The Antique Wrench Patent Archive

Every grip the nineteenth century took on a nut

Alligator jaw

Two side-view patent drawings of hand wrenches, each showing a long handle, a threaded adjusting nut, a sliding jaw carriage, and a hooked claw jaw at the top, labeled Fig. 1 and Fig. 2 with lettered parts A through G.WRENCH FOR GAS-PIPE, &c.Gustavus A. Jenks · June 24, 1856Two side-by-side patent drawings of a 19th-century pipe wrench showing a long bar with a curved fixed jaw B at top, a hinged serrated jaw D held by a spring, a sliding case C with screw-nut J, and a wooden handle G secured by ferrule F and nut H at the base.IMPROVEMENT IN WRENCHIra Morse · April 21, 1868Patent drawing of a pipe wrench showing a serrated fixed jaw, a movable jaw connected by a lever and pin through an oblique slot, and two parallel handles extending from the stem, with additional cross-sectional views of the band and pawl mechanism below.IMPROVEMENT IN COMBINED PIPE-TONGS AND WRENCHV. K. McElheny · October 12, 1869Patent drawing of a crank-handled wrench with a curved handle ending in a breast-piece, a ratcheting lever mechanism with labeled pawl, ratchet, and jaws, and a small funnel-shaped oil-can mounted near the jaw assembly.IMPROVEMENT IN WRENCHESWilliam R. Moore · October 27, 1874Patent drawing of a pipe wrench showing a long handle A with a hooked jaw E at the top pivoted in a casing C, a sliding straight jaw F with knurled ridges, an adjusting screw rod G with a round thumb-piece G' below, and a separate detail view (Fig. 2) of the casing bracket with recesses c c.IMPROVEMENT IN PIPE-WRENCHESCharles Peterson and Anton Dunnebake · January 2, 1877Patent drawing of an adjustable wrench with a toothed alligator-style jaw at the top, a long bar with a sliding sleeve, and a pair of curved jointed spring levers forming a handle that closes the jaw when squeezed, shown in side and top views alongside cross-section details of the joint and threaded adjusting nut.IMPROVEMENT IN ADJUSTABLE WRENCHES.Seth E. Hurlbut · December 23, 1879