Retractible tool holder

Abstract

The tool holder is of a pencil type and includes a tubular barrel member in which is slidably supported an actuating member and a tool carrying member connected together in an end to end relation in a lost motion connection. Ball bearings within the barrel member coact with the lost motion connection and a stop shoulder in the barrel member to releasably lock the tool carrying member in an operating position, and to release the tool carrying member for movement to an inoperative position in response to reversed movements of the actuating member.

Description

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The tool holder is of a simple construction and efficient in operation over a prolonged service life to positively lock a working tool in an extended operating position therefor against inward movement toward a retracted or inoperative position. The actuating member is manually moved in one direction, against the action of a spring, to move and lock the working tool to its operating position, and is manually sctuated to release the working tool for movement by the spring to the inoperative position therefor. Various type tool members, including writing tools, may be assembled with or formed as a part of the tool holder and depending upon their use can be either held against rotation or permitted to rotate relative to the longitudinal axis of the tool holder.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the tool holder with the tool member in inoperative or retracted position;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged longitudinal sectional view of the holder of FIG. 1 showing a flat cutting member in the projected or operating position;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional detail view of a latching mechanism that forms part of the tool holder;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view on line 4--4 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is illustrated similarly to FIG. 2 and shows the tool member in the retracted or inoperative position; and

FIG. 6 is a modified form of the invention showing the tool holder as the cartridge of a ball point pen.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2 of the drawings, the tool holder of this invention, generally indicated at 10, is illustrated as including a tubular barrel or outer member 11 having an axial bore comprised of sections 12 and 13 with the section 12 being of a reduced diameter relative to the section 13 to form a stop shoulder 14. For the purpose of convenience the sections 12 and 13 will hereinafter be referred to as the rear and front bore sections, respectively. Received in slidable engagement within the rear bore section 12 is a plastic cylindrical actuating member 16 that has a forward extension 17 in a lost motion connection 20 with the rear end section 18 of a tool carrying member 19 which has a bearing section 21 intermediate the ends thereof slidably movable within the front bore section 13. The tool carrying member 19 is of a plastic construction and has a diameter such that the portion thereof located rearwardly of the bearing 21 is slidably movable within the rear bore section 12.

The barrel member 11 is provided with a front or head section 22 threadably engageable within the forward end of the barrel member. A tool, illustrated as a flat knife 23 has an enlarged rear end section 24 in abutting engagement with the front end of the tool carrying member 19. A spring 26 mounted in compression about the tool 23 and located within the head section 22 yieldably urges the knife tool 23 into abutting engagement with the front end of the tool carrying member and functions also to continuously bias the tool carrying member 19 in a rearward direction. The head section 22 terminates in a conical nose portion 27 that is formed with a transversely extended slot 28 to slidably receive the knife tool 23 in contact engagement with the side walls thereof, whereby the knife 23 is held against rotational movement within the head section 22.

The rear end section 18 of the tool carrying member 19 is of a cylindrical tubular construction and is formed with an inwardly extended annular flange 29 the inner peripheral surface of which forms a central opening 31 through which the actuating member extension 17 is loosely extended. As best appears in FIG. 3, the extension 17 is comprised of a central section 32 of a reduced diameter relative to a rear section 33 and a tapered head section 34. The head section 34 is of a greater diameter than the central opening 31 formed by the flange 29 and is of a size to provide for the insertion thereof through the opening 31 and within the tubular rear section 18 of the tool carrying member 19. This insertion takes place by virtue of the relative deformation of the opening and head section 34. The actuating member 16 and the tool carrying member 19 are thus interlocked by the engagement of the head section 34 with the forward side of the annular flange 29 (FIG. 3).

Positioned within the barrel member 11 and about the actuating member extension 17 are a plurality of ball bearing members 36. When the ball members 36 (FIGS. 3 and 5) are positioned about the central section 32 of the extension 17, the actuating member 16 is slidably movable within the rear bore section 12. The ball bearings are of a diameter relative to the diameter of the central section 32 such that when the ball members are in contact engagement with the central section 32 they are receivable within the reduced diametrical confines of the rear bore section 12. However, when the ball members 36 are in contact engagement with the rear section 33 of the actuating member extension 17 the ball members are receivable only within the diametrical confines of the front bore section 13 (FIG. 2).

When the knife tool 23 is in its retracted position within the barrel member 11 (FIG. 5), the ball members 36 are about the central section 32 of the actuating member extension 17 and the tool carrying member 19 is partially extended within the rear bore section 12 to a position defined by the engagement of the slide bearing 21 with the shoulder stop 14. The retracted position of the knife tool 23, defined by the engagement of the shoulder 21 with the stop 14 is maintained by the action of the spring 26 which functions to continuously bias the knife tool toward the retracted position therefor.

Assume the knife tool 23 is in its retracted position shown in FIG. 5. To extend the knife tool the actuating member 16 is manually depressed against the action of the spring 26 to move the cutting or working section 37 of the knife tool 23 forwardly from the nose section 27 of the barrel member 11. As illustrated in FIG. 5, this movement of the tool carrying member 19 by the actuating member 16 takes place through the ball members 36 which, during this forward movement, are clamped between the rear section 33 of the actuating member extension 17 and the rear end section 18 of the tool carrying member 19. This clamped engagement of the ball members is maintained by virtue of the confinement of the ball members 36 within the bore section and about the central section 32 of the extension 17. As soon as the ball bearings 36 are within the front bore section 13, as shown in dotted lines in FIG. 3, they are permitted to move laterally outwardly against the side wall of the bore section 13.

Substantially concurrently with this lateral movement of the ball bearings, the rear section 33 of the actuating member extension 17 is positioned within the circle of ball bearings to hold them in contact engagement with the side wall of the front bore section 13. On a release of the actuating member 16, therefore, the bearings 36 are confined within the bore section 13 between the rear end section 18 of the tool carrying member 19 and the front face 38 of the actuating member 16 and moved into engagement with the stop shoulder 14 by the spring 26. This engagement of the balls 36 with the stop shoulder 14 defines the working or projected position of the knife tool 23 relative to the barrel member 11.

It is to be noted that in the use of the knife tool 23 movement thereof inwardly of the barrel member 11 is positively precluded by the abutting engagement thereof with the tool carrying member 19, as maintained by the spring 26, and the clamped engagement of the ball members 36 between the shoulder 14 and the rear end section 18 of the tool carrying member, which clamped engagement is also retained by the action of the spring 26.

To release the knife tool 23 from its extended position of FIG. 2 to the retracted position thereof as shown in FIG. 5, it is only necessary to initially manually pull in a rearward direction on the actuating member 16. This rearward movement of the actuating member removes the rear section 33 of the actuating member extension 17 from its position between the ball members 36 and permits lateral ball movement to positions about the front section 34 of the extension 17. As a result of this inward lateral movement the balls 36 are positioned for travel within the rear bore section 12. Under the continuous bias of the spring 26, the tool carrying member 19 is then moved rearwardly to the stop position defined by the engagement of the ball bearings 36 with the stop shoulder 14 to define a retracted position of the knife tool 23.

It has been found that the tool 23 may also be released from its working or extended position in FIG. 2 to its retracted position, shown in FIG. 5, by initially depressing the actuating member 16 forwardly from its position shown in FIG. 2 until the balls 36 are moved away from the stop shoulder 14 and then quickly releasing the actuating member. This depressing movement and quick release provides for the automatic retraction of the tool 23 by the action of the springs 26. This automatic retraction of the tool 23 apparently takes place due to the greater accelerated movement of the actuating member 16 relative to the tool carrying member 19 whereby the ball bearings 36 are movable about the central section 32 of the extension 17 prior to their engagement by the rear end section 18 of the tool carrying member.

To project the tool member 23 to its working position, shown in FIG. 2, it is merely necessary to depress the actuating member 16 in a forward direction, from its position shown in FIG. 5, until the ball bearing members 36 and the rear section 33 of the actuating member extension 17 are below the stop shoulder 14, as shown in dotted lines in FIG. 3. The balls 36 are thus permitted to move about the rear section 33 and within the bore section 13 for movement against the shoulder 14 by the biasing action of the spring 26 on the tool carrying member 19.

The modified form of the invention, shown in FIG. 6, is illustrated as being a ball point pen wherein the barrel member 11a is formed of a rear section 41 and a front section 42 having their inner ends in threadable connection, as indicated at 43. The rear section 41 has a closed end 44 and a bore with a central section 46 of a reduced section relative to a front bore section 47 and of an enlarged section relative to a rear bore section 48. An actuating member 16a is formed with a forward extension 17a in all respects similar to the forward extension 17, described in connection with FIGS. 2 and 3. The actuating member 16a includes a front portion 49 slidable in the central bore section 46 and a rear portion 51 slidable within the rear bore section 48. An elongated longitudinal opening 52 in the barrel section 41, open to the central bore section 46, slidably receives the mounting portion 53 of a pocket clip 54. The mounting portion 53 is suitably rigidly secured to the reduced portion 51 of the actuatingmember 16a so that the actuating member is moved in response to a longitudinal movement of the pocket clip 54 relative to the barrel member 11a.

The front barrel section 42 is integrally formed with a nose section 56 which has a bore portion 57 of a reduced diameter relative to the bore portion 58 in the front barrel member 42. The tool member, or ball point 59, is secured to the tool carrying member 19a, illustrated as being a cartridge member, which is formed adjacent the tool member 59 with an enlarged bead 61. The coil spring 26a is arranged in compression between the bead 61 and the junction 62 of the bore portions 57 and 58 and acts to continuously urge the cartridge in a rearward direction.

Secured to the rear or inner end of the cartridge 19a is a tubular extension 63 which is in a lost motion connection with the actuating member extension 17a in all respects similar to the lost motion connection of the extension 17 with the rear end section 18 of the tool carrying member 19. The rear extension 63 has a bearing portion 65 slidably movable within the front bore section 47 of the barrel section 41 for movement toward and away from the stop shoulder 14a defined by the junction of the bore sections 46 and 47. Ball bearings 36a coact with the actuating member extension 17a relative to the stop shoulder 14a in all respects similar to that previously described in connection with FIG. 3 for the balls 36 and stop shoulder 14.

The retracted position of the tool carrying member or cartridge 19a is defined by the engagement of the bearing 65 with the stop shoulder 14a wherein the ball point 59 is retracted within the nose portion 56 of the barrel member 11a. When the ball members 36a are in engagement with the shoulder 14a as shown in FIG. 6, the tool carrying member 19a is in a position providing for the extension of the ball point 59 from the barrel member 11a. Movement of the ball point 59 to its working and inoperative positions is controlled by manual manipulation of the pocket clip 54 to move the actuating member 16a.

Although the invention has been described with respect to preferred embodiments thereof it is to be understood that it is not to be so limited since changes and modifications can be made therein which are within the full intended scope of this invention as defined by the appended claims.

Claims

I claim:

1. A retractible tool holder comprising:

a. a tubular barrel member having a front end and a rear end and a bore with a front section and rear section, said rear section of a reduced diameter relative to said front section to form an annular stop shoulder.

b. a tool carrying member having a front end and a rear end,

c. a working tool extended forwardly from the front end of the tool carrying member,

d. said tool carrying member slidably movable within said bore between an inoperative position wherein the working tool is retracted inwardly from the front end of said barrel member and an operative position wherein the working tool projects outwardly from the front end of said barrel member,

e. a manually operable actuating member located within and movable longitudinally of the bore rear section,

f. a lost motion means connecting together the forward end of said actuating member with the rear end of the tool carrying member,

g. means within the bore front section yieldably urging the tool carrying member rearwardly toward said actuating member, and

h. means coacting with said lost motion means and movable in response to a forward movement of said actuating member into releasable locking engagement with said stop shoulder to lock the tool carrying member in the operating position therefor, and movable in response to a rearward movement of said actuating member to release said tool carrying member for movement to the inoperative position therefor.

2. The retractible tool holder according to claim 1 wherein:

a. the rear end section of said tool carrying member is of a tubular construction having a terminal inwardly extended annular flange with a front side surface and

b. said lost motion means includes a forward extension on said actuating member having bearing sections of varying cross sectional areas and movable within said rear end section of the tool carrying member, said extension having a terminal head member within said rear end section of the tool carrying member for locking engagement with the front side surface of said flange whereby to limit rearward axial movement of said actuating member relative to said tool carrying member, and

c. said coacting means comprised of ball bearings disposed about said forward extension, said ball bearings, when positioned about one of said bearing sections providing for the slidable movement of said actuating member within said rear bore section, and when positioned about another one of said bearing sections providing for the releasable locking of the tool carrying member in the operating position therefor.

3. The retractible tool holder according to claim 1 wherein:

a. the rear end of said barrel member is closed and the bore rear section has a side wall formed with a longitudinal opening, and

b. a pocket clip adjacent the rear end of said barrel member having a pocket clamping portion extended longitudinally of and adjacent the outer surface of said barrel member and a mounting portion secured to said actuating member and movable within said opening, said pocket clip constituting a finger grip for moving said tool carrying member to the operating and inoperative positions therefor.

4. A retractible tool holder comprising:

a. a tubular barrel member having a bore with a rear section of a reduced diameter relative to a forward section to form a shoulder at the junction of said two sections,

b. an enlongated tool support member having a front end and a rear end,

c. a tool member projected forwardly from the front end of said support member,

d. a bearing portion on said support member movable within said foward bore section to a rearmost position in engagement with said shoulder to define a retracted inoperative position of the tool member rearwardly from the front end of said barrel member,

e. an actuating member slidably movable in said rear bore section having a front extension comprised of a rear portion of a reduced size relative to said actuating member and a forward portion of a reduced size relative to said rear portion,

f. lost motion means connecting said forward portion with the rear end of said supporting member,

g. ball bearings movable to positions about and spaced longitudinally of said front extension, said ball bearings movable within said rear bore section when postioned about said forward portion, and within said forward bore section when n positioned about said rear portion, and

h. means for yieldably urging the tool member and support member to the retracted position of said tool member, said ball bearings, in the extended operating position of said tool member, being held in bearing engagement against said shoulder by said yieldable means to lock said tool member in the operating position therefor.