Patent Publication Number: US-8528449-B2

Title: T-shaped driving tool

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to a driving tool, and more particularly, to a T-shaped driving tool including a driving shaft and a bar which is movably connected to the driving shaft and includes a control mechanism for separating the bar from the driving shaft. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     A conventional T-shaped driving tool is shown in  FIGS. 31 and 32 , and generally includes a driving shaft  61  and a bar  62 , the driving shaft  61  has a driving member  611  connected to one end thereof and a passage  612  is defined in the other end of the driving shaft  61 . The bar  62  movably extends through the passage  612  and two ends of the bar  62  each have a ball  63  which is partially protrudes out from the bar  62 . The balls  63  restrict the bar  62  from disengaging from the passage  612  so that the bar  62  is movable to adjust the length of the arm of force when using the driving tool. However, the balls  63  are secured in the bar  62  and cannot be retracted so that the bar  62  cannot be separated from the driving shaft  61 . This restricts the replacement of the driving member  611  on the driving shaft  61 , and the T-shaped combination of the driving shaft  61  and the bar  62  occupies too much space. 
     The present invention intends to provide a T-shaped driving tool which includes a driving shaft and a bar that is perpendicularly and movably connected to an end of the driving shaft. The bar can be separated from the driving shaft by the control mechanism connected to one end of the bar. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to a driving tool and includes a driving shaft and a bar which movably extends through the driving shaft. At least one of two end sections of the bar has a hole and a recess, wherein an engaging member is engaged with the hole and protrudes out from outer surface of the bar. The recess is defined axially in the end of the at least one end section and a control rod and a resilient member are received in the recess. The control rod includes a first notch and a second notch of different depths. By the resilient member, the control rod is positioned at the first position where the engaging member is engaged with the first notch and protrudes out from the end section. When the control rod moves relative to the hole, the engaging member is engaged with the first notch or the second notch. When the control rod is operated to overcome a force of the resilient, the control rod is moved to the second position where the engaging member is engaged with the second notch, the engaging member is retracted into the at least one end section. The bar can be separated from the driving shaft so as to change the driving shaft. 
     The present invention will become more obvious from the following description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings which show, for purposes of illustration only, a preferred embodiment in accordance with the present invention. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is an exploded view to show the driving tool of the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a perspective view to show the driving tool of the present invention; 
         FIG. 3  is a top view of the driving tool of the present invention; 
         FIG. 4  is a cross-sectional view taken along plane  3 - 3  in  FIG. 3 ; 
         FIG. 5  is a cross-sectional view of the circled portion V in  FIG. 4 ; 
         FIG. 6  is a cross-sectional view to show that the bar is about to extend through the passage of the driving shaft; 
         FIG. 7  is a cross-sectional view of the circled portion VI in  FIG. 6 ; 
         FIG. 8  is a cross-sectional view to show that the bar extends through the passage of the driving shaft; 
         FIG. 9  shows that only one end section of the bar has the control mechanism connected thereto; 
         FIG. 10  shows another embodiment of the control mechanism of the present invention; 
         FIG. 11  shows the connection portion connected with a driving member; 
         FIG. 12  shows another driving member connected to the connection portion; 
         FIG. 13  shows another embodiment of the connection portion; 
         FIG. 14  shows yet another driving member connected to the connection portion; 
         FIG. 15  shows yet another driving member connected to the connection portion; 
         FIG. 16  shows yet another driving member connected to the connection portion; 
         FIG. 17  shows yet another driving member connected to the connection portion; 
         FIG. 18  is a cross-sectional view to show another embodiment of the recess and control rod; 
         FIG. 19  shows that the driving shaft includes an engaging portion on the other end thereof; 
         FIG. 20  is an exploded view to show another embodiment of the control mechanism; 
         FIG. 21  is a side cross-sectional view to show the driving tool with the control mechanisms in  FIG. 20 ; 
         FIG. 22  is an end cross-sectional view to show the driving tool with the control mechanisms in  FIG. 20 ; 
         FIG. 23  is a cross-sectional view taken along plane  22 - 22  in  FIG. 22 ; 
         FIG. 24  is an enlarged view of the circled portion VII in  FIG. 23 ; 
         FIG. 25  is a view similar to  FIG. 24  and shows that the engaging member is retracted into the end section of the bar; 
         FIG. 26  is a view similar to  FIG. 22  and shows that the engaging member is retracted into the end section of the bar; 
         FIG. 27  is an exploded view to show another embodiment of the control mechanism of the present invention; 
         FIG. 28  is a cross-sectional view to show that the engaging member, in  FIG. 27 , protrudes from the end section of the bar; 
         FIG. 29  is a cross-sectional view to show that the control rod, in  FIG. 27 , is pushed into the end section of the bar; 
         FIG. 30  is a cross-sectional view to show that the engaging member, in  FIG. 27 , is retracted into the end section of the bar; 
         FIG. 31  shows a conventional driving tool, and 
         FIG. 32  is a cross sectional view taken along line  31 - 31  in  FIG. 31 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Referring to  FIGS. 1 to 8 , the driving tool of the present invention comprises a driving shaft  10  and a bar  20 , wherein the driving shaft  10  has a first end and a second end. The first end of the driving shaft  10  has a passage  12  and a connection portion  100  is connected to the second end of the driving shaft  10 . A driving member  11  is connected to the connection portion  100 . As shown in  FIGS. 11 ,  12  and  14 , the driving member  11  is a socket. As shown in  FIGS. 11 and 14 , the connection portion  100  is connected to the driving member  11  via a universe connector. As shown in  FIG. 13 , the connection portion  100  is a square-shaped part and a ball  101  is engaged with the wall thereof, the ball is biased by a spring so as to be partially protrude from the connector. As shown in  FIG. 15 , the driving member  11  is a hexagonal rod. As shown in  FIG. 16 , the driving member  11  is a bit which has a cabinet tip, a Phillips head tip or a hexagonal tip. 
     The bar  20  movably extends through the passage  12  and has two end sections  200  on two ends thereof. Each end section  200  has an engaging member  50  protruding out from outer surface thereof. The two engaging members  50  are stopped by the periphery of the passage  12  respectively to prevent the bar  20  from dropping off from the passage  12 . 
     At least one of the two end sections  200  has a control mechanism  3  connected thereto. As shown in  FIG. 1 , both of the two end sections  200  have a control mechanism  3 . As shown in  FIG. 9 , the control mechanism  3  controls the engaging member  50  to be retracted into the end section  200 . A hole  22  is defined radially through a wall of the at least one end section  200  and a recess  21  is defined in an end of the at least one end section  200 . The engaging member  50  is located in the hole  22  and, in this embodiment, the engaging member  50  is a ball. The recess  21  is defined axially on the distal end  201  of the at least one end section  200 . A control rod  30  and a resilient member  40  are received in the recess  21 . The resilient member  40  applies an elastic force to the control rod  30 . The control rod  30  has a first notch  33  and a second notch  34  which is deeper than that of the first notch  33  as shown in  FIG. 2 . As shown in  FIGS. 4 and 5 , when the control rod  30  is located at a first position, the engaging member  50  is engaged with the first notch  33  which pushes the engaging member  50  to partially protrude from the at least one end section  200 . When the control rod  30  is operated to overcome a force of the resilient  40  and located at a second position, the engaging member  50  is engaged with the second notch  34  so that the engaging member  50  is retracted into the at least one end section  200 . By this way, the user can pull the bar  20  out from the passage  12  to separate the bar  20  and the driving shaft  10 . The resilient member  40  returns the control rod  30  and the engaging member  50  protrudes from the end section  200  again as shown in  FIGS. 6 and 7 . 
     As shown in  FIGS. 5 and 8 , the first and second notches  33 ,  34  are located axially on the periphery of the control rod  30 , an inclined surface  31  is connected between the first and second notches  33 ,  34 . When the control rod  30  is applied an axial force, the control rod  30  moves relative to the recess and the engaging member  50  moves from the first notch  33  to the second notch  34  via the inclined surface  31 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 10 , in an embodiment of the present invention, the bar  20  has an axial passage defined therethrough which communicates with the two end sections  200 . The control rod  30  extends through the axial passage of the bar  20  and includes two sets of first and second notches  33 ,  34  in the two ends thereof. When the control rod  30  moves, the two engaging members  50  are located in either the two first notches  33  or the two second notches  34  respectively. 
     As shown in  FIGS. 1 and 5 , the recess  21  includes a first section  212  and a second section  211 . The first section  212  has an inner diameter larger than that of the second section  211  so as to form a shoulder between the first and second sections  212 ,  211 . The control rod  30  includes an enlarged head  32  which is located within the first section  212  of the recess  21 . The resilient member  40  is a spring which is mounted to the control rod  30  and two ends of the resilient member  40  are biased between the head  32  and the shoulder between the first and second sections  212 ,  211 . As shown in  FIG. 18 , the recess  21  can also be the same diameter and the resilient member  40  is a spring which is biased between the control rod  30  and the inside of the recess  21 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 19 , the second end of the driving shaft  10  has an engaging portion  13  extending from the other end opposite to the connection portion  100 , and the engaging portion  13  has a polygonal recess defined therein. When the driving shaft  10  and the bar  20  are separated, the driving shaft  10  can be used as a connecting rod. 
     As shown in  FIGS. 20 to 26 , in an embodiment of the present invention, the first and second notches  33 ,  34  are defined around an axis of the control rod  30 . A guide groove  331  communicates between the first and second notches  33 ,  34 . When the control rod  30  is applied by a torsion force, the control rod  30  moves relative to the recess  21  and the engaging member  50  moves from the first notch  33  to the second notch  34  via the guide groove  331  and is retracted into the bar  20 . The depth of the guide groove  331  is gradually deeper from the first notch  33  toward the second notch  34 . Two first lines  23  are marked on outside of the recess  21  of the at least one end section  200  and the control rod  30  includes an enlarged head  32  which includes a second line  35  marked thereon. When the second line  35  is in alignment with the two first lines  23  respectively, the engaging member  50  is located in the first and second notches  33 ,  34  respectively. 
     As shown in  FIGS. 27 to 30 , in an embodiment of the present invention, the first and second notches  33 ,  34  are defined in opposite ends of a diameter of the control rod  30 . A guide groove  331  communicates between the first and second notches  33 ,  34 . The width of the guide groove  331  is smaller than that of the first and second notches  33 ,  34 . The depth of the guide groove  331  is gradually deeper from the first notch  33  toward the second notch  34 . When the control rod  30  is applied by an axial force and a torsion force, the control rod  30  moves relative to the recess  21  and the engaging member  50  moves from the first notch  33  to the guide groove  331 . The control rod  30  is then rotated relative to the recess  21  and the engaging member  50  moves from the guide groove  331  to the second notch  34 . Two first lines  23  are marked on outside of the recess  21  of the at least one end section  200  and the control rod  30  includes an enlarged head  32  which includes a second line  35  marked thereon. When the second line  35  is in alignment with the two first lines  23  respectively, the engaging member  50  is located in the first and second notches  33 ,  34  respectively. 
     The invention includes the following advantages: 
     1. At least one of the end sections  200  of the bar  20  has the control mechanism  3  to control the engaging member  50  to protrude or to be retracted. When the engaging member  50  protrudes from the surface of the bar  20 , the bar  20  can move relative to the driving shaft  10  to adjust the length of the arm of force and cannot be separated from the driving shaft  10 . When replacing the driving shaft  10  to have different driving member  11 , the control rod  30  is pushed to retract the engaging member  50  into the bar  20 , the bar  20  can be separated from the driving shaft  10  to replace the driving shaft  10  with different driving member  11  or connection portion  100 . 
     2. The bar  20  can be connected to any conventional driving shaft  10  which can be functioned as desired. 
     3. The bar  20  and the driving shaft  10  are able to be separated so that they can be easily organized in the tool box. In practical use, the bar  20  and the driving shaft  10  can be many different sizes and lengths, so that they can be individually stored in the tool box. 
     While we have shown and described the embodiment in accordance with the present invention, it should be clear to those skilled in the art that further embodiments may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.