James F Sheffield

US Patent:

7062809, Jun 20, 2006

Filed:

Dec 8, 2003

Appl. No.:

10/728877

Inventors:

James M. Sheffield - Grand Prairie TX, US

International Classification:

B25D 1/04

US Classification:

7145, 7144

Abstract:

A roofing hatchet having a magnetic striking face is hereby disclosed. A unique shouldered cap housing the magnet dampens the forces transferred from the striking by transferring the force directly to the hatchet head, bypassing the magnet, thereby preventing demagnetization typically caused by such repeated linear forces. Additional features include a cutting blade housing adapted to adjustably receive a variety of different commercially available utility knife blades, an adjustable gauge for gauging a distance from the bitted end of the hatchet, and a pulling notch for pulling fasteners from a surface. Unlike prior art hatchets, the handle of the inventive hatchet is angled, relative to the striking face, such that the force transfer from the hand of a user to a fastener being driven into a sloping surface is optimized.