Claims
- 1. A fastener driving tool for driving fasteners into a workpiece, comprising:a housing assembly including a nosepiece assembly defining a longitudinally-extending fastener drive track; a fastener driving mechanism carried internally of said housing assembly and constructed and arranged to drive a fastener through said fastener drive track and into a workpiece when said fastener drive mechanism is selectively activated by a user; a manually actuatable trigger mechanism constructed and arranged to activate said fastener driving mechanism when manually actuated by a user; and a safety trip assembly coupled to said housing assembly for longitudinal movement with respect to said nosepiece assembly and including a trigger enabling portion and a workpiece engaging portion releasably coupled to said trigger enabling portion, said safety trip assembly being constructed and arranged to be movable between an extended position and a retracted position whereby said trigger enabling portion enables said trigger mechanism to activate said fastener driving mechanism when manually actuated by a user when said safety trip assembly is in said retracted position and disables said trigger mechanism when said safety trip assembly is not in said retracted position, said safety trip assembly being constructed and arranged to be biased toward said extended position and to be moved toward said retracted position by engaging a longitudinal end of said workpiece engaging portion with a surface of a workpiece and pressing said housing toward the workpiece, thereby moving said safety trip assembly against said bias with respect to said nosepiece assembly and said body, wherein said workpiece engaging portion is constructed and arranged to be movable with respect to said trigger enabling portion when said workpiece engaging portion is uncoupled from said trigger enabling portion to permit adjustment of a longitudinal length of said safety trip assembly, and wherein said safety trip assembly includes a releasable coupling mechanism for releasably coupling said trigger enabling portion to said workpiece engaging portion, said releasable coupling mechanism comprising: fixed locking structure formed on an exterior portion of said workpiece engaging portion; a manually operable locking mechanism carried by said trigger enabling portion and including a locking member mounting structure attached to said trigger enabling portion adjacent said fixed locking structure formed on said workpiece engaging portion and a manually-operable, movable locking member mounted on said locking member mounting structure so as to be movable with respect thereto between a locking position and a releasing position, said movable locking member being constructed and arranged to engage said fixed locking structure when said movable locking member is in said locking position to interlock said movable locking member and said fixed locking structure to thereby prevent relative movement between said workpiece engaging portion and said trigger enabling portion and to disengage from said fixed locking structure when said movable locking member is in said releasing position to thereby permit relative movement between said workpiece engaging portion and said trigger enabling portion; and a locking member biasing mechanism constructed and arranged to generate a biasing force to urge said movable locking member into said locking position, said movable locking member and said locking member biasing mechanism being constructed and arranged to permit said movable locking member to be manually moved against said biasing force by a user's hand engaging said movable locking member to move said movable locking member from said locking position to said releasing position and to permit said movable locking member to automatically return to said locking position when said movable locking member is disengaged by the user's hand.
- 2. A fastener driving tool according to claim 1 wherein said workpiece engaging portion further comprises rearwardly extending wall structures integrally formed on a distal end of said workpiece engaging portion and surrounding at least a portion of a distal end portion of said nosepiece assembly, such that said workpiece engaging portion is movably mounted on said nosepiece assembly so as to allow longitudinal movement of said workpiece engaging portion with respect to said nosepiece assembly.
- 3. A fastener driving tool according to claim 1 wherein said locking member mounting structure is rigidly attached to a proximal end of said trigger enabling portion and is movably coupled to said nosepiece assembly for limited movement in a longitudinal direction of said locking member mounting structure with respect to said nosepiece assembly.
- 4. A fastener driving tool according to claim 1 wherein said locking member mounting structure is an integral metallic structure.
- 5. A fastener driving tool according to claim 1 wherein said movable locking member further comprises:a series of transversely extending teeth and grooves provided on angled, longitudinally extending wall portions of said locking member mounting structure constructed and arranged to engage transversely extending teeth and grooves formed on an angled, longitudinally extending wall structure of said workpiece engaging portion.
- 6. A fastener driving tool according to claim 1 wherein said locking member biasing mechanism further comprises a spring.
- 7. A fastener driving tool according to claim 1 wherein said workpiece engaging portion is constructed and arranged to be moved longitudinally with respect to said trigger enabling portion to adjust a depth of fastener drive.
- 8. A fastener driving tool for driving fasteners into a workpiece, comprising:a housing assembly including a nosepiece assembly defining a longitudinally-extending fastener drive track; a fastener magazine assembly releasably attached to said housing assembly in an operative manner with respect to a lateral opening formed in said housing assembly and communicating with said fastener drive track, said magazine assembly including an inner portion defining a fastener supply channel communicating with said lateral opening, said fastener magazine assembly being constructed and arranged to hold a supply of fasteners within said fastener supply channel in an operative orientation for feeding fasteners from said fastener supply channel through said lateral opening and into said fastener drive track, said fastener magazine assembly further comprising a biased fastener feeding mechanism constructed and arranged to be positioned behind a supply of fasteners disposed within said fastener supply channel and to urge the supply of fasteners through said fastener supply channel and toward said lateral opening and said fastener drive track; a fastener driving mechanism carried internally of said housing assembly and constructed and arranged to drive a fastener through said fastener drive track and into a workpiece when said fastener drive mechanism is selectively activated by a user; a manually actuatable trigger mechanism constructed and arranged to activate said fastener driving mechanism when manually actuated by a user; a safety trip assembly coupled to said housing assembly for longitudinal movement with respect to said nosepiece assembly, said safety trip assembly being constructed and arranged to be movable between an extended position and a retracted position whereby said safety trip assembly enables said trigger mechanism to activate said fastener driving mechanism when manually actuated by a user when said safety trip assembly is in said retracted position and disables said trigger mechanism when said safety trip assembly is not in said retracted position, said safety trip assembly being constructed and arranged to be biased toward said extended position and to be moved toward said retracted position by engaging a longitudinal end of said safety trip assembly with a surface of a workpiece and pressing said housing assembly toward the workpiece, thereby moving said safety trip assembly against said bias with respect to said nosepiece assembly and said body; and a trip lock mechanism including a movable trip lock member carried on said nosepiece assembly so as to be movable between a neutral orientation and a locking orientation, said trip lock mechanism and said safety trip assembly being constructed and arranged to: (1) permit said safety trip assembly to be moved from said extended position to said retracted position when said movable trip lock member is in said neutral orientation to thereby permit said trigger mechanism to be activated and (2) prevent said safety trip assembly from being moved from said extended position to said retracted position when said movable trip lock member is in said locking orientation to thereby prevent said trigger mechanism from being activated, wherein said trip lock mechanism includes a biasing member constructed and arranged to generate a biasing force to urge said movable trip lock member toward said locking orientation, wherein said fastener magazine assembly is constructed and arranged to engage said trip lock mechanism when said fastener magazine assembly is attached to said housing assembly to move said trip lock member against said biasing force to said neutral orientation and wherein said trip lock member is constructed and arranged to move to said locking orientation under said biasing force when said fastener magazine assembly is removed from said housing to prevent said trigger mechanism from being activated when said fastener magazine assembly is removed from said housing assembly, wherein said fastener feeding mechanism is constructed and arranged to engage said trip lock mechanism when said fastener supply channel is empty to move said fastener lock member from said neutral orientation to said locking orientation to prevent said trigger mechanism from being activated when said fastener supply channel is empty.
- 9. A fastener driving tool according to claim 8 wherein said safety trip assembly includes a workpiece engaging portion which extends beyond said nosepiece assembly when said safety trip assembly is in the extended position thereof so as to be moved by contact with a workpiece to move said safety trip assembly into the retracted position thereof and a trigger enabling portion disposed in operative relation to said trigger mechanism, said workpiece engaging portion and said trigger enabling portion being fixed together so as to move together as a unitary structure.
- 10. A fastener driving tool according to claim 9 wherein said workpiece engaging portion and said trigger enabling portion are fixedly interconnected by a releasable coupling mechanism constructed and arranged to permit adjustment of the longitudinal length of the unitary structure provided by said portions to thereby adjust the depth a fastener is driven into a workpiece.
- 11. A fastener driving tool according to claim 9 wherein said trip lock member is mounted on said nosepiece assembly so as to be biased by said biasing member into a forward locking orientation, the mounting of said trip lock member enabling the same to be moved into a central neutral orientation against the bias of said biasing member and beyond that into a rearward locking orientation, said magazine assembly including lock moving structure constructed and arranged to move said trip lock member from said forward locking orientation into said neutral orientation when said fastener magazine assembly is attached to said housing assembly, said fastener feeding mechanism including lock moving structure constructed and arranged to move said trip lock member from said neutral orientation into said rearward locking orientation when said fastener supply channel is empty.
- 12. A fastener driving tool according to claim 11 wherein said trip lock member is pivoted to said nosepiece assembly and includes an upwardly extending arm having a fixed lock structure extending from an upper end thereof, the unitary structure provided by said workpiece engaging portion and said trigger enabling portion having interengaging structure positioned and configured to cooperate with said upper arm lock structure so as to permit movement of said contact trip assembly from the extended position thereof into the retracted position thereof when said trip lock member is in the neutral orientation thereof and to interengage with said upper arm lock structure to prevent movement of the contact trip assembly from the extended position thereof into the retracted position thereof when said trip lock member is either in said forward locking orientation or in said rearward locking orientation.
- 13. A fastener driving tool according to claim 12 wherein said trip lock member includes a downwardly extending arm having interengaging structure thereon constructed and arranged to be engaged by the lock moving structure of said fastener magazine assembly and the lock moving structures of said fastener feeding mechanism.
Parent Case Info
This application claims benefit to provisional application Ser. No. 60/127,836 filed Apr. 5, 1999.
US Referenced Citations (18)
Provisional Applications (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
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60/127836 |
Apr 1999 |
US |