Socket wrench and set

Claim 1

A socket wrench, including in combination a handle terminating in an annular generally circular head, a hollow one-piece drive ring retained in said head and rotatable therein in both directions, said drive ring having a ratcheted outer peripheral portion and an interior female socket having a prismatic driving inner periphery at one end and a circular cylindrical inner periphery at the other end joined by a flat shelf, said cylindrical inner periphery having a diameter greater than that of the largest bolt with which said wrench is to be used, a ratchet pawl mounted on said handle for engagement with said ratcheted outer peripheral portion in each of two positions, one for each direction of rotation, a series of removable sockets, each having at a first end a prismatic outer periphery sized for fitting in said drive ring socket in driving connection therewith, an inner prismatic periphery at a second end for driving a nut or bolt head, a large circular cylindrical opening nearly as large as the distance between opposing walls of said prism, extending therethrough at said first end to enable passage of a bolt all the way therethrough, and a narrow shelf joining said prismatic inner periphery to said cylindrical opening, socket retention means in said prismatic inner periphery of said drive ring portion for retaining an installed socket in place while enabling its ready purposeful removal, each said socket having cooperating means for releasably engaging said socket retention means, and quick release means for releasing said socket from said socket retention means for changing sockets, said quick release means comprising a cylindrical member extending through the cylindrical inner periphery of said drive ring, having a first flange in said socket of said drive ring, against which a said removable socket bears, and a second flange at its opposite end beyond the adjacent face of said drive ring, and a coil spring compressed between said second flange and said drive ring.