Hand drill attachment

Abstract

A power hand drill has a subsurface object locator for detecting the presence of an object beneath a surface being probed with the locator. The drill has a housing with a flat accessory mounting surface having a pair of attachment tabs. The locator has a locator housing with a flat base and a pair of key hole slots engaged with the tabs for detachably mounting the locator housing to the accessory mounting surface of the drill housing. The locator includes sensing circuitry contained within the locator housing for detecting subsurface objects and has an object indicator mounted to the locator housing and connected to the sensing circuitry for indicating the presence of a subsurface object. A contoured surface on the locator housing provides a handrest for gripping when operating the drill.

1 . A drill accessory housing for housing an accessory for use with a hand drill having a drill housing, the drill accessory housing comprising: 
 a substantially flat bottom surface including an attachment member adapted to be slidably and detachably received by the drill housing; and    an upper surface that slopes upward in the direction from a front of the accessory housing to the rear of the housing, wherein when the drill accessory housing is installed on the drill housing, said upper surface provides a grip by which the accessory housing can be grasped to slide the housing rearwardly to release it from the drill housing.    
   
   
       2 . The drill accessory of  claim 1 , further comprising: 
 sensing circuitry contained within the accessory housing for detecting subsurface objects probed by said accessory; and    an object indicator connected to the sensing circuitry for indicating the presence of a subsurface object.    
   
   
       3 . The drill accessory of  claim 2 , wherein the object indicator comprises a plurality of indicator lights.  
   
   
       4 . The drill accessory of  claim 2 , wherein the sensing circuitry activates a first indicator light as the accessory approaches a subsurface object.  
   
   
       5 . The drill accessory of  claim 3 , wherein the sensing circuitry activates a second indicator light as the accessory senses an edge of a subsurface object.  
   
   
       6 . The drill accessory of  claim 3 , wherein the indicator lights are color-coded to provide a first coded indication when the accessory is approaching a subsurface object, and a second coded indication when the accessory detects an edge of the subsurface object.  
   
   
       7 . The drill accessory of  claim 1 , wherein the mounting surface is sized and dimensioned to be received on a substantially flat surface in the drill housing.  
   
   
       8 . A hand drill including a drill accessory, comprising: 
 a drill housing including an accessory mount defined in an upper surface of the drill housing, the accessory mount including a substantially flat mounting surface and a first attachment member; and    a drill accessory housing having a substantially flat bottom surface including a second attachment member adapted to be slidably engaged with the first attachment member and an upper surface sloping upward from a front portion of the accessory housing;    wherein the drill accessory housing is detachably mounted adjacent to the accessory mounting surface of the drill housing.    
   
   
       9 . The hand drill of  claim 8 , wherein the drill accessory comprises a subsurface object locator.  
   
   
       10 . The hand drill of  claim 8 , wherein the drill accessory includes sensing circuitry contained within the accessory housing for detecting subsurface objects probed by said accessory.  
   
   
       11 . The hand drill of  claim 10 , further comprising an object indicator connected to the sensing circuitry for indicating the presence of a subsurface object.  
   
   
       12 . The hand drill of  claim 11 , wherein the object indicator comprises a plurality of lights.  
   
   
       13 . The hand drill of  claim 12 , wherein the lights are color-coded.  
   
   
       14 . A hand drill, comprising: 
 a housing having an upper portion for receiving a motor extending along a first axis and a lower handle portion extending along a second axis substantially perpendicular to the first axis;    a flat mounting surface formed in the upper portion of the housing and extending along the first axis; and    an attachment member coupled to the flat mounting surface and adapted to slidably receive a drill accessory adjacent to the flat mounting surface and to couple the accessory to the housing.    
   
   
       15 . A hand drill including a detachable subsurface object locator accessory for detecting the presence of an object beneath a surface being probed with the locator, comprising: 
 a drill housing defining an accessory mount along an upper surface of the housing, the accessory mount having a substantially flat mounting surface and including a first attachment member;    a subsurface object locator housing having a substantially flat bottom surface for sliding along a surface to be probed, the substantially flat bottom surface including a second attachment member slidably received by and coupled to the first attachment member; a sensing circuitry contained within the subsurface locator housing for detecting subsurface objects; and    an object indicator connected to the sensing circuitry for indicating the presence of a subsurface object.    
   
   
       16 . The hand drill of  claim 15 , wherein the sensing circuitry further comprises a switch for resetting the subsurface object detector.  
   
   
       17 . The hand drill of  claim 15 , wherein the object indicator comprises a visual indicator.  
   
   
       18 . The hand drill of  claim 15 , wherein the object indicator comprises an audio indicator.  
   
   
       19 . The hand drill of  claim 15 , wherein the visual indicator comprises a plurality of color-coded light emitting diodes.  
   
   
       20 . The hand drill of  claim 19 , wherein the visual indicator comprises at least one of an amber, a red, and a green light emitting diode.  
   
   
       21 . The hand drill of  claim 18 , wherein the subsurface object locator housing includes an upper surface that slopes upward from a front portion of the drill housing.