Gang,
Just re-updated after additional catalog research.
My original date guess was based on the patent issue date of 1951.
I have since checked a slew of catalogs. Here's what I found:
1943 Blackhawk Cat-- found a ratchet 34998; this ratchet matches most of the features of my ratchet except it was not a flex-head and was shorter. The basic architecture was the same.
1953 Blackhawk Cat.-- found no ratchets similar to mine and no model numbers even close.
1955 New Britain Cat.--found no ratchets similar to mine and no model numbers even close. NB acquired Blackhawk mid-year.
1959 New Britain Cat.-- found NB-44 RH ratchet 60 tooth Blackhawk-patented mechanism. Getting close
1963 New Britain Cat.-- Blackhawk brand now Under New Britain Machine Co ownership & operation, found my ratchet. So, it looks like my initial date estimate was off by at least a decade. The good news, now I have a documented starting point, plus or minus a few years.
So, this means Blackhawk, the company, never made it to market with their newly patented design. This new design (pat. 2,554,990) was finally brought to market by New Britain sometime between 1959 and 1963. Here's the neat thing about this particular Kilness design. Not only does it have a 60-tooth ring gear, but it also sported a pawl with 12 teeth of engagement. This was unheard of in 1949/1951 when the patent was submitted/issued. And, I dug one of these ratchets up in Belton TX 70 years later, in working order.
