Claims
- 1. A socket drive tool for use with a socket, the drive tool comprising:a body having a coupling structure for coupling to an associated socket; the coupling structure including a detent recess and a detent member disposed in the recess and movable between retaining and releasing positions relative to the associated socket; the body having a cavity therein communicating with the detent recess and an opening into the cavity; a link member having an aperture therethrough and disposed in the cavity for contact with the detent member and being reciprocatively movable between a retaining condition holding the detent member in its retaining position and a releasing condition accommodating movement of the detent member to its releasing position; and an actuator coupled to the link member by extending through the aperture and projecting from the opening for access by a user at one side of the link member for pivoting the actuator about a pivot axis on an opposite side of the link member, thereby to manually effect reciprocating movement of the link member between its retaining and releasing conditions.
- 2. The tool of claim 1, wherein the aperture is dimensioned to freely accommodate the actuator therethrough.
- 3. The tool of claim 1, wherein the opening is elongated in the direction of movement of the link member.
- 4. The tool of claim 1, wherein the opening has a lip portion adjacent to an outer surface of the body, the actuator having an enlarged portion disposed in use internally of the body and dimensioned so that it cannot pass through the lip portion of the opening, thereby to retain the actuator in place in the body.
- 5. The tool of claim 1, wherein each of the link member and the actuator is in the form of an elongated pin.
- 6. The tool of claim 1, and further comprising a bias spring disposed in the cavity and resiliently biasing the link member to the retaining condition thereof.
- 7. The tool of claim 1, wherein the link member has a cam surface disposed for camming engagement with the detent member for camming the detent number to the retaining position thereof in response to movement of the link member to the retaining condition thereof, the cam surface extending along only about half the transverse thickness of the link member.
- 8. A socket drive tool for use with a socket, the drive tool comprising:a body having a coupling structure for coupling to an associated socket; the coupling structure including a detent recess and a detent member disposed in the recess and movable between retaining and releasing positions relative to the associated socket; the body having a cavity therein communicating with the detent recess and an opening into the cavity; a link member disposed in the cavity for contact with the detent member and being reciprocatively movable along a path between a retaining condition holding the detent member in its retaining position and a releasing condition accommodating movement of the detent member to its releasing position; and an actuator coupled to the link member and carried by the body for pivotal movement relative thereto, the actuator projecting from the opening for access by a user at one side of the link member, the opening being shaped and dimensioned to accommodate pivoting of the actuator about a pivot axis on an opposite side of the link member to effect movement of the link member between its retaining and releasing conditions.
- 9. The tool of claim 8, wherein the opening is tapered from a relatively wide outer end adjacent to an external surface of the body to a relatively narrow inner end within the body.
- 10. The tool of claim 9, wherein the inner end of the opening has a reverse tapered portion which widens slightly from a minimum width region.
- 11. The tool of claim 8, wherein the link member has a cam surface disposed for camming engagement with the detent member for camming the detent member to the retaining position thereof in response to movement of the link member to the retaining condition thereof, the cam surface extending along only about half the transverse thickness of the link member.
- 12. The tool of claim 8, wherein the detent member is a detent ball.
- 13. The tool of claim 8, and further comprising a bias spring disposed in the cavity and resiliently biasing the link member to the retaining condition thereof.
- 14. A socket drive tool for use with a socket, the drive tool comprising:a body having a coupling structure for coupling to an associated socket; the coupling structure including a detent recess and a detent member disposed in the recess and movable between retaining and releasing positions relative to the associated socket; the body having a cavity therein communicating with the detent recess and an opening into the cavity; a link member having an aperture therethrough and disposed in the cavity for contact with the detent member and being reciprocatively movable between a retaining condition holding the detent member in its retaining position and a releasing condition accommodating movement of the detent member to its releasing position; and an actuator coupled to the link member by extending through the aperture and carried by the body for pivotal movement relative thereto to effect movement of the link member between its retaining and releasing conditions, the actuator projecting from the opening for access by a user at one side of the link member for pivoting the actuator about a pivot axis on an opposite side of the link member.
- 15. The tool of claim 14, wherein the aperture is dimensioned to freely accommodate the actuator therethrough.
- 16. The tool of claim 14, wherein the opening is elongated in the direction of movement of the link member.
- 17. The tool of claim 14, wherein the opening has a lip portion adjacent to an outer surface of the body, the actuator having an enlarged portion disposed in use internally of the body and dimensioned so that it cannot pass through the lip portion of the opening, thereby to retain the actuator in place in the body.
- 18. The tool of claim 14, wherein the opening is tapered from a relatively wide outer end adjacent to an external surface of the body to a relatively narrow inner end within the body, and the aperture is tapered from a relatively narrow first end adjacent to the outer end of the opening to a relatively wide second and adjacent to the inner end of the opening.
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 09/076,995, filed May 13, 1998.
US Referenced Citations (3)
Continuation in Parts (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09/076995 |
May 1998 |
US |
Child |
09/399598 |
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US |