Patent ID: 6378407
Filing Date: 2002-04-30
Classification: B25G

Abstract:
A screwdriver assembly comprising a handle and interchangeable blades, each of said blades having a shaft of a polygonal cross-section and having forward and back ends with a screwdriver tip formed at the forward end and two opposed flats in spaced adjacent relation to the back end and formed in opposing angled portions of the shaft of polygonal cross-section, wherein a flat guide surface of reduced width is formed, a projection stop on each of said blades rearward of and adjacent to the one of said flats,said handle having a forward end with plurality of polygonal storage slots opening therethrough for receiving the blades in a storage position, said storage slots having a groove to receive and guide the projection stop on the blades, said slots having axes parallel to a center axis of the handle, said handle including a blade receiving chuck at a central part of its forward end and a cap on the forward end of the handle and over the storage slots, blade guide means in the cap for guiding a selected blade from a storage slot to the chuck and for returning each of said blades to a storage position, said cap being rotatable to line up the blade guide means over a selected blade or to an intermediate position to enclose the blades within the handle, said handle further including means for preventing rotation of said cap when a blade is secured in said chuck.