GB2596046A

GB2596046A - Socket

Info

Publication number: GB2596046A
Application number: GB2005532.3A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Journeaux Adrian
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2020-04-16
Filing date: 2020-04-16
Publication date: 2021-12-22
Anticipated expiration: 2040-04-16
Also published as: GB2596046B; GB202005532D0

Abstract

The socket 10 includes an inner formation 120 shaped and dimensioned to engage with part of a drive tool (12, Figure 2). An outer formation 130 is shaped and dimensioned to engage with a conduit bush (1, Figure 1). Rotation of the socket rotates the conduit bush. A thickness of the socket along its axis of rotation is less than the maximum diameter of the socket in its plane of rotation. The inner formation permits a conventional drive tool, such as a quarter inch male drive, to engage with the socket and control its rotation. The outer formation permits the socket to engage with the conduit bush, so that the drive tool can be used to tighten or loosen the conduit bush on a conduit opening, via the socket. The outer formation may define a hexagonal gripping surface. The inner formation may comprise a bore with a square, hexagonal, pentagonal, or octagonal cross-section. The socket may be formed as a unitary structure.

Description

Socket

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a socket for a drive tool. Embodiments of the present invention relate to a hexagonal bush socket for engaging with a conduit bush, the socket being drivable by a quarter inch drive tool such as a socket wrench.

Background

A male conduit bush, pictured in Figure 1, is a (usually) brass male threaded bush with a smooth rounded interior profile which is inserted into a female threaded electrical conduit. The bush connects the conduit to the trunking or accessory and protects electrical cabling as it enters/exits the conduit fitting. Different sizes of conduit, and thus of conduit bush, are available, with the most common sizes being 20 and 25mm in (outside) diameter. The bush typically has a hexagonal external end face, dictating the type of tool suitable for tightening and loosening the male conduit bush onto the conduit.

Often, the conduit terminates into a confined space such as an electrical installation (for example a junction box) involving conduits and electrical trunking, frequently with a variety of obstacles near the location at which the conduit bush is to be installed or removed. This makes it very difficult to correctly insert and position a conventional tool to be able to tighten or loosen a conduit bush mounted to the opening of the conduit.

Various tools exist which partially address these problems. These include a conduit bush wrench or sets of grips, or a bush spanner. However, these generally only work if the conduit bush is in the right place, and generally offer a relatively imprecise fit to the conduit bush, making it more likely that the tool will slip and cause injury or damage to nearby parts. 1.

The present invention is intended to address at least some of the limitations of the prior art, and to provide a solution in which a male conduit bush can be tightened or loosened more effectively and safely and to ensure better earth continuity.

Summary of the Invention

According to the invention, there is provided a socket for a drive tool, the socket comprising an inner formation shaped and dimensioned to engage with part of the drive tool, and an outer formation shaped and dimensioned to engage with a conduit bush, such that rotation of the socket rotates the conduit bush (with respect to a conduit to which the conduit bush is to be fitted, or from which it is to be removed), and wherein a thickness of the socket along (or in a direction parallel to) its axis of rotation is less than the maximum diameter of the socket in its plane of rotation. To the extent that the thickness of the socket may vary, the thickness of the socket here may be considered as its maximum thickness.

The inner formation permits a conventional drive tool, such as a 1/4 inch male drive, to engage with the socket and control its rotation. The outer formation permits the socket to engage with the conduit bush, so that the drive tool can be used to tighten or loosen the conduit bush on a conduit opening, via the socket. As a result of the relative thinness of the socket in the direction of the axis of rotation (compared with its cross-sectional diameter), it is possible to fit the socket into confined regions such as trunking or a junction box. Existing general purpose sockets for drive tools, even when they have an opening which is sized and dimensioned to engage with a conduit bush, have a longitudinal length (in the direction of the axis of their rotation) which is too large to fit into these confined regions.

Preferably, the socket has a body having an operating face bearing the outer formation, the body having a (maximum) thickness of less than 20mm, preferably less than 15mm, more preferably less than lOmm, and still more preferable approximately 7 mm. These dimensions permit use of the socket in ever more confined regions, with a thickness of approximately 7mm (for example between 6mm and 8mm) being considered an optimum trade-off between on the one hand fitting most effectively within confined regions and on the other hand having sufficiently deep formations to reliably grip the conduit bush and sufficiently high rigidity and mechanical strength to handle the forces involved in tightening and untightening the conduit bush The drive tool may be an internal drive or an external drive. The drive tool may be one of a 1/4 inch drive, a 3/8 drive and a 1/2 inch drive. The drive tool may be one of a square drive and a hexagonal drive. In each case, the different size and profile of drive requires a differently sized and/or dimensioned inner formation.

Preferably, the inner formation comprises a bore extending (at least part of the way, and preferably entirely) through the socket. The bore thus receives a male drive shaft of the drive tool, and the drive shaft and the socket are unable to rotate with respect to each other due to the respective complementary shapes and dimensions of the drive shaft and the bore. The bore (and thus the drive shaft of the drive tool) may have a generally square cross-section, a hexagonal cross section, a pentagonal cross section or an octagonal cross section.

The outer formation may define a hexagonal gripping surface which is complementary to the (external) shape and dimension of a hexagonal conduit bush with which it is to be engaged.

The socket may comprise a body in the form of a disk, wherein the inner formation extends through the disk in a central region thereof and the outer formation is provided on an operating face of the disk. In this case, the inner formation may comprise an inner wall surrounding the bore and extending away from the operating face of the disk. The inner wall is either continuous or discontinuous. The inner wall provides greater strength and rigidity to the portion of the disk carrying the drive shaft of the drive tool, permitting greater torque to be applied without damaging the socket.

The outer formation may comprise an outer wall proximate the periphery of the disk and extending away from the operating face of the disk. In this case, when the socket is applied to a conduit bush, the outer wall substantially or fully surrounds the (generally hexagonal) outer end surface of the conduit bush. The outer wall is either continuous or discontinuous.

With the inner wall and outer wall as defined above, a channel is defined between the inner wall and the outer wall, the channel having a width sufficient to receive an end portion of the conduit bush. Preferably, the inner wall and the outer wall extend to the same distance away from the operating face of the disk.

Preferably, an inner surface of the inner wall is a continuation of the bore while the outer surface of the inner wall has a cross section which is similar to and smaller than that of an inner surface of the outer wall (by an amount sufficient to define the channel referred to above). However, the outer surface of the inner wall may take on any shape provided that it fits within the end portion of the conduit bush.

The inner formation is preferably shaped and dimensioned to receive and inhibit rotation (with respect to the socket) of a tool part having a substantial square cross section with sides of length approximately one quarter inch, 3/8 inch or IA inch.

The outer formation is preferably shaped and dimensioned to received and inhibit rotation (relative to the socket) of a conduit bush having a diameter of (for example) one of 25mm, 25mm, 32mm, 38mm, 40mm and 50mm.

The socket is preferably formed as a unitary structure, for example cast in a single step, or machined from a single piece of metal, such as stainless steel. Alternatively, the socket may be a composite structure formed of multiple parts coupled together, for example by mechanical fixings or welding. In this case, the multiple parts may be of the same or different materials.

Brief Description of the Drawings

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings where like parts are provided with corresponding reference numerals and in which: Figure 1 schematically illustrates a conduit bush; Figure 2 schematically illustrates a socket wrench as an example of a drive tool; Figure 3 schematically illustrates a conduit bush being used to mount a conduit to a housing; Figure 4 schematically illustrates the use of the socket to tighten or loosen the conduit bush within a confined space; Figure 5 schematically illustrates the use of the socket to tighten or loosen the conduit bush within another confined space; and Figure 6 schematically illustrates the socket in several different views.

Detailed Description

Referring to Figure 1, a male conduit bush 1 is shown The conduit bush 1 can be seen to have an externally threaded cylindrical body 1 a, and a hexagonal end portion lb, the hexagonal end portion lb having a thickness Tc (along its axis of symmetry), of generally between 3mm and 5mm, and typically of 4mm. The hexagonal end portion lb can be engaged by a suitable tool in order to rotate the conduit bush 1 to screw it onto (and into) the end of an internally threaded end portion of a conduit using the external threading of the cylindrical body la.

Referring to Figure 2, a conventional 1/4 inch external drive wrench 12 is shown. The wrench 12 can be seen to have a handle portion 12a and a head portion 12b. The head portion 12b comprises a square drive shaft 12c which can be engaged with a socket from a conventional socket set. It can also be engaged with the socket of the present invention, as will be described below. The drive shaft 12c is in this case perpendicular to the handle 12a, but certain tools may provide the drive shaft 12c at an angle to the handle 12a, or the angle may be adjustable. It will be appreciated that different drive shaft sizes may be used, such as a 3/8 inch drive and a 1/2 inch drive. Similarly, a hexagonal (or other shape) drive could be used instead of a square drive, provided equivalent modifications are made to the structure of the socket (see below).

Referring to Figure 3, a simple example is shown of a conduit bush 1 being used to fix a conduit 2 onto a housing 3. The conduit 2 abuts the housing 3 adjacent an opening in the housing 3 (not visible in Figure 2), and an end portion of the conduit 2 is too large to enter the opening in the housing 3. The cylindrical body 1a of the conduit bush 1 is small enough to pass through the opening in the housing 3, and into the end of the conduit 2, which is internally threaded, the external diameter of the externally threaded cylindrical body la of the conduit bush 1 substantially matching the internal diameter of the internally threaded end portion of the conduit 2. In use, the body la of the conduit bush 1 is delivered through the opening in the housing 3 and into the end of the conduit 2. The hexagonal end portion lb of the conduit bush 1 is then rotated using the novel bush socket 10 to screw the body la into the conduit, until the end portion lb abuts the housing 3, with the housing 3 being firmly trapped between the end portion lb of the conduit bush 1 and the end of the conduit 2.

In Figure 3, the bush socket 10 for engaging with the end portion lb of the conduit bush 1 is also shown. The socket 10 is engaged with a drive tool 12, in this case a conventional socket wrench, which can be used to rotate the socket 10 while it is engaged with the conduit bush 1, thus causing the conduit bush 1 to rotate, to be either screwed into or out of the conduit 2, depending on the direction of rotation applied.

While in Figure 3 there is ample space around the location at which the conduit bush 1 is disposed, this is not always the case. Referring to Figure 4, the socket 10 and drive tool 12 are shown being used to fit (or remove) a conduit bush (not visible due to presence of the socket 10) at a location which is very confined due to the presence of various obstacles 4. Conventional tools are unable to effectively engage with the conduit bush 1 in such regions, making it difficult to fit or remove the conduit bush 1 and potentially making installation and removal dangerous (due to the risk of the tool slipping and causing injury or damage to surrounding parts). In contrast, the shape and size of the socket 10 is such that it can readily fit within the confined area defined by the obstacles 4, and can be driven to rotate by a drive tool 12 which can itself have a size and shape suitable for fitting between, or around, the obstacles 4. In the case of Figure 4, the drive tool 12 has a relatively small dimension in the direction of the axis of rotation of the tool 12 and socket 10. The drive tool 12 shown in Figure 4 corresponds substantially to that shown in Figure 2, and thus has a handle 12a and a head portion 12b from which extends a drive shaft 12c (not visible in Figure 4), the drive shaft extending perpendicularly (downwards in the orientation of Figure 4) from the longitudinal axis of the handle 12a, to engage with the socket 10. In Figure 4, the head portion 12b is in close proximity to the socket 10.

Referring now to Figure 5, the top part thereof shows a conduit bush 1 mounted through an opening in the top of a housing 3, into a conduit 2 above the housing 3. Various obstacles 4 are disposed around the location of the conduit bush 1, making it difficult to properly access the conduit bush 1 using conventional tools.

Additionally, while the socket 10 fits readily within the confined area between the various obstacles, the drive tool 12 shown in Figure 4 would be unsuitable when used with the socket 10 in its Figure 4 configuration, since the handle of that drive tool is provided close to the socket 10, which would come into contact with the obstacle 4 at the top of the housing as the drive tool 12 is rotated.

The bottom part of Figure 5 shows how, in order to overcome this, the drive tool 12 of Figure 5 uses an extension portion 12d which extends from the head portion 12b to the socket 10. In this case, the end of the extension portion 12d adjacent the socket 10 comprises a drive shaft (not visible in Figure 5) which extends into the socket 10, while the other end of the extension portion 12d receives the drive shaft 12c of the head portion 12b. The extension portion 12d makes it possible to navigate the drive tool 12 around various obstacles within the environment in which the conduit bush 1 is provided. It will be appreciated that the drive tool 12, including the extension portion 12d are conventional, but the socket 10 is conveniently designed to be driven by the drive tool 12, or any other drive tool suitable for the specific environment. In contrast, existing socket sets usable with the drive tool 12 are dimensioned such that they would be difficult or impossible to fit into the confined areas shown in Figure 4 or Figure 5, irrespective of the specific drive tool selected to use with those socket sets.

Referring to Figure 6, various views of the socket 10 are provided, including a 3D view, a bottom view, a side view, a top view and a cross-sectional view. In these, it can be seen that the socket 10 takes the general form of a circular disk (defining the body of the socket 10), and comprises a central bore 110 which extends completely through the centre of the body of the disk in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the disk. The bore 110 is intended to receive a male part of a drive tool, such as a "A" socket drive as shown in Figure 2. The interior of the bore may be provided with one or more indents with which spring-loaded bearings on the exterior of the socket drive tool can engage to secure the socket 10 to the drive tool (to prevent it falling off in use). The socket 10 has a circular perimeter 150 (although this is not essential). The 3D view and the top view show an operating face 105 of the socket 10 (labelled on the side view), while the bottom view shows a reverse face 107 of the socket 10. The operating face 105 bears the formation(s) for engaging with the conduit bush. In particular, the operating face 105 comprises inner walls 120 which are disposed around the central bore 110. The inner walls 120 have an inner surface which defines a continuation of the bore 110, and in this case define a substantially square internal cross section. The inner walls 120 have an outer surface which define a substantially hexagonal cross section. The operating face 105 also comprises outer walls 130 which are disposed around the circumference of the disk. The outer walls 130 have an outer surface which defines the periphery of the disk, and thus define a circular cross section. The outer walls 130 have an inner surface which define a substantially hexagonal cross section, which matches the (external) shape and dimensions of the conduit bush 1 with which the socket 10 is intended to engage. The (inside surface of the) outer walls 130 thus define a hexagonal gripping surface. A channel 140 is defined between the inside surface of the outer walls 130 and the outside surface of the inner walls 120, and this channel 140 is sufficiently wide to receive the hexagonal end portion lb of the conduit bush 1. In practice, it is only the inside surface of the outer walls 130 which are required to be complementary with the hexagonal outer shape of the end portion lb, while the outside surface of the inner walls 120 are merely required to accept the circular inner surface of the hexagonal end portion lb of the conduit bush 1 (potentially without coming into contact).

Referring to the cross sectional view in Figure 6, which is through the line A-A of the side view, it can be seen that the channel 140 has a constant depth, and that the inner walls 120 and outer walls 130 extend to the same height (that is, the upper surfaces of the inner walls 120 and outer walls 130 are in the same plane). The depth of the channel (the height of the outer walls 130 above the base of the channel 140) should be sufficient to properly engage with the hexagonal end portion lb of the conduit bush 1. Preferably, this height/depth should be between 3mm and 6mm, more preferably between 3mm and 4mm, and in the present example is around 3.5mm. Less than approximately 3mm would be likely to cause the socket 10 to slip free of the conduit bush 10 during rotation, while more than approximately 4mm to 6mm will increase the thickness of the socket 10 unnecessarily, reducing its effectiveness when used in confined areas.

In contrast to the components in conventional socket sets, the socket described herein has a (maximum) thickness (along the axis of rotation of the socket 10 when operating on a conduit bush) which is less than the maximum diameter of the socket in the plane of rotation. In the present example the thickness of the disk is approximately 7mm, while the diameter of the disk is approximately 25mm. A significantly thinner disk would be too structurally weak. A significantly thicker disk would be difficult to fit into particularly confined spaces. Generally, it is expected that a body having a thickness of less than 20mm, preferably less than 15mm, more preferably less than lOmm would be beneficial, with 7mm or 8mm being considered optimal. The socket 10 in the present case is formed as a unitary structure from a single piece of metal.

In use, the inner formation (inner walls) are shaped and dimensioned to receive part of the drive tool (wrench), and the outer formation (outer walls) are shaped and dimensioned to engage with the conduit bush, such that rotation of the socket 10 rotates the conduit bush 1. The inner formation locks rotation of the socket 10 to match that of the drive tool, while the outer formation locks rotation of the conduit bush to match that of the socket 10 (and thus the drive tool).

It will be appreciated that the structures of the socket 10 are generally chamfered, to remove sharp edges.

Claims

Claims 1. A socket for a drive tool, comprising: an inner formation shaped and dimensioned to engage with part of the drive tool, and an outer formation shaped and dimensioned to engage with a conduit bush, such that rotation of the socket rotates the conduit bush, and wherein a thickness of the socket along its axis of rotation is less than the maximum diameter of the socket in its plane of rotation.
2. A socket according to claim 1, comprising a body having an operating face bearing the outer formation, the body having a thickness of less than 20mm, preferably less than 15mm, more preferably less than lOmm, and still more preferably approximately 7 mm.
3. A socket according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the conduit bush is a male conduit bush.
4. A socket according to any preceding claim, wherein the drive tool is an internal drive or an external drive.
5. A socket according to claim 4, wherein the rive tool is one of a 1/4 inch drive, a 3/8 drive and a 1/2 inch drive.
6. A socket according to any preceding claim, wherein the drive is one of a square drive and a hexagonal drive.
7. A socket according to any preceding claim, wherein the inner formation comprises a bore extending through the socket.
8. A socket according to claim 7, wherein the bore has a generally square cross-section, a hexagonal cross section, a pentagonal cross section or an octagonal cross section.
9. A socket according to any preceding claim, wherein the outer formation defines a hexagonal gripping surface.
10. A socket according to any preceding claim, comprising a body in the form of a disk, wherein the inner formation extends through the disk in a central region thereof and the outer formation is provided on an operating face of the disk.
11. A socket according to claim 10, wherein the inner formation comprises an inner wall surrounding the bore and extending away from the operating face of the disk.
12. A socket according to claim 11, wherein the inner wall is one of continuous or discontinuous.
13. A socket according to any one of claims 10 to 12, wherein the outer formation comprises an outer wall proximate the periphery of the disk and extending away from the operating face of the disk.
14. A socket according to claim 13, wherein the outer wall is one of continuous or discontinuous.
15. A socket according to clam 13, wherein a channel is defined between the inner wall and the outer wall, the channel having a width sufficient to receive an end portion of the conduit bush.
16. A socket according to any one of claims 13 to 15, wherein the inner wall and the outer wall extend to the same distance away from the operating face of the disk.
17. A socket according to any one of claims 10 or claim 11, wherein an inner surface of the inner wall is a continuation of the bore while the outer surface of the inner wall has a cross section which is similar to and smaller than that of an inner surface of the outer wall.
18. A socket according to any preceding claim, wherein the inner formation is shaped and dimensioned to receive and inhibit rotation, with respect to the socket, of a tool part having a substantial square cross section with sides of length approximately one quarter inch, 3/8 inch or % inch.
19. A socket according to any preceding claim, wherein the outer formation is shaped and dimensioned to received and inhibit rotation, with respect to the socket, of a conduit bush having a diameter of one of one of 25mm, 25mm, 32mm, 38mm, 40mm and 50mm.
20. A socket according to any preceding claim, wherein the socket is formed as a unitary structure.