(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to an electrician's utility hammer for use in striking, prying, and puncturing objects. In particular, the invention pertains to a unique hammerhead that is provided with a front face and two side faces for striking objects, and a back face specifically configured for use in prying objects with increased leverage and in knocking out the different sized knock-out plugs of conventional electrical junction boxes.
(2) Description of the Related Art
Conventional hammerheads of the type most commonly used in carpentry are formed at one end with a flat face for striking objects such as nails, and formed at the opposite end with a claw for removing nails. The shank of the hammerhead that connects the front face and the rear claw is commonly provided with an eye or socket extending through the hammerhead for receiving a handle inserted into the head. Although the shape of the conventional hammerhead is well designed for its use in carpentry, it is not ideally suited for performing some of the specialized tasks involved in installing electrical systems in structures.
In installing electrical junction boxes in residential and commercial structures, an electrician can make use of a conventional hammer for driving in nails to hold junction and fuse boxes to wall studs and floor joists of the structures. However, the face of a conventional hammerhead is too large to be used to knock out the knock-out plugs of conventional junction and fuse boxes. It is common practice for an electrician to use a screwdriver as a chisel, and striking the screwdriver with the hammer to knock out the knock-out plugs. However, in installing junction and fuse boxes on the wall studs and floor joists of buildings under construction, there is often only a limited area to work in between adjacent wall studs and floor joists. In this limited working space it is very difficult to position a screwdriver on the knock-out plug of a junction box or a fuse box, and then strike the opposite end of the screwdriver to knock out the knock-out plugs. A hammerhead specifically designed with a striking face dimensioned small enough to knock out the smaller of the two nested knock-out plugs provided on conventional electrical boxes, while also providing a larger striking surface for knocking out the larger of the two nested knockout plugs of conventional electrical boxes would overcome the disadvantages encountered in employing a conventional hammerhead to perform electrical installation work.
Problems are also often encountered when an electrician uses a conventional hammerhead to remove previously installed electrical junction and fuse boxes from the wall studs and floor joists of a building structure. Because of the curvature of the nail claw of a conventional hammerhead, it is often difficult to insert the end of the claw between a wall stud or floor joist and the junction box without the handle of the hammer contacting the junction box and preventing the insertion of the claw. To overcome this problem, the end of the hammer claw can be placed against a protruding surface of the electrical box away from its connection to the wall stud or floor joist, and then a block of wood can be placed between the top of the hammerhead and the wall stud or floor joist to provide a fulcrum surface for the hammerhead to rock against to pry the installed junction box from the wall stud or floor joist. Very often a properly sized block of wood is not immediately available to the electrician, and the electrician's work is slowed down while he searches for a block of wood to be used as the fulcrum in removing the junction box from the stud or joist. A hammerhead having a claw or prong with a built-in fulcrum would overcome this disadvantage of conventional hammerheads.
Furthermore, the nail claw on conventional hammerheads commonly has a width that is wider than any other point on the hammerhead. The width of the end of the nail claw often prevents it from being inserted in the limited spaces involved in performing electrical contracting work. For example, the nail claws of conventional hammers cannot be used to knock out the nested knock-out plugs of conventional junction or fuse boxes because the width of the ends of the hammer claw is too wide to permit the insertion of the claw through the knock-out holes of conventional junction boxes. A hammerhead with a narrow claw specifically designed to be inserted into the smaller knock-out holes of conventional junction and fuse boxes would overcome this disadvantage of prior art hammerheads.
It is also often necessary for the electrician to use his hammer to knock out sections of wall board to gain access to the space between adjacent wall studs behind the wall board. The striking face of a conventional hammerhead can be used for this purpose, but the work goes slowly because the striking face of a hammerhead will generally knock out only a section of wall board the size of the striking face itself. The electrician can turn his hammer sideways and use the side surface of the hammerhead to break away portions of the wall board. However, due to the close proximity of the side surface of a conventional hammerhead and the handle inserted in the head, the handle of the hammer may come into contact with a wall stud or the wall board being broken away, causing the handle to break. A hammerhead provided with side surfaces that project outward from the hammer handle would overcome this disadvantage of conventional hammerheads.
The electrician's utility hammer of the present invention overcomes the above described disadvantages of prior art hammerheads by providing a unique hammerhead structure that incorporates a front section having a flat striking surface, a rear section formed as a narrow pry bar with a narrow striking surface at its distal end and a projecting fulcrum protuberance on its top surface, and a middle section joining the front and rear sections and having striking surfaces projecting outward from its opposite sides away from a handle inserted into the middle section of the hammerhead.