Patent ID: 7357605

Claim:
A pilot drill bit comprising: a shank having a driving end for attachment to a drill driver and a cutting end having a cutting edge thereon, the cutting edge being sized to drill a hole of selected diameter through a work piece; the pilot drill bit having a hole approximately perpendicular to an axis of the pilot drill bit adjacent the cutting edge; a substantially rigid wire extending through the hole in the pilot drill bit and bent into a U shape having two arms that are spaced apart no more than a diameter of the pilot drill bit, the pilot drill bit being configured to allow the arms of the U shaped wire to point away from the cutting edge when in a first position to freely pass through a hole drilled by the pilot drill bit, and to prevent the arms from rotating so far toward the cutting edge to allow both arms to again fit within the diameter of the pilot drill bit to retain on the pilot drill bit a work piece through which the drill bit may have drilled, wherein both arms of the substantially rigid wire extend outward from the diameter of the pilot drill bit when rotated from the first position.