Hand Tool Organizer

Workmen that require various tools in their jobs have the problem of how to carry these tools and yet have their hands free to do other things, e.g. climb a ladder. It is well known that many types of workmen have devised their own carriers that are suspended from a waist belt. A typical example is one who uses a military web belt with attachable pouches and loops that can carry screw drivers, hammers, pliers, chisels, wrenches, etc. In more recent times it has become a common practice to use hand tools that are powered by springs, electricity, compressed air, or the like, to do jobs originally done by hand, e.g. nailing, stapling, drilling, riveting, and the like. These powered hand tools are usually more bulky than their manual, unpowered predecessors, and there is a need to provide a means for carrying such tools around while leaving the hands free. One such means is a holster into which can be strapped to the body of the workman so as to be available when needed. The holsters which have appeared up to now do not have the desired adjustability so as to fit different sizes of bodies, and do not provide the most desirable facilities for carrying tool bits, keys, and the like.

It is an object of this invention to provide an improved tool organizer including a holster for a hand tool having a pistol grip handle. It is another object of this invention to provide a novel holster for a hand tool wherein the holster is adjustable in position and has optional attachments for holding tool bits, chuck key, and boxes of fasteners. Still other objects will become apparent from the more detailed description which follows.

This invention relates to a hand tool organizer including a one-piece molded holster having an open top to receive a hand tool with a pistol grip handle. The holster has attached thereto on the portion next to the wearer an elongated strap having an upper end and a lower end and being formed of two coextensive layers fastened together by a plurality of longitudinally spaced threaded inserts through at least two of which such strap is fastened to the holster by removable fasteners, with other combinations of at least two threaded inserts providing the capability of adjusting the position of the holster along the length of the strap. The upper end of the strap extending above the holster with the two layers being releasably fastened together by a fastener to form a belt loop from which the holster is supported and readily released therefrom. The lower end of the elongated strap has a tunnel loop therein to receive an adjustable lateral strap having a releasable fastener for encircling the strap around the leg of the wearer.

In a preferred embodiment of this invention, there is a holder for tool bits fastened to the outside of the holster, the holder being a two-layer strap with a plurality of spaced rivets through both layers to provide, between rivets, places to insert and retain tool bits. In another preferred embodiment a channel clip is attached to the outside of the holster to receive and retain boxes of fasteners that might be used with a stud gun. In still another embodiment there is a strap loop releasably attached to the holster to hold a drill chuck key.

The novel features believed to be characteristic of this invention are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, both as to its organization and method of operation, together with further objects and advantages thereof, may best be understood by reference to the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of one embodiment of the hand tool organizer of this invention;

FIG. 2 is a front elevational view of the organizer of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a rear elevational view of the organizer of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a side elevational view of a second embodiment of the hand tool organizer of this invention;

FIG. 5 is a front elevational view of the organizer of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a schematic view showing the adjustability of the organizer of this invention;

FIG. 7 is a schematic view showing the organizer of this invention worn on the left side of the wearer; and

FIG. 8 is a schematic view showing the organizer of this invention worn on the right side of the wearer.

In FIGS. 1-3 the details of this invention are readily seen. A hand tool, e.g., a power drill, 50 is enclosed in an organizer 60. The organizer 60 includes a holster 55 formed from a single piece of moldable material folded along the front portion 20 with two edges brought together at the back portion 21 and held together by a fastener 51 and a tension screw fastener 52. Holster 55 has two sidewalls 22 and 23, the former being positioned against the wearer's leg and the latter facing away from the wearer. This arrangement includes an open top 24, leading to an inside cavity into which hand tool 50 is inserted, and an open bottom 25 which permits the forward end of hand tool 50 to project downwardly. Sidewalls 22 and 23, and front portion 20 are molded to fit the outside contours of the hand tool 50.

Holster 55 is preferably made of a heat moldable thermoplastic material. Such materials are commercially available in sheet form in any of a variety of thickness. Each type of material has its own unique molding temperature, frequently known as the "softening temperature", at which level the sheet can be caused to assume any irregular shape. Generally, the preferred method of forming is to place a sheet of the thermoplastic material around an interval core of the proper contour and heat the thermoplastic to its forming temperature, press the material around the core while hot, and then cool the formed holster until it retains its formed shape. Other thermal forming methods may also be operable. Among the materials which are suitable for this purpose are polystyrene, acrylic-butadiene-styrene terpolymer, polyvinyl chloride, polyvinyl fluoride-acrylic copolymer, polyvinyl butyrate, and polycarbonate. There may be other thermoplastic sheet materials which are also suitable in this invention although the preferred types are listed above.

The thickness of the thermoplastic sheet material which is employed is not a critical limitation although it should be recognized that for larger and stronger holsters a thicker sheet material should be employed and for smaller more flexible holsters a thinner sheet material may be employed. As an overall range it may be said that the thermoplastic sheet material should have a thickness of about 0.05-0.15 inch, and for most holster applications this thickness is preferably 0.08-0.13 inch. Excellent results are obtained at a thickness of about 0.090-0.095 inch.

Holster 55 may be made solely of the moldable thermoplastic material described above, or it may be lined with a softer leather-like material to provide a more snug fit for the hand tool 50. On the other hand, holster 55 can be made to have any desired outside appearance by using any desired outside layer that will adhere to the thermoplastic material as it is being molded. The molding temperature of the thermoplastic material must be below the temperature which causes any destruction of any other layer of material being used. Generally, this temperature is about 400.degree. F. For the most part the molding temperatures of such thermoplastic sheet materials is above about 175.degree. F.

Holster 55 is releasably fastened to supporting strap 26 by two fasteners 31, preferably of a screw thread type. Strap 26 is about twice as long as holster 55 from open top 24 to open bottom 25, so that holster 55 may be positioned where desired by the wearer. For this purpose there are a plurality (three shown in the drawings) of grommets 30 which are spaced apart vertically the same as the space between threaded fasteners 40. This permits holster 55 to be positioned higher or lower on strap 26, as more specifically shown in FIG. 6, indicating positions 55 and 56 when selecting different combinations of grommets 30. Externally threaded fasteners 40 mate with internally threaded fasteners 40', one being shown in broken lines in FIG. 2, which may be in the form of a common T-nut with spaced prongs which embed in the side walls 22 and 23 to inhibit rotation thereof.

Supporting strap 26 is preferably made of two coextensive layers of strap material, which may be a woven textile, leather, or a plastic strap. At upper end 27 the two layers are separable as shown in FIG. 2 and have a snap fastener 29 at the extreme upper end to selectively fasten or unfasten those two layers. Preferably, fastener 29 is a directional snap fastener that opens and closes only when the two component parts are positioned in an indexed orientation with respect to each other. This arrangement permits an easy attachment to the waist belt of the wearer, without the awkward necessity of unfastening the waist belt and risking the wearer's pants dropping from the waist.

At lower end 28 of supporting strap 26 a tunnel loop is provided by an open space between the two layers of material in strap 26. This tunnel loop is adapted to receive a lateral strap 32 therethrough which is adjustable in length and includes a suitable buckle 33. Strap 32 and its buckle 33 are intended to provide a leg encircling band which holds bottom end 25 of holster 55 snugly against the leg of the wearer to prevent swinging or flapping of the holster during wearer movement, helping to insure that hand tool 50 will not inadvertently fall out of holster 55, and also, to make it easier to withdraw hand tool 50 from a tight fitting holster 55.

An optional feature of this invention is holder 34 which releasably snaps, by way of fastener 36, which also preferably is a directional fastener as described above, to front 20 of holster 55. Holder 34 is intended to retain a chuck key 35 for a power drill hand tool 50. Holder 34 and key 35 may be unsnapped from holster 55, used to attach or detach a drill bit from power drill 50, and then snapped back in place on holster 55. Any other type of small tool, key, wrench, or the like, may be fastened to holster 55 in a similar manner.

Another optional feature of this invention is a tool bit holding strap 37 fastened to the outside side wall 23 of holster 55 by releasable fasteners 40. Strap 37, in a preferred embodiment, is formed of two coextensive layers of material held together by spaced rivets 41 and by grommets 40 through which releasable externally threaded fasteners 40 extend. In between adjacent rivets 41, the two layers are sufficiently flexible to insert a tool bit 42 or other similar items. If the two layers of strap 37 have sufficiently rough surfaces, or are elastic or the like, tool bit 42 will be held by frictional forces and will not fall out inadvertently. A textile webbing is a suitable material for the layers of strap 37, although leather, rubber, and plastic straps are also operable.

Still another optional feature is shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 where the organizer 60' is for a stud gun 50' hand tool. Holster 55' is molded to the shape of stud gun 50', and it has all the previously described features of a supporting strap 26 on which holster 55' is vertically adjustable and a leg encircling strap 32. In this instance there is no provision for a loop holder 34 retaining a chuck key 35, because a stud gun requires no such key. For stud gun 50' there is a need to keep a supply of power loads that can be loaded into stud gun 50' for use when desired. For this purpose there is a channel clip means 43 attached to the outside side wall 23' of holster 55' by releasable fasteners 40 of the same type and location as described above with respect to FIGS. 1-3. Channel clip means 43 is a generally rectangular chute closed on three sides and having an open front slotted portion 57 to permit the wearer's fingers to have ready access to contact a box 48 of power loads to remove same. Channel clip means 43 has an open top end 44 and a bottom end 45 with inturned stop flanges 46 to prevent boxes 48 from sliding out the bottom of channel clip means 43. Generally, channel clip means 43 is about as long as holster 55 so as to provide as much storage capacity for boxes 48 of power loads, which may be needed in different sizes for different jobs. It may be desired to include an elastic band 47 around the outside of channel clip means 43 to squeeze together the portions of the channel bordering on open position 57. Such a squeezing is only needed if the channel clip means does not provide enough frictional forces to keep boxes 48 from inadvertently falling out of the channel.

Another feature of holster 55 (or 55') is its reversibility. In FIGS. 7 and 8 the same holster 55 and its accompanying features supporting strap 26, leg strap 32, key holder 34 and tool bit holder 37 can be worn on the right leg or the left leg as desired. Holster 55 is molded and punched holes and T-nuts 40' are located to make it symmetrical about central plane 58 as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. Plane 58 is vertical and passes through the vertical centerline of front portion 20 and back portion 21 of holster 55. Holes to match grommets 30, T-nuts 40' and fasteners 40 are identically located and spaced on side walls 22 and 23 so that supporting strap 26 and tool bit strap 37, and channel clip means 43 may be attached to either side of holster 55.

In some instances, e.g., where the hand tool 50 is extraordinarily long, it may be desirable to employ a front opening holster which permits the hand tool 50 to be pushed forward causing side walls 22 and 23 to spread apart along juncture 59 (as shown in dotted lines in FIG. 5) where the forward edges of side walls 22 and 23 join and are held in place by the bias of fastener 51 and tension screw 52. If hand tool 50 is sufficiently short to be withdrawn from holster 55 upwardly through open top 24, it may be preferred not to employ this front opening embodiment, but rather to have a nonopening front wall 20 as shown in solid lines in FIG. 5.

A molded thermoplastic tool bag or a leather or textile (e.g., canvas) tool bag may also be attached to holster 55 at and by fasteners 40, in addition to or in place of tool bit holder 37 or channel clip 43. This is merely to illustrate that any type of container or assistant may be attached via fasteners 40 and still be within the spirit of this invention.

While the invention has been described with respect to certain specific embodiments, it will be appreciated that many modifications and changes may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention. It is intended, therefore, by the appended claims to cover all such modifications and changes as fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention.