GB2397513A

GB2397513A - A storage device for use in conjunction with a hand tool.

Info

Publication number: GB2397513A
Application number: GB0301804A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Nigel Robson
Original assignee: Black and Decker Inc
Current assignee: Black and Decker Inc
Priority date: 2003-01-25
Filing date: 2003-01-25
Publication date: 2004-07-28
Anticipated expiration: 2023-01-25
Also published as: GB2397513B; GB0301804D0

Abstract

A storage device 11,14 for at least one interchangeable working member 22 for a tool 2 comprises a body portion having at least one recess 20,16,28 which receives the at least one interchangeable working member and at least one resilient portion 18 for removably attaching the storage device to the tool. The storage device may be resiliently engageable with the housing of a tool and may be fabricated from a resilient material such as rubber or the like. The storage device may receive a plurality of elongate working members which may be stored substantially parallel to one another. The elongate working members may be drill bits, screwdriver bits, saw blades or a mixture thereof The housing of a toll adapted fro use with the storage device may be provided with a complementary, resiliently deformable portion to allow resilient engagement of the storage device.

Description

STORAGE DEVICE FOR USE WITH POWER TOOL AND POWER TOOL

INCORPORATING SUCH DEVICE

The present invention relates to storage devices for use with power tools, and relates particularly, but not exclusively, to storage devices for rotary power tools such as drills and screwdrivers. The invention also relates to a tool incorporating such a storage device.

Power tools are known which have integral storage facilities for tool parts such as drill bits and screwdriver bits. These storage facilities usually comprise deflectable clips or the like, which releasably mount individual parts such as drill bits or screwdriver bits to a housing of the power tool.

Prior art power tools of this type suffer from the drawback that because the tool parts are individually mounted to the housing of the power tool, and only a limited number of tool parts can be accommodated on the tool housing, the tool parts accommodated on the housing can only be exchanged for other tool parts one by one, which is generally a time consuming and awkward task. For example, if the operator has performed a drilling task, and now has to perform a job in which a variety of screwdriver bits are required, it may be necessary for the operator to remove each of the drill bits one by one, and replace them with screwdriver bits.

US 5056661 discloses a tool caddy for carrying a variety of tool accessories, and which is mounted to the side of a tool by means of a hook and pile fastener. This arrangement suffers from the drawback that the hook and pile fastener becomes dirty through use, and loses its effectiveness as a result.

Preferred embodiments of the present invention seek to overcome the above

disadvantage of the prior art.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a storage device for at least one interchangeable working member of a tool, the storage device comprising a body portion having at least one recess for receiving a respective working member of a tool, and at least one resilient first mounting portion for removably mounting the storage device to a housing of the tool.

By providing a storage device which accommodates one or more working members and has at least one resilient first mounting portion for removably mounting the device to a housing of a tool, this provides the advantage that a set of working members of one type (for example flatheaded screwdriver bits) can be provided on one storage device, and a second type (for example cross-headed screwdriver bits) can be provided on a further storage device. This enables rapid and convenient replacement of one type of working member with another, without having to replace the working members one by one. Furthermore, the storage device can be removed from one tool, together with one or more working members received in respective recesses of the storage device, and mounted to another tool. This therefore enables the storage device to be mounted to more than one tool, thus providing the further advantage of maximum flexibility of use of the storage device. In addition, by providing at least one resilient first mounting portion, the first mounting portion is less prone to losing its effectiveness when dirty than the prior art arrangement using a hook and pile fastener.

At least one said first mounting portion may be part of said body portion.

The body portion is preferably adapted to be mounted to said housing by resiliently engaging said housing.

This provides the advantage of enabling the storage device to be rapidly and conveniently mounted to and removed from a tool.

At least one said first mounting portion may comprise at least one flexible material.

This provides the advantage of enabling transmission of vibration, in the case of a power tool, from the tool to the body portion, and from the tool to working members accommodated in a storage device mounted to the tool, to be minimised.

For example, it is possible to minimise the risk that vibrations from the tool cause working members to be shaken out of recesses of the storage device.

The storage device may be made substantially of at least one flexible material.

At least one said flexible material may be rubber.

This provides the advantage of providing a high friction contact between the storage device and a tool to which it is mounted.

At least one said recess may be adapted to resiliently receive a respective This provides the advantage of enabling working members to be rapidly and conveniently inserted into and removed from such recesses. This also provides the advantage of enabling clearances between the internal surfaces of such recesses and corresponding working members to be minimised, which in turn enables the extent to which vibration of the tool in use causes undesirable movement of the working members accommodated in the storage device.

At least one said recess may be adapted to receive a respective elongate Said body portion may be adapted to receive a plurality of said elongate working members arranged substantially parallel to each other.

By arranging storage recesses substantially parallel to one another, this provides the advantage of increasing the amount of tool parts that can be stored on one storage device.

At least one said recess may be adapted to receive a respective said elongate working member comprising a drill bit.

At least one said recess may be adapted to receive a respective said elongate working member comprising a screwdriver bit.

At least one said recess may be adapted to receive a respective said elongate working member comprising a saw blade.

Said body portion may be perforated.

This provides the advantage of admitting air to the surface of the tool in order to assist cooling of the tool in the case of a power tool.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a tool comprising: a housing having at least one handle and at least one second mounting portion for receiving a storage device as defined above; and attachment means for receiving at least one elongate working member.

At least one said second mounting portion may comprise a plurality of alignment ribs provided on said housing.

This provides the advantage of holding the storage device in place when mounted onto the tool, and also helps the user to position the storage device when placing it on the tool.

The tool may further comprise a motor for moving a said elongate working member relative to said housing.

At least one said second mounting portion may be provided remote from said attachment means.

The tool may further comprise a storage device as defined above.

A preferred embodiment of the present invention will now be described, by way of example only and not in any limitative sense, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a power drill embodying the present invention; Figure 2 is a side view of the power drill of Figure 1; Figure 3 is a rear perspective view of a storage cap embodying the present invention; Figure 4 is a front perspective view of the storage cap of Figure 3; Figure 5 is a side view of the storage cap of Figure 3; Figure 6 is a side view of the storage cap of Figure 3 mounted to the power drill of Figure 1; and Figure 7 is a front perspective view of the storage cap of Figure 3 loaded onto the power drill of Figure 1.

Referring to Figures 1 and 2, a power drill 2 comprises a casing 3 of durable plastics material. The drill 2 has a handle 8 and a body portion 6. A nose ring 10 is located at the front end of the body portion 6, and a chuck (not shown) adapted to hold a drill bit or screwdriver bit is attached to the nose ring 10. A storage recess 7 for storing a chuck key 9 for fastening and unfastening the chuck is formed in the housing 8. The operation of the chuck is not material to the present invention and is therefore not described in further detail.

The power drill 2 is powered by a removable and rechargeable battery pack 5 attached and connected electrically to the lower end of the handle 8. A motor (not shown)and gearbox (not shown) are housed in the body portion 6 for providing the necessary rotation to the chuck (not shown). The operation and inner workings of the power drill 2 are conventional in the art and will not be described here in any further detail.

The rear end 4 of the body portion 6 has a plurality of alignment ribs 12 formed integrally thereon. The alignment ribs 12 are formed such that they have a profile corresponding to an inner surface of the storage device (Figure 3) to be loaded onto the rear end 4 of the body portion 6.

Referring now to Figures 3, 4 and 5, a storage cap 14 to be mounted to the rear end 4 of body portion 6 is formed from a flexible, resilient material such as natural rubber. The material from which the storage cap 14 is made is preferably sufficiently flexible that the storage cap 14 can be resiliently mounted to the rear end 4 of body portion 6, while significantly absorbing vibration transmitted to the storage cap 14 from the drill 2. A plurality of generally parallel recesses 20 and end portions 28 are formed in a generally cylindrical outer surface 24 of the storage cap 14. Each individual recess 20 is separated from adjacent recesses 20 by a raised portion 16. A pair of perforations 26 are also formed in the storage cap 14 to allow access of air to the rear end 4 of the body portion 6 of the drill 2 to allow cooling thereof, and to allow escape of air, which would otherwise become trapped between the storage cap 14 and the rear end 4, and therefore impede mounting of the cap 14 to the tool.

A plurality of screwdriver bits 22 are held by the storage cap 14. Each screwdriver bit 22 sits in a respective recess 20, and a combination of raised portions 16 and end portions 28 hold each drill bit firmly in place.

In order to remove a screwdriver bit 22, the user grips the front end of the required bit 22, and then pulls it out of the corresponding recess 20. As the raised portions 16 and end portions 28 are formed from the same resilient material as the storage cap 14, they are able to slightly deform to allow removal of the screwdriver bit 22. The screwdriver bit can be loaded back into the recess 20 by simply aligning it along the axis of the recess 20 and pushing it in.

Referring now to Figures 6 and 7, the storage cap 14 is shown mounted onto the rear end 4 of the power drill 2. In order for the user to perform this operation, the storage cap 14 is aligned with alignment ribs 12 (Figure 1) and then pushed from the rear in the axial direction until the front end of the storage cap 30 abuts a rear face 32 of the body portion 6.

As can be seen in Figure 1 and Figure 4, the inner surface 18 of the storage cap 14 is profiled due to the presence of recesses 20. There is a corresponding slot 11 on the rear end 4 of the body portion 6 into which the inwardly protruding recesses 20 fit when the storage cap 14 is mounted onto the rear end 4 of the drill 2.

As a result of the resilient and flexible nature of the rubber material of the storage cap 14, the storage cap 14 grips the power tool 2 with high friction such that it will not fall off when subject to vibrations when the power drill is in operation. Also, the use of compressible rubber material aids in absorbing vibrations produced by the drill 2, so that the screwdriver bits 22 in recesses 20 are not dislodged by vibrations from the drill 2.

In order to remove the storage cap 14 from the drill 2, the user grips the storage cap and then peels it away from the rear end 4 of the drill 2. The storage cap 14, together with the screwdriver,bits 22 in recesses 20, can then either be replaced with a different storage cap 14 containing different tool working members in its recesses 20, or mounted to a different tool, thus maximising the flexibility of use of the tool and its working members.

It can therefore be seen that the present invention allows the provision of several storage caps, each with a different set of tool bits dedicated to a particular task, for example cross-headed or flat-headed screwdriver bits. In this way, one set of screwdriver bits can be exchanged for the other in a rapid and convenient operation, and each cap, with its associated tool bits, can be mounted to a variety of different tools.

It will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that the above embodiment has been described by way of example only, and not in any limitative sense, and that various alterations and modifications are possible without departure from the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. For example, the storage cap 14, as well as being made of natural rubber, may be made of alternative materials such as silicon rubber, thermoplastic elastomers such as santoprene TPE, TPU or TPV, polyurethane, polyvinyl chloride, polyurethane rubber or thermoplastic rubber. Also, the storage cap 14 may be formed wholly or partly of resilient material, or may be formed from rigid plastics material and mounted to the tool by means of cooperating clips. In the case of the cap being formed from rigid material, a gasket of resilient material may be provided between the storage cap and the tool to absorb vibrations generated by the tool, or the cap 14 may be provided with a coating of compressible material if there is a need to absorb vibrations produced by a tool to which the cap is mounted.

Claims

1. A storage device for at least one interchangeable working member of a tool, the storage device comprising a body portion having at least one recess for receiving a respective working member of a tool, and at least one resilient first mounting portion for removably mounting the storage device to a housing of the tool.

2. A storage device according to claim 1, wherein at least one said first mounting portion is part of said body portion.

3. A storage device according to claim 2, wherein said body portion is adapted to be mounted to said housing by resiliently engaging said housing.

4. A storage device according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein at least one said first mounting portion comprises at least one flexible material.

5. A storage device according to claim 4, wherein the storage device is made substantially of at least one flexible material.

6. A storage device according to claim 4 or 5, wherein at least one said flexible material is rubber.

7. A storage device according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein at least one said recess is adapted to resiliently receive a respective working member.

8. A storage device according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein at least one said recess is adapted to receive a respective elongate working member.

9. A storage device according to claim 8, wherein said body portion is adapted to receive a plurality of said elongate working members arranged substantially parallel to each other.

10. A storage device according to claim 8 or 9, wherein at least one said recess is adapted to receive a respective said elongate working member comprising a drill bit.

11. A storage device according to any one of claims 8 to 10, wherein at least one said recess is adapted to receive a respective said elongate working member comprising a screwdriver bit.

12. A storage device according to any one of claims 8 to 11,wherein at least one said recess is adapted to receive a respective said elongate working member comprising a saw blade.

13. A storage device according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said body portion is perforated.

14. A storage device for at least one interchangeable working member of a tool, the storage device substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

15. A tool comprising:- a housing having at least one handle and at least one second mounting portion for receiving a storage device according to any one of the preceding claims; and attachment means for receiving at least one elongate working member.

16. A tool according to claim 15, wherein at least one said second mounting portion comprises a plurality of alignment ribs provided on said housing.

17. A tool according to claim 15 or 16, further comprising a motor for moving a said elongate working member relative to said housing.

18. A tool according to any one of claims 15 to 17, wherein at least one said second mounting portion is provided remote from said attachment means.

19. A tool according to any one of claims 15 to 18, further comprising a storage device according to any one of claims 1 to 14.

P-UK-CS] 35

19. A tool according to any one of claims 15 to 18, further comprising a storage device according to any one of claims 1 to 14. lo

Amendments to the claims have been filed as follows 1. A storage device for at least one interchangeable working member of a tool, the storage device comprising a body portion having at least one recess on an outer surface thereof for receiving a respective working member of a tool, and at least one resilient first mounting portion for removably mounting the storage device to a housing of the tool, wherein a working member, when received in the or each said recess, is at least partially visible by a user of the tool when the storage device is mounted to the housing of the tool during use of the tool.

P-UK-CS1 1 35 10. A storage device according to claim 8 or 9, wherein at least one said recess is adapted to receive a respective said elongate working member comprising a drill bit.

15. A tool comprising: a housing having at least one handle and at least one second mounting portion for engaging at least one first mounting portion of a storage device according to any one of the preceding claims; and attachment means for receiving at least one elongate working member.