Patent Publication Number: US-2023132561-A1

Title: Hand tool

Description:
RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application Serial Number 63/263,384, filed Nov. 01, 2021, which is herein incorporated by reference. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND 
     Technical Field 
     The present disclosure relates to a tool. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to a hand tool. 
     Description of Related Art 
     Hand tools are widely used in industries or our daily life, and are usually applied to install or remove parts for different purposes. To enable a hand tool to cooperate with parts of different types, sizes, and styles, an abutting element is configured in the driving head of the conventional hand tool to adapt to different parts. However, how to enable the abutting element to fit tightly with the parts and to smoothly remove the parts from the hand tool after the operation is completed is a problem that the relevant industry is eager to solve. 
     SUMMARY 
     According to one aspect of the present disclosure, a hand tool includes a handle, at least one driving head, at least one groove and at least one abutting element. The driving head is connected with at least one end of the handle. The groove is disposed on an inner edge of the driving head, and includes an inner wall and at least one margin structure. The margin structure extends from an end of the inner wall, and an angle is between the margin structure and the inner wall. The abutting element is disposed on the at least one groove. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The present disclosure can be more fully understood by reading the following detailed description of the embodiment, with reference made to the accompanying drawings as follows: 
         FIG.  1    is an exploded view of a hand tool according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. 
         FIG.  2    is a partially exploded view of the hand tool according to the embodiment in  FIG.  1   . 
         FIG.  3    is a partially cross-sectional view of the hand tool according to the embodiment in  FIG.  1   . 
         FIG.  4    is a three-dimensional view showing a connection between the hand tool and a to-be-operated object according to the embodiment in  FIG.  1   . 
         FIG.  5    is a three-dimensional view of a driving head of a hand tool according to another embodiment of the present disclosure. 
         FIG.  6    is a cross-sectional view and a partially enlarged view of the driving head according to the embodiment in  FIG.  5   . 
         FIG.  7    is a partially enlarged view of a groove of a hand tool according to further another embodiment of the present disclosure. 
         FIG.  8    is a partially enlarged view of a groove of a hand tool according to still another embodiment of the present disclosure. 
         FIG.  9    is a partially enlarged view of a groove of a hand tool according to yet another embodiment of the present disclosure. 
         FIG.  10    is a partially enlarged view of a groove of a hand tool according to another embodiment of the present disclosure. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Please refer to  FIG.  1   .  FIG.  1    is an exploded view of a hand tool  100  according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. In  FIG.  1   , the hand tool  100  includes two driving heads  110  and  120 , a handle  130 , a plurality of grooves  140  and  150  (whose reference numerals are shown in  FIG.  2    and  FIG.  3   , respectively) and a plurality of abutting elements  160 . The driving heads  110  and  120  are connected to two ends of handle  130 , respectively, and shape of handle  130  is a flat rod. 
     Please refer to  FIG.  2   .  FIG.  2    is a partially exploded view of the hand tool  100  according to the embodiment in  FIG.  1   . The driving head  110  of the hand tool  100  is an open-ended wrench structure, and the hand tool  100  can connect to a to-be-operated object  10  (as shown in  FIG.  4   ) through the driving head  110 . The groove  140  is disposed on an inner edge of the driving head  110 , and the groove  140  includes an inner wall  142  and a margin structure  144 . The margin structure  144  extends from an end of the inner wall  142 , and an angle is between the margin structure  144  and the inner wall  142 . The abutting element  160  is disposed on the groove  140 . In detail, the shape of the abutting element  160  generally corresponds to the shape of the groove  140 , so that the abutting element  160  is partially disposed on the groove  140  along the shape of the groove  140 . 
     In detail, in  FIG.  2   , the inner wall  142  includes a bottom surface  1422  and a side surface  1424 . The bottom surface  1422  is planar, the side surface  1424  extends vertically from an end of the bottom surface  1422 , wherein the margin structure  144  is an inclined surface and extends from the other end of the bottom surface  1422 ; so that a cross-section of the groove  140  is trapezoidal. 
     Please refer to  FIG.  3   .  FIG.  3    is a partially cross-sectional view of the hand tool  100  according to the embodiment in  FIG.  1   . The driving head  120  of the hand tool  100  is a ratchet structure, and the hand tool  100  can connect to the to-be-operated object through the driving head  120 . Two grooves  150  are disposed on an inner edge of the driving head  120 . Each of the grooves  150  includes an inner wall  152  and a margin structure  154 . The margin structure  154  extends from an end of the inner wall  152 , and an angle is between the margin structure  154  and the inner wall  152 . Two abutting elements  160  are disposed on the two grooves  150 , respectively. In detail, a shape of each of the abutting elements  160  generally corresponds to a shape of each of the grooves  150 , so that each of the abutting elements  160  is partially disposed on each of the grooves  150  along the shape thereof. 
     In detail, in  FIG.  3   , the inner wall  152  includes a bottom surface  1522  and two side surfaces  1524 . The bottom surface  1522  is a planar surface, each of the two side surfaces  1524  extends vertically from each of two ends of the bottom surface  1522 , and the margin structure  154  extends away from an end of the bottom surface  1522  from one of the side surfaces  1524 . The margin structure  154  is an inclined surface, and an angle is between the margin structure  154  and the side surface  1524 . 
     In  FIG.  1    to  FIG.  3   , the hand tool  100  includes two driving heads  110 ,  120 , but in other embodiments, the number of the driving head of the hand tool can be one, and the driving head connects to one end of the handle. Furthermore, in the embodiment in  FIG.  1    to  FIG.  3   , one abutting element  160  and one groove  140  are disposed on the driving head  110 , and the groove  140  includes one margin structure  144 . Two grooves  150  and two abutting elements  160  are disposed on the driving head  120 , and each of the grooves  150  includes one margin structure  154 . But in other embodiments, the number of the grooves and the abutting elements disposed on the driving head can be different, and the grooves can include a different number of the margin structures. 
     The operation method and the operation principle of the hand tool  100  are described below through the driving head  110 .  FIG.  4    is a three-dimensional view showing a connection between the hand tool  100  and the to-be-operated object  10  according to the embodiment in  FIG.  1   . Only the case that the driving head  110  is mounted on the to-be-operated object  10  will be shown and described herein, and the case that the driving head  120  is mounted on the to-be-operated object  10  is similar. When a user would like to drive the to-be-operated object  10 , the driving head  110  can be mounted on the to-be-operated object  10 . A part of the abutting element  160  outside the groove  140  is pressed by the to-be-operated object  10 , so that the abutting element  160  is pushed toward the margin structure  144  and deformed. The abutting element  160  then generates a restoring force to fasten the to-be-operated object  10 . When the user exerts a force on the handle  130 , the user can exert a torque on the to-be-operated object  10  through a friction force between the abutting element  160  and the to-be-operated object  10  so as to drive the to-be-operated object  10 . 
     In the conventional hand tool, there is no margin structure being disposed thereon, which means that the turning angles of the inner wall of the groove are all right angles. When the abutting element is pressed by the to-be-operated object, there is no extra space for the abutting element to move, thus the abutting element is deformed and exerts a greater force on the to-be-operated object, so that the to-be-operated object is fixed too tightly to be removed. With a configuration of the margin structure  144 , the margin structure  144  extends from the end of the inner wall  142 , the angle is between the margin structure  144  and the inner wall  142 , and the margin structure  144  forms an outer space that enables the abutting element  160  to move, so that the to-be-operated object  10  can be removed easily from the driving head  110  of the hand tool  100 . 
     Please refer to  FIG.  5    and  FIG.  6   .  FIG.  5    is a three-dimensional view of a driving head  220  of a hand tool according to another embodiment of the present disclosure.  FIG.  6    is a cross-sectional view and a partially enlarged view of the driving head  220  according to the embodiment in  FIG.  5   . The driving head  220  of the hand tool of the embodiment in  FIG.  5    is similar with the driving head  120  of the hand tool  100  of the embodiment in  FIG.  1   , which is also a ratchet structure, but the driving head  220  only includes a groove  250  disposed on an inner edge of the driving head  220 . The difference between the driving head  220  and the driving head  120  is that there is an opening on each side of the driving head  120  for mounting the to-be-operated object  10 , but the driving head  220  being cylindrical only has one opening on one side. Since the shape, the configuration, and the operation principle of the groove  250  and the margin structure  254  are the same as the shape, the configuration, and the operation principle of each of the grooves  150  and the margin structure  154 , the same technical features will not be repeated herein. 
     The grooves of other embodiments of the present disclosure are described below. Please refer to  FIG.  7   .  FIG.  7    is a partially enlarged view of a groove  350  of a hand tool according to further another embodiment of the present disclosure. In  FIG.  7   , a number of margin structures  354  of the groove  350  is two, the two margin structures  354  extend from two ends of an inner wall  352 , respectively. In detail, the inner wall  352  includes a bottom surface  3522  and two side surfaces  3524 , the bottom surface  3522  is a planar surface, the two side surfaces  3524  extend vertically from two ends of the bottom surface  3522 , and each of the two margin structures  354  extend away from an end of the bottom surface  3522  from each of the two side surfaces  3524 . Each of angles between each of the margin structures  354  and each of the side surfaces  3524  is θ, and the following condition is satisfied: 15° ≦ θ ≦ 70°. 
     Please refer to  FIG.  8   .  FIG.  8    is a partially enlarged view of a groove  450  of a hand tool according to still another embodiment of the present disclosure. In  FIG.  8   , a number of margin structures  454  of the groove  450  is two, and the two margin structures  454  are curved surfaces and extend from two ends of an inner wall  452 , respectively. In detail, the inner wall  452  includes a bottom surface  4522  and two side surfaces  4524 , the bottom surface  4522  is a planar surface, the two side surfaces  4524  extend vertically from two ends of the bottom surface  4522 , and each of the two margin structures  454  extends away from an end of the bottom surface  4522  from each of the two side surfaces  4524 . 
     Please refer to  FIG.  9   .  FIG.  9    is a partially enlarged view of a groove  550  of a hand tool according to yet another embodiment of the present disclosure. In  FIG.  9   , a number of margin structures  554  of the groove  550  is two, each of the two margin structures  554  is a inclined surface, an inner wall  552  is a curved wall, and the two margin structures  554  extend from two ends of the inner wall  552 , respectively. An angle between the inner wall  552  and each of the margin structures  554  is θ1, and the following condition is satisfied: 15 ° ≦ θ1 ≦ 70 °. Each of the angles θ1 can be defined as the angle between each of virtual planes  552   a  and the margin structures  554 , wherein the two virtual planes  552   a  are extended from two ends of the inner wall  552  which is a curved-shape (it should be mentioned that the virtual planes  552   a  are shown to elaborate more clearly and are not real structures). 
     Please refer to  FIG.  10   .  FIG.  10    is a partially enlarged view of a groove  650  of a hand tool according to another embodiment of the present disclosure. In  FIG.  10   , a number of margin structures  654  of the groove  650  is two, each of the two margin structures  654  is a curved surface, an inner wall  652  is a planar wall, and the two margin structures  654  extend from two ends of the inner wall  652 , respectively. Since the operation methods and the operation principles of the hand tools in  FIG.  7    to  FIG.  10    are the same as the operation methods and the operation principles of the hand tool  100  in  FIG.  1    to  FIG.  4   , the same technical features will not be repeated herein. 
     Although the present disclosure has been described in considerable detail with reference to certain embodiments thereof, other embodiments are possible. Therefore, the spirit and scope of the appended claims should not be limited to the description of the embodiments contained herein. 
     It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made to the structure of the present disclosure without departing from the scope or spirit of the disclosure. In view of the foregoing, it is intended that the present disclosure cover modifications and variations of this disclosure provided they fall within the scope of the following claims.