A self-forming socket having a plurality of retractable pins bundled in parallel within a housing is disclosed. The bundled pins may displace longitudinally and are biased by spring force away from a frame onto which the pins are slidably held. A spacer pin may be positioned at the center of the socket and is similarly biased away from the frame under spring force. When the socket is forced over a fastener, nut, or bolt head, groups of pins are pushed inward toward the frame and into the housing thereby conforming the pins to the contours of the fastener. Applying a torque to the socket transfers the torque through the bundled pins to the fastener. Each pin has a circular cross-section and the interior walls of the housing containing the bundled pins has a hexagonal shape and does not contain any right angles. The pins are packed in a hexagonal arrangement.
A universal socket used with a wrench for turning different sizes of bolts, nuts, etc., the universal socket including a socket body having a working hole at one end for receiving the workpiece, a nest block mounted in the working hole of the socket body to hold a set of retaining pins in vertical through holes thereof, and spring elements respectively mounted in the nest block to push the retaining pins out of the nest block for holding down the workpiece, permitting the workpiece to be turned with the socket body when the socket body is turned with the wrench by hand.
A universal cavity pit wrench having a sleeve with an open end, a mounting panel secured within the sleeve, a plurality of pillar posts that are longitudinally compressible against the mounting panel, and the pillar posts extending out of the open end of the sleeve. The pillar posts are densely packed next to each other and can fill the void of a nut, upon which the sleeve can be rotated to either loosen or tighten the nut.
An adapter for adapting use of a universal socket tool or wrench to a tool bit is disclosed. The universal socket contains a plurality of spring biased pins closely packed in parallel to apply torque to bolts, nuts, and similar fasteners. To broaden the utility of such a universal socket, the adapter holds a hex shanked screwdriver bit into the socket so that the pins can apply torque to the screwdriver shank. The adapter further stabilizes the bit drive end so that the bit does not wobble. The adapter has a body with a hole at one end to receive a bit and a recess at the opposite end to receive the socket. The adapter is made of an elastomeric material so that the bit can easily be forced into the hole and the socket can be forced into the recess. The recess has a minimum inside width or diameter at its open end so that a lip of the recess contacts the socket exterior away from the socket end.
A multi-purpose hand tool is disclosed. According to one embodiment, the tool may include a socket body, a key tip and an arm portion. The socket body may include a socket at a first end. The arm portion is connected between the socket body and the key tip. The key tip may include a hex key. The arm portion may define an opening for receiving a torquing device and the key tip may define a notch for receiving a torquing device.
A tool has an adjustable bit array of individual bit elements arranged along a longitudinal axis. The bit element to be used is selected by slightly rotating and then sliding an operating rod fixed to a central bit element that has the smallest diameter. Successively larger bit elements are coupled to the central bit element in a cascading relationship. The operating rod is locked selectively in locking slots, each of which is associated with one of the bit elements.
