The present invention relates to a standard wrench, a socket wrench, and Offset Head Ratchet Wrenches. This allows the user to quickly remove the wrench head from the handle, enabling the user to use the head of the wrench as a palm wrench. In addition, the user can quickly change the size or type of head necessary to complete the task at hand.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,053,076 issued to Benny R. Barnes included the ability to remove the head of the ratchet from the handle. This invention suffers from the disadvantage that the user would have to completely unscrew the pivot pin to remove the ratchet head and then reinsert the screw in the pivot hole to reinstall the new ratchet head. This requires a two-hand operation and loose parts that may drop during the exchange. Also, the possibility of crossing threads exist, and could cause damage to the threaded area in the wrench, rendering the tool useless. It also, requires substantially more time and effort for this complete exchange process.
The invention is an improved ratchet wrench with a quick release mechanism that enables the user to quickly remove or exchange the ratchet head for a different size ratchet head or type of wrench head with a similar connecting design. This different type of head can be an open-end wrench or a box style wrench for example. In a preferred embodiment the mechanism can be an E shaped structure having an activating shaft which passes through the handle, a locking pin, which selectively engages some of the plurality of holes located in the neck of the rotating head and a pivot pin that connects the handle to the wrench head. In a preferred embodiment the activating shaft has a button on it, when this button is depressed partially, it rests against a ball nose spring plunger pin that is perpendicularly aligned with the activating shaft. (one or more ball nose plungers, or some other type of device to allow or cause hesitation on the activation shaft) When additional pressure is applied to the button on the top of the activating shaft, this will cause the spring loaded ball on the ball nose spring plunger to depress, allowing the activating shaft to be fully depressed by moving beyond the ball nose spring plunger pin. When the activating shaft is partially depressed with the tip resting against the spring loaded ball of the ball nose spring plunger pin, it allows the locking pin to release the ratchet head""s neck in order to change the angle by rotation, while still maintaining a solid connection between the handle and the ratchet wrench head with the pivot pin. This happens because the pivot pin is of greater length and remains in the locking position, which is when both the handle and the neck of the wrench head are connected. When the activating shaft is totally depressed it disengages the pivot pin thoroughly allowing the wrench head to be removed or exchanged. Another mechanism that can be used, but not limited to, that will also prohibit the pressure spring release activating shaft from totally depressing when pressure is applied, is a pin positioned perpendicularly and slightly offset to the activating shaft. In this application the activating shaft will have a cut out at a specific location. The wider part of the release pin will act as a seat for the activating shaft. This will only allow partial depression. The spring release pin also will have a cut out on one end of its shaft. When this release pin is pressed inward this will allow the cut out of the spring release pin to align itself with the activating shaft. When aligned with the cut out, the activating shaft is able to be fully depressed. When activating shaft is fully depressed it causes the pivot pin to be thoroughly disengaged from the flange. This allows the user with only one hand operation to easily remove or exchange the wrench head with another head size or style of similar flange design. When this quick release invention is used in a conventional straight wrench or ratchet wrench, another E shaped structure can be implemented, later identified in drawings as E2 or #50. However, this structure will have two pins of equal length, both disengaging at the same time, allowing the wrench head to be exchanged or removed quickly with the push of a one stage button on the top of the activating shaft. In this application a straight activating shaft can be used since there will be only one pressure point required for release only.