Magazine assembly for stapling guns

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6516989
  • Patent Number
    6,516,989
  • Date Filed
    Wednesday, November 12, 1997
    28 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, February 11, 2003
    23 years ago
Abstract
An improved magazine assembly for stapling guns includes a magazine housing, a housing cover, and an elastic follow member. The magazine housing has two plate surfaces. At one plate surface there is provided a series of track blocks along the length of the magazine housing. A nail exit is formed at the magazine housing near the machine head. A vertical slot is formed in the magazine housing parallel to the track blocks. The elastic follow member is installed within the magazine housing and includes a push plate and a spring connected to the push plate. The push plate lies against the track blocks and displaces along their surface, and further extends through the vertical slot to the other plate surface of the magazine housing to form a bent trigger plate. The trigger plate has a hook that hooks one end of the spring. The other end of the spring is secured at the bottom end of the magazine housing. The housing cover is transparent and is disposed on the magazine housing where the track blocks are provided. The housing cover is transparent and has a through slot to allow the user to inspect the amount of nails inside the magazine.
Description




BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION




1. Field of the Invention




The present invention relates to a nailing machine, and more particularly to an improved magazine assembly.




2. Description of the Prior Art





FIG. 1

shows a conventional stapling device which is often shaped like a gun. In a gun-shaped housing


1


, a strike pin


2


, a reset spring


3


, a magnetic barrel


4


, a control circuit


5


, and a press switch


6


are disposed. There is further provided a machine head


7


at the front end of the housing


1


adapted to insertably clamp nails, the machine head


7


being connected to a magazine


8


at a lower end thereof. One end of the strike pin


2


extends in to the magnetic barrel


4


with the other end urging against the spring


3


, which in turn urges against a magnetic barrel


4


electrically connected to the control circuit


5


and the press switch switch


6


. When the press switch


6


is pressed, the strike pin


2


is attracted by the magnetic barrel


4


into the machine head


7


, striking the nails in the magazine


8


out of the nailing machine.





FIG. 2

shows the detailed structure of the above-described nailing machine of the prior art. It essentially comprises a magazine housing


10


, a magazine cover


10


, and an elastic follow member


30


. At one plate surface of the housing


10


along the length thereof, there are provided a series of track blocks


11


,


12


, . . . (see FIG.


3


). A cover plate


10


B is screwably locked above the track blocks


11


,


12


, . . . at that end of the housing


10


near where the machine head


7


is fixedly disposed. A nail exit


10


A is defined between the cover plate


10


B and the track blocks


11


,


12


, . . . . A through slot


10


C is formed near and parallel to the track blocks


11


,


12


, . . . , connecting the two halves of the housing


1


. Near the bottom end of the housing


10


, the through slot


10


C forms a curved portion


10


I, and a notch


10


J is formed at a front rim thereof. The elastic follow member


30


is comprised of a push plate


31


, and a trigger plate


32


screwably locked thereto. The trigger plate


32


is connected to the spring


33


. At a base of the trigger plate


32


near the housing


10


, a hook


32


A is formed to hook the spring


33


. The spring


33


passes over a roller


10


D on the housing


10


and is secured at a pin


10


E at the bottom end of the housing


10


. Where the push plate


31


screwably joins the trigger plate


32


, it extends through the through slot


10


C. A a retaining block


10


K is projectingly disposed at the front end of the part of the push plate


31


where it is screwably joined to the housing


10


so that the push plate


31


lies against the track blocks


11


,


12


, . . . (see

FIG. 3

) and is always in the state of displacing toward the nail exit


10


A to push the nails on the track blocks


11


,


12


, . . . Where the housing


10


is provided with the track blocks


11


,


12


, . . . , there is further provided a magazine cover


20


, which is smaller than the length of the housing


10


. One lateral end of the cover


10


is provided with pivot joints


10


F for pivotal connection with the housing


10


. The other lateral end is provided with retaining notches


10


G. Elastic hooks


10


H may be used to engage the retaining notches


10


G and the walls of the housing


10


for securing purposes.




As shown in

FIG. 3

, by pulling the trigger plate


32


(see FIG.


2


), the push plate


31


displaces towards the curved portion


10


I and tilts, so that the retaining block


10


J falls into the notch


10


J and is secured therein to facilitate installing of nails on the track blocks


11


,


12


, . . . . Then the trigger plate


32


is pulled to cause the push plate


31


to be released from the grip of the notch


10


J and push the nails out. However, the above-described conventional nailing machine has the following drawbacks:




1. Since the notch is on the curved portion of the through slot and holds the push plate at a single point only, the moving push plate will deflect and be biasedly engaged in the notch. As the engagement is not firm, the push plate may easily be shaken out of position upon impact and spring back, which will pose danger to the user if he/she is installing nails in the magazine.




2. As the housing cover is assembled to the housing by means of pivot joints at one side and retaining notches at the other side, when there is jamming, the housing cover has to be pivotally turned open to allow clearing of the jammed nails. Constant opening will result in damage to the relevant portions.




3. The housing cover is not transparent and do not allow the user to inspect the amount of the nails inside the magazine. It is necessary to open the magazine in order to know how many nails are left in the magazine, which is very inconvenient and inefficient.




SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION




The present invention relates to a nailing machine, and more particularly to an improved magazine assembly.




A primary object of the present invention is to provide an improved magazine assembly, in which some of the track blocks on the magazine have their rear ends project rearwardly to form clamping portions in which one end of the push plate can be firmly engaged so that the push plate will not easily slip out of position upon impact to cause danger to the user.




According to the improved magazine assembly of the present invention, the housing cover is assembled to the housing by screws and is provided with a through slot in the middle along the length thereof. When there is jamming, the push plate is firstly fixed in position and a small tool can be inserted into the through slot to clear the jammed nails on the track blocks. There is no need to remove the housing cover as in the prior art.




It will be understood that each of the elements described above, or two or more together may also find a useful application in other types of methods differing from the type described above.




While certain novel features of this invention have been shown and described and are pointed out in the annexed claim, it is not intended to be limited to the details above, since it will be understood that various omissions, modifications, substitutions and changes in the forms and details of the device illustrated and in its operation can be made by those skilled in the art without departing in any way from the spirit of the present invention.




Without further analysis, the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist of the present invention that others can, by applying current knowledge, readily adapt it for various applications without omitting features that, from the standpoint of prior art, fairly constitute essential characteristics of the generic or specific aspects of this invention.











BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS





FIG. 1

is a perspective exploded view of nailing machine of the prior art;





FIG. 2

is a perspective exploded view of the magazine assembly of the nailing machine of the prior art;





FIG. 3

is a schematic sectional view showing the positioning of the push plate of the nailing machine of the prior art;





FIG. 4

is a perspective exploded view of the present invention;





FIG. 5

is a sectional view taken along line V—V of

FIG. 4

;





FIG. 6

is a schematic view illustrating the feeding and pushing of the nails in the present invention;





FIG. 6A

is an enlarged fragmentary view of

FIG. 6

; and





FIG. 7

is a schematic view illustrating the positioning of the push plate of the present invention.











DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT




For the purpose of promoting an understanding of the principles of the invention, reference will now be made to the embodiment illustrated in the drawings. Specific language will be used to describe same. It will, nevertheless, be understood that no limitation of the scope of the invention is thereby intended, such alterations and further modifications in the illustrated device, and such further applications of the principles of the invention as illustrated herein being contemplated as would normally occur to one skilled in the art to which the invention relates.




As shown in

FIG. 4

, the present invention comprises a magazine housing


100


having two plate surfaces, a housing cover


200


, and an elastic nail follow member


300


. The magazine housing


100


is provided with a series of track blocks


101


,


102


, . . . at one plate surface along the length thereof (see FIGS.


6


and


7


). A cover plate


130


is screwably locked above the track blocks


101


,


102


, . . . at one end of the magazine housing


100


near where the machine head


7


is screwably fixed, such that a nail exit


110


is defined between the cover plate


130


and the track blocks


101


,


102


, . . . A vertical slot


120


is further formed in the magazine housing


100


parallel to the track blocks


101


,


102


, . . . The elastic nail follow member


300


is mounted within the magazine housing


100


and comprised of a push plate


311


and a spring


302


connected to the push plate


311


. The push plate


301


may rest against the track blocks


101


,


102


, . . . and displace along their surface; the push plate


311


further extends through the vertical slot


120


to the other plate surface of the magazine housing


100


to form a bent trigger plate


312


, as shown in FIG.


5


. The trigger plate


312


includes a base and a hook


312


A formed near the magazine housing


100


at a suitable position for hooking one end of the spring


302


. The other end of the spring


302


passes over a roller


111


on the magazine housing


100


to a pin


112


at a bottom end the magazine housing


100


and is secured thereby. Therefore, the push plate


311


is always inclined to displace towards the nail exit


110


. The housing cover


200


is screwably fixed to the magazine housing


100


where the track blocks


101


,


102


, . . . are. The housing cover


200


is transparent and has a through slot


201


having a width smaller than that of the nails formed in the middle along the length thereof.




Referring to

FIGS. 6 and 6A

, after nails


400


are installed on the track blocks


101


,


102


. . . , the resilience of the push plate


311


pushes the nails


400


the clearance between the housing cover


200


and the track blocks


101


,


102


, . . . ready for nailing. Since the housing cover


200


is transparent, the user may look at the nails


400


inside the magazine and know their amount. In addition, some of the track blocks have their rear ends projecting rearwardly such that the iprojected portions form clamp openings


113


with the surface of the rear end of the magazine housing


100


, the clamp openings


113


being sized to allow the push plate


311


to squeeze thereto. When nails are being installed, or when jamming is being cleared, referring to

FIG. 7

, by pulling the trigger plate


312


(shown in FIGS.


4


and


5


), the push plate


311


is caused to withdraw so that one end thereof fall into the clamp opening


113


and is firmly secured therein. After the push plate


311


has been secured, the user can use a pointed tool to extend into the through slot


201


and clear the jammed nails


400


. (For the placement of the nails


400


, please refer to

FIG. 6.

) Then by pulling the trigger plate


312


slightly to the back, so that the push plate


311


is released from the clamp opening


113


, the push plate


311


will spring back, as shown in FIG.


5


. There is no need to disconnect the housing cover


200


from the magazine housing


100


at one side as in the prior art.




It will be understood that each of the elements described above, or two or more together may also find a useful application in other types of methods differing from the type described above.




While certain novel features of this invention have been shown and described and are pointed out in the annexed claim, it is not intended to be limited to the details above, since it will be understood that various omissions, modifications, substitutions and changes in the forms and details of the device illustrated and in its operation can be made by those skilled in the art without departing in any way from the spirit of the present invention.




Without further analysis, the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist of the present invention that others can, by applying current knowledge, readily adapt it for various applications without omitting features that, from the standpoint of prior art, fairly constitute essential characteristics of the generic or specific aspects of this invention.



Claims
  • 1. A magazine assembly for stapling guns comprising:a magazine housing having two plate surfaces, said magazine housing being provided with a series of track blocks at one plate surface along the length thereof, a nail exit at an end where a machine head is disposed, a vertical slot formed in said magazine housing parallel to said track blocks to allow communication between said two plate surfaces; a housing cover, screwably disposed on said one plate surface of said magazine housing where said track blocks are provided, said housing cover being provided with a through slot at the middle along the length thereof; and an elastic follow member, installed within said magazine housing, wherein said elastic follow member is comprised of a push plate and a spring, said push plate lying against said track blocks and displacing along their surface, said push plate further extending through said vertical slot to another plate surface of said magazine housing to form a bent trigger plate, said trigger plate having a base forming a hook near said magazine housing at a suitable position for hooking one end of said spring, another end of said spring being secured at an inner wall of said magazine housing so that said push plate is always urged to displace towards said nail exit; wherein a certain number of said track blocks have rear end portions of a reduced thickness, which project rearwardly such that they define clamp openings with a surface of a rear end of said magazine housing, said clamp openings capable of holding firmly a part of said push plate which is squeezed thereinto.
US Referenced Citations (7)
Number Name Date Kind
3510043 Larson May 1970 A
4304349 Novak et al. Dec 1981 A
4524896 Morrell, Jr. Jun 1985 A
4801062 Austin Jan 1989 A
5433367 Liu Jul 1995 A
5653371 Hou Aug 1997 A
5704532 Wey Jan 1998 A