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Chattanooga Knows: Who invented the quick-release socket wrench?

Staff photo / The Northgate Sears store sits idle in 2019 after the department store closed. Sears in the 1970s was ordered by the courts to pay Peter Roberts, of Red Bank, $1 million in a patent dispute over the quick-release socket wrench.
Staff photo / The Northgate Sears store sits idle in 2019 after the department store closed. Sears in the 1970s was ordered by the courts to pay Peter Roberts, of Red Bank, $1 million in a patent dispute over the quick-release socket wrench. Staff photo / The Northgate Sears store sits idle in 2019 after the department store closed. Sears in the 1970s was ordered by the courts to pay Peter Roberts, of Red Bank, $1 million in a patent dispute over the quick-release socket wrench.

By Staff Report 1 min read

Q. Who invented the quick-release socket wrench?

A. Peter Roberts, of Red Bank, invented the quick-release socket wrench in 1965 and sold the rights for $10,000 to Sears. In the 1970s, Sears was ordered by the courts to pay the pharmacist $1 million in a patent dispute.

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