** Reply to message from John Anderson <janderson@IOLINC.NET> on Tue,
3 Nov 1998 08:50:54 -0500

Just to be picky here, "Allen" is a trademark of the Allen company
and refers to their brand of hex keys (I suspect they invented the
inside-hex fastener).  Torx is likewise a trademark for the internal
6-point fastener system with pointed corners instead of flats, which
allows more torque without stripping out the fastener -- it's also
better adapted for robotic assembly systems.  I don't know of a
trademarked version of the internal 12-point system, but all the
mechanics I've met call it a triple-square.  I also have a strange key
with a six- or eight-point system which is -- can't think of a word --
take a square wave and bend it in a circle.  It's very small, so it
looks like a hex key unless you look close.  I've never seen a
fastener like it.  I think the fastener would look like a regular hex
with little splines coming in from the corners.  If someone knows
anything about that I'd be interested.

david

> On nomenclature actually "allen" is often used to refer to a number
of
> generic socketed fasteners, not merely the 6 point.  But I guess 12
pt or
> "triple square" would be acceptable, I've seen "12 pt allen key"
used in

David Beierl <dbeierl@ibm.net>
401 274-5827 voice, -6349 fax
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