The present teachings relate to a fastening tool and more specifically relate to a pusher bearing and a pusher block in a magazine of the fastening tool that more uniformly distributes force on one or more fasteners in the magazine.
A number of pneumatically and electrically operated tools have been developed to drive fasteners, such as staples and nails, into workpieces. Typically, these tools employ a magazine for holding a plurality of the fasteners and feeding the fasteners into a nose of the tool prior to driving the fasteners into the workpiece.
Despite the widespread use of such tools, it is known that fasteners being fed through the magazine and into a driver blade channel formed in the nosepiece of the fastening tool can jam. In this regard, stack-up tolerances of all of the components of the magazine, plus imperfections in the fasteners, can contribute to the fasteners jamming in the magazine. While jammed fasteners can be readily evacuated from the magazine and the nose, there remains room in the art for improvement.
The various aspects of the present teachings generally include a magazine for a fastening tool that drives one or more fasteners into a workpiece. The magazine includes an outer case and an inner rail movable relative to the outer case. The inner rail is extendable from the outer case so as to permit adding of the one or more fasteners to the magazine. A bar extends between a front end and a rear end of the inner rail. A pusher bearing slidably receives the bar. A spring biases the pusher bearing toward the front end. A pusher block is coupled to the pusher bearing. The pusher block is moveable along the inner rail and is operable to urge the one or more fasteners toward the front end. The pusher block is moveable about the pusher bearing.
Further areas of applicability will become apparent from the description provided herein. It should be understood that the description and specific examples are intended for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present teachings.
The drawings described herein are for illustration purposes only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present teachings in any way.
The following description is merely exemplary in nature and is not intended to limit the present teachings, their application or uses. It should be understood that throughout the drawings corresponding reference numerals can indicate like or corresponding parts and features.
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The trigger assembly 24 can have a main trigger 52 that can be pivotally attached to the main housing 12 or the handle 18 and a supplemental trigger 54 that can be pivotally attached to the main trigger 52. When the main trigger 52 and the contact trip mechanism 42 are activated (i.e., the lower member 40, the tip 46, etc. move to the retracted condition), the supplemental trigger 54 can move a valve or a switch to activate the driving mechanism 14. It will be appreciated that the supplemental trigger 54 can move a switch when the driving mechanism 14 is an electric system or an airflow control valve when the driving mechanism 14 is a pneumatic system. Operation of the trigger assembly in combination with the contact trip assembly is well known in the art and is described in, for example, commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 5,785,228, which is incorporated by reference in its entirety as if fully set forth herein.
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The pusher block 36 can be in an upside down U-shaped configuration and ride over a top member 60 of the inner rail 58. In this regard, the pusher surface 34 can be defined by a pair of walls 62 connected by a top portion 64 of the pusher block 36. The pusher surface 34 can be disposed to generally match the orientation of the fasteners 16, e.g., a surface of one staple 66 (i.e., the last staple) abuts the pusher surface 34 where the staple 66 and the pusher surface 34 are ideally parallel, as shown in
The pusher block 36 can be made of acetal, which can be also be known as polyacetal, polyoxymethylene or polyformaldehyde. Other suitably performing polymers can also be used to form the pusher block 36. For example, the pusher block can be made of Delrin® readily available from DuPont or Celcon® readily available from Ticona (Florence, Ky.).
When the pusher block 36 is made of acetal or other suitable material, the pusher block 36 has a coefficient of friction that can be less than or equal to the coefficient of friction of the inner rail 58 and/or the outer case 56 on and/or in which the pusher block 36 slides. The inner rail 58 and the outer case 56 can be made of aluminum or other suitable metals or plastics. The ability of the pusher block 36 to more easily slide along the inner rail 58 can reduce the propensity of the fasteners 16 jamming in the magazine 22.
The inner rail 58 can include a front end 68 and a rear end 70. The pusher rod or bar 38 can be disposed between the front end 68 and the rear end 70. An inner nose member 72 associated with the nosepiece 20 can connect to the front end 68, while a magazine bumper 74 can connect to the rear end 70.
When the inner rail 58 is moved to the closed position (
A nose cover 78 can connect to the outer nose member 76 to form a front face 80 of the nosepiece 20. The nose cover 78 can, moreover, hold heads 82 of fasteners that can couple the nosepiece 20 to the magazine 22.
The pusher bearing 32 can be formed with a through hole 84 that slidably receives the pusher rod 38. In addition, a spring 86 can be disposed over the pusher rod 38 such that the pusher rod 38 is threaded through the spring 86. The spring 86 can be coupled to the pusher bearing 32 to bias the pusher bearing 32 towards the nosepiece 20. The pusher bearing 32 can, in turn, be coupled to the pusher block 36.
The pusher block 36 can define a pair of rounded apertures 88 formed in each of the walls 62 that can be configured to receive the pusher bearing 32. The pusher bearing 32 can also have a rounded or semi-cylindrical configuration (
The pusher bearing 32 can have walls 92 that can be generally parallel to one another. The pusher bearing 32 can also have a generally cylindrical surface 94 that can be bounded by the walls 92. An imaginary line 96 can extend in a direction generally normal to the cylindrical surface 94. The imaginary line 96 can also be generally perpendicular to an imaginary line 98 that can extend from one the walls 92. The walls 62 of the pusher block can be generally flush with the walls 92 of the pusher bearing 32. As such, the pusher block apertures 88 can have an arcuate surface 100 that can receive the cylindrical surface 94 of the pusher bearing 32. The pusher block 36, therefore, can be operable to move or rock relative to or about the pusher bearing 32, as the pusher bearing 32 urges the pusher block 36, and the fasteners 16, toward the nosepiece 20.
For example and with reference to
With reference to
At the second connection point 108, the housing 12 can include a magazine clip 114. The magazine clip 114 (
When fasteners 16 are added to the magazine 22, the inner rail 58 can be returned to the closed position, as shown in
With reference to
While specific aspects have been described in this specification and illustrated in the drawings, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes can be made and equivalents can be substituted for elements thereof without departing from the scope of the present teachings, as defined in the claims. Furthermore, the mixing and matching of features, elements and/or functions between various aspects of the present teachings may be expressly contemplated herein so that one skilled in the art will appreciate from the present teachings that features, elements and/or functions of one aspect of the present teachings may be incorporated into another aspect, as appropriate, unless described otherwise above. Moreover, many modifications may be made to adapt a particular situation, configuration or material to the present teachings without departing from the essential scope thereof. Therefore, it may intended that the present teachings not be limited to the particular aspects illustrated by the drawings and described in the specification as the best mode presently contemplated for carrying out the present teachings but that the scope of the present teachings will include many aspects and examples following within the foregoing description and the appended claims.
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