Snap-on Tools Corporation

Snap-on Inc.

Gene E Olson

Thomas P Becker

Donald D Grover

Christopher B Stout

Glenn A Kaufman

Daniel M Eggert

Christopher D Thompson

Norbert J Kot

Jeffrey M Arendt

Jerome A Thompson

George R Slivon

Steven R Wente

Gerald A Wridt

William T Pagac

Paul B Lemens

Edward H Adams

Tools, for example, hexagon sockets, dodecagonal sockets, splined sockets, wrenches, etc., that have inner surface geometries adapted to engage a flank of a fastener at a point away from a corner of the fastener. This increases the strength and life of the socket, reduces a risk of the fastener becoming locked or stuck in the socket, and reduces the risk of the fastener being stripped or the socket slipping on the fastener.

Socket drive improvement

A tool combination includes a socket with a hole extending axially therethrough having a large square drive portion and a small drive portion and at least one shoulder between said large and small drive portions. In one embodiment the small drive portion of the hole is hexagonal in shape and a hexagonal bit has an application end and a coupling end, the application end being insertable into the hole from the large drive portion thereof. The coupling end is provided with a retainer in the form of either an enlarged head or a laterally projecting ear which seats against the shoulder, with the application end of the bit projecting forwardly from the bit end of the socket. In a second embodiment the tool combination is a drive adapter, the small drive portion of the hole being square in shape. A square drive lug is insertable in the small drive portion of the hole from the large drive portion thereof and has upset crimped corners forming projection ears to seat against the shoulder. A male drive element, when received in the large drive portion of the hole, retains the bit or drive lug in place.

Square drive adapter

A tool cabinet has rollers depending from a bottom wall for rolling engagement with an underlying floor. A retractable step is carried by a support arm which extends laterally from the step and has an upstanding shaft portion which extends through an axial bore in a spiral cam which is fixed to the bottom wall of the cabinet. The shaft has a cam follower pin which extends therefrom and is slidably engageable with a spiral cam surface on the cam for accommodating simultaneous pivotal swinging movement and vertical movement of the step between a stowed position disposed beneath the cabinet and above the floor and a use position extending from beneath the cabinet in engagement with the floor.

Retractable step and tool cabinet incorporating same

The double-ended reversible box wrench for use with a hexagonal fastener includes two box wrenching heads interconnected by a handle shank, with each head having a double-hexagonal socket opening therethrough, each of the outwardly directed corners of which has an axis extending through the center of the socket opening. One socket has a corner inclined at an offset angle of 33/4 degrees to the shank axis and the other socket has a corner inclined at an offset angle of 111/4 degrees to the shank axis so that, by sequential application of the four wrench faces to a hexagonal fastener, the fastener maybe repeatedly rotated in the same direction while the wrench undergoes a swing of no more than 71/2 degrees during any one application. A wrench with offset angles of zero degrees and 10 degrees and a pivoting head wrench are also disclosed.

Double-ended reversible box wrench with 71/2 degree swing clearance

The fatigue-resistant spindle end of the invention is an elongated body having an axis of rotation. The spindle end comprises a drive engaging portion at one end, a male tool engaging tang at the other end, and a torque transfer section disposed therebetween. The torque transfer section includes a cylindrical journal portion and a frustoconical transition portion. The transition portion retains the geometric characteristics of both the tang and the cylindrical journal portion and blends those geometric characteristics so as to eliminate sharp discontinuities which may function as stress concentrators. In one embodiment of the invention, a stop barrel is also included to prevent a socket or other tool from engaging the transition portion.

Fatigue-resistant spindle end

The mechanism, used in a ratchet wrench, includes a body carrying an integral stud. A bore extends axially into both and an actuator rod is reciprocally mounted therein. A transverse bore in the stud slidably holds a pin which is linked to the rod. A socket is applied to the mechanism by pushing the socket against a camming surface on the pin to enable the socket to be snapped onto the pin without operating the actuator. The socket is removed by depressing the actuator.

Quick release mechanism for ratchet wrench

The open-end wrench has a pair of jaws with parallel planar jaw surfaces. In each jaw surface is a configured notch having a planar drive surface, a clearance surface and a spacing surface between the drive surface and the clearance surface. The two clearance surfaces are on segments of a circle having a diameter greater than the across-corners dimension of the fastener to be tightened by the wrench. The distance between the planes of the driving surfaces is slightly greater than the across-sides dimension of the fastener. The spacing surface in each notch is a segment of a circle having a relatively small radius of curvature and is tangent to the associated clearance surface.

Open-end wrench

A torque wrench having a torque plug integral with the back side of the torque wrench handle and with strain sensing elements mounted on the torque plug and connected to signal processing circuits supported by the handle which control a digital display unit mounted on the handle. The processing circuits include a peak hold detector enabling display of the peak torque value during a torquing operation, and a peak hold response delay insuring capture of the peak torque value.

Torque measuring apparatus

A flexible retainer for coupling an inner polygonal stud and an outer tubular member includes an elongated arm from which a pair of spaced fingers transversely extend. The outer tubular member includes a polygonal bore into which the inner stud is inserted in a telescoping manner. The inner stud includes a transverse hole which when aligned with diametrically positioned lateral apertures in the outer tubular member forms a generally transverse channel in the telescoping member combination. With the arm of the retainer positioned around a portion of the periphery of the outer tubular member, each of the fingers positioned thereon may be inserted within a respective lateral aperture of the outer tubular member so as to extend into the transverse hole of the stud in securely coupling the two telescoping members. The retainer is preferably comprised of a one-piece, molded, elastomeric material and is particularly adapted for use with a circular socket arrangement although it may be used with telescoping members having virtually any cross-sectional shape. Gripping means are provided at one end of the elongated arm to facilitate removal of the retainer from the telescoping member combination, which members may then be separated.

Retainer

The adapter includes a luminosity probe for replacing the glow plug associated with the selected cylinder in a diesel engine, a timer circuit responsive to inception of each electrical signal generated by the luminosity probe to produce a timer signal. The timer signal is differentiated to produce a spike. A pickup loop receives the spike and produces an inductive signal for application to the clip of a spark-ignited-engine timing meter.

Adapter for converting luminosity signals into inductive signals

The adapter includes a housing containing a rectifier for supplying flash voltages to an LED. The rectifier rectifies inductive signals derived from an inductive pickup. The adapter can be used to enable a spark-ignited engine calibrator to calibrate a diesel-engine-timing meter by converting the inductive electrical signals from the calibrator to light signals for the diesel timing meter. The adapter also can be used to enable a diesel-engine-timing meter and analyze and time a spark-ignited engine by converting the inductive pulses derived from a spark plug wire into light impulses for the diesel-engine-timing meter.

Adapter for diesel-engine-timing meter

The probe includes a tubular housing having a first portion and a second portion. The first portion is adapted to be mounted in place of the glow plug of a selected engine cylinder. A light pipe within the first portion directs light from the combustion zone to a phototransistor within the second portion. The front of the first portion has a reduced size aperture defined by an internal shoulder against which the front of the light pipe is seated. The rear of the first portion carries resilient sealing means which is deformed when the second portion is telescoped thereon so as to provide a detachable, frictional, light-tight thermally insulated connection therebetween. A phototransistor is mounted within the second portion to convert light passing through the light pipe into electrical signals. A cable carries these electrical signals to processing equipment. A base resistor is located in the second portion between the base of the phototransistor and the cable. The part of the first portion that projects from the engine is short with respect to the part that fits into the engine. The projecting portion carries wrench-engaging bosses.

Luminosity probe for diesel engine timing apparatus

A first signal at a first frequency which is a selected harmonic of the resonant frequency of a bolt in a first loaded condition is determined. Then there is determined a second signal at a second frequency being the same harmonic of the resonant frequency of the bolt in a second loaded condition. Both frequencies are multiplied by a factor M. The up input of a counter receives one of the signals for a predetermined duration, and the down input receives the other signal for the same duration. The number of pulses remaining in the counter is representative of the difference in load between the first and second loaded conditions.

Bolt load determining apparatus

The apparatus comprises a luminosity probe to provide an electrical signal in response to the combustion event in a diesel engine and also comprises a probe to provide another electrical signal indicative of top dead center. Both electrical signals are processed and applied to a circuit which generates an output pulse having a duration corresponding to the time between the start of the electrical signals. A meter displays the angle represented by the duration of such pulse. Circuitry is provided to compensate for offset.

Growing community of inventors

Kenosha, WI, United States of America

Gene E Olson