Abstract:
An improved screw holding and driving device that enables the user to control the screw depth for use with power drills/drivers. The tool has a screw holding/driving device with an optional inset magnet mating with a standard screw driving bit or screw and a sliding outer sleeve with a depth-controlling flared head to absorb and distribute driving force and a depth control depth control stop at a selected longitudinal position based on the controlled depth to which it is desired to drive the screw. The sleeve is cable of complete free rotation and the depth control nut and retaining ring allow the user to set the depth to allow minimal surface penetration/dimpling for materials like drywall board or set above the material for fine carpentry to allow hand driving to complete screw attachment.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
       [0001]    This application claims benefit of pending U.S. application 60/968,427 filed Aug. 28, 2007. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    The invention relates to a device for holding screws securely in contact with a driving bit during positioning and driving of the screw while simultaneously controlling the depth that the screw is driven to prevent damage to the material being fastened and over-driving of the screw. 
         [0003]    Screw holding and driving devices are well known in the art as shown by U.S. Pat. No. 772,912 to Allam; U.S. Pat. No. 2,235,235 to Price; U.S. Pat. No. 2,902,071 to Poynte et al. U.S. Pat. No. 3,392,767 to Stillwagon; U.S. Pat. No. 3,707,894 to Stillwagon; U.S. Pat. No. 3,739,825 to Knox; U.S. Pat. No. 4,140,161 to Russo; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,736,658 to Jore. 
         [0004]    Presently, carpenters and builders often use a drill/driver tool such as is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,736,658 with a sleeve and magnet to hold and control the screw while driving the screw into materials to be fastened together. However, there is no way when using such devices to control the depth except by the user&#39;s dexterous control of the drill/driving device and the user&#39;s ability to stop the rotation at the proper depth to prevent damage to the materials being fastened and overdriving of the screw. 
         [0005]    From the above it can be seen that the need exists for a simple, easy to set and use device not only to control the screw being driven, but also, in simultaneous combination therewith, the depth to which the screw is driven. In addition, the need exists for the device to be used repeatedly while setting the screw at a uniform and consistent depth in a repetitive manner. Furthermore, the device should have, for example not limitation, a hex drive shaft to attach/retrofit the device to almost any hexagonal drill/driver currently manufactured. Many devices today accept and use widely-available commercial screwdriver bits having, e.g., a hexagonal shank. These bits are regularly used by carpenters as replacement bits with many head types from slotted to Phillips to square head to Torq. It is desirable to allow use of, and quick replacement of, these and other bits. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0006]    The present invention is an improved device for holding a screw during positioning and driving the screw while simultaneously controlling the drive depth of the screw without requiring any special dexterity by the user. The invention has the advantage of having a free-spinning sleeve with an optional depth-control flared head to stop the screw from driving beyond the depth required by the user. 
         [0007]    In order to accomplish this advantage, means are provided to set and hold the amount of return by the sleeve before the torque driving the screw is released preventing the screw from being over-driven. In one preferred exemplary embodiment, there is a hex nut with two ball detents, which can be positioned on the shaft of the screw driving device to any position along the shaft of the driving device. There is also a lock retaining ring with two notches that fits into two grooves in the screw-driving device that slides over the nut from the sleeve side of the device to prevent rotation or movement of the nut from either vibration or from the force of the spinning sleeve pushing against the nut. To prevent the nut from coming off the back of the driving device, there is a tensioned, hardened steel “C” ring set into a groove at the back end of the device. The lock retaining ring has grooves around the outside to allow easy attachment to and sliding off of the depth control nut by the user with bare hands or gloves. The back end of the sleeve is narrower than the rest of the sleeve and the front end of the driving device is wider than the rest of the driving device to prevent the sleeve from coming off the front end of the driving device. The head of the sleeve is flared to distribute weight and force and prevent damage to the material the screw is being driven into. It is possible, optionally, for the flare end to comprise a removable/replaceable rubber, leather, plastic or other cushioning material as well, to further prevent damage to the material being fastened. It is also possible, optionally, to use many other means to set the depth of the sleeve return including, but not limited to, a round ring with a hex set-screw also shown as an alternative preferred exemplary embodiment. 
         [0008]    In sum, disclosed herein is an apparatus and related method for driving a screw to a controlled depth while simultaneously stabilizing the screw during the driving, comprising: a screw control sleeve for stabilizing the screw while the screw is being driven; a screw driving device situated longitudinally and slidably within the screw control sleeve, configured to mate proximate a forward end thereof with a standard screw driver bit for driving the screw or directly with the screw, and configured to be rotationally driven proximate a rearward end thereof by a rotational driving device; and a depth control stop adjustably fixed by the user at a selected longitudinal position of the screw driving device based on the controlled depth to which a user of the apparatus desires to drive the screw; wherein: when the screw driving device is driven forward by the rotational driving device, a portion of the depth control stop comes to butt against a portion of the screw control sleeve, such that the screw driving device cannot be driven forward any further and hence the screw cannot be driven forward any further. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
         [0009]    The features of the invention believed to be novel are set forth in the appended claims. The invention, however, together with further objects and advantages thereof, may best be understood by reference to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing(s) summarized below. 
           [0010]      FIG. 1  shows an elevational view of the screw/depth control driver tool of a preferred exemplary embodiment of the invention, with the lock retaining ring engaged to the depth control setting nut. 
           [0011]      FIG. 2  shows an elevational view of the screw/depth control driver tool of the  FIG. 1  embodiment with the lock retaining ring disengaged from the depth control setting nut allowing adjustment to the driving depth. 
           [0012]      FIG. 3  shows a cross section view along line  3 - 3  shown in  FIG. 1 . 
           [0013]      FIG. 4  shows an elevational view of a screw/depth control driver tool in an alternative preferred exemplary embodiment of the invention, with a depth control setting ring and set screw. 
           [0014]      FIG. 5  shows an enlarged cross section along a line  5 - 5  in  FIG. 4  illustrating the depth control setting ring and hex set screw of this alternative preferred exemplary embodiment. 
           [0015]      FIG. 6  shows an enlarged cross section along a line  6 - 6  in  FIG. 1  illustrating the depth control setting nut and the lock retaining ring engaged to hold the depth control setting nut. 
           [0016]      FIG. 7  shows an enlarged cross section along lines  7 - 7  in  FIG. 2  illustrating the depth control setting nut and the lock retaining ring disengaged to allow setting of the depth control setting nut to a user defined depth. 
           [0017]      FIG. 8  shows an enlarged cross section along lines  8 - 8  in  FIG. 7  of the depth control setting nut including the springs and detent balls. 
           [0018]      FIG. 9  shows an enlarged elevational view of a cross section along lines  9 - 9  in  FIG. 7  of the lock retaining ring and notches used to prevent rotation. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0019]    In the drawings,  FIGS. 1 through 3  show a screw/depth control driver device (an apparatus for driving a screw to a controlled depth while simultaneously stabilizing the screw during the driving)  10  which includes a screw control sleeve  17  which is sized to slidably but closely fit longitudinally over a screw driving device  12  as illustrated. The sleeve  17  has a narrow passage  26  at the back end and an enlarged end  23  which extends into a second wider passage  32  and engages against the wider front end  22  on the screw driving device  12 . The design of sleeve  17  is intended to prevent removal from the front end of the screw driving device  12  and is designed to allow sleeve  17  to slidably but closely fit the screw driving device  12 . It is intended that sleeve  17  can rotate freely on the screw driving device  12  allowing the user to grasp and hold sleeve  17  while driving a screw. The space between sleeve  17  and the screw driving device  12  at enlarged end  23  is designated  26 . The space between sleeve  17  and the screw driving device  12  at wider front end  22  is designated  20 . The screw control sleeve  17  has a flared head  21  to spread and absorb toque and control depth by contacting the surface into which the screw is to be driven and prevent damage to the materials being fastened. The screw driving device  12  has a thread pattern applied along most of its length indicated as  31  to allow a depth control stop comprising threaded depth control setting nut  14  to be moved forward or backwards and held along the screw driving device  12  to control the depth of the screw being driven. 
         [0020]    The screw/depth control driver device  10  has the depth control setting nut  14  containing detent balls  28  and springs  15  and a lock-retaining ring  16 . Lock retaining ring  16  has two protrusions  27  on opposite sides that fit into two (at least one) longitudinally-oriented grooves  30  shown in  FIG. 2 , cut partly into the opposite sides of the screw driving device  12 . It will be appreciated by anyone of ordinary skill in the art that the configuration of the detent balls  28  and springs  15  and protrusions  27  may easily be reversed, with lock retaining ring  16  comprising the detent balls  28  and springs  15  and depth control setting nut  14  comprising the protrusions  27 , and that this trivial variation is understood to be within the scope of this disclosure and its associated claims. The foregoing allow depth control setting nut  14  to be moved and held forward or backwards along the screw driving device  42  to control the depth of the screw being driven, and to prevent its rotation once the desired driving depth has been set. The protrusions  27  prevent the lock retaining ring  16  from rotating and when engaged over the depth control setting nut  14 , prevent the depth control setting nut from rotating, thus holding the user&#39;s preset depth until changed by the user. The lock retaining ring  16  has a groove on the inside designated  25  to allow the detent balls  28  set into the depth control setting nut  14  to be engaged into the lock retaining ring  16  to hold the lock retaining ring  16  into place over the depth control setting nut  14 . The depth control setting nut  14  and the lock retaining ring  16 , preferably, comprise hardened steel or similar material to provide the desired functions of strength and durability. 
         [0021]    Screw driving device  12  has a semicircular groove  24  completely around the circumference, which allows the tight fit of a hardened steel “C” ring  13  set into groove  24  to prevent the depth control nut  14  from being removed from the device. It will be understood that this is merely one non-limiting example of how to prevent this removal of depth control nut  14 . Screw driving device  12  is permanently attached to a, e.g., hex drill/drive shaft  11  to allow attachment to most any rotational driving device. This includes retrofitting to a pre-existing rotational driving device such as a drill, etc., as well as integral fabrication into a single unit which includes the rotational driving device permanently integrated with the drive shaft. Furthermore, there is an optional magnet  18  permanently set into the drive end of the screw driving device  12  and a, e.g., hex head opening  29  sized to closely fit a standard screw driver bit  19 . 
         [0022]    To use the device, the user insets a screw into the end of the device  10  onto the bit  19  and slides the sleeve  17  forward over the screw. While less preferred, though still within the scope of this disclosure and the associated claims, bit  19  may be fashioned as an integral component of this device, rather than being separate and attachable. With the depth control lock retaining ring  16  slid forward to disengage the depth control setting nut  14  as in  FIG. 2 , the depth control setting nut  14  can be rotated clockwise (i.e., moved forward) to reduce the amount of driving depth of the screw being driven by the device  10 . Furthermore, the depth control setting nut  14  can be rotated anti-clockwise (i.e., moved rearward) to increase to amount of the driving depth of a screw being driven by the device  10 . (It is to be understood that clockwise versus counterclockwise rotation in relation to forward versus rearward movement is immaterial to the invention and that either relation is regarded to be within the scope of this disclosure and its associated claims.) When a desired depth is set, the lock retaining ring  16  is slid back over the depth control setting nut  14  as in  FIG. 1  to prevent the depth control setting nut  14  from turning, maintaining the correct driving depth. The sleeve  17  is then slid completely forward until the flared end  21  is beyond, even with or just short of the end of the screw and the user can then place the screw against the material being fastened and drive the screw by rotating with a rotational driving device, e.g., drill, wherein rotational motion is transferred from the drill/drive shaft  11  then to the screw driving device  12  and the bit  19  utilizing the mating (e.g., hexagonal shaped) parts to drive the screw. To control positioning, the sleeve  17  can be held and will not rotate while the screw is being driven. Referring to  FIG. 3 , it should be apparent that it is the distance between the forward end of the depth control setting nut  14  and lock retaining ring  16  combination, and the rear-most portion of sleeve  17 , as well as the overall lengths of the screw control sleeve  17  and the screw driving device  12 , which then control the driving depth, because once the depth control setting nut  14  and lock retaining ring  16  combination come into contact with sleeve  17 , it is no longer possible for the screw to be driven forward any further. 
         [0023]    An alternative exemplary embodiment of the screw/depth control driving device described above is shown in  FIGS. 4 and 5 . These figures show a screw/depth control driver device  40  which includes the screw control sleeve  47  which is sized to slidably but closely fit longitudinally over the screw driving device  42  as illustrated. The sleeve  47  has a narrow passage  56  at the back end and an enlarged end  53  which extends into a second wider passage  62  and engages against the wider front end  52  on the screw driving device  42 . The design of sleeve  47  is intended to prevent removal from the front end of the screw driving device  42  and is designed to allow sleeve  47  to slidably but closely fit the screw driving device  42 . It is intended that sleeve  47  can rotate freely on the screw driving device  42  allowing the user to grasp and hold the sleeve while driving a screw. The space between sleeve  47  and the screw driving device  42  at enlarged end  53  is designated  56 . The space between sleeve  47  and the screw driving device  42  at wider front end  52  is designated  50 . The screw control sleeve  47  has a flared head  51  to spread and absorb toque and control depth by contacting the surface into which the screw is to be driven and prevent damage to the materials being fastened. The screw driving device  42  has two (at least one) longitudinally-oriented grooves along its length indicated as  55  in  FIG. 4 , to allow a depth control stop comprising depth control setting ring  44  to be moved and held forward or backwards along the screw driving device  42  to control the depth of the screw being driven, and to prevent its rotation once the desired driving depth has been set. 
         [0024]    The screw/depth control driver device  40  has the depth control setting ring  44  containing a, e.g., hex set screw  57  on one side and a protrusion  46  on the other side. The set screw  57  and the protrusion  46  both set into the grooves  55  cut partly into the all or part of the entire length on opposite sides of the screw driving device  42 . The protrusions  46  and the set screw  57  prevent the depth control setting ring  44  from rotating when set to a desired position along the screw driving device  42 , thus holding the user&#39;s preset depth until changed by the user. The depth control setting ring  44  and set screw  57 , preferably, comprise hardened steel or similar material to provide the desired functions of strength and durability. 
         [0025]    The screw driving device  42  has a semicircular groove completely around the circumference designated  54  which allows the tight fit of a hardened steel “C” ring  43  set into groove  54  to prevent the depth control ring  44  from being removed from the device. Again, many alternatives for preventing removal will occur to anyone of ordinary skill and are regarded to be within the scope of this disclosure and it associated claims. The screw driving device  42  is permanently attached onto a, e.g., hex drill/drive shaft  41  to allow attachment to most any rotational driving device such as a drill. This includes retrofitting to a pre-existing rotational driving device such as a drill, etc., as well as integral fabrication into a single unit which includes the rotational driving device permanently integrated with the drive shaft. Furthermore, there is an optional magnet  48  permanently set into the drive end of the screw driving device  42  and a, e.g., hex head opening  59  sized to closely fit a standard screw driver bit  49 . 
         [0026]    To use the device, the user insets a screw into the end of the device  40  onto the bit  49  and slides the sleeve  47  forward over the screw. Again, while less preferred, though still within the scope of this disclosure and the associated claims, bit  49  may be fashioned as an integral component of this device, rather than being separate and attachable. With the hex set screw  57  loosened slightly to disengage the depth control setting ring  44 , the depth control setting ring  44  can be moved forward to reduce the amount of driving depth of the screw being driven by the device  40 . Furthermore, the depth control setting ring  44  can be moved rearward to increase to amount of the driving depth of a screw being driven by the device  40 . When a desired depth is set, the hex set screw  57  is tightened to prevent the depth control setting ring  44  from sliding, maintaining the correct driving depth, while the engagement of  57  and  46  into grooves  55  prevents depth control setting ring  44  from rotating. The sleeve  47  is then slid completely forward until the flared end  51  is beyond, even with or just short of the end of the screw and the user can then place the screw against the material being fastened and drive the screw by rotating with a rotational driving device, e.g., drill, wherein rotational motion is transferred from the drill/drive shaft  41  then to the screw driving device  42  and the bit  49  utilizing the mating, e.g., hexagonal shaped parts to drive the screw. To control positioning, the sleeve  47  can be held and will not rotate while the screw is being driven. Referring to  FIG. 5 , it should be apparent that it is the distance between the forward end of depth control setting ring  44  and the rear-most portion of sleeve  47 , as well as the overall lengths of the screw control sleeve  47  and the screw driving device  42 , which then control the driving depth, because once the depth control setting ring  44  comes into contact with sleeve  47 , it is no longer possible for the screw to be driven forward any further. 
         [0027]    It is possible in all embodiments of the screw/depth control driver device to have the flared end designed to allow the application of different materials such as plastic, rubber, leather etc. to further prevent marring, damage or scuffing of the materials being fastened, as required by the user. 
         [0028]    While only certain preferred features of the invention have been illustrated and described, many modifications, changes and substitutions will occur to those skilled in the art. It is, therefore, to be understood that the appended claims are intended to cover all such modifications and changes as fall within the true spirit of the invention.