Hinged Box-End Wrench for Tight-Access Fastener Grip
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing wrenches struggle to efficiently engage fasteners without an open end, leading to difficulties in access and potential stripping or rounding of the fastener head.
Innovation Solution
A hinged wrench design featuring two identical body pieces that form a box-end wrench head with a pivot joint, allowing the wrench to open and close around fasteners, providing secure grip and torque application.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a traditional box-end wrench is used, then secure grip on fasteners is achieved, but access to fasteners with limited space is difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The wrench head is divided into two separate hinged body pieces that can open and close relative to each other. This segmentation allows the wrench to open wide for access to fasteners in tight spaces, then close securely to engage the fastener, resolving the contradiction between accessibility and secure grip.
Solution Approach 2:
The wrench incorporates a hinged joint that transforms the static box-end structure into a dynamic system. The body pieces can pivot relative to each other, enabling the wrench to adapt its opening width for access while maintaining a secure closed position for fastener engagement, addressing the accessibility limitation without sacrificing grip security.
2Ease of operation
If an open-end wrench is used, then access to fasteners is improved, but stripping or rounding of the fastener head occurs
Solution Approach 1:
By dividing the wrench head into two hinged body pieces with engaging surfaces, the design provides an open configuration for access while maintaining a closed box-end structure for engagement. This segmentation allows the wrench to offer the accessibility of open-end wrenches while preserving the fastener integrity protection of box-end wrenches.
Solution Approach 2:
The dynamic hinged mechanism allows the wrench to transition between open and closed states. In the open state, it provides easy access like an open-end wrench; in the closed state, it forms a secure box-end enclosure that prevents stripping or rounding, thus resolving the reliability issue while maintaining accessibility.
3Ease of operation
If a hinged wrench design is implemented, then access to limited space fasteners is enabled, but manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The wrench head is segmented into two body pieces connected by a hinge, enabling the open/close functionality for accessing tight spaces. While this increases structural complexity, the segmentation allows for modular manufacturing and assembly, potentially simplifying production compared to creating a single complex piece with moving internal mechanisms.
Data Source
AI summary
There is disclosed a wrench, having a first body piece and a second body piece, wherein the first body piece and second body piece are of substantially identical construction, and wherein the second body piece is oriented 180° from the first body piece along a longitudinal axis, and wherein the first and second body pieces have respective head pieces that, when closed together, form a box-end wrench head, and wherein the first and second body pieces are joined at a pivot joint on the box-end wrench head.