US3370307A - Combination tool device - Google Patents

Description

Feb. 27, 1968 R. 1.. BEEKS 3,370,307

COMBINATION TOOL DEVICE Filed Aug. 24, 1965 INVENTOR Ronald L. Beeks ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,370,307 CGMBINATIGN TOOL DEVICE Ronald L. Beaks, Box 113, Goldendale, Wash. 98620 Filed Aug. 24, 1965, Ser. No. 482,110 2 Claims. (1. 77)

ABSTRACT GF THE DISCLOSURE A tool comprising a wrench, the wrench having jaws with their forward ends inclined downwardly, said wrench having a handle projecting from the rearward end of one of the jaws, a pair of elongated housing plates extending substantially the length and height of said handle and abutting opposite sides of the handle in complementary relation, said housing plates each having channels which cooperate with the outer faces of the handle to form passageways with a rectangular cross-section, a pair of screwdrivers each having a stem with a rectangular crosssection slidably mounted in said rectangular passageways, said housing plate each having slots centrally of the height of the plates and extending along their length, and communicating with said passageways and of reduced height with respect to height of said passageways, said screwdriver stems having lugs projecting in opposing relation to one another out through said slots for moving said screwdriver stems along said passageway to project said screwdriver out the rear of said housing plates, pivotally mounted levers beneath the passageways to lock said stems in their projected position.

This invention relates to mechanicai tools, more particularly, the invention relates to mechanical combination tools.

It is an object of this invention to provide a novel wrench having a pair of retractable screwdrivers mounted in its handle.

it is a further object of the invention to provide a novel wrench having two different types of screwdrivers mounted to the wrench handle which may be individually projected for use.

It is another object of the invention to provide a novel tool having additional tool structure mounted in its handle.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent as the description proceeds and when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevational view of the combination wrench screwdriver invention.

FIGURE 2 is a top plan view of the combination wrench screwdriver invention, with both screwdrivers shown fully projected or extended.

FIGURE 3 is a side elevational view of the combination wrench screwdriver invention with the Phillips head screwdriver shown fully extended for operative use.

FIGURE 4 is a side elevational view of the straight blade screwdriver and its outer housing.

FEGURE 5 is a side elevational view of the handle of the wrench showing the side of the wrench handle adapted to receive the straight blade screwdriver and straight blade screwdriver housing.

FIGURE 6 is a side elevational view of the opposite side of the wrench handle adapted to receive the Phillips head screwdriver and its housing.

FIGURE 7 is a side elevational view of the Phillips head screwdriver and its outer housing.

FIGURE 8 is a exploded end view of the combination Wrench screwdriver invention.

FIGURE 9 is a similar end view of the combination wrench screwdriver invention.

3,37%,337 Patented Feb. 27, 1958 "ice FIGURE 10 is fragmentary side elevational view of the straight blade screwdriver housing, illustrating the straight blade in its extended operative position.

FIGURE 11 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 1111 of FIGURE 4.

Briefly stated, the invention comprises a wrench having a handle, a pair of elongated housing members on opposite sides of the wrench handle and forming an enlarged handle construction, a straight blade screwdriver mounted in one of said housing members, a Phillips head screwdriver mounted in the other of said housing members, said screwdrivers being adapted to slide rectilinearly out of the rear of the housing members for use, lock means to lock the screwdrivers in their extended position.

Referring more particularly to the drawing, in FIG- URES 1 and 2 the combination wrench screwdriver invention is illustrated as having awrench head 21 with anadjustable jaw 22 adapted to be threaded upward and downward by ascrew 23 in a conventional manner.

Ahousing member 24 is mounted on one side of the handle portion 25 of thewrench head 20, and ahousing member 26 is mounted on the opposite side of the handle portion 25.

Thehousing members 24 and 26 haveelongated slots 27 and 28 respectively, which communicates with the exterior faces 24' and 26' of the housing members.

Thehousing members 24 and 26 have the same size and construction in laterally opposed relation, each having a rectangularelongated channel portion 29 and 30, respectively, along theirportions 29 and 39 communicate withslots 27 and 28, respectively.

Thestraight blade screwdriver 31 has anelongated stem 32 with a rectangular cross-section, and astraight blade 33 at one end, formed by opposed inwardlytapered sides 34 and 34'. Thechannel member 29 of thehousing member 24 has a rectangular crosssection with oneend 29 rounded and theother end 29" open, and is adapted to slidably receive thescrewdriver 31 so that it may slide rectilinearly and axially along thechannel 29.

Thestem 32 of thestraight blade screwdriver 31 has a laterally projectinglug 32 projecting laterally into theslot 27 and which limits the sliding movement of thescrewdriver 31 in thechannel 29 of thehousing 24, and which also provides a handle for moving thescrewdriver 31 along thechannel 29.

Thehousing member 24 has upper and lower projectingshoulders 35 and 36 which extend along the length of thechannel 29 and form the outer sides of thechannel 29. Theshoulders 35 and 36 have their outer faces 37' and 38' terminating flush and parallel with theouter face 32" of thestem 32.

The projectingshoulders 35 and 36 are adapted to be fitted in thewide channel 37 of the wrench handle 25, snugly within the confines of theridges 38 and 39 on oneside 37 of the wrench handle, when assembling the invention, as illustrated in FIGURES 2 and 9.

Thehousing 24 has aslot 40 cut into itslower shoulder 36 and cut partly into thebacking plate 24" of thehousing 24. Theslot 40 is adapted to receive alever 41, and thelever 41 is pivotally mounted in theslot 40 by apin 42 which .at one end projects into a bore in the backing plate 24'. The wrench handle 25 also has aslot 43 along itsridge 39, to receive the other side portion of thelever 41, and abore 44 in the wrench handle 25 receives the other end of thepin 42 to provide a pivotal support at the other side of thelever 41.

Acoil spring 45 at one end is mounted in a bore 41' in thelever 41, and its other end rests on the upper edge of theshoulder 46 formed by the slot in theslot 40 in thebacking plate 24", and the spring acts to urge the lever to the position illustrated in FIGURE 10.

Similarly in thehousing member 26, thechannel member 30 has a rectangular cross-section with one end 30' rounded and theother end 30 open, and is adapted to slidably receive the Phillipshead screwdriver 47.

The Phillipshead screwdriver 47 has anelongated stem 48 with a rectangular cross-section, and fourconverging blades 49 at one end forming a Phillipshead 50. Thechannel member 30 of thehousing 26 has a rectangular cross-section with oneend 30 rounded and theother end 30" open, and is adapted to slidably receive the Phillipshead screwdriver 47, so that thescrewdriver 47 may slide rectilinearly and axially along thechannel 30.

Thestem 48, of the Phillipshead screwdriver 47, has a laterally projecting lug 56 projecting laterally into theslot 28 and which limits the sliding movement of thescrewdriver 47 in thechannel 30, and which also provides a handle for moving the screwdriver along thechannel 30.

'Thehousing 26 has upper and lower projectingshoulders 51 and '52 which extend along the length of thechannel 30 and form the outer sides of thechannel 30. Theshoulders 51 and 52 have theirouter faces 51' and 52 terminating flush with and parallel with the outer face 48' of thestem 48.

The projectingshoulders 51 and 52 are adapted to be fitted in thewide channel 53 of the wrench handle 25, snugly within theridges 54 and 55 of the other side 53' of the wrench handle, when assembling the invention as illustrated in FIGURES 2 and 9.

Thehousing 26 has a slot 56 cut in itslower shoulder 52 and cut partly into thebacking plate 26" of thehousing 26. The slot 56 is adapted to receive alever 57.

Thelever 57 is pivotaily mounted in the slot 56 by apin 58 which at one end projects into a bore in thebacking plate 26". The wrench handle 25 also has aslot 59 along itsridge 55 to receive the other side portion of thelever 57, and thebore 44, which passes entirely through the wrenchhandle, receives the other end of thepin 58 to provide a pivotal support for the other side of thelever 57.

Acoil spring 60 at one end is mounted in abore 57 of thelever 57 and at the other end rests on the-upper edge '61 of theshoulder 52 and the spring acts tourge the lever clockwise when viewed from FIGURE 7, in the same manner aslever 41.

Operation Thestraight blade screwdriver 31 may be projected rearwardly from its position illustrated in FIGURE 1, and as shown in FIGURE 4 to its position illustrated in FIGURE 2 by'the operator engaging the lug 32' of thescrewdriver 31 with his fingers and pushing the lug rearwardly until the lug engages the end 27' of theslot 27, which causes thescrewdriver 31 to project out as shown in "FIGURE 2..

When thelug 32 engages the end 27' of the slot, it will have just slipped by the notch '41" in thelever 41, releasing thelever 41 and allowing it to pivot upward counterclockwise from its position illustrated in FIGURE '4to its position illustrated in FIGURE 10, with thespring 45 urging and'maintaining thelever 41 in its locked position shown in FIGURE 10, with thenotch 41" of the lever engaging the rear end 31' of the stem of thescrewdriver 31, thereby locking the straight blade screwdriver in its projected position illustrated in FIGURES 2 and 10, so that thescrewdriver 31 may be used in turn screws.

When it is desired to retract thestraight blade screwdriver 31, after use, the operators fingers will engage thenose 41" of thelever 41 with his finger and pivot the lever clockwise down to its position shown in FIGURE 4, and will hold the lever in this position, against the re sistance of thespring 45, and will push thelug 32 thereby moving thescrewdriver 31 back slightly until the end 31' of thestem 32 has slid by thenotch 41", whereafter the screwdriver can he slid freely by the lug back into its retracted position, as thelever 41 will ride freely along the under surface of thestem 32 until thescrewdriver 31 again reaches its retracted position illustrated in FIGURES 1 and 4.

Similarly the Phillipshead screwdriver 47 will be projected and retracted in the same manner as thestraight blade screwdriver, by the operator pushing thelug 50 until thescrewdriver 47 projects outward to its position illustrated in FIGURE 2. As thestem 48 reaches its projected position thespring 60 will urge thelever 57 toward the end of the stem with thenotch 57" engaging the end of the stem and locking the Phillips head screwdriver in its projected position.

To retract the Phillipshead screwdriver 47, similarly, the operator will engage thenose 57" of thelever 57 with his finger and pivot thelever 57 away from the stem, so that thescrewdriver 47, may be slid back to its position illustrated in FIGURES 1 and 11, with the operator using thelug 59 to push thescrewdriver 47 back to its retracted position.

For normal use, either thestraight blade 31 will be projected or the Phillipshead screwdriver 47 will be projected, depending upon the .type of screw to be threaded or unthreaded.

Thewrench head 21 has converging opposing fiat faces 62 and 63, which lie alongplanes 62 and 63 so that when the wrench head is being used to unthread a bolt, either theface 62 or 63 may lie flat on the mounted surface, and thehousing members 24 and 26 willclear the mounted surface.

The tool is assembled by placing thescrewdrivers 31 and 47 in theirrespective housing members 24 and 26 as shown in FIGURES 4 and 7, respectively. Threescrews 64, 65, and 66 are then inserted into thehousing 26, in

and 66" in the wrench handle 25, and are threaded into 7holes 64", 65", and 66" in thehousing 24, to tighten thehousing members 24 and 26 to opposite sides of the wrench hand-1e, to thereby assemble the invention, as shown in FIGURE 2.

Thehousing members 24 and 26 are intended to have identical dimensions with respect to one another in laterally opposed relation as to their structure. Consequently, the holes for receiving thescrews 64, 65, and 66 will align with one another, as well as the holes in the wrench handle 25, for receiving the (screws.

Thus, it will be seen that a novel combination wrench and screwdriver has been provided which may be used for turning bolts and different types of screws.

It will be obvious that various changes and departures may be made to the invention without departing from the spirit and scope thereof and accordingly, it is not intended that the invention be limited to that specifically described in the specification or illustrated in the drawing but only as set forth in the appended claims where what is claimed is:

1. A tool comprising a wrench, said wrench having jaws and an elongated handle fixed at the rear of said jaws and projecting rearward, a pair of elongated hous ing plates extending substantially the length and width of said handle, Isaid plates having a central projecting ridge and said handle having a central recess along opposite sides of the handle'to receive said ridges whereby said plates abut the opposite sides of said handle in substantially complementary relation, said housing plates each having elongated channels in their ridges which cooperate with the recessed faces of said handle to form passageways having a rectangular cross-section, said housing plates each having elongated slots extending along at least a major portion of the length of the plates and centrally of the height of said plates and adjacent the passage- Ways, said slots being of reduced size with respect to said passageways and communicate with said passageways, a

pair of screwdrivers each having a stem with a rectanglar cross-section adapted to be slidably mounted in said rectangular passageways, said stems each having a lug projecting outward in opposing relation to one another and through said slots for pushing the stems of the screwdrivers along the passageways to project said screwdrivers out of the rearward end of said handle and housing plates, a pair of spring urged levers pivot-ally mountted to the housing plates beneath said passageways with portions projecting out of the bottom of said housing plates, said levers having notches at their forward upper ends, said levers being spring urged to pivot upward with their notches engaging the rearward ends of the screwdriver stems to lock said screwdrivers in their extended position.

2. A tool comprising a wrench, the wrench having jaws with their forward ends inclined downwardly, said wrench having a handle projecting from the rearward end of one of the jaws, a pair of elongated housing plates extending substantially the length and height of said handle, said plates having a central projecting ridge and said handle having a central recess along opposite sides of the handle to receive said ridges whereby said plates abut the opposite sides of said handle in substantially complementary relation, said housing plates each having channels in said ridges which cooperate with the recessed faces of the handle to form passageways with a rectangular cross-section, a pair of screwdrivers each having a stem with a rectangular cross-section slidably mounted in said rectangular passageways, said housing plate each having slots centrally of the height of the plates and exextending along their length, and communicating with said passageways and of reduced height with respect to height of said passageways, said screwdriver stems having lugs projecting in opposing relation to one another out through said slots or moving said screwdriver stems along said passageway to project said screwdriver out the rear of said housing plates, individually spring urged pivotally mounted levers beneath the passageways to lock said stems in their projected positions and having their major portions concealed with the confines of the housing plates and a minor portion projecting outwardly to form handles for operating the levers.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 111,327 1/1871 Dillingham 7-1 242,985 6/ 1881 Rischow -64 569,452 10/ 1 896 Gardner 14564 2,563,126 8/ 1951 Marogg 14550.2

FOREIGN PATENTS 911,097 2/ 1946 France. 1,122,971 5/1956 France.

OTHELL M. SIMPSON, Primary Examiner.

WILLIAM FELDMAN, Examiner.

R. V. PARKER, Assistant Examiner.

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