Title: Socket for adapting itself to open ends of wrenches of different sizes
Abstract: A socket capable of adapting itself to an open end of one of a plurality of wrenches of different sizes is disclosed. The socket comprises a lower connecting section including a cavity, and a four-sided actuation block projected from a top of the connecting section, the actuation block including two curved bearing surfaces having different curvatures. The actuation block is operable to be held by an open end of the wrench with two opposite interior surfaces of the open end of the wrench being in contact with two points of the bearing surfaces so that turning the wrench will fasten or unfasten an object coupled to the cavity.
Patent Number: 6,889,580 Issued on 05/10/2005 to Tseng
| Inventors:
|
Tseng; Kai-Chung (Taichung, TW)
|
| Assignee:
|
A.A.G. Industrial Co., Ltd. (Taichung, TW)
|
| Appl. No.:
|
828709 |
| Filed:
|
April 19, 2004 |
| Current U.S. Class: |
81/124.6; 411/402; 411/408; 411/410; 411/910 |
| Intern'l Class: |
B25B 013/00 |
| Field of Search: |
81/1246,121.1,124.3,124.7
411/402,408,410,910
292/68
|
References Cited [Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
| 3868873 | Mar., 1975 | Evans.
| |
| 3875829 | Apr., 1975 | Evans et al.
| |
| 3996819 | Dec., 1976 | King.
| |
| 4444301 | Apr., 1984 | Granberry.
| |
| 4602534 | Jul., 1986 | Moetteli.
| |
| 5674036 | Oct., 1997 | Hsieh.
| |
| 6062786 | May., 2000 | Garver et al.
| |
| 6321625 | Nov., 2001 | Fernandez.
| |
| 6422053 | Jul., 2002 | Greuel et al.
| |
| Foreign Patent Documents |
| 2246534 | Feb., 1992 | GB.
| |
Primary Examiner: Hail, III; Joseph J.
Assistant Examiner: Muller; Bryan
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Liauh; W. Wayne
Claims
1. A socket worked in cooperation with one of a plurality of wrenches of different
sizes, comprising:
a lower connecting section including a cavity; and
a four-sided actuation block projected from a top of the connecting section,
the actuation block including two bearing surfaces being not parallel with respect
to each other;
wherein the actuation block is operable to be held by an open end of the wrench
with two opposite interior surfaces of the open end of the wrench being in contact
with two points of the bearing surfaces so that turning the wrench will fasten
or unfasten an object coupled to the cavity.
2. The socket of claim 1, wherein the bearing surface comprises a slip resistant
member formed thereon.
3. The socket of claim 1, wherein the actuation block comprises a recessed coupling
section having a section of square formed on a top thereof.
4. A socket worked in cooperation with one of a plurality of wrenches of different
sizes, comprising:
a lower connecting section including a bottom cavity and a top cavity having
a section of a predetermined shape; and
a separate actuation block including a lower protrusion having a section of the
predetermined shape, the protrusion being adapted to insert into the cavity for
coupling, and an upper four-sided member including two bearing surfaces;
wherein the actuation block is operable to be held by an open end of the wrench
with two opposite interior surfaces of the open end of the wrench being in contact
with two points of the bearing surfaces so that turning the wrench will fasten
or unfasten an object coupled to the cavity;
further wherein the bearing surfaces are not parallel with respect to each other.
5. The socket of claim 4, wherein the bearing surfaces are curved and have different curvatures.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to sockets for wrenches and more particularly to
an improved socket which is able to adapt itself to an open end of one of a plurality
of wrenches of different sizes.
2. Description of Related Art
There are a variety of wrenches (e.g., open end wrenches, box end wrenches,
combination box and open end wrenches, flare nut wrenches, etc.) commercially available.
Further, a wide variety of sockets in cooperation with the wrenches are available.
As shown in FIG. 1, a conventional socket
1 comprises a lower connecting
section
2 in the shape of cavity having a section of hexagon, the connecting
section
2 being adapted to couple to an object to be fastened or unfastened,
and an upper coupling section
3 in the shape of cavity having a section
of square, the connecting section
3 being adapted to couple to a protrusion
5 on the bottom of a wrench
4. However, the socket
1 may be
useless if a wrench having a conformed protrusion is not immediately available.
This can bring inconvenience in use.
For increasing convenience of socket in use, there have been numerous suggestions
in prior patents. For example, Taiwanese Patent Application No. 87208151 entitled
"Socket for Spark Plug" is shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. The socket
6 comprises
a cylindrical connecting section
7 at one end having a cavity therein, and
a projected actuation block
8 at the other end, the actuation block
8
having a section of hexagon. Further, a recessed coupling section
9 having
a section of square is formed on top of the actuation block
8. An open end
wrench
10 can hold the actuation block
8 in its open end for working.
However, only an open end wrench having a conformed size is adapted to hold the
actuation block
8 in its open end. In other words, open end wrenches other
than the above size are useless (i.e., incompatible). Thus, use convenience is
still not improved.
Another Taiwanese Patent Application No. 87220532 entitled "Socket Having
a Hexagonal Actuation Block" is shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. The socket
11 comprises
a cylindrical connecting section
12 at one end having a cavity therein,
and a projected actuation block
13 at the other end, the actuation block
13 having an arcuate, tapered lower end and a section of hexagon (i.e.,
there are six curved upper bearing sides
15 and six curved lower bearing
sides
14). An aperture
16 is formed in each bearing side
15.
Further, a recessed coupling section
17 having a section of square is formed
on top of the actuation block
13. A wrench
18 can hold the actuation
block
13 in its ratchet box end in which the socket
11 is adapted
to adjust its angle by disposing the lower bearing sides
14 and the apertures
16 in different orientations. However, only a ratchet wrench having a conformed
size is adapted to hold the actuation block
13 in its box end. In other
words, ratchet wrenches other than the above size are useless (i.e., incompatible).
Thus, use convenience is still not improved.
Thus, it is desirable to provide a novel socket for adapting itself to an open
end of one of a plurality of wrenches of different sizes in order to overcome the
above drawbacks of the prior art.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide a socket which is able to
adapt itself to an open end of one of a plurality of wrenches of different sizes
if a wrench having a protrusion at one end is not immediately available for use.
In one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a socket worked in
cooperation
with one of a plurality of wrenches of different sizes, comprising a lower connecting
section including a cavity; and a four-sided actuation block projected from a top
of the connecting section, the actuation block including two curved bearing surfaces
having different curvatures; wherein the actuation block is operable to be held
by an open end of the wrench with two opposite interior surfaces of the open end
of the wrench being in contact with two points of the bearing surfaces so that
turning the wrench will fasten or unfasten an object coupled to the cavity.
In another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a socket worked
in cooperation with one of a plurality of wrenches of different sizes, comprising
a lower connecting section including a cavity; and a four-sided actuation block
projected from a top of the connecting section, the actuation block including two
bearing surfaces being not parallel with respect to each other; wherein the actuation
block is operable to be held by an open end of the wrench with two opposite interior
surfaces of the open end of the wrench being in contact with two points of the
bearing surfaces so that turning the wrench will fasten or unfasten an object coupled
to the cavity.
In still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a socket
worked
in cooperation with one of a plurality of wrenches of different sizes, comprising
a lower connecting section including a bottom cavity and a top cavity having a
section of a predetermined shape; and a separate actuation block including a lower
protrusion having a section of the predetermined shape, the protrusion being adapted
to insert into the cavity for coupling, and an upper four-sided member including
two bearing surfaces of either being curved and having different curvatures or
being not parallel with respect to each other; wherein the actuation block is operable
to be held by an open end of the wrench with two opposite interior surfaces of
the open end of the wrench being in contact with two points of the bearing surfaces
so that turning the wrench will fasten or unfasten an object coupled to the cavity.
In yet another aspect of the present invention the bearing surface comprises a
slip resistant member formed thereon.
The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention
will become apparent from the following detailed description taken with the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a first conventional socket adapted to couple
to a wrench;
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a second conventional socket;
FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the second conventional socket held by the open
end of a wrench;
FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a third conventional socket;
FIG. 5 is a broken-away side view of the third conventional socket held by the
box end of a ratchet wrench;
FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a first preferred embodiment of socket according
to the invention;
FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the socket in FIG. 6 to be coupled to a wrench;
FIG. 8 is a top plan view of the actuation block of the socket in FIG. 6 held
by the open end of a wrench of size A;
FIG. 9 is a top plan view of the actuation block of the socket in FIG. 6 held
by the open end of a wrench of size B;
FIG. 10 is a top plan view of the actuation block of the socket in FIG. 6 held
by the open end of a wrench of size C;
FIG. 11 is a top plan view of the actuation block of the socket in FIG. 6 held
by the open end of a wrench of size D;
FIG. 12 is a perspective view of a second preferred embodiment of socket according
to the invention;
FIG. 13 is a top plan view of the actuation block of the socket in FIG. 12 held
by the open end of a wrench of size E;
FIG. 14 is a top plan view of the actuation block of the socket in FIG. 12 held
by the open end of a wrench of size F;
FIG. 15 is a perspective view of another configuration of the actuation block
of the socket shown in FIG. 6;
FIG. 16 is a top plan view of the actuation block of the socket in FIG. 15 held
by the open end of a wrench; and
FIG. 17 is a side plan view in part section of the socket and the wrench shown
in FIG. 16.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Referring to FIGS. 6 and 7, a socket
20 constructed in accordance
with a first preferred embodiment of the invention is shown. The socket
20
comprises a lower, cylindrical connecting section
21 having a cavity therein,
the cavity having a section of hexagon, and an actuation block
22 projected
from a top of the connecting section
21. The actuation block
22 is
a four-sided member in which two curved bearing surfaces
221 have different
curvatures. Each bearing surface
221 has a slip resistant member
222
formed thereon. A recessed coupling section
23 having a section of square
is formed on top of the actuation block
22. As shown in FIG. 7, a protrusion
31 of a wrench
30 is to be inserted into the coupling section
23
for coupling. Further, an object (not shown) to be worked is inserted into the
connecting section
21 for coupling. As such, a turning of the wrench
30
will fasten or unfasten the object via the socket
20.
Referring to FIGS. 8 to 11, a user may use the following methods to turn
the socket
20 if a wrench having a protrusion at one end is not immediately
available. In FIG. 8, the actuation block
22 of the socket
20 is
held by the open end
41A of a wrench
40A in which two opposite interior
surfaces
411A of the open end
41A are in contact with points A of
the bearing surfaces
221. The bearing surfaces
221 are held stably
due to the provision of the slip resistant members
222 thereon. As such,
a turning of the wrench
40A will fasten or unfasten the object via the socket
20. The holding of bearing surfaces
221 of the socket
20 at
points B, C, or D in the open end
41B,
41C, or
41D by each
of a number of different wrenches
40B,
40C, and
40D is illustrated
in FIG. 9,
10, or
11 respectively. In brief, the socket
20
of the invention is highly adaptable.
Referring to FIGS. 12 to 14, a socket
20 constructed in accordance
with a second preferred embodiment of the invention is shown. The differences between
the first and the second preferred embodiments, i.e., the characteristics of the
second preferred embodiment are detailed below. The bearing surfaces
221A
are substantially flat and are not parallel each other. A user may use the following
methods to turn the socket
20 if a wrench having a protrusion at one end
is not immediately available. In FIG. 13, the actuation block
22 of the
socket
20 is held by the open end
41E of a wrench
40E in which
two opposite interior surfaces of the open end
41E are in contact with points
E of the bearing surfaces
221A. Also, a turning of the wrench
40E
will fasten or unfasten the object via the socket
20. The holding of bearing
surfaces
221 of the socket
20 at points F in the open end
41F
by another different wrench
40F is illustrated in FIG. 14.
Referring to FIGS. 15 to 17, in another configuration the socket
20A
comprises a lower, cylindrical connecting section
21A having a bottom cavity
having a section of hexagon, and a top cavity
23A having a section of square;
and a separate actuation block
22B including a lower protrusion
223B
adapted to insert into the cavity
23A for coupling, and an upper four-sided
member in which two curved bearing surfaces
221B have different curvatures.
Each bearing surface
221B has a slip resistant member
222B formed
thereon. Similarly, the actuation block
22B of the socket
20A is
held by the open end
41A of the wrench
40A in which two opposite
interior surfaces of the open end
41A are in contact with the bearing surfaces
221B. As such, a turning of the wrench
40A will fasten or unfasten
the object via the socket
20A.
While the invention herein disclosed has been described by means of specific
embodiments, numerous modifications and variations could be made thereto by those
skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention
set forth in the claims.
*
