Distributed Deadblow Tools

A deadblow tool, comprising a head with one or more striking surfaces; a handle joined to or molded as one with the head; a plurality of hollow chambers within the tool embodiment; a plurality of freely moveable material partially filling the hollow chambers; and an embodiment in the form of a hammer, mallet, axe, or annular maul. The tool has hollow chambers created as part of the tool embodiment or created separately as chamber cartridges to be inserted into the tool embodiment. The hollow chambers and chamber cartridges vary in size and shape and the freely moveable material varies in density and volume to accommodate mass distribution and the adjustments thereof provide facilitation to further tune the tool balance and strike performance. Construction methods of chamber cartridges and deadblow handles, hammers, mallets, axes, and mauls are also provided.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention is in the field of striking hand tools including hammers, mallets, axes, and annular mauls and pertains particularly to balance and antirecoil characteristics of deadblow tools.

2. Description of Related Art

Deadblow (aka dead-blow, non-recoil, anti-recoil, no-bounce, or recoilless) tools, such as hammers, mallets, axes, and mauls, are well known to significantly reduce rebound by distributing the strike over time; thereby reducing the peak force and absorbing a significant amount of the recoil that would otherwise be returned through rebound to the user's hands and arms. Deadblow tools are used in many industries, including but not limited to, auto repair, hydraulic maintenance, aerospace work, telecommunications cable work, woodworking, woodcarving, metalworking, and surgical procedures.

Prior-art deadblow tools are comprised of a single hollow chamber or identical dual back-to-back hollow chambers to form a head, a plurality of freely moveable filler material, such as sand or steel shot, to partially fill the head, and an attached handle or a handle molded as one with the head. Many times deadblow tools are also fully or partially encased in a layer of plastic or rubber-like substance, or have non-marring tips attached to the striking face(s) on one or both ends of the head, or are cast as traditional steel tools with chamber(s) molded therein to partially fill with freely moveable material.

The operation of a deadblow tool functions as follows: a user swings the tool to strike, as the tool thrusts forward, the freely moveable filler material shifts to the back of the chamber, as the tool comes into contact with (strikes) a surface, the tool rebounds (bounces back, Newton's 3rd Law), but due to inertia, the freely moveable filler material continues to move forward, shifting from the back of the chamber to strike the front of the chamber; thereby, dampening or reducing or counteracting the rebound.

Prior-Art deadblow tools are limited in several ways:no controls to balance the freely moveable material within the tool,leaving the user to physically compensate;no controls to eliminate freely moveable material from pooling or settling in one area of the chamber, requiring more effort to move the depth of freely moveable material as is evident when striking with a deadblow tool horizontally;no control to balance the strike across the struck surface resulting in less efficient force transfer as freely moveable material can strike more in one area than another, and in varying amounts, on each strike resulting in lost energy as the freely moveable material is forced to spread out when mounded higher than the freely moveable material in the rest of the chamber; andno controls to maintain balance while the tool is in motion. Users that swing fast cause the freely moveable material to pool at the farthest point of the chamber due to centrifugal force and users that swing slow cause the freely moveable material to pool at the lowest point of the chamber due to gravity.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention directly addresses each of the prior-art deadblow tool limitations mentioned above by adding a plurality of distributed chambers, each tunable by location, orientation, shape, and size, as well as, tunable by the weight and volume of the freely moveable material inserted therein. Collectively, these tuning options enable some variation and control in regard to the movement of mass in relation to each chamber's counterstrike or blow as far as when, where, and by how much. Insertable chambers and tool construction methods are also provided.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The below description and attached drawings are offered to explain the invention in detail and are not intended to describe or illustrate the only way the invention may be configured, constructed, or used. The invention can be applied to numerous striking tools regardless of tool head shape, like flat, round, ball pein, cross pein, straight pein, blade, magnet nail holders, and claw, as well as size, like tiny jewelry repair hammers, giant sledge hammers, hatchets, and axes, and various materials, like steel, brass, bronze, copper, aluminum, lead, rubber, wood, plastic, and nylon. Furthermore, the chambers can be constructed in numerous ways as well, such as molded, machined, and fabricated, in different shapes, sizes, textures, as well as different shapes at the ends, like a stair-step that would provide similar effects to having separate chambers of differing lengths. And finally, the selection of freely moveable material has many options as well, such as sand, gravel, shot, slag, fluids, gels, and different shapes, densities, and weights regardless if the material is injected directly into the tool chambers or if the material is injected and encased in chamber cartridges to be pressed or inserted into the tool embodiment.

FIG. 1-4depicts the operating sequence of a single-chamber prior-art deadblow hammer for the importance of describing the difference in present-art.

FIG. 1is a hammer1at rest, with a head2on top of a handle3. The head form4, also the chamber4in this example, is hollow5and partially filled with freely moveable material6that is settled to the bottom of the chamber4. The head2has two striking surfaces7left &8right. The handle3is for the user to grip while using.

FIG. 2is a hammer1thrusted forward9, causing the freely moveable material6to shift backward to the back of the chamber4against the back of the rear striking plate7.

FIG. 3is a hammer1at the beginning of the strike of surface10. The initial strike causes the hammer1to rebound and the inertia of the freely moveable material6causes it to continue to move forward in the chamber4towards the back of the front striking plate8.

FIG. 4is a hammer1at the end of the strike of surface10, which has caused the hammer1to rebound and the freely moveable material6to shift to the front of the chamber4, striking the back of striking plate8and thereby deadening the recoil returned from the initial strike.

FIG. 5is a hammer1at rest, with a head2on top of a handle3. The head form4contains two chambers11top and12bottom, both are hollow and partially filled with differing amounts of freely moveable material13top and14bottom that is settled to the bottom of chamber11and chamber12. The head2has two striking surfaces7left &8right. The handle3is for the user to grip while using.

FIG. 6is a hammer1thrusted forward9, causing the freely moveable material13and14to shift backward to the back of the chambers11and12against the back of the rear striking plate7.

FIG. 7is a hammer1at the beginning of the strike of surface10. The initial strike causes the hammer1to rebound and the inertia of the freely moveable material13and14causes it to continue to move forward in the chambers11and12towards the back of the front striking plate8.

FIG. 8is a hammer1at the middle of the strike of surface10, which has caused the hammer1to rebound and the freely moveable material14to shift to the front of chamber12, striking the back of striking plate8and thereby deadening the recoil returned from the initial strike. Freely moveable material14strikes the back of striking plate8ahead of freely moveable material13because there is less distance between freely moveable material14and striking plate8than there is between freely moveable material13and striking plate8.

FIG. 9is a hammer1at the end of the strike of surface10, which has caused the hammer1to rebound and the freely moveable material14to shift to the front of chamber12and strike the back of striking plate8to deaden the recoil returned from the initial strike and at this point, the freely moveable material13finishes it's shift to the front of chamber11, striking the back of striking plate8and thereby further deadening the overall recoil returned from the strike.

FIGS. 10-15depict examples of the application of the present-art to other striking tools. The examples are basic in demonstrating the application and are not intended to undermine the underlying complexity of having a plurality of chambers, in a plurality of shapes and sizes, each containing a plurality of materials, in a plurality of amounts to best configure each tool's performance. Each example operates similar to the example provided inFIG. 5-9in that the freely moveable material is distributed and each chamber can be tuned to collectively change the duration of the strike. Each example may or may not also be encased in plastic or a rubber-like substance as is common with deadblow tools.

FIG. 10is a claw hammer15at rest, with a head2on top of a handle3. The head form4contains four chambers16and17, two chambers16in the main body of the head between the striking face18and the claw19, and two smaller chambers17directly behind the striking face18. The four chambers16and17are hollow and partially filled with differing amounts of freely moveable material. The handle3is for the user to grip while using. Similar application would apply for other hammer types with differing options on the hammer faces, such as ball, pein, and picks.

FIG. 11is a mallet20at rest, with a head2on top of a handle3. The head form4contains four chambers21in the main body of the head between the striking faces22and23. The four chambers21are hollow and partially filled with differing amounts of freely moveable material. The handle3is for the user to grip while using. Similar application would apply for other mallet types with differing options on the mallet faces.

FIG. 12is an axe24at rest, with a head2on top of a handle3. The head form4contains two chambers25in the thicker end of the main body of the head near the handle3. The two chambers25are hollow and partially filled with differing amounts of freely moveable material. The handle3is for the user to grip while using. Similar application would apply for other axe types with differing options on the axe faces, such as double axes.

FIG. 13is a drilling or sledge hammer26at rest, with a head2on top of a handle3. The head form4contains six chambers27and28, three chambers27between the handle3and the left striking face29and three chambers28between the handle3and the right striking face30. The six chambers27and28are hollow and partially filled with differing amounts of freely moveable material. The handle3is for the user to grip while using. Similar application would apply for other sledge or drilling types with differing options on the faces.

FIG. 14is an annular maul31at rest, with a cylindrical head32on top of a handle3. The head form32contains four chambers33in the main body of the head. The chambers33are disc shaped to ensure they function in any direction since the tool's striking face34encompasses the full diameter of the cylindrical head32. The four chambers33are hollow and partially filled with differing amounts of freely moveable material. The handle3is for the user to grip while using. Similar application would apply for other maul types with differing options on the maul face, such as cones.

FIG. 15is a multi-chamber handle35at rest, with a cylindrical shape containing twenty chambers36in differing sizes from the top of the handle35to the bottom. The handle is simply another form of an annular maul wherein the chambers extend the entire body of the maul. The chambers36can be shaped to match the intended purpose of the handle. If the handle35is intended to strike in any horizontal direction, the chambers36can be disc shaped or horizontally shaped to match the exterior of the handle35. If the handle35is intended to strike in a single horizontal direction, the chambers36can be oriented to that direction. If the handle35is intended to strike in a vertical direction, the chambers36can be oriented to that direction. In any configuration, the chambers36are hollow and partially filled with differing amounts of freely moveable material. Handle35can be used in any striking tool or could function independently as a maul and can have varying diameters across the handle35for different applications.

FIGS. 16-24depict an example twelve chamber deadblow hammer. Twelve chambers is selected for example purposes only, the hammer can have a plurality of chambers. Also depicted are optional externally constructed chamber cartridges that can be inserted into deadblow tool embodiments versus molding chambers and inserting freely moveable material directly therein.

FIG. 16is an example hammer1in exploded view, with head2on top of a handle3, and two attachable striking faces37-38. The head form4contains twelve molded chambers39-41, six chambers39that extend the length of head2and six smaller chambers40-41, three chambers40extending from handle3to the left side of head2and three chambers41extending from handle3to the right side of head2. Chambers39-41are hollow and can be partially filled with differing amounts of freely moveable material and sealed with the two attachable striking faces, attaching the left striking face37to the left side of the head2and attaching the right striking face38to the right side of the head2. The handle3is for the user to grip while using.

FIG. 17is an example of freely moveable material that can be inserted into deadblow chambers. Practically any material, preferably dense, can be used. A single solid material will produce a distinct counter-recoil blow and is less effective in recoil absorption; whereas a plurality of smaller materials will produce a less distinct counter-recoil blow and is more effective in recoil absorption. Some commonly used materials are sand and metal shot. Some powders have been found to pack into larger solid materials and become less effective over time. Different shapes can also be used. Round steel shot is common, but round particles will have more unused space around them when packed together than other shapes, requiring larger chambers than if another shape were used. Density and weight is another factor to consider, for example, lead weighs more than steel and steel weighs more than sand. Material must be selected to meet the purpose of the tool and multiple materials can be used within the same tool, especially when working with a multi-chamber tool.

FIG. 18depicts deadblow chamber cartridges that can be constructed separately and used in a plurality of tools. Chamber cartridges are partially filled with freely moveable material and sealed beforehand. Chamber cartridges can be made in varying shapes and sizes and varying weights and volumes. Multiple versions of the same size chamber cartridge can also be constructed with different tunes, like differing weights and volumes. The use of chamber cartridges would reduce the complexity of manufacturing multi-chamber deadblow tools and would add greater flexibility to tuning. For example, the twelve chambers depicted inFIG. 16could be reduced to one large cavity that can be filled with chamber cartridges.

FIG. 19Represents the top view of the hammer1depicted inFIG. 16. In this view the head2and handle3can be viewed from the top.

FIG. 20Represents the side view of the hammer1depicted inFIG. 16. In this view the head2, handle3, and chambers39-40can be viewed from the side.

FIG. 21Represents the front view of the hammer1depicted inFIG. 16. In this view the head2and handle3can be viewed from the front.

FIG. 22Represents a wire-frame view of the hammer1depicted inFIG. 16. In this view the head2, handle3, attachable head faces37-38, and chambers39-41can be viewed internally.

FIG. 23is an example annular maul31, with a cylindrical head32on top of a handle3. The head form32contains a molded chamber43and a chamber cap44used to seal the chamber after loading chamber cartridges. The exterior chamber makes up a 360 degree striking face34. Five disc-shaped chamber cartridges45with varying weights and volumes can be loaded into chamber43. Five chambers were selected for the purpose of demonstration only. The tool can have a plurality of chambers deemed most suitable for the purpose. The handle3is for the user to grip while using.