Patent Publication Number: US-7900540-B1

Title: Foldable tool kit

Description:
This application is a Division of application U.S. Ser. No. 11/486,212, entitled “FOLDABLE TOOL KIT” and filed Jul. 14, 2006 now abandoned. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention is related to a hand tool, and more particularly to a foldable tool kit, which is flattened and lightweight and has a delicate shape. 
       FIG. 10  shows a conventional foldable tool kit  1  having a case  2 . Two ends of the case  2  are respectively equipped with two pivot shafts  3  on which various tools  4  are pivoted. The tools  4  can be unfolded outward for use or can be folded into the case  2 . Each tool  4  is a substantially q-shaped rod having a circular or hexagonal cross-section. That is, each tool has a pivoted end  5  curled into a circular section defining a circular hole through which the pivot shaft is fitted. Accordingly, the tools can be pivoted about the pivot shaft. 
     The conventional foldable tool kit has a shortcoming. That is, the pivoted end of the tool has a thickness much larger than the diameter of the rod body of the tool. Therefore, as a whole, the tool kit has a considerable thickness and weight. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     It is therefore a primary object of the present invention to provide a flattened and lightweight foldable tool kit which is easy to carry and store. 
     The present invention can be best understood through the following description and accompanying drawings wherein: 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a first embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a perspective view according to  FIG. 1 , in which some of the tools are unfolded outward; 
         FIG. 3  is a side view of one of the tools; 
         FIG. 4  is a perspective partially exploded view according to  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 5  is a sectional view taken along line  5 - 5  of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 6  is a perspective view of a second embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 7  is a perspective view according to  FIG. 6 , in which some of the tools are unfolded outward; 
         FIG. 8  is a perspective view showing some of the tools; 
         FIG. 9  is a sectional view taken along line  9 - 9  of  FIG. 6 ; and 
         FIG. 10  is a perspective view of a conventional foldable tool kit. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Please refer to  FIGS. 1 and 2 . The foldable tool kit  10  of the present invention includes a case  20  and several tools  30  pivotally connected with one end or two ends of the case  20 . 
     In this embodiment, the case  20  is composed of two parallel sideboards  22 ,  22 ′. Two pivot shafts  25  are respectively interconnected between first ends of the two sideboards  22 ,  22 ′ and second ends of the two sideboards  22 ,  22 ′. The tools  30  are respectively pivoted on the two pivot shafts  25  side by side between the two sideboards  22 ,  22 ′. The tools  30  can be folded into a space  23  defined by the case  20  as shown in  FIG. 1 . Alternatively, the tools  30  can be unfolded for use as shown in  FIG. 2 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 3 , each tool  30  has a rod body  32 . One end of the rod body  32  is a pivoted end  34 , while the other end of the rod body  32  is an operation end  36  formed with a specific configuration. For example, the operation end can be hexagonal, cross-shaped, wedge-shaped, etc. for driving a threaded member. The pivoted end  34  is formed with a pivot hole  35  through which the pivot shaft  25  is fitted. 
     The central lines C of the operation end  36 , the rod body  32 , the pivoted end  34  and the pivot hole  35  of the tool coincide with each other. Also, the pivoted end  34  has a height (thickness) not larger than the height (thickness) of the rod body. Accordingly, the tool  30  of the present invention has a height much smaller than that of the tool of the conventional tool kit. Therefore, the tool kit of the present invention is thinner and lighter. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 4 and 5 , with the tools  30   a ,  30   b ,  30   c ,  30   d  pivotally disposed at one end of the case  20  exemplified, the pivot holes  35  of the tools  30   a  to  30   d  are simply through holes. The pivot hole  24  of the first end of the first sideboard  22  is also a through holes, while the pivot hole  24 ′ of the first end of the second sideboard  22 ′ is a thread hole. The pivot shaft  25  is a bolt formed with outer thread. The bolt is fitted through the pivot hole  24  of the first sideboard  22  and the pivot holes  35  of the tools  30   a  to  30   d  and finally screwed into the thread hole  24 ′ of the sideboard  22 ′. Accordingly, the tools  30   a  to  30   d  are pivotally connected with the sideboards  22 ,  22 ′ by means of the pivot shaft  25 , that is, the bolt  25 . The tools can be pivoted about the pivot shaft  25 . 
     Similarly, the tools  30   e ,  30   f ,  30   g ,  30   h  and the sideboards  22 ,  22 ′ are pivotally connected in the same manner. The pivot holes of the tools  30   e  to  30   h  are simply through holes. The pivot hole of the second end of the sideboard  22  or  22 ′ is also a through holes, while the pivot hole of the second end of the sideboard  22 ′ or  22  is a thread hole. The pivot shaft  25 ′ is a bolt formed with outer thread. The bolt is fitted through the pivot hole  24  of the sideboard  22  or  22 ′ and the pivot holes of the tools  30   e  to  30   h  and finally screwed into the thread hole of the sideboard  22 ′ or  22 . Accordingly, the tools can be pivotally connected with the sideboards  22 ,  22 ′ simply by means of the bolts without using any nut. Therefore, the tool kit can be flattened to minimize the thickness thereof. 
     In the case that both ends of the case are equipped with the tools as shown in  FIG. 1 , when the tools are folded into the case  20 , the centers of the tools  30   a  to  30   d  located at one end of the case and the centers of the tools  30   e  to  30   h  at the other end are on the same plane. 
     Besides, a resilient washer (not shown) can be disposed between each two adjacent tools such as  30   a ,  30   b  or between the sideboard  22  and the tool  30   a  or between the sideboard  22 ′ and the tool  30   d , whereby the tools and the sideboards will not loosen. 
       FIGS. 6 and 7  show another embodiment of the tool kit  40  of the present invention, which also includes a case  50  composed of two sideboards  52 ,  52 ′. Several tools are pivotally disposed at one end of the case  50  via a pivot shaft  55 . 
     In this embodiment, the tools are divided into tools  60   a  to  60   e  with normal sizes and smaller tools  70   a  to  70   d . Please refer to  FIG. 8 . With the normal tool  60   b  and smaller tool  70   b  exemplified, each normal tool  60  has a rod body  62 , a pivoted end  64  and an operation end  66 . The pivoted end is formed with a pivot hole  65 . Similarly, each smaller tool  70  has a rod body  72 , a pivoted end  74  formed with a pivot hole  75  and an operation end  76 . The centers of the operation end, the rod body, the pivoted end and the pivot hole of each tool are positioned in the same central line. In addition, the height (thickness) of the pivoted end is not larger than the height (thickness) of the rod body. 
     One side of the normal tool  60   b  is recessed to form a sink  68  extending from the pivoted end  64  to the rod body  62  by a certain length. The smaller tool  70   b  has a length shorter than the length S of the sink  68 . The width of the smaller tool  70   b  is not larger than the width W of the sink  68 . Accordingly, referring to  FIGS. 6 and 7 , the smaller tools  70  can be respectively snugly positioned in the sinks  68  of the normal tools  60  side by side. The smaller tools  70  can be also unfolded outward for use. 
     The tools are side by side arranged between the two sideboards  52 ,  52 ′. Referring to  FIG. 9 , the pivot holes  65 ,  75  of the tools  60 ,  70  are all through holes. The pivot holes  54  of the sideboard  52  are through hole, while the pivot holes  54 ′ of the sideboard  52 ′ are thread hole. The pivot shafts  55  are fitted through the through holes of the sideboard  52  and the tools and then screwed into the thread holes  54 ′ of the sideboard  52 ′. 
     The design of this embodiment is applicable to the first embodiment. 
     Furthermore, the tool kit  40  of this embodiment further includes a chain cutter  80  including a body section  82  and a pushpin  85 . A front end of the body section  82  is formed with a cavity  83  for placing a chain therein. The body section  82  is formed with a thread hole  84  communicating with the cavity  83 . The pushpin  85  is screwed in the thread hole  84 , whereby the pushpin can extend into the cavity  83 . The chain cutter  80  further includes an operation lever  86  having a U-shaped cross-section. One end of the operation lever  86  is pivotally connected with an outer end of the pushpin  85  for driving and rotating the pushpin. The body section  82  of the chain cutter  80  is fixedly connected with the other end of the case  50  via another pivot shaft  88  (not limited to the shown one) or a fixing pin. When not used, the operation lever  86  is folded to snugly hold a sideboard so as to minify the volume. The height of the body section of the chain cutter is substantially the same as a height of each tool and substantially the same as a height of each the sideboard. 
     In conclusion, the foldable tool kit of the present invention is thin, flattened and lightweight and has beautified appearance. The volume of the foldable tool kit is minimized so that it is easy to carry and store the foldable tool kit. 
     The above embodiments are only used to illustrate the present invention, not intended to limit the scope thereof. Many modifications of the above embodiments can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.