US544606A - Screw holder and driver - Google Patents

Description

(No Model.)

J.R.B'ALSLEY. SCREW HOLDER AND DRIVER.

Patented Aug. 13, 1895.

UNITED STATES PATENT FFICE.

JAMES R. BALSLEY, OF CONNELLSVILLE, PENNSYLVANIA.

SCREW HOLDER AND DRIVER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 544,606, dated August 13, 1895.

Application filed March 14, 1895- Serial No. 541,782. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JAMES R. BALsLEY, of Oonnellsville, county of Fayette, State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Screw Holders and Drivers, of which the following is aspecifica tion, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

The object of my invention is to produce a bifurcated screwdriver having equally expansible legs, each susceptible of separation, and which is thereby adapted, upon being inserted into the slot of a screw-head, to retain the screw and to allow itto be set in places which are inaccessible to the fingers of an operator.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure I is a side elevation of one form of screwdriver inserted in a screw. Fig. II is a similar view showing it expanded. Fig. III isaview taken at right angles to that shown in Fig. I. Fig. IVis a modified form of handle. Fig. Vshows a handle with a swivel top for use in light my bifurcated screwdriver.

aperture in the other leg.

V, are pressed together, so that their blades or nibs 6 may enter the slot 7 of a screw. For this purpose a compression-ring 8, which encircles the legs, may be employed. By sliding the ring toward the nibs the legs are pressed together and by drawing it backward they are expanded. I prefer also to employa screw 9, which passes through an aperture 10 in one leg and enters a screw-threaded By the adjustment of this screw the expansibility of the legs may be limited or the legs may be permanently compressed to render'the screwdriver available in the ordinary way.

The legs are constructed directly opposite to each other, so that their fiat sides work to and from each other, and not shearwise, this squarely and firmly upon the nibs 6.

Instead of depending upon the outwardlytending resiliency of the material of which the legs are composed for expanding or separating them, the form of tool shown in Fig. VI of the drawings may be employed, in which the handle 10 is made hollow to receive an expanding-rod 11. This expanding-rod carries a wedge-shaped end 12, which, being driven longitudinally between the legs, Will divide them with a positive pressure, depend ing upon the degree of movement of the wedge. The legs in this form would preferably be constructed so as to stand normally in the closed position. I prefer in this form of construction to make the rod spring-actuated, as by a coil-spring 13, encircling the rod. A pressbutton 14 may be employed upon the outer end of the rod. Other means for actuating the expanding-rod may be employed, those illustrated being simply suggestive of the present preferred form.

For light work, as illustrated in Fig. V of the drawings, a swiveled head 15 may be employed upon the end of the handle. In practice, for securing a better hold upon the screw-slot, I prefer to make the exterior surface of the nibsrough, like a file or rasp. I am aware that a bifurcated screwdriver having one resilient side is not new; but that tool is clearly distinguishable from mine, because the tendency of the one resilient side is to cant the screw and interfere with the proper operation of the tool. Moreover, the single spring-lip interferes with the operation of the tool after the screw has been set in place, be cause if the screwdriver should become dislodged .from the slot after the screw is set it would be difficult if not practically impossible to reinsert it. In my device the expansibility of both legs is equal, and the legs may be brought together, so that their nibs may be inserted into the screw-slot at any distance from which the screw may be reached. 1

What I claim is- 1. A bifurcated screw driver having equally expansible directly opposite legs and nibs on the ends thereof adapted to engage upon their outside surfaces with the inner sides of a screw slot, and means for expanding the legs, substantially as set forth.

2. A bifurcated screw driver having equally expansible directly opposite legs, and nibs on the ends thereof whose outer surfaces are adapted to engage and hold the inner surfaces of a screw slot, means for expanding the legs, and means for limiting the degree of expansion, substantially as set forth.

3. Abifurcated screw driver having equally expansible directly opposite legs, and nibs on the ends thereof, whose outer surfaces are adapted to engage with the inner surfaces of a screw slot, and an expansive piece movable between the legs and adapted to expand them and press their nibs against the sides of a screw slot, substantially as set forth.

4. In a bifurcated screw driver having JAMES R. BALSLEY. Witnesses:

THOMAS J. Hoornn, Rom. NORRIS.

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