Socket wrench having a rotatable handle

A socket wrench having a head and a shank extending therefrom, a drive shaft supported by the head portion adaptable for engagement with a tool element to rotate a fastener, a journal surface on the shank adaptable for a journalled engagement with a plurality of tool elements to provide a rotatable handle and a retaining member to retain the rotatable handle on the shank.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
 The present invention relates generally to the field of hand tools, and
 more particularly but not by way of limitation, to a socket wrench having
 spare tool elements operatively providing a rotatable handle portion of
 the socket wrench.
 SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
 The present invention provides a socket wrench for installing and removing
 fasteners. The socket wrench has a head and a shank extending therefrom,
 the shank providing a lever against which a user grasps with a hand-hold
 and exerts a force to impart a torque on the head. A tool element is
 coupled to the head to transfer the torque to the fastener so as to
 install or remove the fastener.
 The shank has a journal surface about which is journalled a plurality of
 spare tool elements in order to provide a rotatable handle about the
 shank. A retaining member attaches to the shank to retain the tool
 elements in the journalled engagement about the shank.
 The rotatable handle facilitates a characteristic neutral wrist position by
 an operator using the socket wrench. This resultingly reduces bent-wrist
 repetitive motion and the associated cumulative trauma disorders of the
 hand and wrist.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION
 Turning now to the drawings and in particular to FIG. 1 which shows a tool
 apparatus 10, sometimes referred to as a socket wrench 10, that is
 constructed in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. The
 tool apparatus 10 generally has a head 12 and a shank 13. The head 12 has
 a driving shaft 14 adapted for engaging a tool element 16 at a drive end
 18 thereof. As shown in FIG. 2, an opposing socket end 20 of the tool
 element 16 is adapted for engagement with a fastener 22. In this manner,
 the tool apparatus 10 cooperates with the tool element 16 to rotate a
 fastener 22 so as to install or remove the fastener 22. Preferably, the
 tool element 16 is a standard socket of the type that is readily available
 in department and hardware stores.
 One of skill in the art will recognize the general arrangement described
 hereinabove, wherein the driving shaft 14 of the tool apparatus 10 is
 substantially squarely shaped to accommodate standard sockets made for a
 1/4 inch, 1/2 inch, or a 3/4 inch square drive.
 More particularly, from FIGS. 2 and 3 it will be understood the drive end
 18 of the tool element 16 has a square socket 24 to receivingly engage the
 driving shaft 14 so as to operatively couple the tool element 16 and the
 head 12. The socket end 20 of the tool element 16 has a multi-sided socket
 25 to receivingly engage the fastener 22. FIG. 3 illustrates a tool
 element 16 with a multi-sided socket 25 having six sides referred to as a
 "six-point" socket, referencing the number of vertices 26 that are formed
 between adjacent sides of the multi-sided socket 25. The multi-sided
 socket 25 can have any desired number of sides and is thus more generally
 referred to as a polygonally-sided socket 25. It will be noted the sockets
 24, 25 are contiguous to form a longitudinal bore through the tool element
 16.
 Returning briefly to FIG. 2, a retention ball 28 in the driving shaft 14 is
 biased against a detent 30 in the tool element 16 to frictionally retain
 the drive end 18 of the tool element 16 in operable engagement with the
 driving shaft 14.
 Turning now to FIG. 4, it will be noted the shank 13 has a proximal end 32
 attached to the head portion 12, the shank 13 extending therefrom
 substantially transversely along an orthogonal plane relative to the
 driving shaft 14. A plurality of tool elements 16a, 16b, 16c, 16d are
 stored on a distal portion of the shank 13 in a manner providing a
 rotatable handle for an operator to grasp. The plurality of tool elements
 16a, 16b, 16c, 16d can be referred to as "spare" tool elements in that
 when the tool elements are stored on the shank 13 they are not presently
 in operative use in conjunction with the drive shaft 14 to engage a
 fastener 22. The shank 13 thus provides a lever-arm adapted for a
 self-contained storage of the spare tool elements, which, in turn, provide
 a rotatable handle for applying torque to the head 12.
 The shank 13 has a relatively reduced diameter journal surface 34, and an
 abutment 36 is formed at a transition to the relatively reduced diameter.
 The journal surface 34 is a cylindrical surface having a circular
 cross-section with a radius appropriately sized so as to be slidingly
 disposable within the bore of the tool elements 16a-16d. FIG. 5
 illustrates a relatively close-fitting journalled relationship between the
 journal surface 34 and the drive socket 24. In this manner the tool
 elements 16a-16d are supported so as to permit rotation thereof about the
 shank 13, and the tool elements 16a-16d thereby cooperatively provide a
 grippable surface of the rotatable handle. Alternatively, although not
 shown, the journal surface 34 can be adapted for a journalled relationship
 with the polygonally-shaped socket 25. FIG. 4 furthermore illustrates the
 head 12 as having a housing in which is disposed a ratchet assembly 37 to
 ratchet the operative coupling between the head 12 and the drive shaft 14;
 that is, a lever selectively ratchets the drive shaft 14 in response to a
 rotation of the head. The provision and use of the ratchet assembly 37 in
 a socket wrench is well known and as such a detailed description thereof
 is not necessary for an understanding of the present invention to one
 skilled in the art.
 The plurality of spare tool elements 16a-16d are thus aligned end-to-end
 along the journal surface 34 of the shank 13. The first tool element 16a
 is slidingly disposed along the journal surface 34 in a direction toward
 the head 12 until it engages the abutment 36. The tool element 16b is
 disposed along the journal surface 34 until it engages the drive end 18a
 of the first tool element 16a. The other spare tool elements follow in
 like manner. A retaining member 44 thereafter attaches to the distal end
 of the shank 13 to limit a longitudinal movement of the tool elements
 16a-16d along the shank 13 and thereby retain the aligned tool elements
 16a-16d in the journalled engagement about the journal surface 34. FIG. 4
 illustrates a threaded engagement of a threaded post 46a of the retaining
 member 44 with an internal thread 48 provided in the distal end of the
 shank 13. It will be noted from FIG. 6 that the distal end of the shank 13
 extends slightly beyond the drive end 18d of the outboard tool element 16d
 in order to provide a clearance gap between the retaining member 44 and
 the tool element 16d, so that the threaded engagement of the retaining
 member 44 and shank 13 does not interfere with the journalled rotation of
 the tool element 16d about the journal surface 34.
 FIG. 7 illustrates one example of an alternative embodiment wherein a
 biased member 50 in a post 46b of a retaining member 44b frictionally
 engages a detent 52 in the distal end of a shank 13b. FIG. 8 illustrates
 another embodiment wherein a frictional engagement of a protruding pin 54
 in the distal end of a shank 13c is receivingly engaged in a slot 56
 provided in a post 46c of a retaining member 44c. A compression washer 58
 is employed to bias the pin 54 within a detent 60 provided in a distal end
 of the slot 56. FIG. 9 furthermore illustrates another fastening member
 44d similar to that contemplated in FIG. 7, wherein the retaining member
 44d has a shoulder 62 that is pinned to the post 46d. In this manner the
 shoulder 62 is rotatable relative to the post 46d so as to freely rotate
 with the plurality of spare tool elements 16a-16d.
 The alternative constructions of the retaining member 44 previously
 discussed and illustrated in FIGS. 7-9 are illustrative of the
 contemplated scope of the present invention with regard to the retaining
 member 44 and its function in providing an easily detachable supporting
 member to retain the tool elements 16 on the shank 13. The illustrated
 alternative embodiments are indicative of and in no way enumerative of the
 alternative constructions embodied within the spirit of the present
 invention, which in no way is limited in scope to the explicit alternative
 constructions discussed.
 Having provided a discussion of the construction of the tool apparatus 10
 in combination with a number of tool elements 16 hereinabove, attention
 now will be directed to the use of the tool apparatus 10. One of the
 benefits associated with providing a rotatable handle on the tool
 apparatus 10 is to facilitate a neutral position of a user's wrist during
 operation. FIG. 10 diagrammatically illustrates the neutral position of a
 user's wrist wherein the wrist is substantially unbent so that the user's
 forearm and hand are coplanar as shown in FIG. 10 by the plane denoted by
 the numeral 60. The rotatable handle provided by the journalled tool
 elements 16 about the journal surface 34 of the shank 31 facilitate this
 neutral wrist position. FIG. 11 illustrates a non-neutral wrist position
 wherein the wrist is bent so that the user's forearm and hand lie in
 different planes as denoted by the planes 62, 64, such as is facilitated
 by a conventional solid, non-rotatable handle 66 of a prior art socket
 wrench.
 A socket wrench is typically grasped by the user who exerts a turning force
 along an arcuate path of hand travel. Especially in ratcheting type socket
 wrenches, repeated motion along this arcuate path tends to impart a
 rocking motion of the hand bending at the wrist. Repetitive bent-wrist
 motion is known to cause cumulative trauma disorders such as carpal tunnel
 syndrome. The rotatable handle of the present invention facilitates a
 gripping action of the tool apparatus 10 and use thereof with the wrist at
 a neutral position to diminish the cumulative trauma injuries associated
 with improper wrist positioning.
 These and other advantages and features of the present invention will be
 apparent to one of skill in the art from the foregoing description when
 read in conjunction with the drawings and appended claims. It is to be
 understood that even though numerous characteristics and advantages of
 various embodiments of the present invention have been set forth in the
 foregoing description, together with details of the structure and function
 of various embodiments of the invention, this disclosure is illustrative
 only, and changes may be made in details especially in matters of
 structure and arrangement of parts within the principles of the present
 invention to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the
 terms in which the appended claims are expressed.
 Changes may be made in the embodiments of the invention described herein,
 or in parts or elements of the embodiments described herein, or in the
 sequence of steps of the methods described herein, without departing from
 the spirit and/or scope of the invention as defined in the following
 claims.