Abstract:
A nail puller mounted on the side of the head of a hammer. The nail puller may be incorporated into a metal hammer head and consist of a groove mounted substantially in line with the handle of the hammer. The nail puller consists of a V-shaped opening suitable for engaging various sizes of nail heads or shanks. The nail puller is located on the side of the hammer, such that the nail is engaged when the hammer is laid nearly parallel to the work surface. The position of the nail puller gives the user nearly 180 degrees of rotation to remove the nail.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   a. Field of the Invention 
   The present invention pertains generally to nail pulling devices and specifically to nail pulling devices incorporated into a hammer or other striking tool. 
   b. Description of the Background 
   A hammer is the most ubiquitous tool of the carpentry trade. Carpenters use hammers to both drive and remove nails. Carpenters are also known for their creativity and ability to use tools in various ways to solve problems as they come up. For example, even though a traditional claw hammer may have a conventional striking face, a carpenter may use the side of the hammer to drive a nail or strike a tool in specific instances. The more options a carpenter has for using a tool, the more the tool will be used. 
   Removing nails is a task for which a carpenter may use several different tools, including a claw hammer, a “cat&#39;s paw” nail remover, various pry bars, and other tools. Each tool is suited to specific applications depending on the access to the nail and force required to remove the nail from the wood. For example, a nail positioned near the end of a board may be difficult to remove because there may not be enough room at the end of the board for a conventional claw hammer. 
   Further, the leverage of a conventional claw hammer may be insufficient to remove difficult nails, such as long nails in hardwoods. In such a case, the carpenter may resort to a second tool, such as a pry bar or cat&#39;s paw nail remover. 
   It would therefore be advantageous to provide a device and method whereby a conventional hammer may be used to remove stubborn nails in certain positions that were otherwise difficult or impossible. It would be further advantageous if such a system and method were simple to manufacture and very durable. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   The present invention overcomes the disadvantages and limitations of previous solutions by providing a device and method for removing nails by using a nail puller mounted on the side of the head of a hammer. The nail puller may be incorporated into a metal hammer head and consist of a groove mounted substantially in line with the handle of the hammer. The nail puller consists of a V-shaped opening suitable for engaging various sizes of nail heads or shanks. 
   The nail puller is located on the side of the hammer, such that the nail is engaged when the hammer is laid nearly parallel to the work surface. The position of the nail puller gives the user nearly 180 degrees of rotation to remove the nail. 
   An embodiment of the present invention may include a striking tool comprising: a handle; a unitized head comprising: at least one striking end having a striking axis; a handle shaft having an end and a handle axis; a striking plane defined by the plane of movement in which the striking end strikes an object, the striking plane being coplanar with the striking axis and the handle axis; two diverging nail engagement edges located proximal to the junction of the striking axis and the handle axis and offset from and substantially parallel to the striking plane, the nail engagement edges diverging in the direction of the handle end. 
   Another embodiment of the present invention may include a striking tool comprising: a handle having a handle axis; a head having a head axis substantially coplanar with the handle axis; a striking plane defined by the coplanar handle axis and the head axis; and a single web proximally located to the junction of the handle axis and the head axis, the web offset from the striking plane, the web having a divergent opening oriented substantially in the direction of the handle axis, the opening diverging in the direction from the head axis toward the handle. 
   The advantages of the present invention include that nails may be removed using a hammer in a simple and intuitive manner. The nail puller may be incorporated into hammer designs without adding significant cost or complexity. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     In the drawings, 
       FIG. 1  is a perspective illustration of an embodiment of the present invention showing a hammer. 
       FIG. 2  is a perspective illustration of a close up view of the embodiment of  FIG. 1 . 
       FIG. 3  is a perspective illustration of a close up view of the back side of the embodiment of  FIG. 1 . 
       FIG. 4A  is a cross-sectional illustration of a first embodiment of a cross-section  120  from  FIG. 1 . 
       FIG. 4B  is a cross-sectional illustration of a second embodiment of a cross-section  120  from  FIG. 1 . 
       FIG. 5A  is a cross-sectional illustration of a first embodiment of a cross-section  122  from  FIG. 1 . 
       FIG. 5B  is a cross-sectional illustration of a second embodiment of a cross-section  122  from  FIG. 1 . 
       FIG. 6  is a perspective illustration of an embodiment of a hammer in the process of removing a nail from a board. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     FIG. 1  illustrates an embodiment  100  of the present invention showing a hammer  100  having a head  102  that has a striking face  104  and claw  106 . The handle  108  extends from the head  102 . The handle shaft  110  is integral to the head  102 . The head  102  contains a side nail remover  112 . The striking axis  101  and handle axis  103  are shown approximately perpendicular to the striking face  104  and approximately parallel to the shaft  110 , respectively. 
     FIG. 2  illustrates a closer view of embodiment  100  of a hammer. The striking face  104 , shaft  110 , and side nail puller  112  are shown. 
   The nail puller  112  is comprised of two nail engagement edges  114  and the opening  116 . The opening  116  is designed to allow the head of a nail fit inside the opening, and the tapered configuration of the nail engagement edges  114  allows the hammer  100  to be slid over the nail until the shank of the nail is grasped by the edges  114 . Once the nail is engaged, the hammer  100  may be rotated about an axis approximately perpendicular to the striking face  104  to remove the nail. 
   The nail puller  112  is fashioned by casting or forging the opening  116  into the hammer  100 . The embodiment  100  is a unitized cast hammer wherein the shaft  110  is integral to the head  102 . 
     FIG. 3  illustrates a close up view of the back side of the embodiment  100  of a hammer. The claw  106  and shaft  110  are shown. The nail engagement edges  114  and the opening  116  are also illustrated. Because the shaft  110  and head  102  are a unitized piece of metal, a hollowed out area  124  can be placed behind the side nail puller  112 . 
   In embodiment  100 , the side nail puller  112  may be manufactured from a single web that spans the area between the striking face  104  and the claw  106 . In embodiments with a separate fiberglass or wooden handle, the area shown as the hollowed out area  124  would normally be the junction between the handle and the head of a hammer. 
   The hollowed out area  124  allows the side nail puller  112  to engage a nail at any point along its shank. For example, if a nail has a crooked head or bent shank, the head of the nail may be fit through the wide end of the opening  116  and the side nail puller  112  may be slid until the nail engagement edges  114  firmly grip the nail shank near the board from which it is to be removed. The bent head and crooked portion of the nail may protrude into the hollow area  124  without compromising the effectiveness of the nail puller. 
   Further, because the handle and head are unitized, the side nail puller  112  may be manufactured as a cast or forged feature, thus making the nail puller  112  a very low cost addition to a standard unitized head hammer. In some embodiments, the side nail puller  112  may be manufactured by machining, punching, or other metal removal process. In still other embodiments, the side nail puller  112  may be mechanically attached to the head  102  by welding, brazing, fastening, or other means. 
   The embodiment  100  may be manufactured of any suitable material, preferably metallic. For example, embodiments of titanium, steel, and various alloys are possible. Further, composite materials such as reinforced plastics or thermoset materials are envisioned. In embodiments of composite materials, the side nail puller  112  may be a metallic insert that is molded or attached to a composite head. 
   Striking tools other than a hammer may be used with the side nail puller  112 . For example, a hatchet, ball peen hammer, sledge, or other striking tool may have a side nail puller  112  fashioned in a similar manner. 
   The usefulness of the side nail puller  112  is that it may be used to remove nails in addition to other features on the hammer. For example, in some circumstances, the claw  106  may not have enough clearance nearby the nail on which to rest the fulcrum portion of the head. Similarly, the distance between the pulling point of the claw  106  and the pivot or fulcrum point of the head may be longer than the distance between the pulling point and fulcrum point of the side nail puller  112 . In such a case, the pulling force required on the handle  108  to remove the nail is substantially less for the side nail puller  112  than with the claw  106 . 
   Various head geometries and shapes may be used to increase and decrease the leverage exerted on the handle  108  when using the side nail puller  112 . For example, by rounding over the top surfaces of the hammer head, the nail pulling action of the side nail puller is smoother than when the head has more of a squared top. 
     FIG. 4A  illustrates a first embodiment of a cross-sectional view  120  from  FIG. 1 . The shaft  110  is shown in cross-section along with the striking plane  126 . The nail engagement edge  114  is shown as well as the hollowed out area  124 . 
   The striking plane  126  is the approximate center plane of the striking tool and the plane in which the tool is swung to strike an object. The nail engagement edge  114  is shown slightly canted upward in the illustration, but generally parallel to the striking plane  126 . In some embodiments, the nail engagement edge  114  may be very close to parallel to the striking plane  126 . 
     FIG. 4B  illustrates a second embodiment of a cross-sectional view  120  from  FIG. 1 . The shaft  110  is shown in cross-section along with the striking plane  126 . The nail engagement edge  114  is also shown as well as the hollowed out are  124 . 
   The nail engagement edge  114  is curved upward in a convex manner, when viewed from the working surface. The convex shape of nail engagement edge  114  may allow the side nail puller  112  to dig into a substrate, such as wood, and engage a nail head. The shape may be a similar design as for a ‘cat&#39;s paw’ or similar nail extracting tools. 
     FIG. 5A  illustrates a first embodiment of a cross-sectional view  122  from  FIG. 1 . The shaft  110  is shown in cross-section along with the striking plane  126 . The nail engagement edges  114  are formed by the surface  128 , which is substantially flat. 
     FIG. 5B  illustrates a second embodiment of a cross-sectional view  122  from  FIG. 1 . The shaft  110  is shown in cross-section along with the striking plane  126 . The nail engagement edges  114  are formed by the surface  130 , which is substantially curved in a convex manner. 
   The surface  130  and nail engagement edges  114  may be formed in a convex manner similar to that of other nail extracting tools, such as a ‘cat&#39;s paw.’ The curvature of the surface  130  may be designed to dig into a substrate, such as wood, and engage a nail to be extracted. The particular angle of the nail engagement edges  114  that form the opening  116  and the curvature (if any) of the surface  130  may be varied to give more or less ease of engagement of the nail and structural integrity of the side nail puller  112 . 
     FIG. 6  illustrates an embodiment  100  of a hammer in the process of removing a nail  134  from board  132 . The hammer  100  includes a striking face  104 , a shaft  110 , and the side nail puller  112 . The nail engagement edges  114  are holding the head of the nail  136 . 
   When using the side nail puller  112 , the hammer is laid almost parallel to the board  132  to engage the nail  134 . This gives the user almost 180 degrees of rotation to remove the nail. With the embodiment  100  shown, a 16d nail may be removed completely with one movement. 
   The leverage of the handle is magnified because the fulcrum point when using the side nail puller  112  is usually close to the nail  134 . As those skilled in the art will appreciate, by having a larger head on the hammer, a side nail puller  112  may have a longer stroke by which a nail is removed, but may have less leverage by which to remove it. 
   The foregoing description of the invention has been presented for purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed, and other modifications and variations may be possible in light of the above teachings. The embodiment was chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the invention and its practical application to thereby enable others skilled in the art to best utilize the invention in various embodiments and various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. It is intended that the appended claims be construed to include other alternative embodiments of the invention except insofar as limited by the prior art.