US Patent: 3,555,939
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| Adjustable Open End Wrench
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Patentee:
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| Kenneth F. Halls (exact or similar names) - Broomfield, CO |
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Patent Dates:
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| Applied: |
Jan. 10, 1968 |
| Granted: |
Jan. 19, 1971 |
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Patent Pictures:
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Kenneth F. Halls Patent January 19, 1971 |
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Stan Schulz
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Description: |
| The movable jaw adjusts by an internal worm gear driven through bevel gears by a slide-powered helix grooved shaft. The specifications refer to patent numbers 3,368,432, 1,391,180, 3,125,911, 2,795,987, and 2,753,748.
Initial production (1968) is marked WESTERN TOOL CO. (DENVER) PAT. PEND.
1970s HELIX (PETERSEN MFG. CO.) production took place in Kansas. Another competing source involved production imported from Japan. Those are marked QUALI-KRAFT, with "Pat Pend" or this patent number and "Japan."
The side plate feature giving access to the adjusting mechanism reappears in modified form in a wrench produced under design patent D524,126.
The specifications note patent nos. 1,391,180, 2,753,748, 2,795,987, 3,125,911 and 3,368,432 as relevant prior art.
Production history of the tool was complicated by financial difficulties, contract disputes and lawsuits over tool quality, and patent infringement. At some point, some of the PETERSEN / HELIX style wrenches were produced as "advertising premiums" stamped with the advertisers name. |
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