Patent Application
20250222577
The present invention relates to powered fastener drivers, and more specifically to safety mechanisms for powered fastener drivers.
There are various fastener drivers known in the art for driving fasteners (e.g., nails, tacks, staples, etc.) into a workpiece. These fastener drivers may include safety mechanisms to ensure that a fastener is driven only when the fastener driver is in contact with a workpiece.
The present disclosure provides, in one aspect, a workpiece contact element for a fastener driver. The workpiece contact element includes a body defining a fastener receiving region through which fasteners are fed from a magazine of the fastener driver. The body having a base surface parallel with a fastener driving axis of the fastener driver. The workpiece contact element also includes a fastener guiding portion disposed forward of the fastener receiving region and extending in a direction of the fastener driving axis and a tip retainer includes a longitudinal protrusion and a pair of opposed lateral protrusions. The longitudinal protrusion extends from a forwardmost end of the body, and the opposed lateral protrusions are position on opposite lateral sides of the body adjacent the forwardmost end. The fastener guiding portion includes a platform extending above the base surface of the body and spaced rearwardly from the forwardmost end of the body.
The present disclosure provides, in another aspect, a workpiece contact element for a fastener driver. The workpiece contact element includes a fastener receiving region through which fasteners are fed from a magazine of the fastener driver. The body has a base surface parallel with a fastener driving axis of the fastener driver. The workpiece contact element also includes a fastener guiding portion disposed forward of the fastener receiving region and extending in a direction of the fastener driving axis. The fastener guiding portion includes a ramp surface and a guide surface contiguous with the ramp surface and disposed forward of the ramp surface. A top retainer including a longitudinal protrusion and a pair of opposed lateral protrusions. The longitudinal protrusion extends from a forwardmost end of the body, and the opposed lateral protrusions are positioned on opposite lateral sides of the body adjacent the forwardmost end. The guide surface is spaced rearward of the tip retainer with the base surface of the body extending between the guide surface and the tip retainer.
The present disclosure provides, in yet another aspect, a gas spring-powered fastener driver including an inner cylinder, a movable piston disposed within the inner cylinder for reciprocation therein between a top-dead-center (TDC) position and a bottom-dead-center (BDC) position, a driver blade coupled to the piston and movable therewith, the driver blade configured to drive a fastener along a fastener driving axis and into a workpiece during a fastener driving cycle, an electronic control unit configured to control actuation of the fastener driving cycle, a trigger mechanism actuatable by a user to provide a first input signal to the electronic control unit, and a safety mechanism including a workpiece contact element and a switch. The workpiece contact element is configured to actuate the switch to provide a second input signal to the electronic control unit. The electronic control unit initiates a fastener driving cycle upon receipt of the first input signal and the second input signal. The workpiece contact element includes a body having a base surface parallel with the fastener driving axis, a fastener guiding platform extending above the base surface, and a tip retainer extending forwardly from a forwardmost end of the body and offset below the base surface. The fastener guiding platform is spaced rearwardly of the forwardmost end of the body such that the base surface extends forward of the fastener guiding platform.
Other features and aspects of the disclosure will become apparent by consideration of the following detailed description and accompanying drawings.
Before any embodiments of the invention are explained in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and the arrangement of components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the following drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced or of being carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology used herein is for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting.
In operation, the lifting mechanism 34 moves the driver blade 26 and the piston 22 toward the TDC position, thus compressing a gas disposed within the outer storage chamber cylinder 30 and the inner cylinder 18. When a trigger mechanism 38 is actuated by a user, the driver blade 26 moves toward the BDC position due to the force on the piston 22 by the compressed gas. Movement of the piston 22 and the driver blade 26 toward the BDC position drives a fastener (not shown) into the workpiece. The trigger mechanism 38 is electrically connected to an electronic control unit (not shown) of the fastener driver 10. When the trigger mechanism 38 is actuated by a user, an input signal is provided to the electronic control unit indicating that the user intends to drive a fastener. The fastener driver 10 further includes a safety mechanism 42 that prevents inadvertent driving of the fastener. The safety mechanism 42 includes a workpiece contact element 46 and a switch 47 that is electrically connected to the electronic control unit. As will be described in greater detail herein, the electronic control unit does not drive a fastener unless input signals have been received from both the trigger mechanism 38 and the safety mechanism 42.
With reference to
The fastener driver 10 is operable in either a sequential firing more or a bump-fire mode. To drive a fastener using the sequential firing mode, a user places the workpiece contact element 46 in contact with a workpiece, thus displacing the workpiece contact element 46 to the retracted position to actuate the safety mechanism switch, which provides an input signal to the electronic control unit. The user then actuates the trigger mechanism 38, which provides an input signal to the electronic control unit to drive the fastener. The electronic control unit allows the driver blade 26 to drive the fastener when input signals have been received from both the switch of the safety mechanism 42 and the trigger mechanism 38 in the order described above. To drive a fastener using the bump-fire mode, the electronic control unit must also receive an input signal from both the switch of the safety mechanism 42 and the trigger mechanism 38. However, the order in which the input signals are received does not matter in the bump-fire mode.
In the illustrated embodiment, the guide ribs 86 extend forward of (e.g., transverse to) the base surface 78 of the workpiece contact element 46. The guide ribs 86 and the guide surface 90 together form a fastener guiding platform 98 operable to direct fasteners as they are discharged from the firing channel 58 by the driver blade 26 into the workpiece, during which the platform 98 functions as a wear surface. The guide surface 90 also functions as an extension of the firing channel 58 to increase accuracy of the fastener driver 10. In the illustrated embodiment, the fastener guiding platform 98 further includes a ramp surface 102 disposed between the guide ribs 86 and operable to guide the fastener from a position within the firing channel 58 to a position on top of the fastener guiding platform 98. More particularly, as a fastener is driven, the ramp surface 102 pushes the tip of the fastener forwardly (i.e., transverse to the driving axis A1) to ensure that the fastener remains colinear with the firing channel 58 during the fastener driving cycle. The fastener guiding platform 98 is spaced rearwardly from a forwardmost portion of the workpiece contact element 46. In the illustrated embodiment, the fastener guiding platform 98 tapers inwards towards the driving axis A1 adjacent a forwardmost portion of the workpiece contact element 46.
In the illustrated embodiment, the workpiece contact element 46 further includes a tip retainer 106 disposed forward of the fastener guiding platform 98. The tip retainer 106 supports a no-mar tip 108 relative to the workpiece contact element 46, and the no-mar tip 108 is engageable with the workpiece during operation of the fastener driver 10. The no-mar tip 108 is made from a softer material than the workpiece, ensuring that any wear between the tip 108 and the workpiece will occur on the tip 108. The tip retainer 106 includes a longitudinal protrusion 110 and a pair of opposed lateral protrusions 114 that together support the no-mar tip 108. The tip retainer 106 of the illustrated embodiment is offset from the base surface 78 of the workpiece contact element 46 in a direction transverse to axis A1 so as not to interfere with driving of the fastener. In the illustrated embodiment, the tip retainer 106 is offset below the base surface 78.
In the illustrated embodiment, the fastener guiding platform 98 extends a height H1 above the base surface 78 of the workpiece contact element 46. The fastener guiding platform 98 is also positioned a distance D1 rearwards of the forwardmost end of the workpiece contact element 46. The guide ribs 86 are oriented generally parallel to opposite sides 118 of the workpiece contact element 46 and to a movement direction of the workpiece contact element 46 (e.g., to the driving axis A1), and are spaced inward from the opposite sides 118 of the workpiece contact element 46 by a width W1. As such, the base surface 78 extends around the distal (i.e., forwardmost) end of the platform 98, making the platform 98 discontinuous with the tip retainer 106. The height H1 may be between 1.5 mm and 2.5 mm, and, more particularly, is 1.8 mm in the illustrated embodiment. The distance D1 is greater than 0.5 mm and, more particularly, is at least 1 mm in the illustrated embodiment. Finally, the width W1 is greater than 0.5 mm, and, more particularly, is at least 1.5 mm in the illustrated embodiment.
Like the previously disclosed workpiece contact element 46, the fastener guiding platform 98b is spaced rearwardly from a forwardmost portion of the workpiece contact element 46b by a distance D1b. The distance D1b is greater than 0.5 mm and, more particularly, is at least 1 mm in the illustrated embodiment. As such, the base surface 78b extends around the distal (i.e., forwardmost) end of the platform 98, making the platform 98 discontinuous with the tip retainer 106. The fastener guiding platform 98b is spaced inwardly from opposed sides 118b of the workpiece contact element 46b by a width W1b. The width W1b is greater than 0.3 mm and, more particularly, is at least 0.5 mm in the illustrated embodiment. Again, like the previously disclosed workpiece contact element 46, the fastener guiding platform 98b tapers along the driving axis Alb, and the tip retainer 16b has a longitudinal protrusion 110b and a pair of opposed lateral protrusions 114b supports a no-mar tip (not shown).
Various features of the invention are set forth in the following claims.
