A DEVICE FOR HOLDING A TOOL BIT AND SELECTIVELY TRANSMITTINGOR RELEASING TORQUE BETWEEN A TORQUE GENERATING MEANS AND THE TOOL BIT

摘要

A device for holding a tool bit and selectively transmitting or releasing torque between a torque generating means and the tool bit, comprises an elongate body havin g a tool bit holding means at one end and a torque input shaft at the other end, the torque input shaft shaped to be accepted by a drive means of the torque generating means whereby the body rotates about a longitudinal axis with rotation of the drive means of the torque generating means, a sleeve surrounding the tool bit holding means end of the body, the sleeve biased away from the torque input shaft end of the body by a biasing means and the sleeve slidably arranged between a first end position and a second end position, and a sleeve retaining means to prevent the sleeve from sliding past the first e nd position and the second end position.