A ratchet wrench including a housing with a handle extending therefrom. A rotor
is positioned within an opening in the housing. The rotor includes a crosspiece
having a polygonal cross-section and a downwardly extending stem for the selective
attachment of a socket. A pair of movable wedges is positioned adjacent each side
of the crosspiece. A compressed spring separates the movable wedges of each pair
and normally urges the wedges away from one another and into snug engagement with
both the housing and the crosspiece. A selector is rotatably fastened to the rotor.
The selector includes a disk rotatably fastened to the top of the rotor. A fin
extends upwardly from the top of the disk and a plurality of arms extends downwardly
from the bottom of the disk with one of the arms being provided for each pair of
movable wedges. The arms, by manual rotation of the disk, selectively drive one
wedge from each pair of movable wedges from engagement with the housing to permit
ratcheting of the wrench.