Patent ID: 6851344

Claim:
A hand tool comprising: a housing; a shaft holding a bit at a distal end of the shaft, the shaft mounted for sliding movement relative to the housing between an extended position where the bit protrudes beyond a distal end of the housing and a retracted position where the bit is retracted within the housing; a cylindrical bit cartridge rotatably mounted to the distal end of the housing and having an axis of rotation substantially coaxial with an axis of rotation of the shaft, the bit cartridge defining a plurality of chambers for holding a plurality of stored bits; means for ejecting the bit from the distal end of the shaft as the shaft is moved to the retracted position; and means for transporting the bit through an opening in the housing and into a vacant chamber of the bit cartridge, wherein the means for ejecting the bit from the distal end of the shaft includes an inner shaft retained within the distal end of the first aforesaid shaft, the inner shaft biased to a retracted position within the first shaft, and the inner shaft including a stop that contacts a portion of the housing to move the inner shaft from the retracted position to an extended position as the first shaft is moved from the extended position to the retracted position, and wherein a distal tip of the inner shaft contacts the bit to eject the bit from the distal end of the first shaft as the inner shaft moves from the retracted position to the extended position.