Attachment system for hand-held tools

摘要

An attachment system for tools includes a housing, a rotating member having a sloping surface and a catch surface disposed in an open central region of the housing, and a clip member having a clip protrusion with a head and neck portions where the neck portion is sized to be slidably receive in one of a first and second slot of the housing where each slot extends through a wall of the housing to the open central region. The clip protrusion engages the sloping surface causing the rotating member to rotate about a central longitudinal axis to a point as the neck portion moves distally along one of the slots where a catch surface aligns with the clip protrusion and where a channel aligns with a clip protrusion of a second clip member retained in the second slot, thereby retaining the first clip member and releasing the second clip member.

主权项

1. An attachment system for hand-held tools comprising:
a housing with a proximal housing end portion, a distal housing end portion, and a peripheral wall defining an open central region within the housing, the peripheral wall having a first slot and a second slot spaced from the first slot, each with a predefined slot width and extending through the peripheral wall to the open central region, wherein the first slot and the second slot each has a proximal slot end and a distal slot end, the proximal slot end having a proximal slot end width that is greater than the predefined slot width; a rotating member disposed in the open central region and configured to rotate about the central longitudinal axis between a first position and a second position, the rotating member having a sloping surface and a catch surface where both extend transversely from the rotating member and wherein the sloping surface is aligned with one of the first slot and the second slot; a clip member having a clip body with a housing-side surface and a clip protrusion having a neck portion and a head portion wherein the clip protrusion extends transversely away from the housing-side surface, the clip protrusion adapted to be slidably received in and retained by one of the first slot and the second slot wherein the clip protrusion engages the sloping surface of the rotating member to move the rotating member to either the first position or the second position and to either retain the clip protrusion within or to release the clip protrusion from the housing; wherein the clip protrusion moving distally in the first slot a sufficient distance causes the rotating member to rotate in a first direction about the central longitudinal axis and causes the catch surface to rotate beneath the clip protrusion to retain the first clip member in engagement with the housing assembly.