The invention particularly relates to a multiple socket wrench of a type described in our previously filed patent application No. PCT/IE97/00079 (publication No.

W098/22262) the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. This socket wrench has a tubular housing or body having at least two nesting individual socket wrench elements mounted on the housing, each of said socket elements being axially moveable on the housing. Thus in use when one of the socket wrench elements is engaged with a nut or bolt each socket wrench element within the socket wrench element which is sized to engage the nut can retract within the housing to accommodate the nut. The socket wrench elements are arranged concentrically within the housing. If dirt works its way between the socket wrench elements then as the socket wrench elements are engaged with a nut or the like as the inner redundant wrench socket elements retract they may pull the desired socket wrench element inwardly also so it may not engage, or only partially engage the nut or bolt head.

The present invention is directed toward overcoming this problem.

According to the invention there is provided a socket wrench of the multi-socket type for operation by an actuating lever, the socket comprising:- a tubular body, a set of nesting individual socket elements mounted on the body including at least two c-axial socket elements, namely an inner socket element and an outer socket element, the inner socket element being movable axially inwardly relative to the outer socket element to expose said outer socket element for use, and

means for engaging the body with an actuating lever for rotation of the body and hence the socket elements, characterised in that locking means is provided for selectively locking each movable individual socket on the body.

Thus advantageously the selected socket wrench element is prevented from retracting on the housing when it is required for use ensuring full and positive engagement.

In one embodiment locking means comprises a selector switch on the body which is operable to position an associated selector pin on the body for engagement with a selected individual socket element to lock said selected individual socket element on the body.

In a preferred embodiment the selector switch is mounted in a slot in a side wall of the body, the selector switch extending through the slot to engage the selector pin which is mounted within the body, the selector pin being engagable with a number of spaced-apart grooves on an inside face of the body for alignment with each individual socket element, the selector switch being biased outwardly to engage the selector pin in the grooves, the selector switch being movable inwardly against said bias to disengage the selector pin from the grooves.

In a further embodiment each individual socket element has an outwardly extending lug at an inner end of said socket element for engagement with the selector pin, said lugs being engagable with an associated land within the body to retain the individual socket elements within the body, spring means mounted within the body to urge each socket element outwardly engaging the lug on the socket element with the land on the body.

In another embodiment the selector switch is slidably mounted in a circumferential slot in the side wall of the body and the selector pin is movable through an arc within the body between each socket element engaging position for alignment with the lugs on the socket elements.

In another embodiment each lug extends outwardly from an inner end of the socket element in a generally radial direction and complementary slots are provided at the inner ends of the socket elements to allow through passage of lugs from any inner nested socket elements.

Conveniently the selector switch is mounted on a switch plate which is releasably mounted on the body side wall, said switch plate having an open-ended slot for sliding reception of the switch and having a grooved inner surface for reception and alignment of the selector pin within the body.

In another embodiment a set of nesting individual socket elements is provided at each end of the body, each set of socket elements being housed within an associated end portion of the body.

In a particularly preferred embodiment two separate sets of socket elements are axially spaced-apart in the tubular body, said tubular body having a hollow central portion between end portions within which each set of socket elements is mounted, the hollow central portion being sized to accommodate only one set of socket elements at a time.

In another embodiment a spring is mounted within the body engaged between the innermost individual socket element in each set of nesting socket elements for urging the socket elements outwardly for engagement against the land on the body.

In a further embodiment means is provided at an end of the body for engagement by an actuating lever to rotate the body.

In a preferred embodiment each end portion of the body has a hexagonal outer surface for engagement by an actuating lever.

In another embodiment the invention provides a socket wrench in combination with an adapter having a mounting socket for reception of each end of the body to releasably mount the adapter on the body, said adapter having means for

engagement with an actuating lever for rotating the adapter and socket wrench.

Preferably the adapter has a spring loaded locking ball mounted on an inside wall of the mounting socket which is engagable with complementary receiver slots at each end of the body to releasably retain the adapter on the body.

Conveniently an adapter drive is provided having a hexagonal drive socket at one end for engagement with the outer face of each end portion of the housing and a square section drive hole at the opposite end for reception of a standard square drive tool such as a T-bar, ratchet spanner or the like.

The invention will be more clearly understood by the following description of some embodiments thereof given by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which; Fig. 1 is a partially exploded perspective view of a multiple socket wrench of the invention; Fig. 2 is an elevational view of a housing portion of the socket wrench ; Fig. 3 is and end elevational view of the housing; Fig. 4 is a plan view of a switch plate forming portion of a socket locking mechanism for the socket wrench; Fig. 5 is an end elevational view of the switch plate ; Fig. 6 is an elevational view of a selector pin forming portion of the locking mechanism; Fig. 7 is an end view of the selector pin; Fig. 8 is a sectional view taken along the line VIII-VIII of Fig. 1;

Fig. 9 is a perspective view of a socket wrench element forming portion of the socket wrench; Fig. 10 is a perspective view of a second socket wrench element; Fig. 11 is a perspective view of a third socket wrench element ; Fig. 12 is a perspective view of a fourth socket wrench element ; Fig. 13 is a perspective view of an associated set of socket wrench elements ; Fig. 14 is a perspective view of another set of socket wrench elements ; and Fig. 15 is a perspective partially sectioned view of an adapter drive for the socket wrench.

Referring to the drawings there is shown a socket wrench according to the invention indicated generally by the reference numeral 1. The socket wrench 1 has a generally tubular body 10 forming an outer housing having two opposed end portions 11 on either side of a central portion 12. Each end portion 11 forms a hexagonal socket and has a hexagonal outer surface 13. Two sets of socket elements 14 are mounted on the body 10, each socket set 14 being nested within one of the end portions 11.

Each socket set 14 comprises a plurality of individual socket elements 15,16,17,18 of different sizes arranged concentrically within the end portion 11 of the body 10 and slidable axially relative to each other for engaging a desired socket element 15,16, 17,18 with a nut or bolt head (not shown) in use.

To allow use of a desired socket element 15,16,17,18 each socket element 15,16, 17,18 is axially moveable within the body 10 between an extended position within the outer end 11 and a retracted position within the central portion 12 of the body 10. A selector switch 20 is operable to lock each socket element 15,16,17,18 when desired to prevent retraction of said socket element 15,16,17,18 into the central portion 12 of the body 10.

Thus in use to engage a desired socket element 15,16,17,18 with an associated nut or bolt head of a particular size the switch 20 is engaged with the corresponding socket element 15,16,17,18 which is held against retraction whilst the other socket elements 15,16,17,18 within the selected socket element 15,16,17,18 are free to retract within the central portion 12 to allow reception of the nut or bolt head within the selected socket element 15,16,17,18. It will be noted that the central portion 12 is sized to accommodate only one set of socket elements at a time, thus providing a compact construction.

The selector switch 20 comprises a switch plate 21 which is mounted within an associated window 29 in a side wall of the central portion 12 of the body 10. The switch plate 21 has an associated selector pin 22 with a central projection 23 which extends through a complementary open-ended guide slot 24 in the switch plate 21 and is attached to an operating button 25 which locates in and slides along a recessed groove 26 in an outer face of the switch plate 21. A spring 27 is provided beneath the button 25 and extends between the button 25 and the outer face of the switch plate 21 to urge the selector pin 22 against an inside face 28 of the switch plate 21.

As can be seen in Fig. 5 the inside face 28 of the switch plate 21 has a number of spaced-apart grooves 30 each for reception of the selector pin 22 to retain the selector pin 22 at a desired location. To move the selector pin 22 the button 25 is depressed against the spring 27 moving the selector pin 22 inwardly and then the button 25 can be slid along the groove 26 and released to allow the selector pin to snap into the selected groove 30 on the inside face of the selector plate 21. Thus the selector pin is mounted in an axial or longitudinal orientation within the body 10.

At an inner end of each of the socket elements 15,16,17,18 there is provided a lug 32 associated with the selector pin 22. Thus when the selector pin 22 is aligned with a lug 32 it prevents the associated socket element 15,16,17,18 from retracting within the central portion 12 of the body 10. As can be seen in Figs. 8-12, with the exception of the innermost socket element 15, each socket element 16,17,18 has a slot 33 adjacent the lug 32 for through passage of lugs 32 of other socket elements 15,16,17,18 so that outer ends of the lugs 32 are arranged in a row within the

housing 10 in the path of the selector pin 22.

It will be noted that an outer end of each lug 32 bears against an associated ledge or land 35 within the window 22 to retain the socket elements 15,16,17,18 within the housing 10. A spring 38 extends between the innermost socket element 15 of each set 14 of socket elements to urge each set of socket elements 14 outwardly with the lugs 32 engaging against the land 35 for limiting outward movement. Each of the socket elements 15,16,17,18 can be pushed inwardly against spring 38 pressure to expose an outer socket element 15,16,17,18 for use. As can be seen in Fig. 12 the innermost socket element 15 has adjacent an inner end of its bore a step or landing 40 against which an outer end of the spring 38 engages.

Figs 13 and 14 show the two sets of socket elements each set 14 comprising in this case four socket elements 15,16,17,18 which slidably nest one within the other.

Thus advantageously in the socket wrench 1 advantageously ten different socket element sizes are provided, with a hexagonal inside face 42 of each end portion 11 of the body 10 also forming a socket element.

Referring to Fig. 15 there is shown an adapter drive 50 which has at an inner end a hexagonal mounting socket 51 for engagement with the hexagonal outer face 13 at each end 11 of the body 10. An inner end 52 of the adapter drive 50 has a central square section hole 53 for reception of a standard square drive T-bar, ratchet spanner or the like actuating lever. The adapter drive 50 has a spring-loaded locking ball 55 mounted on an inside wall of the mounting socket 51 and projecting outwardly of said inside wall. This locking ball 55 is engagable with complementary receiver slots 56 on each flat face of the hexagonal ends 13 of the body 10. The ball 55 will retract to allow the socket 51 of the adapter 50 to engage with the hexagonal outer surface 13 at each end of the body 10 and, on engagement, the ball 55 will spring outwardly for snap engagement within one of the slots 56 to securely retain the adapter 50 in engagement with the socket wrench 1.

In use a user manipulates the button 25 of the selector switch 20 to align the selector pin 22 with a desired socket element 15,16,17,18 or disengage the selector pin 22 altogether if the selected socket element is formed by the inside face 42 at the end 11

of the body 10. The socket wrench 1 is then engaged with a nut or bolt with the socket element 11,15,16,17,18 being held steady whist redundant inner socket elements 15,16,17,18 are pushed by the nut or bolt inwardly into the central portion 12 of the body 10. Thus positive and secure engagement of the required socket element 15,16,17,18,42 with the nut or bolt is achieved. It will be appreciated that the selector switch 20 can be quickly and easily operated to select any desired socket element 11,15,16,17,18,42.

While all the sockets above have been described with reference to hexagonal headed nuts and bolts, and undoubtedly hexagonal headed nuts and bolts constitute the majority of units which need to be actuated by a socket wrench, it will be appreciated that any other shape of multi-sided unit and corresponding socket could be provided.

The invention is not limited to the embodiments hereinbefore described which may be varied in both construction and detail within the scope of the appended claims.