EP1424166B1

EP1424166B1 - Socket bit holder

Info

Publication number: EP1424166B1
Application number: EP02026566A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Ho-Tien Chen
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2002-11-28
Filing date: 2002-11-28
Publication date: 2007-04-04
Anticipated expiration: 2022-11-28
Also published as: DE60219330T2; EP1424166A1; DE60219330D1; ATE358556T1

Abstract

A tool-combining rod includes a rod member (5), an engaging head member (6) and an engage member (7). The rod member (5) has a rear non-circular portion (55) for combining with a driving tool, and a front combining hollow (50) for combining with the engaging head member (6) and the engage member (7). The engage member (7) has a central hole (75) for the engaging head member (6) to fit through therein and an elastic annular wall (70) to tightly fit in the combining hole (50) of the rod member (5). The engage member (7) has a largest diameter smaller than or equal to the outer diameter of the rod member (5), and the outer diameter of the front combining hollow portion (56) is smaller than or equal to that of the rear non-circular portion (55) of the rod member (5) for convenience of combining with a screwdriver. <IMAGE>

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a tool-combining rod according to the preamble of claim 1. Such a tool-combining rod is known from EP-A-0221279.
Conventional tool combining rods are almost the same in structure. One conventional tool-combining rod shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3 includes a rod member 1 and an engaging head member 2. The rod member 1 is bored at the front end with a combining hollow 10 have the same shape as that of the rod portion 20 of the engaging head member 2 so as to let them combined together closely. The combining hollow 10 is bored with one or two bead holes 12 in its wall 11 for receiving a bead 13, which is pressed by a sleeve 14, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. Or the combining hollow 10 may have its wall 11 bored with a C-shaped groove 12A for a C-shaped clasp 13A to be fitted therein, as shown in Fig. 3. Further, between the engage hole 12 and the engage bead 13 or between the C-shaped groove 12A and the C-shaped clasp 13A there must be a space and a little elasticity for the engage bead 13 and the C-shaped clasp 13A to move around in order to permit the engaging head member 2 to be pulled out for replacing and inserted in place with easiness.
A fourth conventional tool combining rod, as shown in Fig. 4, includes a rod member 1 provided with a combining hollow 10 having a hole 15 in the rear side, and a C-shaped groove 12A in its wall for receiving a C-shaped clasp 16. Thus, in case the engaging head member 2 has to be pulled out or replaced, an auxiliary tool 3 has to be inserted in the hole 15 and pushed the bottom of the engaging head member 2 outward so as to take out or replace the engaging head member 2.
However, each of the four conventional tool combining rods described above needs to be provided with a bead hole 13 or an annular groove 21 in the rod portion 20 of the engaging head member 2 not only to let the engaging head member 2 fixed in position by the bead(s) 13 or the C- shaped clasps 13A, 16, but also enable the bead(s) 13 or the C- shaped clasp 13A, 16 to move respectively in the bead hole 12 or in the C-shaped groove 12A, thus letting the engaging head member 2 and the combining hollow 10 combined together or disengaged from each other smoothly and easily.
In view of the above-mentioned condition, the thickness L of the hollow wall 11 has to be set within a proper range. The conventional tool combining rods shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3 all have too large an outer diameter (over 7 mm) so they are not applicable to an automatic screwdriver 4 fitted with a screw band, but only available for a common tool having a comparatively short combining rod. The fourth conventional tool-combining rod shown in Fig. 4 has the outer diameter of its rod member 1 diminished to conform to the foresaid automatic screwdriver. Under this condition, after the engaging head member 2 is combined with the combining hollow 10 of the rod member 1, the engaging head member2 is closely stuck by the C-shaped clasp 16 in such a condition that it can hardly be pulled out by hand, and so the rod member 1 has to be bored with the side hole 15 for an auxiliary tool 3 to insert therein and prop out the engaging head member 2 by means of an auxiliary tool. However, the side hole 15 bored in the wall of the rod member 1 will reduce the strength of the rod member 1, possible to render the tool-combining rod 1 twisted, deformed and broken off at the location of the side hole 15 in the event of the twisting force of combination being too large.
Still the fifth conventional tool-combining rod shown in Fig. 5, includes a rod portion 1 having a combining hollow 10 in the front end. The combining hollow 10 has its annular wall 11 bored with an bead hole 12 for receiving a bead 13. A contractible spring 14 is provided on the outer side of the hollow wall 11 of the combining hollow 10, having one end pushing against the annular surface 111 of the hollow wall 11 and the other end pushing against the inner annular surface 140 of a slide sleeve 14A, and positioned between the slide sleeve 14A and the hollow wall 11 of the combining hollow 10. Besides, the combining hollow 10 has its wall provided annularly with a C-shaped clasp 112 to prevent the slide sleeve 14A from slipping off. The slide sleeve 14A has its front end formed with an inner sloping annular edge 141 so as to let the combination of the bead(s) 13 with the engaging head member 2 able to be loosened for facilitating removing or replacing the engaging head member 2.
As described above, the fifth conventional tool-combining rod shown in Fig.5 has a slide sleeve 14A provided on the rod member 1 for replacing the engaging head member2 easily, but the outer diameter d1 of the slide sleeve 14A is much larger than the outer diameter d2 of the rod member 1. As a result, such a tool-combining rod provided with two combining components is not applicable to an automatic screwdriver 4. In operating, the automatic screwdriver 4 used at the present usually has a screw screwed out and then screwed into an objective, and the automatic screwdriver unit 42 may recover its original position by the recovering resilience of the contractible spring 43. At this time, the outer annular wall of the tool-combining rod is positioned in a screw bend hole 401 and wrapped by the annular wall of a screw hole 402. If the tool-combining rod is too large, it is hard for the automatic screwdriver tool unit 42 to recover its original position, failing to operate smoothly.
Therefore, the tool combining rod employed today has a small outer diameter and is made integral as one 1C, as shown in Figs. 6, 7 and 8, but this integrally made tool combining rod 1C may become unusable and has to be replaced or cast away in case the engage portion 22 of its engaging head member 2 is worn off, increasing cost in using.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This invention is devised to offer a tool-combining rod having a small outer diameter (less than 7 mm) and applicable to an automatic screwdriver, able to be operated smoothly and lower cost in manufacturing.
The present invention has the following features.

1. The tool combining rod consists of a rod member having one end formed with a non-round and equiangular portion to be combined with a drive tool for transmitting power, and the other end provided with a combining hollow and having an outer diameter smaller than or equal to the largest outer diameter of foresaid non-round surface, with the combining hollow provided with an inner annular surface for facilitating receiving an engage member.
2. The engage member is bored with a central hole for receiving the rod portion of the engaging head member, and provided with an elastic annular surface for combining with the inner annular surface of the combining hollow of the rod member and firmly holding the engaging head member to prevent it from slipping off.
3. The tool combining rod is composed of a rod member, an engaging head member and an engage member, therefore in case the engaging head member is worn off due to driving screws, it needs only to replace the engaging head member, reducing expenditure of a user.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

This invention will be better understood by referring to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a first kind of conventional tool combining rod:
Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a second kind of conventional tool combining rod:
Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a third kind of conventional tool combining rod:
Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a fourth kind of conventional tool combining rod:
Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view of a fifth kind of conventional tool combining rod:
Fig. 6 is a cross-sectional view of a sixth kind of conventional tool combining rod assembled with an automatic screwdriver:
Fig. 7 is a partial magnified cross-sectional view of the sixth kind of conventional tool combining rod assembled with the automatic screwdriver;
Fig. 8 is a partial magnified cross-sectional view of the sixth kind of conventional tool combining rod assembled with the automatic screwdriver in an operating condition;
Fig. 9 is an exploded perspective view of a first embodiment of a tool-combining rod in the present invention;
Fig. 10 is an exploded perspective view of a second embodiment of a tool combining rod in the present invention;
Fig. 11 is a partial cross-sectional view of the rod member of the tool-combining rod in the present invention;
Fig. 12 is a partial cross-sectional view of the rod member combined with an engaging head member in the present invention;
Fig. 13 is a perspective view of an engage member of the first embodiment of a tool-combining rod in the present invention;
Fig. 14 is an upper view of an engage member of the first embodiment of a tool combining rod in the present invention;
Fig. 15 is a cross-sectional view of the line A - A in Fig. 14;
Fig. 16 is a perspective view of an engage member of the second embodiment of a tool-combining rod in the present invention;
Fig. 17 is an upper view of an engage member of the second embodiment of a tool-combining rod in the present invention;
Fig. 18 is a cross-sectional view of the line B - B in Fig. 17;
Fig. 19 is a perspective view of the tool-combining rod in the present invention with an engage member not yet combined with the rod member by means of an auxiliary tool;
Fig. 20 is a perspective view of the tool-combining rod in the present invention combined with an auxiliary tool separating the engage member from the rod member;
Fig. 21 is another perspective view of the tool combining rod in the present invention with the auxiliary tool separating the engage member from the rod member;
Fig. 22 is a cross-sectional view of a tool-combining rod in the present invention combined with an automatic screwdriver;
Fig. 23 is a partial magnified cross-sectional view of the tool combining rod in the present invention combined with the automatic screwdriver; and,
Fig. 24 is a partial magnified cross-sectional view of the tool-combining rod in the present invention in combining movement with an automatic screwdriver.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

A preferred embodiment of a tool-combining rod in the present invention, as shown in Figs. 9, 10 and 12, includes a rod member 5, an engaging head member 6 and an engage member 7 as main components combined together.
The rod member 5 has a non-circular equiangular portion 55 formed in a rear part, a front hollow 50 formed in a front end and shaped as the shape of a rod portion 60 of the engaging head member 6 and having an annular groove 52 in its wall. The front hollow 50 has an annular tapered surface 53. And the outer diameter of the non-circular equiangular portion 55 is larger than that of the outer surface 56 of the rod member 5.
The engaging head member 6 has a rear rod portion 60 of a geometrical shape with no grooves or recesses and fitting in the front hollow 50 of the rod member 5. The engaging head member 6 further has a front rod portion 61, an engage portion 62 formed in a front end part of the front rod portion 61, with the outer diameter of the rear rod portion 60 is larger than the front rod portion 61 to define a conical portion 63 therebetween.
The engage element 7, as shown in Figs. 9, 10, 12 - 15, has an annular wall 70, one or more slots 71 equidistantly formed in the annular wall 70 so as to supply the engage element 7 with necessary elasticity for engagement, and its number depends on how large the elasticity or the engaging force is needed. Further a rear flange 72 is formed at the rear end of the elastic annular wall 70 to engage with the annular groove 52 of the rod member 5, as shown in Fig. 12. Moreover, the engage member 7 has a rear end surface 73 tightly fitting with the conical portion 63 of the engaging head member 6, so when a user operates an automatic screwdriver 4, a screw 41 may produce outward-pulling force against the engaging head member 6 to prevent the engaging head member 6 from loosening due to the tight combination of the engaging portion 62 with the fitting groove 410 of the screw 41 during returning process of the automatic screwdriver 4. Further, the engage member 7 has a center hole 75 and an outer annular surface 74 of any shape so as to be easily clamped by an auxiliary tool 76. And the outer annular surface 74 preferably has a conical shape as shown in Figs. 13 - 15, but can have any shape so long as it cannot stick with a holding periphery 402 of a screw hole 401 of a screw band 40. Then the engage member 7 may be easily separated from the engaging head member 6 with only a little force.
If the engaging head member 6 is to be altered, it is firstly combined with the engage member 7, as shown in Fig. 19, and then the two 6 and 7 all together are manually or by means of an auxiliary tool 76 combined with the combining hollow 50 of the rod member 5 by means of clamping and pressing the engage member 7. On the contrary, if the engaging head member 6 is to be taken out, only engage an auxiliary tool 76 with the outer periphery 74 of the engage member 7 and pull out the engaging head member 6 out of the rod member 5, as shown in Figs. 20 and 21.
As can be seen, the tool-combining rod in the present invention consists of three components, the rod member 5, the engaging head member 6 and the engage member 7. In order to adapt an automatic screwdriver 4 with the tool combining rod in the invention, the rod member 5 has the non-circular equiangular portion 55, and the substantial front portion 56 formed circular or any other shape and having a diameter smaller than or equal to the outer diameter of the rear equiangular portion 55, with the largest diameter of the engage member 72 being equal to or smaller than that of the rod member 5 for convenience of handling the automatic screwdriver 4.
Next, shown in Figs. 22, 23 and 24, the outer diameter of the engage member 7 is smaller than the largest outer diameter of the rod member 5, so the tool combining rod can easily move a screw 41 through the screw hole 401 of the screw band 40, as shown in Figs. 22 and 23. After the screw 41 is driven tightly in an object, the tool-combining rod is moved back by the spring 43 (practically a movable member 42 returns to its original position). At this time, the tool-combining rod can move back to its original position through the screw hole 400 of the screw band 40, without a problem of being constricted dead, impossible to move. Accordingly, a user may use an automatic screwdriver 4 with the tool-combining rod for driving a screw 41 smoothly and conveniently. So the tool combining rod may be manufactured with a low cost, not wearing off, splitting or tearing, needless to replace, only with the engaging head member 6 having to be replaced with a new one in case of the engage portion 62 worn off.

Claims

A tool combining rod for combining with an engaging head member (6) wherein said engaging head member (6) comprises
a rod portion (61), a front engage portion (62) formed in a front portion thereof and a equiangular rear rod portion (60), the outer diameter of the rear rod portion being larger than the diameter of the front rod portion so as to define a conical portion (63) therebetween,
the tool combining rod comprising
- a rod member (5) having a front hollow (50) adapted to receive the equiangular rear rod portion (60) of the engaging head member (6) for transmitting force and having an annular groove (52) in its inner wall
characterized in that
the tool combining rod furthermore comprises
- an engage member (7) having an elastic annular wall (70),
a rear flange (72) formed in a rear end,
and a center hole (75),
wherein said elastic annular wall protrudes from a front end face of the rod member in an assembled state of the engage member with the rod member being to be clamped by an auxiliary tool (76) so as to assemble or disassemble said engaging head member (6) in a condition combined together with said engage member (7) with the hollow of said rod member (5), whereby said center hole (75) in the engage member (7) receives the front rod portion (61) of the engaging head member (6) such that a rear surface of the engage member fits with the conical portion (63) of the engaging head member (6), and wherein the rear flange (72) of the annular wall (70) of the engage member (7) engages the annular groove (50) of the rod member (5).
A tool combining rod as claimed in claim 1,
characterized in that
said front hollow (50) of said rod member (5) is shaped circular or non-circular and comprises a largest diameter smaller than or equal to that of said rear equiangular portion (60) and said front hollow (50) has an annular tapered surface (53).
A tool combining rod as claimed in claim 1,
characterized in that
said elastic annular wall (70) of the engage member (7) comprises at least one lengthwise slot (71), said engage head member (6) firstly combined with said engage member (7) and then said engage head member (6) together with said engage member (7) all combined in said front hollow (50) of said rod member (5).
A tool combining rod as claimed in claim 3,
characterized in that
said engage member (7) has a plurality of slots(71) in its elastic annular wall (70) spaced from each other, depending on how large the engaging elasticity is needed.