GB2323667A

GB2323667A - Bubble levels and hand holdable tools

Info

Publication number: GB2323667A
Application number: GB9804241A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Harold Barrington Latimer
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1997-03-25
Filing date: 1998-03-02
Publication date: 1998-09-30
Also published as: GB9804241D0; GB9706158D0

Abstract

A hand holdable tool 1 including an arrangement 8,9 of bubble levels for facilitating the ease by which an operator of the tool is able to maintain the tool, when in use, in a predeterminded alignment with respect to a surface of a workpiece, the arrangement including providing at least one means 8,9 on the tool for enabling ongoing monitoring of the tool alignment with respect to a workpiece/surface.

Description

IMPROVEMENTS TO HAND HOLDABLE TOOLS This invention relates to hand holdable tools.

In particular, the present invention is concerned with hand holdable tools commonly referred to as electric drills.

Electric drills are produced in various forms and sizes.

In practice, when using a drill it is the more common purpose to be able to drill a hole in a workpiece i.e., surface which hole is aligned with the intersection of two planes at right angles to each other and each extending perpendicular to the said surface.

As will be appreciated when drilling a hole in a horizontal surface it is possible for the operator by suitable positioning of his eyes with respect to both the drill and the surface to gauge, with considerable practice, reasonably accurately whether or not the drill is being maintained in a truly vertical position with respect to the surface whether the latter is horizontal, vertical, or inclined to the horizontal/vertical.

When it is desired to drill a hole in a vertical surface it is possible, once again with practice, to achieve an acceptable degree of accuracy in the setting of the drill perpendicular to the surface to be drilled at the commencement of the drilling. However, it is commonly found that during the actual drilling operation the user of the drill is not able to maintain the initial setting of the drill relative to the surface so that the drill drifts away from its original setting whereby the hole drilled is frequently set at an undesired angle to the surface. In practice, such a situation can result il, it not being possible to utilise the drilled hole for its intended purpose and at times, for example, to rejection of the drilled article.

The reasons for such drift stem from a number of often unrelated factors such as the ability of the operator to hold the drill without displacements during use, the operational position adopted by the operator, the weight of the drill, the nature of operator drilling sight lines available to the operator during the drilling operation, and the nature/characteristics of the material being drilled etc.

It is an object of the present invention to provide arrangements for facilitating the ease by which an operator is able to maintain a drill, when in use, in a predetermined alignment with respect to a surface being drilled.

Broadly according to a first aspect of the invention there is provided a hand holdable tool incorporating at least one angle/level indicating means.

Broadly, according to a second aspect of the present invention there is provided a hand holdable tool incorporating an arrangement for facilitating the ease by which an operator of such hand holdable tool is able to maintain the tool, when in use, in predeterminded alignment with respect to a workpiece/surface, the arrangement including providing at least one means on the tool for enabling ongoing monitoring of the tool alignment with respect to the workpiece/surface.

Preferably, the tool is provided with a angle/level indicating means on the region thereof that is directly observable by an operator when looking down onto the tool when in use.

Preferably, two angle/level indicating means are provided upon the tool, whereby the angular positioning of a tool with respect to a workpiece can be monitored in two directions.

Conveniently, when two angle/level indicating means are provided they are so positioned on the tool as to be capable of indicating tool positional settings in two planes transverse to each other.

Preferably, the angle/level indicating means comprises a circular type of bubble level whereby the indicating means is responsive to departures of the direction of the tool relative to the workpiece causing the bubble to depart from a predefined central location of its container.

In a further preferred arrangement a circular level indication means is provided on the tool in such position that the central position of the indication means is aligned with the central axis of the hand holdable tool and thus in the case of an electric drill the axis of the drill.

For a better understanding of the invention and to show how to carry the same into effect reference will now be made to the accomapanying drawing in which: Figure 1 very schematically illustrates an electric drill as seen from a side thereof; Figure 2 is a view of the drill of Figure 1 as seen from beneath; and Figure 3 is an end view of the drill shown in Figures 1 and 2.

For the purposes of this description it will be presumed that the drill 1 shown in the Figures can be of any kind of hand holdable electric drill commonly available and used for general purposes such as household repairs etc.

In practice, such drills incorporate a main body 2 containing the electric drill driving motor and associated components (not shown). A drill receiving chn 3 is located at one end 4 of the main body and a handle 5 is located at the opposite end 6 of the main body 2. The handle 5 has associated therewith the conventionally provided finger grip 7 forming part of the drill motor control switching arrangements. It will be understood that some drills may incorporate other control elements (not shown) for adjusting drill speed range, conversion between 'hammer' drilling and conventional drilling etc.

The present invention is essentially concerned with the provision of an arrangement for facilitating the ease by which an operater/user is able to position a drill relative to a workpiece for the purposes of drilling and to maintain a required drilling position for the drill.

As proposed by the present invention a drill alignment indication means 8 is located at the handle end 6 of the drill main body 2. If desired a second such indication means 9 is provided to one side region of the upper part 10 of the main body 2.

The indication means 8 is conveniently of a circular type housing 11 incorporating a liquid and an air space defining a bubble 12. With such an indication arrangement when the bubble 12 thereof is centrally positioned, this position being conveniently defined by crossing reference lines 13, the associated drill is being held in a required position i.e., a vertical setting as would be required for drilling vertically directed holes in a workpiece.

The second indication means 9 is to one side of the drill upper part and in such position as to be visible by an operater looking directly down onto the drill 1. This second indication means 9 is conveniently of the elongate type type and is intended to be indicative of the alignment of the drill in a vertical plane i.e., whether or not the drill is tilted upwards or downwards of a vertical surface.

As will be noted from the Figures the second indication means is so positioned as additionally to be viewable from a side of the drill so that in situations in which the operator is not able to look down onto the indication means, a situation likely to arise when the drill is being held above the operator's eye level for the purposes of drilling a hole located above the operator, it is still possible to monitor the positioning of the drill.

In practice, it has been found that it is relatively easy for an operator when viewing a drill from above to detect sideways drift in the horizontal sense.

It will be appreciated that if considered useful the second indication means can be of the circular type.

In practice, the direction indication means can be provided upon the drill at any position considered suitable.

Furthermore, the mounting of the elongate indication means can be such as to allow the indication means to be positionally adjustable so that the appropriate one of the indication means is able to respond to differing angle settings of a required hole to be drilled relative to the surface required to be drilled.

The indication means can be mounted to the drill in any convenient manner. For example, the indication means can be mounted to a predetermined support position on the drill by pins on the indication means engaging in prelocated receiving holes provided in the casing of the drill.

As an alternative mode of mounting for the indication means the latter can be provided with slide keys which are intended to be engageable in complementary key ways provided in the casing of the drill.

In the case of the key way slot arrangement provision can be made for the operator to adjust the position of the indication means to a location he finds convenient to use.

In a further arrangement the indication means can incorpoarate two separate indication means provided within a common housing/unit.

Whilst mention has specifically been made of liquid/bubble indication means other forms of indication means could be utilised such as inclinometers involving moving balls or other inclination responsive elements.

Claims

1. A hand holdable tool incorporating at least one angle/level indicating means.

2. A hand holdable tool including an arrangement for facilitating the ease by which an operator of the tool is able to maintain the tool, when in use, in predeterminded alignment with respect to a workpiece/surface, the arrangement including providing at least one means on the tool for enabling ongoing monitoring of the tool alignment with respect to a workpiece/surface.

3. A hand holdable tool as claimed in claim 1 or 2, and wherein the tool is provided with an angle/level indicating means on the region thereof that is directly observable by an operator when looking down onto the tool when in use.

4. A hand holdable tool as claimed in claim 1, 2 or 3, and wherein two angle/level indicating means are provided upon the tool, whereby the angular positioning a tool with respect to a workpiece can be monitored in two directions.

5. A hand holdable tool as claimed in claim 4, and wherein when two angle/level indicating means are provided they are so positioned on the tool as to be capable of indicating tool positional settings in two planes transverse to each other.

6. A hand holdable tool as claimed in any one of the preceding claims 1 to 5, and wherein the angleilevel indicating means comprises a circular type of bubble level whereby the indicating means is responsive to departures of the direction of the tool relative to the workpiece causing the bubble to depart from a predefined central location of its container.

7. A hand holdable tool as claimed iny one of claims 1 to 5, and wherein a circular type level indication means is provided on the tool in such position that the central position of the indication means is aligned with the central axis of the hand holdable tool and thus in the case of an electric drill the axis of the drill.

8. A hand holdable tool as claimed in any one of claims 4 to 7, and wherein the second angle/level indication means includes an elongate housing containing a fluid and an air space defining a bubble that serves as the angle/level indication of the indication means.

9. A hand holdable tool, including an arrangement for facilitating the ease by which an operator of the tool is able to maintain the tool in a required operational position, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawing.