Claims
- 1. A screwdriver assembly comprising a handle and interchangeable blades, each of said blades having a shaft of a polygonal cross-section and having forward and back ends with a screwdriver tip formed at the forward end and two opposed flats in spaced adjacent relation to the back end and formed in opposing angled portions of the shaft of polygonal cross-section, wherein a flat guide surface of reduced width is formed, a projection stop on each of said blades rearward of and adjacent to the one of said flats,
said handle having a forward end with plurality of polygonal storage slots opening therethrough for receiving the blades in a storage position, said storage slots having a groove to receive and guide the projection stop on the blades, said slots having axes parallel to the center axis of the handle, said handle including a blade receiving chuck at a central part of its forward end and a cap on the forward end of the handle and over the storage slots, blade guide means in the cap for guiding a selected blade from a storage slot to the chuck and for returning each of said blades to a storage position, said cap being rotatable to line up the blade guide means over a selected blade or to an intermediate position to enclose the blades within the handle, said handle further including means for preventing rotation of said cap when a blade is secured in said chuck.
- 2. The screwdriver assembly of claim 1, wherein the blades and the storage slots are of hexagonal cross-section.
- 3. A screwdriver assembly comprising a handle and interchangeable blades, each of said blades having a shaft of a polygonal cross-section and having forward and back ends with a screwdriver tip formed at the forward end and two opposed flats in spaced adjacent relation to the back end and formed in opposing angled portions of the shaft of polygonal cross-section, wherein a flat guide surface of reduced width is formed, a projection stop on each of said blades rearward of and adjacent to the one of said flats,
said handle having a forward end with plurality of polygonal storage slots opening therethrough for receiving the blades in a storage position, said storage slots having a groove to receive and guide the projection stop on the blades, said slots having axes parallel to a center axis of the handles, said handle comprising a blade receiving chuck at a central part of its forward end, a cap assembly rotatably mounted on the forward end of the handle and movable between a first position where a preselected blade may be withdrawn or returned to a storage slot and a second intermediate position preventing withdrawal of blades from their storage position, said cap assembly comprising a cap adapted to fit over the forward end of the handle and an inner retainer comprising a disk portion which fits inside the cap with a blade guide portion extending inward relative to the cap, said retainer having means for preventing rotation of the retainer with respect to the cap, an opening in the cap assembly comprising three portions, a polygonal opening in an outer portion of the cap rotatable to a position over the storage slots in the handle and adapted to receive a selected blade, an inner polygonal opening located over the chuck and a connecting slot of constant dimensions narrower than the shaft of polygonal cross-section and functioning as a track to engage the flats of the blade, to guide the blade between the storage position and the blade position in the chuck, said connecting slot guiding the blade from the storage position when the polygonal opening in the outer portion of the cap is rotated to a position over the storage area holding one of said blades and reversing one of said blades from the blade position in the chuck back to the storage position, said connecting slot in conjunction with the flats in the blades retaining the blades during the transition from storage to use, said cap opening having means adjacent to the hexagonal openings for engaging the projection stop located adjacent the back of the blades to prevent the blades from being withdrawn from the handle when all blades are in the storage position or one of said blades is in the blade position in the chuck, said cap assembly being rotatable with respect to the handle to line up with the storage slot of a preselected blade, the blade being withdrawable from the storage position to an outer stop position where the blade projection stop engages the stop in the cap assembly.
- 4. The screwdriver assembly of claim 3, wherein the blades and the storage slots are of hexagonal cross-section.
- 5. A screwdriver assembly comprising a handle and interchangeable blades, each of said blades having a shaft of a polygonal cross-section comprising flat surfaces and angled portions, and having forward and back ends with a screwdriver tip formed at the forward end and two opposed flats in spaced adjacent relation to the back end and formed in opposing portions of the shaft of polygonal cross-section, wherein a flat guide surface of reduced width is formed, a projection stop on each of said blades rearward of an adjacent to the one of said flats,
said handle having a forward end with plurality of polygonal storage slots opening therethrough for receiving the blades in a storage position, said storage slots having a groove to receive and guide the projection stop on the blades, said slots having axes parallel to a center axis of the handle, said handle including a blade receiving chuck at a central part of its forward end and a cap on the forward end of the handle and over the storage slots, blade guide means in the cap for guiding a selected blade from a storage slot to the chuck and for returning each of said blades to a storage position, said cap being rotatable to line up the blade guide means over a selected blade or to an intermediate position to enclose the blades within the handle, said handle further including means for preventing rotation of said cap when a blade is secured in said chuck.
- 6. The screwdriver assembly of claim 5, wherein the blades and the storage slots are of hexagonal cross-section.
- 7. The screwdriver assembly of claim 5, wherein the opposed flats are formed in the angled portions of the shaft.
- 8. The screwdriver assembly of claim 5, wherein the opposed flats are formed in the flat surfaces of the shaft.
- 9. A screwdriver assembly comprising a handle and interchangeable blades, each of said blades having a shaft of a polygonal cross-section comprising flat surfaces and angled portions, and having forward and back ends with a screwdriver tip formed at the forward end and two opposed flats in spaced adjacent relation to the back end and formed in opposing portions of the shaft of polygonal cross-section, wherein a flat guide surface of reduced width is formed, a projection stop on each of said blades rearward of and adjacent to the one of said flats,
said handle having a forward end with plurality of polygonal storage slots opening therethrough for receiving the blades in a storage position, said storage slots having a groove to receive and guide the projection stop on the blades, said slots having axes parallel to a center axis of the handle, said handle comprising a blade receiving chuck at a central part of its forward end, a cap assembly rotatably mounted on the forward end of the handle and movable between a first position where a preselected blade may be withdrawn or returned to a storage slot and a second intermediate position preventing withdrawal of blades from their storage position, said cap assembly comprising a cap adapted to fit over the forward end of the handle and an inner retainer comprising a disk portion which fits inside the cap with a blade guide portion extending inward relative to the cap, said retainer having means for preventing rotation of the retainer with respect to the cap, an opening in the cap assembly comprising three portions, a polygonal opening in an outer portion of the cap rotatable to a position over the storage slots in the handle and adapted to receive a selected blade, an inner polygonal opening located over the chuck and a connecting slot of constant dimensions narrower than the shaft of polygonal cross-section and functioning as a track to engage the flats of the blade, to guide the blade between the storage position and the blade position in the chuck, said connecting slot guiding the blade from the storage position when the polygonal opening in the outer portion of the cap is rotated to a position over the storage area holding one of said blades and reversing one of said blades from the blade position in the chuck back to the storage position, said connecting slot in conjunction with the flats in the blades retaining the blades during the transition from storage to use, said cap opening having means adjacent to the hexagonal openings for engaging the projection stop located adjacent the back of the blades to prevent the blades from being withdrawn from the handle when all blades are in the storage position or one of said blades is in the blade position in the chuck, said cap assembly being rotatable with respect to the handle to line up with the storage slot of a preselected blade, the blade being withdrawable from the storage position to an outer stop position where the blade projection stop engages the stop in the cap assembly.
- 10. The screwdriver assembly of claim 9, wherein the blades and the storage slots are of hexagonal cross-section.
- 11. The screwdriver assembly of claim 9, wherein the opposed flats are formed in the angled portions of the shaft.
- 12. The screwdriver assembly of claim 9, wherein the opposed flats are formed in the flat surfaces of the shaft.
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 09/608,156 filed Jun. 30, 2000, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 09/209,766 filed Dec. 11, 1998.
Continuations (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09608156 |
Jun 2000 |
US |
Child |
10113913 |
Apr 2002 |
US |
Continuation in Parts (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09209766 |
Dec 1998 |
US |
Child |
09608156 |
Jun 2000 |
US |