced therefrom. This second pivot screw I9, is threaded into one of the lugs it. An end of a movable jaw 21 is pivoted on the portion of the second pivot screw l9 between the lugs l8 of the yoke [5 so that the jaw 2| may be swung toward and away from the fixed jaw H. The movable jaw 2| is substantially straight near its fulcrum and then continues arcuately curving toward its tip 22 and toward the fixed jaw 9, and has on its inner face a plurality of teeth 23 substantially parallel with the teeth l5 of the fixed jaw t.

On the outer face 24 of the movable jaw 2! are mounted a plurality of superimposed leaf springs 26, by means of suitable screws 21, so that the free end of the lower leaf of said springs extends over and engages the ends of the yoke lugs 13 as shown in Fig. 1 and Fig. 3.

In operation the wrench is first adjusted to the position shown in Fig. 1 wherein the movable jaw 2! and yoke I6 are swung over to one side of the fixed jaw 9. In this position the plumber or user can reach under the basin and move the wrench upwardly to a nut 28 as shown in Fig. 3. The tip 22 of the movable jaw 2| is engaged with the nut from one side and then turned in a clockwise direction, viewing Figs. 1 and '3, so that it is pried away against the action of the leaf spring 26 to advance in a ratchet like action to encircle the nut 28 to a desired degree. Then the handle 1 and the entire wrench is turned in a contra-clockwise direction, viewing Figs. 1 and 3, whereupon the fixed jaw 9 fulcrums around the pivot 19 so as to grip the nut between the two jaws, the leaf spring 25 urging the jaw 2i into gripping position, and the pulling force exerted on the-eccentric pivot 19 tending to close the movable jaw 21 upon the nut. Thus the nut is turned. .In case of a right-hand nut this operation would tighten the nut 28 upon its screw. After thenut is turned to a position where it is inconvenient to further turn the handle of the wrench, by turning the handle I again in a clock- .wise direction the action of the movable jaw is loosened and it advances on the nut 28 again in ratchet like action so as to allow the setting of the wrench head back to a more accessible position for the next turn of the nut by a clockwise turning of the Wrench in the manner heretofore described. In this manner in any confined inaccessible space a nut can be engaged and tightened without removing the wrench from the same and the other hand of the operator is free to hold the faucet or the like element above the basin while the nut is turned. In basin wrenches furnished in the past it was necessary for the operator to release the faucet after each turn of the nut and use both hands for resetting the head of the wrench for the next turn. By the aforedescribed structure and operation in my wrench the nut can be tightened by one hand and reset for further turns of the nut by the wrench by the same hand without necessitating the interruption of operation or the releasing of the hold on the faucet at any time. 7

For a left-handed turn the yoke 16 is swung .over to the other extreme position shown in Fig. 3 and the operation is repeated in the opposite direction with the same facility as heretofore described. If action is required at some intermediate angle between the two extreme positions illustrated, then the screw pivot 8 can be loosened and the fixed jaw 9 can be adjusted to another desired angle and tightened in that position by said pivot screw 8 and then the movable jaw and its yoke I 6 can be swung opposite to the same and upon the nut to be turned and thus permit the application of this wrench to any nut or the like at various selected angles, the operation al ways being performed without interruption and the wrench can be reset for the subsequent turns of the nut or the like in the manner heretofore described without the necessity of releasing the wrench from the nut and without utilizing both hands for the wrench operation.

The wrench constructed in accordance with my invention is simple in structure, it has few parts, it allows a ratchet like action for the resetting of the wrench after each turn of the nut without the use of both hands, it allows a simple one-handed operation for the tightening of the nut in any confined position at selected angles, and it greatly facilitates and reduces the time in the application of nuts or the like in confined spaces.

I claim:

1. In a wrench of the character described, a handle, a journal head at one end of the handle, a pivot extended through said journal end, a normally fixed jaw rotatably mounted on said pivot so as to be adjustable to selected angular positions around a pivot axis formed by said journal, a generally semi-cylindrical serrated face on said fixed jaw opposite said pivot, a fulcrum element journalled on said pivot independently of said fixed jaw and swingable to opposite sides of said handle, a movable jaw fulcrumed in said fulcrum element on an axis substantially at right angles to the axis of said pivot, said movable jaw extending substantially straight from its fulcrum and having an arcuate end with its tip curving toward and opposite said serrated face of .said fixed jaw, the side of said movable jaw opposite said fixed jaw being serrated, and a spring element coasting with said movable jaw and said fulcrum element to urge said movable jaw to a position opposite said fixed jaw.

2. In a wrench of the character described, a handle, a bifurcated head on an end of the handle, a pivot screw extended through said bifurcated end substantially at right angles to the axis of said handle, a fixed jaw threadedly secured upon the end of said pivot screw and tightly l drawn thereby against said head to be held in an adjusted position, the face of said jaw farthest from said pivot being substantially semi-cylindrical and being serrated, a yoke pivoted on said pivot screw in said head, journal lugs on said yoke having a journal therethrough at substantially right angles to said pivot screw, a movable jaw fulcrumed on said journal in said yoke, said movable jaw having a substantially straight portion extended fromits fulcrum and terminating in a curved portion opposite to and spaced from said serrated face of said fixed jaw and having its tip turned toward said fixed jaw, and the side of said movable jaw opposite said fixed jaw being serrated, and a leaf spring on the other side of said movable jaw and bearing against said yoke for urging said movable jaw to a gripping position opposite said fixed jaw.

' STEVEN G. SESAK.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Scott Oct. 22, 1935

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