Cushioned handle for wire cutting and seating tool

Hammer rebound shock and hand and wrist fatigue associated with the use of a wire seating and/or cutting tool, such as an impact tool, is alleviated by a covering at least the butt end of the tool handle with an internally ribbed cushioning sleeve of elastically deformable material, such as soft rubber. Because of its ribbed configuration and soft rubber material, the cushioning sleeve readily absorbs the rebound of the hammer impact force that would otherwise be transmitted through the handle in the course of operation of the tool, and thereby provides shock protection for the craftsperson's hand.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention relates in general to tools, such as impact tools of 
the type employed in the telephone industry for inserting one or more 
wires into electrical terminals of connector blocks of telephone office 
mainframes, and is particularly directed to a new and improved tool handle 
configuration, the butt end of which contains an internally ribbed, 
shock-absorbing sleeve of elastically deformable material, overlying a 
structurally rigid handle casing made of structurally robust (e.g., hard 
plastic) material. 
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
The telephone industry currently offers its craftspersons a variety of 
impact tool configurations for cutting and seating telephone wires in 
terminal blocks mounted to telephone office mainframe units. Non-limiting 
examples of documentation describing a variety of such impact tools 
include U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,195,230, 4,696,090, 4,567,639, and 4,241,496 and 
the patents cited therein. A typical mechanically operated impact tool has 
a generally longitudinal handle from which a wire-gripping and cutting 
head extends. The interior of the handle houses an axially translatable 
hammer element, which is biased by a compression spring to strike the 
cutting head, and cut a wire that has been inserted into a wire capture 
and gripping end region of the cutting head. 
To operate the impact tool, the craftsperson firmly grips the tool's handle 
and pushes it by hand against a wire in a terminal receptacle. This moves 
a hammer release element within the handle into alignment with the hammer 
travel path, so that an impact force stored in a main compression spring 
is mechanically released against the hammer. This rapidly propels the 
hammer toward and into impact with the cutting head, causing the end of 
the wire to be cut and become seated in the terminal. Because the force 
imparted by the impact tool to the wire terminal is leveraged against and 
thereby imparts a recoil shock to the craftsperson's hand, frequent 
repeated use of the tool may lead to hand and wrist fatigue. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
In accordance with the present invention, this potentially harmful rebound 
shock problem is substantially alleviated by a new and improved tool 
handle configuration containing an internally ribbed cushioning sleeve of 
elastically deformable material, such as soft rubber, that overlies at 
least the butt end of the structurally rigid handle casing in which an 
impact mechanism may be housed. 
The structurally rigid casing may comprise molded hard plastic, or the 
like, having an interior hollow bore sized to accommodate a mechanism, 
such as a wire seating and/or cutting mechanism. The outer cushioning 
sleeve is formed, as by molding, such that interiormost portions of its 
interior surface are effectively conformal with the outer surface of the 
rigid casing. This ensures a snug, glove-like non-slip surface for the 
craftsperson to securely seize and grip the handle and operate the tool. 
The butt end of the rigid casing has a substantially flat exterior surface 
that is abutted by a plurality of spaced apart shock-dampening or 
cushioning ribs that are formed into the butt end of the interior surface 
of the outer cushioning sleeve. The spaces between the ribs are sized to 
accommodate flexure of the outer cushioning sleeve, and thereby absorb 
shock, such as the rebound shock of an impact hammer force, that would 
otherwise be imparted to the craftsperson's hand in the course of 
operation of the tool. The spaces between the ribs may be devoid of 
material or they may contain compressible material such as open cell foam 
rubber.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
Attention is now directed to FIGS. 1-3, which diagrammatically illustrate 
one half of an embodiment of a cushioned handle configuration in 
accordance with the invention, that may be incorporated in a 
craftsperson's tool, such as an impact tool for seating and/or cutting a 
wire, as described above. The other half of the handle is 
mirror-configured to that shown and joined therewith by suitable 
fasteners, such as screws, to provide a unitary handle architecture. 
As shown in FIGS. 1-3, the cushioned tool handle comprises a housing or 
casing 10 of rigid material, such as hard neoprene plastic, as a 
non-limiting example, having an interior hollow bore 11 that is sized to 
accommodate therein a mechanism, such as wire seating and/or cutting 
impact mechanism. At least the butt end 12 of the handle casing 10 is 
surrounded by an outer cushioning layer or sleeve 20 of elastically 
deformable, grip enhancing material, such as high friction soft rubber. 
The outer cushioning sleeve 20 is formed (e.g., molded) such that 
interiormost portions of its interior surface 21 are generally conformal 
with the exterior surface 13 of the casing 10, thereby providing a very 
snug, glove-like non-slip surface for the craftsperson to securely seize 
and grip the tool. A forwardmost end 22 of the outer cushioning sleeve 20 
may be flared to define a user thumb-protection barrier. 
In the non-limiting handle configuration of FIGS. 1-3, a generally circular 
aperture 14 is formed in the butt end 12 of the handle casing 10 to 
provide access to the interior bore 11. A similar aperture 23 is formed in 
the butt end 24 of the outer cushioning sleeve 20. It should be observed 
however, that the handle 10 may be configured without such an aperture, in 
which instance, a corresponding aperture would not be formed in the butt 
end of the outer cushioning sleeve. 
The butt end 12 of the hollow casing 10 has a substantially flat exterior 
surface region 15 that is generally transverse to the axial dimension 16 
of the handle 10. This flat surface region 15 is abutted by interiormost 
surfaces 25 of a plurality of shock-dampening or cushioning ribs 26 formed 
into the butt end 24 of the interior surface 21 of the outer cushioning 
sleeve 20. In the non-limiting example of FIGS. 1-3, the interior ribs 26 
of the cushioning sleeve 20 are shown as being generally parallel to each 
other and transverse to the axial dimension 16 of the handle. It should be 
observed, however, that the dampening ribs may be oriented in other 
directions, such as extending radially from the center of the butt end of 
the handle. 
The interior cushioning ribs 26 are separated from one another so as form 
spaces or pockets 27 therebetween. These spaces are sized to accommodate 
flexure of the outer cushioning sleeve 20, and thereby absorb a force or 
such associated with the use of the tool, such as the rebound shock of an 
impact hammer force, thereby protecting the craftsperson's hand in the 
course of operation of the tool. 
In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the spaces 27 between the 
interior ribs 26 of the cushioning sleeve 20 are devoid of material, 
thereby allowing compression and flexure of the ribs as they dampen a 
force, such as an impact mechanism's hammer rebound shock. However, the 
spaces 27 may contain compressible material such as, but not limited to, 
open cell foam rubber, which may serve as an integrated constituent part 
of the shock-absorbing rib architecture of the butt end of the cushioning 
layer 20. 
As will be appreciated from the foregoing description of the invention, the 
above-referenced rebound shock problem and resultant hand and wrist 
fatigue associated with the use of a craftsperson's tool, such as an 
impact tool, is substantially alleviated by providing the tool handle with 
an internally ribbed cushioning sleeve of elastically deformable material, 
such as soft rubber, that overlies at least the butt end of the handle 
casing in which an impact mechanism may be housed. Because of its 
configuration and soft rubber material, the internally ribbed surface of 
the outer cushioning sleeve readily absorbs a force, such as the rebound 
force of an impact mechanism hammer, that would otherwise be transmitted 
through the handle in the course of operation of the tool, and thereby 
provides shock protection for the craftsperson's hand. 
While I have shown and described an embodiment in accordance with the 
present invention, it is to be understood that the same is not limited 
thereto but is susceptible to numerous changes and modifications as known 
to a person skilled in the art, and I therefore do not wish to be limited 
to the details shown and described herein but intend to cover all such 
changes and modifications as are obvious to one of ordinary skill in the 
art.