EP1369205A1

EP1369205A1 - Set of spanners

Info

Publication number: EP1369205A1
Application number: EP03253330A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Andrew Patrick Palmer
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2002-06-07
Filing date: 2003-05-28
Publication date: 2003-12-10
Also published as: AU2003204384A1; GB0213043D0

Abstract

Combination spanners are contained in pockets (20 - 31) in a tool roll and are arranged in pairs. The ring end of one spanner (15) matches in size the open end of the other spanner (16) of the pair and vice versa, and the pockets (20 - 31) of the tool roll are arranged in pairs, with the pockets (20 - 31) of each pair marked in a different manner to the pockets (20 - 31) of the or each adjacent pair.

Description

Field of the Invention

This invention relates to sets of tools and is particularly concerned with combination spanners.
Combination spanners typically have the same sized ends, i.e. a ring spanner at one end and an open spanner of the same size at the other end. Thus, when a workman is faced with a bolt whose head and nut are of the same size, as is very common for agricultural machinery, a single set of combination spanners does not include implements for gripping the head of the bolt and the nut at the same time.
Sets of combination spanners are typically provided in a tool roll which has a series of parallel pockets within which the spanners are contained, with the largest spanner of the set at one end of the roll and with the smallest spanner of the set at the other end of the roll.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a set of combination spanners which are contained in a tool roll, which is such as to afford advantages as compared to existing combination spanner sets.

Summary of the Invention

According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a set of combination spanners which are contained in pockets in a tool roll and in which the combination spanners are arranged in pairs, with the ring end of one spanner matching in size the open end of the other spanner of the pair and vice versa, and in which the pockets of the tool roll are arranged in pairs, with the pockets of each pair marked in a different manner to the pockets of the or each adjacent pair.
Thus, for a combination spanner set comprising twelve combination spanners, there will be six pairs of spanners and six pairs of pockets. Adjacent pairs of pockets are conveniently of different colours, though other forms of markings may be used to identify the pairs of pockets.
The spanners in the set are conveniently so arranged that the largest pair of spanners is at one end of the tool roll and the smallest pair of spanners is at the other end of the tool roll, which is conveniently formed from layers of a durable, flexible material that are bonded together to form the array of parallel pockets. The tops of the pockets are conveniently arranged in line, parallel to and spaced from an edge of the tool roll, with an end portion of each combination spanner projecting from its respective pocket and with the pockets of varying depths from the end of the tool roll at which the largest pair of combination spanners is disposed to the end of the tool roll at which the smallest pair of combination spanners is disposed.
According to a second aspect of the present invention there is provided a set of combination spanners which are contained in pockets in a tool roll and in which the combination spanners are arranged in pairs, with the ring end of one spanner matching in size the open end of the other spanner of the pair and vice versa, and in which the tops of the pockets are arranged in line, parallel to and spaced from an edge of the tool roll, with an end portion of each combination spanner projecting from its respective pocket and with the pockets of varying depths from the end of the tool roll at which the largest pair of combination spanners is disposed to the end of the tool roll at which the smallest pair of combination spanners is disposed.
According to a third aspect of the present invention there is provided a set of combination spanners which are arranged in pairs, with the ring end of one spanner matching in size the open end of the other spanner of the pair and vice versa, and in which each pair of spanners has a marking of a different colour as compared to the markings of the other pairs of spanners.

Brief Description of the Drawings

Figure 1 is a plan view of a tool roll, and
Figure 2 shows a pair of combination spanners.

Description of the Preferred Embodiment

The tool roll shown in Figure 1 is formed from two sheets of durable, flexible material that are bonded together. The bottom sheet 10 is larger than the top sheet 11 so that it provides a flap portion 12 that can be folded over the tops of the parallel array of pockets 20 to 31 formed by sewing or otherwise bonding together the two layers 10 and 11.
As shown, there are twelve pockets 20 to 31 and the set of combination spanners accordingly comprises twelve spanners, in the form of six pairs of spanners. A typical pair of spanners 15, 16 is shown in Figure 2. Spanner 15 has a closed end of size A, typically 20 mm. and an open end of size B, typically 22 mm. Spanner 16 has an open end of size A, i.e. 20 mm. and a closed end of size B, i.e. 22 mm.
There are thus six pairs of combination spanners, with each pair of combination spanners comprising one spanner having a closed end of size A and an open end of size B and one spanner having an open end of size A and a closed end of size B.
The pockets 20 to 31 are arranged in pairs such that one pair of spanners is contained in pockets 20 and 21, the next pair of spanners is contained in pockets 22 and 23 and so on.
Pockets 20 and 21 are of one colour, whereas pockets 22 and 23 are of a different colour. Pockets 24 and 25 are of the same colour as pockets 20 and 21, and pockets 26 and 27 are of the same colour as pockets 22 and 23, and so on. Each matching pair of spanners is contained in adjacent pockets of the same colour, while the different colours of the pairs of pockets ensure that the user of the set of tools can readily identify the pair of tools that he wishes to use. The six pairs of pockets may, alternatively, be of six different colours. In such case, a band of coloured thermoplastic material is applied to the spanners with thermoplastic material of six different colours applied to the six pairs of spanners. There are thus six pairs of spanners, with the spanners in each pair having a marking of the same colour, and with the six pairs of spanners having markings of six different colours. Identification of the pairs of spanners is thereby facilitated.
A line 18 of sewing or other bonding forms the bottoms of the pockets 20 to 31 and the arrangement is thus such that the tops of the pockets 20 to 31 are in line, extending parallel to and spaced from the edge of the tool roll, while the bottoms of the pockets 20 to 31 are effectively staggered or lie on a line which is inclined to the line forming the tops of the pockets 20 to 31.
The spanners forming the set of combination spanners are of different sizes and the arrangement will be such that the largest pair of spanners is placed in pockets 20 and 21; the next largest pair of spanners is placed in pockets 22 and 23; and so on. The lengths of the spanners will correspond substantially to the lengths of the pockets 20 to 31 so that, when the spanners are placed in the pockets 20 to 31 and the flap 12 is folded over prior to rolling up the tool roll, the spanners will be held relatively securely in the individual pockets and will not tend to fall out of the pockets.
The combination spanner set and tool roll of the present invention thus afford significant advantages as compared to known combination spanner sets. Although the particular embodiment described above includes a set of twelve combination spanners, other numbers of spanners may be included in the set.

Claims

A set of combination spanners which are contained in pockets in a tool roll and in which the combination spanners are arranged in pairs, with the ring end of one spanner matching in size the open end of the other spanner of the pair and vice versa, and in which the pockets of the tool roll are arranged in pairs, with the pockets of each pair marked in a different manner to the pockets of the or each adjacent pair.
A combination spanner set as claimed in Claim 1, comprising twelve combination spanners arranged as six pairs of spanners contained in six pairs of pockets.
A combination spanner set as claimed in Claim 2, in which adjacent pairs of pockets are of different colours.
A combination spanner set as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, in which the spanners in the set are so arranged that the largest pair of spanners is at one end of the tool roll and the smallest pair of spanners is at the other end of the tool roll.
A combination spanner set as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, in which the tool roll is formed from layers of a durable, flexible material that are bonded together to form the array of parallel pockets.
A combination spanner set as claimed in Claim 4, in which the tops of the pockets are arranged in line, extending parallel to and spaced from and edge of the tool roll, with an end portion of each combination spanner projecting from its respective pocket and with the pockets of varying depths from the end of the tool roll at which the largest pair of combination spanners is disposed to the end of the tool roll at which the smallest pair of combination spanners is disposed.
A set of combination spanners which are contained in pockets in a tool roll and in which the combination spanners are arranged in pairs, with the ring end of one spanner matching in size the open end of the other spanner of the pair and vice versa, and in which the tops of the pockets are arranged in line, extending parallel to and spaced from an edge of the tool roll, with an end portion of each combination spanner projecting from its respective pocket and with the pockets of varying depths from the end of the tool roll at which the largest pair of combination spanners is disposed to the end of the tool roll at which the smallest pair of combination spanners is disposed.
A set of combination spanners as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, in which each pair of spanners has a marking of a different colour as compared to the markings of the other pairs of spanners.
A set of combination spanners which are arranged in pairs, with the ring end of one spanner matching in size the open end of the other spanner of the pair and vice versa, and in which each pair of spanners has a marking of a different colour as compared to the markings of the other pairs of spanners.