Claims
- 1. A stud driving device, comprising:
- a rotatably driven carriage having a peripheral wall;
- at least one retaining ball held in said peripheral wall and protruding from the inner surface of said peripheral wall;
- at least one latching ball held in said peripheral wall and protruding from the inner surface of said peripheral wall;
- means for holding said at least one retaining ball and said at least one latching ball in the peripheral wall, the relative axial position between said means for holding and said carriage remaining constant, said means for holding having a constant inner diameter between said at least one retaining ball and said at least one latching ball;
- a closing contour extending inwardly from the inner surface of said peripheral wall near the bottom edge of said carriage;
- a plurality of stud-gripping jaws held within said carriage, said jaws forming a substantially cylindrical assembly, and reciprocating in and partially out of said carriage, said reciprocation being relative to said at least one retaining ball and said at least one latching ball, said jaws being open when extending partially out of said carriage and closed when in said carriage, said jaws assembly comprising:
- a closing lip on each of said jaws which cooperates with said closing contour;
- means for holding a stud inside of said jaws assembly;
- at least one longitudinally extending retaining groove formed on the face of one of said jaws for cooperating with said at least one retaining ball, said at least one retaining groove having a relatively narrow and shallow upper end and a relatively wide and deep lower portion;
- at least one longitudinally extending latching groove formed on the face of one of said jaws for cooperating with said latching ball, said at least one latching groove having a relatively wide and deep upper end and a relatively narrow and shallow lower end, said at least one retaining ball being disposed in the wide portion of said at least one retaining groove and said at least one latching ball being disposed in the narrow end of said at least one latching groove when said jaws are closed, and said at least one retaining ball being disposed in the narrow end of said at least one retaining groove and said at least one latching ball being disposed in the wide end of said at least one latching groove when said jaws are open, said at least one retaining ball and said at least one latching ball contacting said constant inner diameter of said means for holding when said jaws are open and closed.
- 2. A stud driving device as claimed in claim 1, wherein said means for holding is a body within which said carriage is located.
- 3. A stud driving device as claimed in claim 1 wherein said latching and retaining grooves are of a tear drop shape.
- 4. A stud driving device as claimed in claim 1, wherein
- two diametrically opposed retaining balls are held in said peripheral wall,
- two diametrically opposed latching balls are held in said peripheral wall,
- two longitudinally extending latching grooves are on the face of the jaws assembly, and
- two longitudinally extending retaining grooves are on the face of said jaws assembly, said latching and retaining grooves being of substantially equal length, the length of said grooves determining the distance of reciprocation of said jaws.
- 5. An automatic stud driving tool comprising:
- a carriage having a longitudinal axis, the carriage provided with a cavity extending therethrough along said axis;
- a pair of opposed jaws provided partially within said cavity and capable of sliding simultaneously as a unit along the axis of said carriage, means for assuring that the jaws are capable of moving about a pivot axis and with respect to said carriage to at least two positions relative to each other, an open and a closed position;
- the pair of jaws being provided with gripping means for gripping a stud in a non-rotatable manner when said jaws are in said closed position, and for releasing said stud when said jaws are in said open position;
- preventing means for positively preventing the jaws from moving from the open position to the closed position unless a stud is engaged with said gripping means;
- holding means for preventing the removal of the jaws from the carriage when said jaws are in said open position, said holding means comprising selectively interengaging surfaces integrally formed on the surface said jaws and on the surface of said cavity, said surfaces being located between the gripping means and the pivot axis such that when the jaws assume their open position the interengaging surfaces will abut and prevent removal of said jaws, but when said jaws assume their closed position the interengaging surfaces do not abut and the surfaces can move axially past each other so that the jaws can be removed from said carriage; and
- means to rotate the carriage to thereby rotate the jaws, to in turn rotate the stud into a work piece.
- 6. An automatic stud driving tool as in claim 5, wherein the gripping means are located on the interior face of the jaws at the axial end thereof furthest from the carriage, the selectively engaging surface on the jaws is located on the exterior surface thereof at the substantially same axial level as the gripping means and, the selectively interengaging surface on the cavity is located at the substantially same axial level as the gripping means.
- 7. An automatic stud driving tool as in claim 5, wherein a body surrounds the carriage, the body and carriage are rotatable relative to each other, and the carriage and body do not move axially with respect to each other.
- 8. A carriage assembly for an automatic stud driving tool, comprising:
- a carriage having a longitudinal axis, said carriage having an interior surface defining a cavity extending therethrough along said axis;
- a pair of opposed jaws provided partially within said cavity and capable of sliding simultaneously as a unit along the axis of said carriage, said opposed jaws having gripping surfaces at a first end thereof;
- pivot means for assuring that said opposed jaws are capable of moving about a pivot axis which is transverse to the longitudinal axis of said carriage;
- actuating means for moving the jaws from an open position to a closed position upon insertion of a stud between said opposed jaws; and
- holding means for preventing removal of the opposed jaws from the carriage when said jaws are in said open position, said holding means comprising selectively interengaging surfaces integrally formed on a surface of the jaws and on the interior surface of said carriage, said interengaging surfaces being located along said longitudinal axis between the pivot axis and the first end of said opposed jaws such that when the opposed jaws assume their open position the interengaging surfaces will abut and prevent removal of said opposed jaws, but when said opposed jaws assume their closed position the interengaging surfaces define a clearance therebetween;
- whereby the jaws are retained within said carriage solely by said interengaging surfaces during assembly of the automatic stud driving tool.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application is a continuation-in-part of Application Ser. No. 265,706, filed May 21, 1981, now abandoned, which shows an improvement to automatic stud drivers of the type described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 179,444, filed Aug. 19, 1980, now abandoned.
US Referenced Citations (21)
Foreign Referenced Citations (1)
| Number |
Date |
Country |
| 1334909 |
Oct 1973 |
GBX |
Continuation in Parts (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
| Parent |
265706 |
May 1981 |
|