Tools – Wrench – screwdriver – or driver therefor – Handle or shank
Reexamination Certificate
2001-05-03
2002-05-14
Smith, James G. (Department: 3723)
Tools
Wrench, screwdriver, or driver therefor
Handle or shank
C081S177700, C016S438000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06386075
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a hand tool, more particularly to a swingable handle for use to deliver increased torque to rotate a tool bit of a hand tool.
2. Description of the Related Art
Referring to
FIG. 1
, a conventional handle of a hand tool, such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,189,420, is shown to include a rear handle body
1
which is pivoted to a front handle body
2
by a pivot pin
4
that passes through holes
102
,
202
in the front and rear handle bodies
2
,
1
. Three retaining concavities
203
are formed in the front handle body
2
for receiving three spring-biased retainers
3
, respectively. A hole
103
is formed in the rear handle body
1
such that one of the retainer
3
can be retained in the hole
103
for arresting the rotation of the front handle body
2
relative to the rear handle body
1
. The retainer
3
which is retained in the hole
103
can be pressed inwardly to permit rotation of the front handle body
2
. However, the operation of the retainer
3
, which has a relatively small surface, is not comfortable for the user.
Referring to
FIG. 2
, another conventional handle of a hand tool is shown to include a rear handle body
1
′ with a pivot hole
101
′, and a front handle body
2
′ with an elongate pivot hole
201
′. A pivot pin
3
′ passes through the pivot holes
101
′,
201
′ to connect pivotally the rear handle body
1
′ to the front handle body
2
′. The front and rear handle bodies
1
′,
2
′ have mating walls which are disposed to mate with each other and which respectively have a retaining protrusion
102
′ and a retaining groove
202
′ that engage each other to restrain the front handle body
2
′ from movement relative to the rear handle body
1
′. When the front handle body
2
′ is pressed forward to disengage the protrusion
102
′ from the groove
202
′, the rear handle body
1
′ can rotate relative to the front handle body
2
′ to adjust torque for rotating a tool bit mounted on the front handle body
2
′. However, no device is provided for retaining the rear handle body
1
′ at an angle relative to the front handle body
2
′. In addition, a clearance is formed between the mating walls in the angular position of the handle bodies
1
′,
2
′, thereby exposing the user's hand to the risk of injury.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The object of the present invention is to provide a swingable handle which can be operated conveniently and comfortably to swing a rear handle body relative to a front handle body, which can restrain firmly the rear handle body from rotation relative to the front handle body, and which has a simple and compact construction that can lead to a reduced packaging size.
According to this invention, the swingable handle includes a rear handle body which has a front end wall facing forward, a rear end wall that is disposed opposite to the front end wall in a longitudinal direction parallel to a rotation axis of a tool-bit, and an outer surrounding wall that is disposed between the front and rear end walls. The front end wall has an accommodating cavity which extends toward the rear end wall in the longitudinal direction and which is surrounded by the outer surrounding wall. The outer surrounding wall has an inner peripheral edge portion to define a guiding slot which extends inwardly and in a radial direction relative to the rotation axis to communicate with the accommodating cavity. A front handle body has a mount end portion which is adapted to connect with a tool shaft for holding the tool bit, and a coupling end portion opposite to the mount end portion in the longitudinal direction. The coupling end portion is pivoted to the front end wall about a pivot axis transverse to the rotation axis. The coupling end portion has a first mating wall which extends in a transverse direction parallel to the pivot axis, which confronts the front end wall, and which is distal to the mount end portion relative to the pivot axis. A coupling member is mounted in and is movable relative to the accommodating cavity in the longitudinal direction. The coupling member includes a second mating wall which extends in the transverse direction and which confronts and mates with the first mating wall such that when the front end wall is turned about the pivot axis, the second mating wall is moved angularly relative to the first mating wall. The coupling member further includes a shifted portion which is fitted in and which is movable relative to the guiding slot in the longitudinal direction such that the second mating wall is moved by the shifted portion away from the first mating wall. A biasing member is disposed to bias the second mating wall toward the first mating wall in the longitudinal direction. A retaining member is disposed between the first and second mating walls such that when the second mating wall is biased to move toward the first mating wall, the retaining member prevents the first mating wall from moving angularly relative to the second mating wall, and such that when the second mating wall is moved by the shifted portion away from the first mating wall against biasing action of the biasing member, the second mating wall is angularly movable relative to the first mating wall between an in-line position, where the mount end portion is in-line with the rear handle body, and an angular position, where the rear handle body forms an angle with the rotation axis.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4825734 (1989-05-01), Schwalbe et al.
patent: 5069091 (1991-12-01), Bramsiepe et al.
patent: 5280738 (1994-01-01), Liou
patent: 5329834 (1994-07-01), Wong
patent: 5515754 (1996-05-01), Elkins
patent: 5816119 (1998-10-01), Herue
patent: 5943925 (1999-08-01), Huang
patent: 6145413 (2000-11-01), Lin
patent: 6189420 (2001-02-01), Shiao
Shakeri Hadi
Smith James G.
LandOfFree
Swingable handle adapted for rotating a tool bit of a hand tool does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Swingable handle adapted for rotating a tool bit of a hand tool, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Swingable handle adapted for rotating a tool bit of a hand tool will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2904135