Rewind ratchet wrench

Claim 1

In a wrench for rotating a socket or the like having an elongated handle with an annular head at one end and a longitudinal passage through the handle, said head having a cavity receiving a rotatable drive member having a drive projection, a sleeve in said cavity surrounding said rotatable member, one-way clutch means operable between said member and sleeve, a cable wound around the sleeve and extending outwardly through said handle passage for turning the sleeve and clutched drive member in one direction when pulled outwardly through said passage, and spring means coupled between said head and said sleeve biasing the sleeve to turn declutched in the other direction to rewind the cable around the sleeve, the improvement therein comprising: said drive member having axially spaced radially outwardly extending annular flanges defining therebetween a circumferential groove, said one-way clutch means including an annular series of inclined ramps on said drive member between said flanges, a plurality of inclined ramps on said sleeve in concentric relation to said drive member, and a plurality of rollers disposed between said ramps and lying within and retained by said drive member groove, said head includes an annular inwardly extending flange at one end of said cavity, said sleeve includes an inwardly extending annular flange at one axial end thereof substantially engaging said head flange so as to restrict axial movement of said sleeve theretoward, one of said drive member flanges includes a portion thereof substantially engaging said sleeve flange so as to restrict axial movement of said drive member theretoward, and, means at the other end of said cavity and said sleeve to preclude axial movement of said sleeve and said drive member, respectively, therepast, thereby to maintain said wrench in assembled relation.