Information
-
Patent Grant
-
6173877
-
Patent Number
6,173,877
-
Date Filed
Friday, November 5, 199924 years ago
-
Date Issued
Tuesday, January 16, 200123 years ago
-
Inventors
-
Original Assignees
-
Examiners
Agents
- Fitzpatrick, Cella, Harper & Scinto
-
CPC
-
US Classifications
Field of Search
US
- 227 109
- 227 120
- 227 119
- 227 136
-
International Classifications
-
Abstract
A nail magazine for a power nailer is disclosed which includes an elongated housing formed from a pair of parallel side walls which have a plurality of opposed elongated channels formed therein cooperating to define a plurality of guide tracks which receive the heads of a strip of nails fitting between the side walls. The side walls have a discharge end from which nails in the strip are discharged. The nails are biased towards the discharge end of the strip by a spring pusher arrangement including a flat plate received between the side walls.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to nail magazines for power nailers and more particularly to a magazine adapted to accommodate a plurality of different length nails.
Power nailers, both of the electric and pneumatic type, have been known for many years. These nailers typically include a magazine that is adapted to hold a strip of nails which can be driven one at a time as the strip is advanced through a drive head and engaged by a reciprocating knife or hammer. Typically these magazines are adapted to hold a single size nail, therefore their flexibility is limited. While some power nailers have been provided with nail magazines that can hold different size nails, these have been generally quite bulky and expensive to manufacture. They are also sometimes difficult to use.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a nail magazine for a power nailer which can accommodate several different size nails.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a nail magazine for a power nailer which is relatively simple in construction.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a nail magazine for a power nailer which is relatively inexpensive in construction yet provides smooth and jam-free operation.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A nail magazine in accordance with the present invention is adapted for use on a power nailer having a reciprocating nail driving element that is adapted to drive a nail positioned in the driving elements path of travel. That driving element may be a hammer or knife reciprocated electrically by a solenoid or electric drive motor, or pneumatically such as would be understood by those skilled in the art.
The magazine is formed from an elongated housing including a pair of parallel side walls which define a narrow longitudinal slot therebetween for receiving a strip of nails. The nails are of a conventional construction, e.g. ½ inch to 1 inch finish nails and may be adhered together by an appropriate adhesive or lacquer as is common in the art.
The housing's longitudinal slot has an open lower end through which the nails project. The side walls have a plurality longitudinally extending opposed channels formed therein, with the channels on one side wall opening towards an opposing channel on the other side wall to selectively receive therebetween the heads of the nails in different size strips.
The housing side walls have a nail discharge end and a nail guide is mounted on that discharge end. The guide includes a nail guide channel formed therein opening towards the slot between the side walls to receive an individual nail. A spring biasing arrangement is provided for urging a strip of nails positioned in the slot between the side walls towards the discharge end so that a nail is automatically positioned in the nail guide channel where it can be engaged by the driving element or knife.
The above, and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following detailed description of an illustrative embodiment thereof, which is to be read in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein:
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1
is a perspective view of a power nailer including a nail magazine constructed in accordance with the present invention;
FIG. 2
is a side elevation of the device illustrated in
FIG. 1
;
FIG. 3
is an enlarged perspective view of the magazine of the present invention;
FIG. 4
is a sectional view with parts broken away taken along line
4
—
4
of
FIG. 3
;
FIGS. 5 and 6
are sectional views taken along lines
5
—
5
of
FIG. 4
showing two different size nails contained in the magazine; and
FIG. 7
is an exploded perspective view of the magazine of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Referring now to the drawings, and initially to
FIG. 1
, an electric nailer
10
, including a nail magazine
12
constructed in accordance with the present invention, is illustrated. Nailer
10
has a housing
14
which contains an electric power head
16
within it constructed in a generally conventional manner. Power is supplied to head
16
from a power supply cord
18
. A conventional trigger mechanism
20
is provided in the handle
22
to operate the power head and drive a nail contained in magazine
12
. Power head
16
is provided with a solenoid structure or electric drive motor in the known manner to reciprocate a hammer or so called “knife” which engages the top a nail in magazine
12
to drive it into a work piece.
Magazine
12
has a rear nail loading end
24
and a front end
26
located beneath power head
16
. As seen in the exploded perspective view of
FIG. 7
, magazine
12
has an external casing
28
which, as seen in
FIGS. 5 and 6
has a generally V-shaped face
30
and parallel side walls
32
a
and
32
b.
A housing
34
is received within casing
28
and is secured in place by a top plate
36
. The top plate is pressed fit onto tabs
40
formed in the top edges
42
of casing
28
.
Housing
34
is formed of a pair of parallel side plates
44
a
and
44
b
which have tabs
46
formed on their upper ends which are also pressed fit in complementary slots formed in the cover
36
.
Cover
36
is received within the housing
14
of the nail gun and secured thereto in any convenient manner, for example, by having the flanges
37
along the sides of cover
36
received in grooves or the like in the housing.
The longitudinally side walls
44
of housing
34
are formed so that they are slightly spaced from one another as seen in
FIGS. 5 and 6
. In addition they are provided with a plurality of longitudinally extending channels
48
a
,
48
b
and
48
c
which open towards each other, as seen in
FIGS. 5 and 6
. These channels cooperate to provide elongated spaces between the side walls to receive the heads
50
of nails
52
.
As seen for example in
FIGS. 4 and 5
, a strip of nails
52
is received in the slot defined between the side walls
44
with the head
50
in channel
48
b
. These strips of nails are of conventional construction. They are formed with an adhesive or lacquer like coating so the strip maintains its integrity until a nail is driven from the end of the strip. By providing three sets of channels
48
, different size nail strips can be received and stored in the magazine housing
34
. Thus, as seen in
FIG. 6
a strip of nails of shorter length than those shown in
FIG. 5
is illustrated with their nail heads
50
captured within the lower channel
48
a.
The strip of nails
52
is biased towards the discharge end
54
of the housing
34
by a pusher assembly
56
. This assembly consists of a flat plate
58
having an extended tab
60
formed on one side thereof. A pusher rod
62
is slidably received within the turned or cylindrical end
63
of tab
64
, so that plate
58
can slide along the length of rod
62
. The forward end
63
of rod
62
is swedged or staked in the conventional manner to form stops for movement of the plate with washers
64
behind the swedging to prevent snaggings. A coil spring
68
surrounds rod
62
and applies a biasing force against plate
58
to urge the plate towards the forward end of the rod.
Pusher assembly
56
is inserted in housing
34
after a strip of nails is placed in the housing. The nails are introduced through the rear end assembly of the housing into the slot formed between side walls
44
. Thereafter pusher plate
56
is introduced into the slot and engaged against the nail strip. Rod
62
then is manually pushed forwardly within the casing
28
until the hook
72
on its end can be engaged in an aperture
74
formed in the rear tab
76
on cover
36
. This is a conventional latching arrangement known to those skilled in the art from conventionally available staple gun tackers. The front end
78
of plate
56
thus engages against the rear nail in the nail strip
52
to urge the strip forward in the magazine.
As seen in
FIG. 4
the bottom end
80
of the plate
56
extends below the bottom edge
82
of the slot formed between side walls
44
so that its front edge fully engages the rear of the nail strips, regardless of the length of the strips used thereby to prevent tilting and jamming of the nails in the magazine. The tab
60
, as seen in
FIGS. 5 and 6
, projects outwardly below the housing
34
and travels along the exterior of member
44
a.
To guide the sliding movement of the plate in housing
34
, a tab
84
is formed by a press operation in plate
56
. This tab will ride along the bottom edge
82
of one of the plates
44
to prevent plate
56
from tilting in the housing. In addition the forward end
86
of the tab will act as a stop when it engages the front wall of the magazine.
Magazine
34
is provided with a front wall
90
which is secured to the front end of the casing
12
by bolts
92
engaged in threaded apertures
93
formed in the tabs
94
formed on casing
12
. The front plate
90
has a slot
95
formed therein which allows the nails to pass through the front wall. The front end
86
of tab
84
engages the rear end of the wall
90
when the last nail in the strip is discharged, to prevent the front end of the plate from entering into the path of travel of the reciprocating knife.
As seen in
FIGS. 4 and 7
, the front end of the casing
12
also includes a guide wall
96
. This guide wall has a channel
98
formed therein which is in the path of travel of the reciprocating knife
100
of the drive assembly. Knife
100
is shown in dotted lines in FIG.
4
. Channel
98
receives the forward most nail of the strip, as seen in
FIG. 4
, which is biased into that position by the assembly
56
. The knife then can reciprocate in the space in between plates
90
and
96
in order to drive the nail into a work piece.
Finally, a cover
102
is provided over the assembly walls
90
and
96
, with all three elements being held in place by bolts
92
secured to tabs
94
.
By this arrangement a relatively simple nailer magazine for a power nailer is provided which is relatively easy and inexpensive to construct, yet durable and reliable in use.
Although an illustrative embodiment to the present invention has been described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to this precise embodiment, and that various changes and modifications or the effect therein by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of spirit of this invention.
Claims
- 1. A nail magazine for a power nailer having a nail driving element, said magazine comprising an elongated housing including a pair of generally flat parallel side walls; said side walls having a plurality of opposed elongated channels formed therein cooperating to define a plurality of guide tracks for the heads of a strip of nails with flat portions of the side walls above, below and between said channels; said side walls having a discharge end; and means for urging a strip of nails positioned between said side walls towards said discharge end, said urging means including a relatively flat plate received between said side walls and biasing means located outside of said side walls and connected to said plate below the side walls for biasing said plate against a nail strip and towards said discharge end; said side walls having bottom longitudinal edges and said plate extending past said edges; and said plate including means engaging one of said bottom longitudinal edges for guiding the plate in longitudinal movement and preventing upward movement of the plate relative to said edges.
- 2. A nail magazine as defined in claim 1 including a front wall mounted adjacent the discharge end of said side walls; said front wall having a discharge slot formed therein generally complementary to the lateral spacing of the side walls.
- 3. A nail magazine as defined in claim 2 wherein said plate includes means for engaging said front wall thereby to limit movement of said plate under the influence of said biasing means.
- 4. A nail magazine as defined in claim 3 wherein said means engaging one of said bottom longitudinal edges and said means for engaging said front wall comprises a flat finger projecting laterally of the plate below said one of said bottom longitudinal edges.
- 5. A nail magazine as defined in claim 2 including a nail guide plate secured to said front plate and including a nail guide channel opening towards said slot to receive a nail exiting the slot and the nail driving element of the nailer.
- 6. A nail magazine for a power nailer having a reciprocating nail driving element to drive a nail positioned in the element's path of travel; said magazine comprising an elongated housing including a pair of parallel side walls defining a narrow longitudinal slot therein for receiving a strip of nails; said slot having an open lower end through which the nails can project; said side walls having a plurality of longitudinally extending opposed channels formed therein, with the channels on one side wall opening towards and opposing the corresponding channels on the other side wall to selectively receive therebetween the heads of the nails in a strip; said side walls having relatively flat surface portions above, below and between said channels and a nail discharge end and a nail guide plate mounted on said discharge end; said nail guide plate including a nail guide channel formed therein opening towards said slot between the side walls to receive a nail therein; and means for urging a strip of nails positioned in the slot between the side walls towards said discharge end whereby a nail is positioned in said nail guide channel; said means including a relatively flat plate received between said walls and biasing means located outside said side walls and connected to said plate below said side walls for biasing said plate against a nail strip in said slot towards said discharge end.
- 7. A nail magazine as defined in claim 6 including a front wall mounted on the discharge end of said side walls between said discharge end and the nail guide plate, said front wall having a nail discharge slot formed therein generally complementary to the lateral spacing of said side walls and said nail guide plate including a nail guide channel opening towards said plate to receive a nail exiting the slot and the nail driving element of the nailer.
- 8. A nail magazine as defined in claim 7 wherein said side walls have bottom longitudinal edges and said plate ends past said edges.
- 9. A nail magazine as defined in claim 8 wherein said plate includes means engaging one of said edges for guiding the plate in longitudinal movement and preventing upward movement of the plate relative to said edges.
- 10. A nail magazine as defined in claim 9, wherein said plate includes means for engaging said front wall, thereby to limit movement of said plate under the influence of said biasing means.
- 11. A nail magazine as defined in claim 9 including a front wall mounted adjacent the discharge end of said side walls; said front wall having a discharge slot formed therein generally complementary to the lateral spacing of the side walls.
US Referenced Citations (7)