Claims
- 1. A system of tool management and inventory control comprising:
- (a) a magnetically attracting material sized and dimensioned to magnetically attract a plurality of tools, said magnetically attracting material having a top surface and a bottom surface and having a plurality of spaced apart apertures extending from said top surface through said magnetically attracting material to said bottom surface, the apertures being a plurality of sizes or shapes for accommodating a plurality of tools, and the apertures organized in a substantially planar array; and,
- (b) indicia disposed on said magnetically attracting material describing a tool corresponding to at least one of the apertures.
- 2. The system of tool management of claim 1 in which said tool is a portion of a tool.
- 3. The system of tool management of claim 1 in which said array comprises an array of substantially circular apertures.
- 4. The system of tool management of claim 3 in which said substantially circular apertures hold sockets.
- 5. The system of tool management of claim 1 in which said apertures are substantially rectangular in shape and have widths and heights to universally accommodate both metric and SAE size sockets.
- 6. The system of tool management of claim 1 in which said planar array comprises at least one row of apertures having diameters of descending diameter.
- 7. A system of tool management and inventory control comprising:
- (a) a magnetically attracting material sized and dimensioned to magnetically attract a plurality of tools, said magnetically attracting material having a top surface and a bottom surface and having a plurality of spaced apart apertures extending from said top surface through said magnetically attracting material to said bottom surface, the apertures being a plurality of sizes or shapes for accommodating a plurality of tools, said apertures organized in a substantially planar array; and,
- (b) an overlay applied to said magnetically attracting member, said overlay having indicia thereon describing a tool corresponding to at least one of said apertures.
- 8. The system of tool management of claim 7 in which said tool is a portion of a tool and includes a socket.
- 9. The system of tool management of claim 7 in which said overlay is a flexible, hydrocarbon resistant coating.
- 10. The system of tool management of claim 7 in which said overlay comprises a polymeric coating.
- 11. The system of tool management of claim 7 in which said overlay comprises a coating selected from the group consisting of enamels, vinyls, and lacquers.
- 12. The system of tool management of claim 7 in which an inside surface of said apertures is free of overlay.
- 13. The system of tool management of claim 7 in which said overlay is a laminate.
- 14. The system of tool management of claim 7 in which said tool is a portion of a tool.
- 15. The system of tool management of claim 7 in which said array comprises an array of substantially circular apertures.
- 16. The system of tool management of claim 7 further comprising a plurality of sockets disposed within said substantially circular apertures.
- 17. The system of tool management of claim 7 in which said apertures are substantially rectangular in shape and accommodate both metric and SAE size sockets having a width selected from the group of widths in the range of about 0.479 inches to about 0.690 inches, in the range of about 0.493 inches to about 0.690 inches, and in the range of 0.7330 inches to 1.0345 inches,
- whereby said system of tool management universally accommodates a wide variety of sockets.
- 18. The system of tool management of claim 7 in which said planar array comprises at least one column of apertures having diameters of descending diameter.
- 19. A tool box having at least one compartment in which the improvement comprises a system of tool management, said system of tool management comprising a magnetically attracting material, said sheet of magnetically attracting material having a top surface and a bottom surface and having a plurality of spaced apart apertures extending from said top surface through said magnetically attracting material to said bottom surface, and the apertures being a plurality of sizes or shapes for accommodating a plurality of tools, and said apertures organized in a substantially planar array; and an overlay applied to said magnetically attracting member, said overlay having indicia thereon describing at least one tool corresponding to said apertures.
- 20. The tool box of claim 19 in which said tool is a portion of a tool such as a socket and in which said tool box has a plurality of accessible compartments.
- 21. A magnetic inventory control system for the storage of magnetically attracted components comprising:
- a) a non-foil, magnetically attracting material having a plurality of first apertures disposed thereon in which the first apertures accommodate magnetically attracted components; and,
- b) a body member having second apertures corresponding to at least one of said first apertures,
- whereby increased holding power is provided by focusing lines of flux between contact points of said magnetically attracted components and said magnetic inventory control system.
- 22. The system of tool management of claim 21 in which the magnetically attracted components are selected from the group consisting of tools, portions of tools, metallic parts, bolts, nuts, screws, hardware, engine parts, and surgical instruments.
- 23. A magnetic tool inventory control system for identifying contents of a tool storage device comprising a sheet of magnetically attracting material having a plurality of magnetic tool identifiers disposed thereon, said magnetic tool identifiers in the shape of an outline of a tool and removeably connected to said sheet for placement on a magnetically attracted surface to visually identify the contents of the tool storage device or portion thereof, said fleet of magnetically attracting material having a top surface and a bottom surface and having a plurality of spaced apart apertures extending from said top surface through said magnetically attracting material to said bottom surface after removal of said magnetic tool identifiers from said magnetically attracting material, and the apertures being a plurality of sizes or shapes and in said outline of said magnetic tool identifiers,
- whereby said magnetic tool identifiers readily identify the contents of said tool storage device after removal of said magnetic tool identifiers from said sheet of magnetically attracting material and placement of said magnetic tool identifiers on said tool storage device.
- 24. A system of tool management comprising a substantially planar magnetically attracting material having a top surface and a bottom surface and having a plurality of spaced apart apertures extending from said top surface through said magnetically attracting material to said bottom surface, and in which the plurality of apertures are organized in a substantially planar array and dimensioned to hold a family of tools or portions thereof.
- 25. The system of tool management of claim 24 in which the apertures are configured to accept a range of portions of tools of varying sizes.
- 26. The system of tool management of claim 24 in which the apertures are configured to accept sockets, said apertures arranged in ascending or descending order according to the outside diameter of said sockets.
- 27. A system of tool management comprising:
- a magnetically attracting material having a top surface and a bottom surface and having a plurality of spaced apart apertures extending from said top surface through said magnetically attracting material to said bottom surface, and the apertures being a plurality of sizes or shapes for accommodating a plurality of tools, and in which the apertures are organized in a substantially planar array;
- a substantially planar lower body member connected to the magnetically attracting member that retains the component in the system of tool management; and,
- a handle disposed on the system to assist in the transportation of the system from one location to another remote location.
- 28. The system of claim 27 in which the lower body member is a metal.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application is a continuation-in-part application of pending U.S. application Ser. No. 08/318,912 entitled "Magnetic Tool Organizers, and Tool Box with Magnetic Tool Organizers," filed Oct. 5, 1994 by Mr. Stanley Winnard.
US Referenced Citations (13)
Continuation in Parts (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
318912 |
Oct 1994 |
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