Multi-mode wrench with segmented pawls for torque balance
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional one-way wrenches face a challenge in balancing convenience and strength, as increasing the number of teeth for easier operation weakens the wrench, and existing solutions struggle to achieve a good balance between these two factors.
Innovation Solution
A multi-mode one-way wrench design featuring a head with cutouts and pawls, a switch with arched grooves, and a toothed wheel, allowing for alternate engagement modes that adjust the angle of rotation to optimize convenience and strength, with the cutouts biased at a specific angle to facilitate efficient operation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the number of teeth on the toothed wheel is increased to reduce the minimum rotation angle and improve operational convenience, then the operational convenience is improved, but the strength of each tooth decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The invention divides the single pawl engagement system into multiple pawls (first pawl and second pawl) that engage with different sets of teeth on the toothed wheel. This segmentation allows the wrench to use multiple teeth simultaneously, distributing the load and maintaining strength while enabling smaller rotation angles for operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The toothed wheel is designed with multiple sets of teeth (first set and second set) that can engage with different pawls. This multi-functionality allows the same toothed wheel to provide both strength through multiple tooth engagements and convenience through reduced rotation angles, resolving the contradiction between these two requirements.
2Ease of operation
If the number of teeth on the toothed wheel is increased to reduce the minimum rotation angle, then the operational convenience is improved, but the structural integrity is compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The engagement system is segmented into multiple pawl-tooth interactions occurring simultaneously. The first pawl engages with teeth from the first set while the second pawl engages with teeth from the second set, creating a stable multi-point engagement that maintains structural integrity during operation with reduced rotation angles.
Solution Approach 2:
The multiple pawls are pre-positioned to engage with their respective teeth on the toothed wheel before the actual rotational movement begins. This preliminary engagement ensures that the structural integrity is maintained from the start of operation, allowing for smaller minimum rotation angles without compromising stability.
Data Source
AI summary
A multi-mode one-way wrench includes a head, a toothed wheel, a leading pawl, at least one following pawl and a switch. The head includes cutouts in communication with a chamber. The toothed wheel rests in the chamber and includes teeth. The pawls are movably rest in the cutouts and adapted for alternate engagement with the toothed wheel. The following pawl includes a stem. The switch rests on the head and made with at least one arched groove for receiving and guiding the stem to move the following pawl between a first mode for engagement with the toothed wheel and a second mode kept from the toothed wheel. The cutouts are biased from one another by an angle of 360°×(M+1/L)÷N, wherein L is an integer for representing the number of the cutouts, M is any proper integer, and N is an integer for representing the number of the teeth.