Scalloped interior socket tool
US5622090A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Apr 16, 1996 |
| Grant date | Apr 22, 1997 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Apr 16, 2016 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
- CPC primaryY10S81/11
- WIPO fieldMachine tools
- WIPO sectorMechanical engineering
Abstract
A self-forming socket having a plurality of retractable pins bundled in parallel within a housing. The bundled pins may displace longitudinally and are biased by spring force away from a frame onto which the pins are slidably held. A spacer pin may be positioned at the center of the socket and is similarly biased away from the frame under spring force. When the socket is forced over a fastener, nut, or bolt head, groups of pins are pushed inward toward the frame and into the housing thereby conforming the pins to the contours of the fastener. Applying a torque to the socket transfers the torque through the bundled pins to the fastener. Each pin has a circular cross-section and an enlarged head and the interior walls of the housing containing the bundled pins has a hexagonal shape and may not contain any right angles. Grooves can be formed in the sides of the hexagonal shape to receive therein circular sides of adjacent ones of the enlarged heads. The pins are packed in a hexagonal arrangement.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.