Nail-driving gun with safety device

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6450387
  • Patent Number
    6,450,387
  • Date Filed
    Monday, March 4, 2002
    22 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, September 17, 2002
    22 years ago
Abstract
A nail-driving gun includes a gun body that has a handle and a nail-shooting seat. A safety device includes an upper plate, a lower plate, and a safety rod. The upper and lower plates can move synchronously between top and bottom plates of the nail-shooting seat. The safety rod has a front end that is attached fixedly to a rear end portion of the assembly of the upper and lower plates. The upper and lower plates have front ends that project forward from the nail-shooting seat and that can be pressed against a wall so as to move the safety rod to a rear limit position, where the trigger member can be actuated to shoot a nail from the nail-shooting seat.
Description




BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION




1. Field of the Invention




This invention relates to a nail-driving gun, and more particularly to a nail-driving gun having a safety device, which includes a safety rod that is movable between a front limit position, where nail shooting is prevented, and a rear limit position, where the nail shooting is permitted.




2. Description of the Related Art




Referring to

FIG. 1

, a conventional driving gun


10


is shown to include a handle


11


, a barrel


12


, a trigger member


13


, a safety rod


14


, and a nail case unit


15


. The handle


11


is provided with a movable valve rod


111


. The barrel


12


has a front portion that is provided with a nail-shooting seat


121


, and a rear portion that is attached to an upper end of the handle


11


. The trigger member


13


is mounted pivotally on the handle


11


. A pushing plate


131


is connected pivotally to the trigger member


13


. The safety rod


14


has a tubular front end


141


that is disposed around a front end of the nail-shooting seat


121


, and a rear end


142


. A free end of the pushing plate


131


is biased by a spring (not shown) to abut against the rear end


142


of the safety rod


14


. The nail case unit


15


has a case body that is attached to the nail-shooting seat


121


.




When the gun


10


is not in use, the safety rod


14


is biased by a spring (not shown) to a front limit position, where the pushing plate


131


is spaced apart from the valve rod


111


even when the trigger member


13


is pressed. When it is desired to shoot a nail from the gun


10


, the front end


141


of the safety rod


14


is pressed against a wall, into which the nail is to be driven, so as to move the safety rod


14


to a rear limit position, where the rear end


142


of the safety rod


14


pushes rearward the free end of the pushing plate


131


so that the valve rod


111


can move rearward on the handle


11


when the trigger member


13


is pressed. As such, compressed air is fed into the nail-shooting seat


121


, thereby shooting the nail from the front end


141


of the safety rod


14


.




The safety rod


14


suffers from the following disadvantages:




(1) The safety rod


14


is relatively long, thereby hindering its smooth movement during operation.




(2) The safety rod


14


has a relatively long portion that extends outwardly of the nail-shooting seat


121


, thereby affecting adversely the appearance of the gun


15


.




(3) The front end


141


of the safety rod


14


has a relatively large cross-sectional area, thereby affecting utility of the gun


15


.




SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION




An object of this invention is to provide a nail-driving gun, which includes a safety device that can move smoothly during operation.




Another object of this invention is to provide a nail-driving gun, which includes a safety device that is concealed within a nail-shooting seat except for a front end, thereby improving the appearance of the gun.




Still another object of this invention is to provide a safety device for a nail-driving gun, which has a portion that is to be pressed against a wall and that has a relatively small cross-sectional area, thereby enhancing utility of the gun.




According to this invention, a nail-driving gun includes a gun body that has a handle and a nail-shooting seat. A safety device includes an upper plate, a lower plate, and a safety rod. The upper and lower plates can move synchronously between top and bottom plates of the nail-shooting seat. The safety rod has a front end that is attached fixedly to a rear end portion of the assembly of the upper and lower plates. The upper and lower plates have front ends that project forward from the nail-shooting seat and that can be pressed against a wall so as to move the safety rod to a rear limit position, where the trigger member can be actuated to shoot a nail from the nail-shooting seat.




Because the safety rod is relatively short, it can move smoothly during operation.




Moreover, the portions of the upper and lower plates other than their front ends are concealed between the top and bottom plates of the nail-shooting seat, thereby improving the appearance of the gun.




In addition, a front end of the assembly of the upper and lower plates of the safety device is relatively thin, thereby enhancing utility of the gun.











BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS




These and other features and advantages of this invention will become apparent in the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments of this invention, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:





FIG. 1

is a schematic view of a conventional nail-driving gun, illustrating a safety rod when disposed at a front limit position;




FIG.


2


.is a schematic partly sectional view of the preferred embodiment of a nail-driving gun according to this invention, illustrating a safety rod when disposed at a front limit position;





FIG. 2A

is a fragmentary, schematic partly sectional view of the preferred embodiment, illustrating the safety rod when disposed at a rear limit position;





FIG. 3

is an exploded perspective view of a safety device and a nail-shooting seat of the preferred embodiment;





FIG. 4

is a fragmentary, schematic partly sectional view of the preferred embodiment, illustrating the safety device;





FIG. 5

is a fragmentary schematic side view of the preferred embodiment, illustrating a pair of upper and lower plates of the safety device of the preferred embodiment when disposed at their normal positions;





FIG. 6

is a fragmentary schematic side view of the preferred embodiment, illustrating how the upper and lower plates are actuated so as to move the safety rod from the front limit position to the rear limit position; and





FIG. 7

is a fragmentary schematic side view of the preferred embodiment, illustrating how the upper and lower plates are retained at their normal positions when no nail is disposed within a nail case unit.











DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT




Referring to

FIG. 2

, the preferred embodiment of a nail-driving gun according to this invention is shown to include a gun body


20


, a trigger member


30


, a nail-shooting seat


40


, a nail case unit


50


, and a safety device


60


.




The gun body


20


includes a handle


21


and an air cylinder


22


. The handle


21


has an upper end


211


that is attached to a rear end


221


of the air cylinder


22


, and a movable valve rod


213


that is operably associated with the air cylinder


22


and the nail-shooting seat


40


in a known manner and that is operable so as to permit flow of compressed air into the nail-shooting seat


40


for nail shooting.




The trigger member


30


is disposed swingably on the handle


21


. A spring-loaded pushing plate


31


is connected pivotally to the trigger member


30


.




The nail-shooting seat


40


is connected fixedly to a front end


222


of the air cylinder


22


, and has a bottom plate


41


and a top plate


42


, between which a slide slot


43


is defined. Four bolts


44


(only two are shown in

FIG. 3

) extend through holes in the top plate


42


to engage four threaded holes that are formed respectively in four integral upward projections


412


,


413


,


414


,


415


on the bottom plate


41


, thereby fixing the top plate


42


to the bottom plate


41


.




The nail case unit


50


includes a case body


501


that is attached fixedly to the bottom plate


41


of the nail-shooting seat


40


and that is adapted to receive a row of nails (not shown) in a known manner.




Referring to

FIGS. 2

,


3


, and


4


, the safety device


60


includes a pair of superposed lower and upper plates


61


,


62


that are disposed movably within the slide slot


43


in the nail-shooting seat


40


, and a safety rod


63


. Each of the upper and lower plates


62


,


61


is elongated, and has a rear end


611


,


621


and a front end


612


,


622


that projects forward from the nail-shooting seat


40


and that is press-fitted within a common cap


66


.




A front end


631


of the safety rod


63


is perpendicular to the lower plate


61


, and extends through a longitudinal slot


416


in the bottom plate


41


to engage fittingly a rod hole


6151


in a rear end portion of the lower plate


61


so as to move synchronously with the lower plate


61


along the longitudinal slot


416


in the bottom plate


41


.




The pushing plate


31


is biased to abut against a rear end


632


of the safety rod


63


. The safety rod


63


is movable relative to the handle


21


between a front limit position shown in

FIG. 2

, where the pushing plate


31


is positioned so as to prevent contact between the pushing plate


31


and the valve rod


213


even when the trigger member


30


is actuated, and a rear limit position shown in

FIG. 2A

, where the rear end


632


of the safety rod


63


pushes the pushing plate


31


rearward so that the pushing plate


31


can move the valve rod


213


rearward when the trigger member


30


is actuated, thereby permitting shooting of one of the nails from the nail-shooting seat


40


. A coiled compression spring


66


is used for biasing the safety rod


63


to the front limit position.




The lower plate


61


has a longitudinal slot


613


formed therethrough. The bottom plate


41


is formed with an integral guide rail


410


which is received slidably within the longitudinal slot


613


in the lower plate


61


and which is formed with a nail opening


411


that is communicated with a nail passage (not shown) in the case body


501


of the nail case unit


50


. The upper plate


62


is located over the lower plate


61


, and is formed with two downwardly projecting ribs


620


that define a nail flyway


623


therebetween and that is communicated with the nail opening


411


in the bottom plate


41


. Accordingly, the nails can be moved from the case body


501


of the nail case unit


50


to the nail flyway


623


via the nail opening


411


in the bottom plate


41


one at a time.




The upper plate


62


is formed with two holes


624


. The lower plate


61


is formed with two threaded holes


617


. The top plate


42


is formed with two guide slots


421


that extend in a direction parallel to the nail flyway


623


in the upper plate


62


and that have closed front and rear ends. The safety device


60


further includes two bolts


64


which have threaded portions


641


that extend through the holes


624


in the upper plate


62


to engage the threaded holes


617


in the lower plate


61


, and heads


642


that are received respectively and movably within the slots


421


in the top plate


42


so as to guide synchronous forward and rearward movement of the upper and lower plates


62


,


61


relative to the top plate


42


in a longitudinal direction of the lower plate


61


.




The lower plate


61


is formed with a limiting notch


614


that is defined by a front side wall


6141


and a rear side wall


6142


. The upward projection


412


of the bottom plate


41


is received slidably within the notch


614


in the lower plate


61


, and abuts against the rear side wall


6142


when the safety rod


63


is in the front limit position, as shown in

FIG. 5

, and against the front side wall


6141


when the safety rod


63


is in the rear limit position, as shown in FIG.


6


. As such, the safety rod


63


is limited to move between the front and rear limit positions.




Referring to

FIGS. 3 and 7

, each of the lower and bottom plates


61


,


41


is formed with a pin hole


616


,


417


. A nail-pushing member


51


is disposed movably within the case body


501


, and is operable so as to push the nails into the nail opening


411


in the bottom plate


41


one by one. The nail-pushing member


51


is formed with an integral stop pin


511


that is movable into the pin holes


616


,


417


in the lower and bottom plates


61


,


41


when the case body


501


of the nail case unit


50


has emptied of the nails, thereby preventing movement of the lower plate


61


relative to the bottom plate


41


.




The lower plate


61


has a side which is formed with an integral lateral projection


615


and which is disposed in front of the upward projection


414


on the bottom plate


41


. The spring


66


is confined between the lateral projection


615


of the lower plate


61


and the upward projection


414


of the bottom plate


41


so as to bias the lateral projection


615


forward and away from the upward projection


414


, thereby retaining the safety rod


63


at the front limit position.




The nail-driving gun of this invention has the following advantages:




(1) Because the safety rod


63


is relatively short, it can move smoothly during operation.




(2) The portions of the upper and lower plates


62


,


61


other than the front ends


621


,


611


are concealed between the top and bottom plates


42


,


41


of the nail-shooting seat


40


, thereby improving the appearance of the gun.




(3) The front ends


621


,


611


of the upper and lower plates


62


,


61


are relatively thin, thereby enhancing utility of the gun.




With this invention thus explained, it is apparent that numerous modifications and variations can be made without departing the scope and spirit of this invention. It is therefore intended that this invention be limited only as indicated by the appended claims.



Claims
  • 1. A nail-driving gun comprising:a gun body including a handle, a nail-shooting seat disposed in front of said handle and having a bottom plate and a top plate, between which a slide slot is defined, a valve rod disposed movably on said handle and movable relative to said handle so as to be adapted to permit flow of compressed air into said nail-shooting seat for nail shooting, a trigger member disposed swingably on said handle, and a pushing plate connected pivotally to said trigger member; a nail case unit including a case body that is attached fixedly to said bottom plate of said nail-shooting seat and that is adapted to receive a row of nails, said nail case unit being adapted to be operable so as to feed said nails into said nail-shooting seat one at a time; and a safety device including a pair of superposed upper and lower plates disposed movably within said slide slot in said nail-shooting seat, each of said upper and lower plates having a rear end and a front end that projects forward from said nail-shooting seat, said upper and lower plates being fixed relative to each other and defining a nail flyway therebetween that is adapted to receive the nails from said nail case unit one at a time and that is adapted to shoot the nails individually therefrom, a safety rod having a front end that is attached to assembly of said rear ends of said upper and lower plates so as to move synchronously therewith relative to said handle, and a rear end that is brought into contact with said pushing plate and that is movable relative to said handle between a front limit position, where said pushing plate is positioned so as to prevent contact between said pushing plate and said valve rod even when said trigger member is actuated, and a rear limit position, where said safety rod pushes said pushing plate rearward so that said pushing plate can move said valve rod rearward when said trigger member is actuated, thereby permitting shooting of the nails from said nail flyway, and a spring for biasing said safety rod to said front limit position.
  • 2. The nail-driving gun as claimed in claim 1, wherein said lower plate is elongated, and further has a longitudinal slot that is formed therethrough, said bottom plate including an integral guide rail which is received slidably within said longitudinal slot in said lower plate and which is formed with a nail opening, said upper plate being located over said lower plate and being formed with two downwardly projecting ribs that define said nail flyway therebetween and that is communicated with said nail opening in said bottom plate so as to be adapted to permit movement of the nails from said case body of said nail case unit to said nail flyway via said nail opening in said bottom plate.
  • 3. The nail-driving gun as claimed in claim 1, wherein said upper plate is formed with two holes, said lower plate being formed with two threaded holes, said top plate being formed with two guide slots that extend in a direction parallel to said nail flyway and that have closed front and rear ends, said safety device further including two bolts which have threaded portions that extend through said holes in said upper plate to engage said threaded holes in said lower plates, and heads that are received respectively and movably within said guide slots in said top plate so as to guide synchronous forward and rearward movement of said upper and lower plates relative to said top plate in a longitudinal direction of said lower plate.
  • 4. The nail-driving gun as claimed in claim 1, wherein said lower plate is formed with a limiting notch that is defined by a front side wall and a rear side wall, said bottom plate being formed with an integral upward projection that is received slidably within said notch and that abuts against said rear side wall when said safety rod is in said front limit position and against said front side wall when said safety rod is in said rear limit position.
  • 5. The nail-driving gun as claimed in claim 1, wherein each of said lower plate and said bottom plate is formed with a pin hole, said nail case unit further including a nail-pushing member which is disposed movably within said case body and which is operable so as to be adapted to push the nails into said nail opening in said bottom plate one at a time, said nail-pushing member being formed with an integral stop pin that is movable into said pin holes in said lower and bottom plates when said case body has been emptied of the nails, thereby preventing movement of said lower plate relative to said bottom plate.
  • 6. The nail-driving gun as claimed in claim 1, wherein said bottom plate is elongated, and has a longitudinal slot, said lower plate having a rear end portion that is formed with a rod hole, said front end of said safety rod being perpendicular to said lower plate, and extending through said longitudinal slot in said bottom plate to engage fittingly said rod hole in said lower plate so as to move synchronously with said lower plate along said longitudinal slot in said bottom plate.
  • 7. The nail-driving gun as claimed in claim 1, wherein said lower plate has a side that is formed with an integral lateral projection, said bottom plate having a top surface which is formed with an integral upward projection that is disposed behind said lateral projection, said spring being configured as a coiled compression spring that is confined between said lateral projection and said upward projection so as to bias said lateral projection forward and away from said upward projection, thereby retaining said safety rod at said front limit position.
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5836501 Lai Nov 1998 A
5862969 Lee Jan 1999 A
6059161 Chang et al. May 2000 A
6116488 Lee Sep 2000 A
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