REVERSIBLE RATCHETING SCREWDRIVER WITH IMPROVED REVERSING RING

摘要

The ratcheting screwdriver comprises a handle with a working end and a reversible ratchet mechanism therein, the ratchet mechanism defining a bore which receives one end of an associated shank coaxially therein. A cup-shaped spinner is fixed to the shank and a cup-shaped reversing member is nested in the spinner and is coupled to the ratchet mechanism and has an annular flange engageable by a finger and/or thumb of a user's hand which is gripping the handle for shifting the ratchet mechanism among forward ratcheting, reversing ratcheting and non-ratcheting modes. The outer peripheral surface of the annular flange has circumferentially alternating arcuate recesses and serrated frictional griping regions. In several embodiments, at least one of the serrated regions is in the form of a raised lobe which projects radially outwardly beyond the remainder of the flange surface and radially beyond the working end of the handle, the lobe having an arcuate outer surface with serrations extending along the sloping sides and along the crest of the surface. At least one such lobe is preferably positioned along the top of the handle and the lobes may have axial extents greater than that of the remainder of the annular flange.