A hex key or Allen key or wrench (also known by various other synonyms) is a tool of hexagonal cross-section used to drive bolts and screws that have a hexagonal socket in the head (internal-wrenching hexagon drive).
The Allen® name is a registered trademark, originated by the Allen Manufacturing Company of Hartford, Connecticut circa 1910, and currently owned by Apex Tool Group, LLC. Its genericized use is discouraged by this company. The standard generic name used in catalogs and published books and journals is "hex key".
Read more about Hex Key: Nomenclature, Features, History, Hex Key Standard Sizes, Manufacturing Methods
Famous quotes containing the word key:
“At the last, tenderly,
From the walls of the powerful fortress’d house,
From the clasp of the knitted locks, from the keep of the well-closed doors,
Let me be wafted.
Let me glide noiselessly forth;
With the key of softness unlock the locks—with a whisper,
Set ope the doors O soul.”
—Walt Whitman (1819–1892)