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Allen is a brand of hand tools, most widely recognized for its wrenches, known generically as "Allen wrenches". As a brand, it is owned by
Originally named Allen Manufacturing Company, the business produced hexagonal set screws and wrenches to fasten them. The terms "Allen wrench" (American English) and "Allen key" (British English) are derived from the Allen brand name and refer to the generic product category " hex keys".
W.G. Allen filed the first related patent in 1909 for its recessed hex-driven safety screws, a safety improvement over fasteners which protruded from machinery. While other hex keys were patented before and after this date, the name would persist. Allen left the company shortly after.
An advertisement for Allen safety screws would appear in the 1910 Annual Convention of International Association of Factory Inspectors.
In 1922, Allen Manufacturing Company produced sets of tools under the company name "Bay State", suggesting that they may have privately acquired another hardware manufacturer, namely the Bay State Pump Company.
Apex Tool Group owns the current trademark and has since renewed it.
Image:Allen long arm hex key set.jpg, Set of long arm
Allen web site
Apex Tool Group brands Tool brands {{product-stub
Apex Tool Group
Apex Tool Group is an American supplier of hand tools and power tools. It was formed as a joint venture of Cooper Industries and Danaher by the merger of Cooper Tools and Danaher's Tools and Components segment. In October 2012, Danaher and Coo ...
.
History
Originally named Allen Manufacturing Company, the business produced hexagonal set screws and wrenches to fasten them. The terms "Allen wrench" (American English) and "Allen key" (British English) are derived from the Allen brand name and refer to the generic product category " hex keys".
W.G. Allen filed the first related patent in 1909 for its recessed hex-driven safety screws, a safety improvement over fasteners which protruded from machinery. While other hex keys were patented before and after this date, the name would persist. Allen left the company shortly after.
An advertisement for Allen safety screws would appear in the 1910 Annual Convention of International Association of Factory Inspectors.
In 1922, Allen Manufacturing Company produced sets of tools under the company name "Bay State", suggesting that they may have privately acquired another hardware manufacturer, namely the Bay State Pump Company.
Apex Tool Group owns the current trademark and has since renewed it.
End of production
In January 2017, Apex Tool Group announced they would end the manufacturing of Allen and Armstrong hand tools in theirSumter, South Carolina
Sumter ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Sumter County, South Carolina, United States. Known as the Sumter Metropolitan Statistical Area, the namesake county adjoins Clarendon and Lee to form the core of Sumter-Lee-Clarendon Tri-county (o ...
manufacturing plant. With this, Apex Communications Director Kelly Rhoads confirmed the line would cease production on March 31. This ended production of the Allen brand in hex keys, L-key, and T-handle styles.
In 2018, Apex began manufacturing official hex keys under their company brand Crescent
A crescent shape (, ) is a symbol or emblem used to represent the lunar phase in the first quarter (the "sickle moon"), or by extension a symbol representing the Moon itself.
In Hinduism, Lord Shiva is often shown wearing a crescent moon on his ...
, referred to as Crescent Apex. The previous Allen website routes to them. They are sold in thirteen piece sets as well as three piece holding tools and no longer use the term "allen wrench" in official branding or marketing.
As of 2021, the Apex Tool Group website's Allen page has been purged of all content except for the rebranded Allen logo, the Armstrong logo erroneously referred to as the brand image, and the brand site URL, now a redirect to Crescent. No public announcement has been made for the end of productions under the Allen name.
Gallery
hex key
Hex keys of various sizes
Socket head screws of various sizes
A hex key (also, hex wrench, Allen key and Allen wrench) is a simple driver for bolts or screws that have heads with ''internal'' hexagonal recesses (sockets).
Hex keys are form ...
s
Image:Folding Allen key set.jpg, Set of folding hex keys
Image:Allen ratchet.jpg, Allen brand ratchet
Ratchet may refer to:
Devices
* Ratchet (device), a mechanical device that allows movement in only one direction
* Ratchet, metonomic name for a socket wrench incorporating a ratcheting device
* Ratchet (instrument), a music instrument and a ...
References
External links
Allen web site
Apex Tool Group brands Tool brands {{product-stub