The prior art is already aware of wrenches for limiting torque. Also it is aware of ratchet and pawl arrangements for ratcheting in both directions of rotation in the application of rotation to a workpiece. Still further, the prior art is aware of handles and jaws pivotally connected together for the pivoting the handle relative to the jaw upon the application of a certain magnitude of torque, to thereby limit the application of the torque.
The present invention improves upon the prior art by having the handle pivot to a return alignment with the jaw after the application of the limited torque and after the consequent pivoting of the handle relative to the jaw, and to do so with only a minimal amount of torque for that return. That minimal amount is much less than the torque limit as applied to the workpiece.
Still further, there is a longitudinal axis for the wrench, and there is a ratchet and pawl combination wherein the pawl receives a tooth-engaging force at a location offset from the longitudinal axis, and a pusher forces on the pawl at the offset location for maximum engagement of the pawl onto the ratchet.
Also, this includes inventive methods for accomplishing the foregoing.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds