tap wrench, ever seen one?

[international3414]

alert tool co phila. pa..patented..............for smaller size taps,i didnt find much with a quick google

[Plyerman]

I use tap wrenches every day at the machine shop where I work. Never seen that one before. Is that some sort of a ratchet mechanism on it?

[kwoswalt99]

I use tap wrenches every day at the machine shop where I work. Never seen that one before. Is that some sort of a ratchet mechanism on it?

Spring loaded center, used with a dead center in the machine.

[Plyerman]

Ah, clever.

[international3414]

just found one on ebay 142632439720    almost the same

[mvwcnews]

1921 ALERT TOOL Co. ad:
( <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=hLtNAQAAIAAJ&dq=alert%20tool%20tap%20wrench&pg=RA1-PA366&ci=63%2C1063%2C857%2C326&source=bookclip"><img src="https://books.google.com/books/content?id=hLtNAQAAIAAJ&pg=RA1-PA366&img=1&zoom=3&hl=en&sig=ACfU3U1HUOvOgoE64CdgJzRDzOo-o55TkQ&ci=63%2C1063%2C857%2C326&edge=0"/></a> )
Guess I should hunt up some patents & add them to DATAMP although tap wrenches have hardly  been looked at previously in MVWC Newsletters.

[turnnut]

 never seen that one, it is very interesting. I like the idea of the ratchet action.

[mvwcnews]

Looks like  patent # 1,299,764  -- assigned to ALERT   ( https://www.google.com/patents/US1299764 ) applied for in 1913, granted in 1919.

[turnnut]

 interesting patent write-up, and it took 5 1/2 years to get it approved ???

[mvwcnews]

interesting patent write-up, and it took 5 1/2 years to get it approved ???

Maybe the patent office was lacking a qualified examiner & then there was the distraction of a national emergency in 1917 - 1918 ??  One would have to see what correspondence took place between the patent office & the attorney.
At any rate, Alert Tool did not waste any time -- they were in production & advertising well before the formal patent application was even made.  The ratchet tap wrench was "front cover" material for the July 3, 1913 AMERICAN MACHINIST.

[Bill Houghton]

Guess you could say the company was misnamed - must have had more than one lert working for them.

[mikeswrenches]

Probably a whole family of lert's 

Mike