Claims
- 1. A device for receiving, transferring and inserting fasteners into a hole in workpiece; said device comprising:
- an anvil having a face movable from a first upper position spaced away from a workpiece to a second lower position spaced closely adjacent said workpiece;
- carrier means including a bore extending through said carrier means, said bore being coaxial with the anvil, the face of the anvil passing through the bore as it moves from its first upper position to its second lower position, said carrier means additionally being provided with a side port extending through the carrier means from the bore to its exterior surface and through which a fastener may be fed into the bore when the anvil face is in its upper position; and
- a plurality of coaxially arranged fastener engaging means entirely mounted within the bore of said carrier means below the side port and one on top of another, each fastener engaging means being formed of a resilient material and including an annular cylindrical collar portion and a plurality of resilient fingers integral with and of the same material as the collar portion, the resilient fingers extending from the collar portion towards the center of the bore and being angled away from the face of said anvil when the anvil is in its first position;
- the parts being so arranged and constructed that a fastener initially fed through said port is received on top of the uppermost fastener engaging means and during movement of the anvil from its upper position to its lower position said fastener is transferred from said initial location to an axially oriented location as its sidewalls are engaged by said resilient fingers, the fastener then being inserted into the hole in the workpiece as the anvil completes its movement towards its lower position.
- 2. A device as set forth in claim 1 further characterized by the provision of feeding means capable of feeding individual fasteners through said side port.
- 3. A device as set forth in claim 1 further characterized by the provision of a pressure foot, the fastener engaging means and the associated portion of the carrier means being disposed within said pressure foot when said fastener is being inserted into the hole in a workpiece.
- 4. The device as set forth in claim 1 wherein said annular collar portion and said resilient fingers are formed of a plastic material such as nylon or the like.
- 5. The device as set forth in claim 1 wherein there are cylindrical spacers between said annular collar portions.
- 6. The device as set forth in claim 1 wherein the bore in the carrier means is provided with an enlarged diameter portion at its lower end, there being an annular shoulder between the enlarged diameter portion of the bore and the bore immediately above the enlarged diameter portion, the upper surface of the annular collar portion of the uppermost fastener engaging means bearing against the said shoulder.
- 7. The device as set forth in claim 6 wherein said annular collar portion is retained in place by retaining means force fit into said enlarged diameter portion.
- 8. An apparatus for inserting a fastener into a hole in a workpiece comprising the following:
- a tubular carrier having a side port between its lower discharge end and its upper end, the bore within the tubular carrier being held coaxially with the hole in the workpiece;
- a plurality of fastener engaging means mounted coaxially within the bore of the tubular carrier between the side port and the lower discharge end, each of the fastener engaging means including an annular collar portion and a plurality of resilient fingers integral with and of the same material as the collar portion; and
- an anvil at least a portion of which is disposed within the bore of the carrier between the side port and the upper end, the anvil being in coaxial alignment with the fastener engaging means and being movable from a raised position wherein it is entirely disposed above the side port in the tubular carrier to a lower position where the lower face of the anvil is disposed well below the side port in the tubular carrier.
- 9. A method of inserting a fastener into a hole in a workpiece comprising the following steps:
- providing a tubular carrier having a side port between its discharge end and another end; the tubular carrier being held coaxially with the hole in the workpiece;
- mounting a plurality of fastener engaging means coaxially within the bore of the tubular carrier between the side port and the discharge end, each of the fastener engaging means including an annular collar portion and a plurality of resilient fingers integral with the collar portion;
- disposing at least a portion of an anvil within the carrier between the side port and the other end, the anvil being held in coaxial alignment with the fastener engaging means;
- inserting a fastener through the port in the tubular carrier onto that fastener engaging means which is spaced closest to the port; and
- moving the anvil towards the workpiece to progressively force the fastener through the fastener engaging means to cause the fastener to initially become coaxially aligned with the hole in the workpiece and then to be inserted into said hole.
Parent Case Info
This application is a continuation, of application Ser. No. 947,851, filed Dec. 30, 1986 abandonded.
US Referenced Citations (7)
Continuations (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
947851 |
Dec 1986 |
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