NZ628502A - Guidance system for fasteners - Google Patents

Abstract

A fastener driving tool 10 for driving fasteners 12b, 12c collated by a plurality of sleeves 64b toward a work surface, comprises a body 20 having a forward end 22, a rear end 24, and a cylinder with an axis 28, a piston 30 mounted within the cylinder, a power source 34 for driving the piston 30 axially forwardly, a driver blade 32 extending axially forwardly from the piston 30, a nosepiece 36 extending axially forwardly from the front end of the tool body 20, and a fastener guide 44 extending axially forwardly from the nosepiece 36. The fastener guide 44 is movable with respect to the nosepiece 36 between an extended position and a retracted position. A generally cylindrical drive bore 38 is formed at least by the nosepiece 36 and the fastener guide 44 for guiding the fasteners 12b, 12c and the driver blade 32 toward the work surface, there being an opening into the drive bore for the fasteners 12b, 12c. There is also a magazine 42 for guiding the fasteners 12b, 12c to the opening, the magazine 42 and the nosepiece 36 being fixed with respect to each other. There is a feed passageway 102 in the magazine 42 having a first guidance zone which includes a first guidance formation having a collation channel configured for engaging the collation and a head channel spaced from the collation channel for accommodating the fastener heads, and a second guidance zone adjacent to first guidance zone having a second guidance formation which includes a pair of rails 86 engaged with the sleeves 64b, so that along the second guidance zone only the collations are in contact with the second guidance formation. The fasteners 12b, 12c each have a tip 12a and are collated by a plurality of sleeves 64b each having a lower end beyond which the tip 12a may project. The opening into the drive bore has a main channel sized for accommodating the fasteners 12b, 12c, and a tip channel of a fixed depth for providing a clearance through which the tips can pass.