US2701360A

US2701360A - Fastener feed means for fastener driving devices

Info

Publication number: US2701360A
Application number: US264294A
Authority: US
Inventors: Joseph C Lang
Original assignee: BOCJL Corp
Current assignee: BOCJL Corp
Priority date: 1945-12-12
Filing date: 1951-12-31
Publication date: 1955-02-08
Anticipated expiration: 1972-02-08
Also published as: GB678152A

Description

Feb. 8, 1955 L NG 2,701,360

FASTENER FEED MEANS FOR FASTENER DRIVING DEVICES Original Filed Dec. 12. 1945 3 Sheets$heet 1 mga ngoa fa; M.fi2u

ATTORNEY-S Feb. 8, 1955 J. c. LANG 2,701,360

FASTENER FEED MEANS FOR FASTENER DRIVING DEVICES Original Filed Dec. 12, 1945 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 .98 4,9 38 51 Fig.5.

ATTO RNEYS Feb. 8, 1955 J. c. LAN 2,701,360

FASTENER FEED MEANS FOR FASTENER DRIVING DEVICES IMZNTOR 5 Fi 7 65 ATTORNEYS United States Patent FASTENER FEED MEANS FOR FASTENER DRIVING DEVICES Joseph C. Lang, Pittsburgh, Pa., assignor to Bocjl Corporation, Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of Delaware Original application December 12, 1945, Serial No. 634,537, now Patent No. 2,580,444, dated January 1, 1952. Divided and this application December 31, 1951, Serial No. 264,294

5 Claims. (Cl. 151) This invention relates to the art of fasteners and is for a driver for driving a succession of fasteners one at a time.

I have heretofore devised a tack type of fastener of tack-like form, this fastener having a cross bar forming the head, and having a shank which is turned down at one side of the cross bar intermediate the ends thereof. An especial advantage of this Ttack, aside from the fact that it provides a very effective tack for upholstering and other purposes because of the long head which will not pull through the fabric or other material which is fastened down, is that a succession of tack blanks may be economically formed from a narrow ribbon of rolled metal. This is done by slitting the metal diagonally from one edge toward the center and then extending the slit longitudinally, preferably along the center line, for the length of the leg. A small fraction of an inch past the end of this slit the next similar slit is formed. Thus a succession of leg portions are provided which are separated from the ribbon of metal at the other side of the center line throughout their length at one point only, the diagonal slit forming a point on the free end of each leg portion. By turning the legs so formed from their original plane through an arc to a position perpendicular to said plane, each leg is then in position to be driven. The continuous ribbon of metal at the other side of the center line is severed at points intermediate the diagonal slits transversely of the long axis of the ribbon to form individual complete tacks. All of this is disclosed in a copending application filed by The object of the present invention is to provide a convenient, compact and novel driver for receiving a roll of metal so slitted and feeding it to a driver, the leg forming portions being successively turned down into perpendicular position, the machine severing the successive blanks and driving the completed tacks. Thus instead of requiring a mass of loose tacks which must be individually formed, individually handled and driven, the machine of the present invention requires only a roll of the prepared strip or wire, converting this slitted strip into tacks along with the operation of driving. This is important in many industries also from the health standpoint in that it eliminates spitting the tacks, i. e., the practice of holding a number of tacks in the mouth and removing them one at a time. It is not only more desirable from a health angle, but a worker can operate faster, position the tacks more accurately, and avoid possible minor injury from the hitting of the fingers. Incidentally, also, it saves nicking and marring furniture to which upholstering is being applied by avoiding the frequent hitting of the finished woodwork by the upholsterers hammer.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a novel mechanism for indexing and feeding the fastener strip through themachine, the feed mechanism engaging notches in the edge of the strip of connected fastener blanks.

This application is a division of my copending application Serial No. 634,537, filed December 12, 1945, and issued as U. S. Letters Patent No. 2,580,444 on January 1, 1952.

My invention may be more fully understood by reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a fastener driving machine embodying my invention;

2,701,360 Patented Feb. 8, 1955 Fig. 2 is a fragmentary section in the plane of line Illl of Fig. 1, the view being a transverse horizontal section;

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of that portion of the cover plate which extends along the bottom of a machine, and which is broken away in Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 1, showing the entire cover plate removed from the machine;

Fig. 5 is a horizontal section in substantially the plane of line VV of Fig. 1, looking up, the view being a fragmentary view;

Fig. 5a is a transverse section in the plane line V a of Fig. 7, looking down;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary side elevation similar to a portion of Fig. 4, but with the driver element depressed to the full limit of its movement;

Fig. 7 is a transverse vertical section in substantially the plane of line VIl-Vll of Fig. 1;

Fig. 8 is a schematic view showing the initial step in beginning the operation of the driver with a new strip of fasteners;

gig. 9 is a similar view showing the succeeding step; an

Fig. 10 is a view similar to Fig. 8 showing the operation which follows after the first one.

In the operation of the machine as hereinbefore indicated, a strip of connected fastener blanks is utilized. This strip is best shown in Figs. 5, 8, 9 and 10, and is the subiect of a copending application. The strip comprises a continuous ribbon or narrow fiat strip of metal designated generally as A. This ribbon has a succession of regular spaced notches 0: along one marginal edge, the forward wall of these notches being perpendicular and the other wall being sloped so as to cooperate with correspondingly shaped pawl or ratchet teeth to be hereinafter described. The opposite edge of the strip is slit diagonally from the edge toward the center, and then the slit extends in a longitudinal direction. With reference to the direction in which the strip travels through the driving machine, the longitudinal portion of the slit extends rearwardly from the diagonal portion. In the drawings the diagonal portion of the slit is designated a and the longitudinal portion is designated o The slit a separates the leg forming portion a of the strip from the body of the strip, the diagonal slit a separating the leg at one end and forming the point of the fastener. The notches a along one edge of the strip are preferably staggered with reference to the slits a and also define the points along which the ribbon is separated in forming the individual fasteners.

As shown in Fig. 8, the front end portion of the strip has the leg-forming element cut away so that on the first operation with each strip, an incomplete fastener is formed. This is for the purpose of enabling the strip to be properly handled in the machine, and indexing the strip for its initial operation.

In completing the fastener, the leg-forming portion a must be swung in an are about an axis transverse to the length of the strip downwardly to a perpendicular position and then the strip is severed and the blank which has been so formed is driven into the material into which it is to be entered.

In the present machine, with the first operation of the driver or plunger which serves to drive the staple, the blank head having no attached leg portion, which forms the leading end of the strip, is removed. This is shown in Fig. 9 where the detached head portion is designated a and the succeeding head portions are designated a In severing the incomplete blank as shown in Fig. 9, the leg-forming portion a of the succeeding blank is bent down to the perpendicular position. With the further operation of the machine, the strip feeds forward the full length of one blank, i. e., the distance between successive notches a. On the succeeding operation this blank with the turned down leg is then driven'as shown in Fig. 10 and the leg-forming portion a of the next succeeding blank is simultaneously turned down. This sequence of operations follows thereafter during the continued operation of the machine until the length of the staple strips has been exhausted. Thus with each driving operation one blank with the bent-down leg is separatedfrom the strip and driven while the leg-forming portion of the next succeeding blank is bent down; and

at the time that the driver raises above the fastener strip, the strip advances one notch, or the length of one blank, to bring the next succeeding'blankthe leg of which" has been turned'down,-into positionunder the driver. I

With this general explanation of the operations-Which take place, the construction-of the machine may'now'be easilyunderstood.

Referring to the drawings, the machine comprisesa frame construction providing atits forward-end'a-vertical slide-way in which a-reciprocating plunger operates. This plunger, designated generally as2 in Fig. 1, has a terminal 3' at its upper. end which may be hit with a hammer in a portable machine, or which may be depressed by any suitable im'pact mechanism when'the unit is incorporated in a non-portable o'rportable power operated' machine; At the opposite endof the frame the construction" provides a circular chamber designated generally as 4 for receiving the fastener strip which is coiled up within it, the convolutions' of the coil of the strip being designated generally as A. Intermediate this chamber or magazine portion and the forward portion whichhouses and provides a slide for the plunger, there is a connecting body having an opening 5 thereth'r ough with a cross bar 6' above the opening, the under side'of the cross bar being preferably scalloped to provide a con"- venient grip for the fingers of the operator, while the opening 5 provides clearance for the fingers.

The frame of the machine is formed by one main plate, designated generally as'-7, a'ndwhich is best shown in Fig. 4. The main plate'7 is preferably formed as a casting with the opening 5 formed therethrough, and

with' a part 6 forming part'of the grip 6. Atone end itis provided with an upstanding flange 8 of generally circular contour. Within this circular flange 8 there iscast an'upstanding hub (see Fig. 2) 9; This-hub 9 serves to'rotatably support a removable flanged spool or sleeve 10 on which the convolutions'of the fastener strip A" are. wound; Extending forwardly under the'open por-- tion 5': the main'casting is. provided with a flat panel or surface-11 on which-a block 12 carrying the strip feeding mechanism is removably secured. left-hand. end of the casting, as viewed'in Fig; 4, there is avertical portion 13' in which the plunger 2 is received.

The casting is-provided with a number of s'c're'who'les which are threaded to receive screws 14: which hold a complementary cover plate 15 in place; Thecover-plate 152 is of less extent than the main casting. 7- and serves to'cover only'the front orlefthand' portion of the main castingtogether with part ofthe feeding mechanism, and extends back only to the magazine-forming part of the machine; This cover plate does-not normally have to be"removed, beingformed in the manner describedonly" for convenience inassembly, and to provide access to the interior of the machine for purposes of replacement or. repair of parts There isa-second cover plate designated generally as 16- which is preferably stamped from sheet metal, and" which encloses the chamber4 of the magazine, and it' has a forwardly extending portion'16b' that extends. horiz'o'ntally under the lower edge of the cover plate 15, covering the lower portion of the feeder to be hereinafter described. As shown in Fig. 3, the extreme forward end: of this extension 165 has a tongue 16c thereon,

which, as indicated in dot-ted linesin Fig. l, extends'under a-partof the cover plate 15' to hold this narrow horizontal extension of the cover plate in place.

For detachably holding the: cover 1 6 in position, a screw'-17 passes through the hub portion 9 and through a central opening in the cover plate" 16. Threaded'onto this screw is' a nut 18-having a radial extension 19% The cover plate 16 has aslot 20' therein extending outwardly from the opening through which the screw L7passes. Toremove' the cover plate16 it is merely necessary to turn the nutfrom the position shown in Fig; l to a position where the extension 19' is in line with the'slot 20, ,at which timethe nutwillbei ineffective to hold the coverplate in place, and it maybe removed by lifting it away.- from -the machine. When it i's'lifted" away sothat the At the forward or cover plate 16 entirely clears the nut 18 with its extension19, the coverplate 1'6- may be slidrearwardly until the tongue is clear of the part of the machine with which it is engaged. Thus the cover plate 16 can be very quickly removed, and it can be reapplied with equal facility by merely engaging the tongue in its proper place, swinging, the circular end of the cover back in position over'the magazine, allowing the slotted opening to pass over the key'nut, and then tightening the nut down on the screw.

The foregoing description relates to the general organization of the machine which is the present preferred embodimenLbut it will be'understood that this is merely illustrative of the machine. The mechanisms for driving thefasteners and feeding, the strip may now be described in detail. The plunger 2 has-laterally-extending flanges 201 at each side of its forward edge, these flanges being guided in channels-Zeiformedin' the main casting, and the forward part of the fixed cover plate 15, as best shown in Fig. 5. Near'the lower endof the'plunger or driver is a rearw'ardlyextendingi cam 21; the effective surface of which is designated 22, and which slopesupwardly and rearwardly as viewed in Fig. 4i

Below this cam theplunger is'provided: with a terminal portion adapted to perform theoperations hereinbefore described. The terminal portion includes'an off set tongue 23 (see Figs. 8, 9 and 10) for engaging the leg-forming portion of the fastener and bending itdownwardly, this portion also being shownin Fig. 4'. Itis to the rear and offset from the main driving tongue 24 which has a rib 25 ononesurface thereof. It is adapted to apply pressure to the head of the fastener while the rib 25 is adapted to be directly over the leg and apply pressure likewise tothe leg of the fastener. The tongue 24 projects downwardly a distance substantially below the tongue 23: It should also be mentioned that the rear corner designated 24a of the tongue 24 forms one elementof ashear for cutting'oif the formed blank from the strip.

The plunger is also providedintermediate its ends with notches26 and 27 between which are serrations 28 (see' Fig. 4) for cooperation with a spring-centered pivoted pawl 29. The purpose of this pawl is to prevent the plunger or driver from moving in either direction unless its full stroke in the opposite direction is completed. This is a well-known mechanism in movements ofthis' kind, and constitutes'no part, per se, of'the invention. The plunger carries a headed bolt 30 on its rear. face which forms an abutment to limit the upward travel of the plunger, and a tension spring 31 (see Fig.v 7) connected' between. a pin 32 on'theplunger and a fixed anchorage-33 on the cover plate 15 serves to return the plunger to the uppermost position shown in Fig. 4 after. the plungerhas been driven'downwardly.

A's hereinbefore mentioned, the part. 11 of the main plate carries a foundation. plate 12 on which the strip feeding mechanism is mounted. The plate 12 is. ofta thickness somewhat greater than the width of the fastener strip. It is provided with a groove 34. along its. entire length, this. groove being. open on. that face off, the plate 12' which is turned toward the reinov-ablecover; 16. The depth. of the groove is. equal. to the full-width of'the fastener strip A, and the width of'the grooveis;

just' slightly greater than the thickness of. the strip. A so that as shown in Figs. 4', and 5, the end of. the strip may be entered in the rear 01'- right-hand-end. of the groove as viewed inFig. 4 and the strip pushed. forward until the forward end of the strip is under thetongue24 of the driver. that the edge containing.- the notches a are turned out wardly, that is, toward the open edge of the groove3'4.

Mounted on thelower portion of. the block 12 is a U-shaped piece- 35 with the legs of the U turned up wardly. and extending across the slot 34. On top of the U-shaped piece 35' is a U-shaped flatspring 36 having. arms 37 that overlie the upwardly-extending arms of the: U-shaped piece 35. There are pins 38 on the arms 37 of the spring, which pinsslidablypassthrough: the arms ofthe piece 35, and as shown. in Fig. 5, press intoen gagement with the notches a in the fastener strip. Thesepins are in the shape of pawls having a square forward face and arearwardly sloping. face. As is clearly evident from Fig.- 5, these pins enablethe: strip to be pushed forwardly through the groove 34,. but they. spring. into), the notches and acting as pawlst'o prevent movement of The strip is inserted in the machine so strip in the opposite direction. Once the strip has been engaged with the spring pressed pins or pawls 38, it cannot be pulled backwards.

Mounted on the plate 12 above the slot 34 is a slide plate 40 having a slot 41 through which passes a fixed guide pin 42. The slide plate 40 also has two other slots 43 through which pass guide pins 44. Tension springs 45 are stretched between the fixed pins 44 and anchor pins 46 on the slide. The purpose of these springs is to urge the slide plate 40 toward the left as viewed in Fig. 4. This slide plate has a cam engaging roller 47 at its upper forward corner which bears against the sloping cam surface 22 on the plunger and which is urged into engagement against this cam surface by the springs 45 which pull the slide toward the left as viewed in Figs. 4 and 6.

When the plunger 2 is depressed, the cam 22 engaging the roller 47 forces the slide plate 40 toward the right as viewed in Fig. 4. When the plunger moves upwardly, the springs 45 serve to return the slide plate to the position shown in Fig. 4. This motion is clearly shown in Fig. 6, where the plunger is in its lowermost position and the roller 47 is at the end of the cam 22.

The slide plate 40 has two downwardly-extending arms 48 that also extend over the groove 34. There is an inverted U-shaped fiat spring 49 on the slide plate 40 having arms 50 thereon. These arms carry pawl-like pins 51 similar in all respects to the pins 38 on the fixed spring 36. When the slide 40 is cammed back, the pins 51 ride out of the notches, and along the edge of the strip, the resilience of the arms 50 permitting the pins to yield. When, however, the slide 40 comes forwardly, the pins 51 will catch in the notches a on the strip and feed the strip forwardly.

Thus with each operation of the plunger downwardly, the slide 40 moves back while the fixed pins 38 prevent the strip from moving back, and on the return movement of the slide 40 when the plunger raises, the strip is advanced.

As shown in Figs. 5 and 5a, the plate 12 extends forwardly to the front of the housing and there is an opening 53 in the housing through which the strip may be pulled, should it be defective. One surface of the plate 12 provides a shoulder 52 against which the downwardlyturned leg of a fastener abuts, as the strip is fed forward, thus providing both an indexing stop and a guide for two surfaces, that is, one face and one edge of the leg of the fastener. The leg, being thus confined, is supported along with the additional support hereinafter described, against buckling. When the strip A is shoved into the machine, the leading edge of the strip is under the tongue 24 of the driver. The first blank end is cut off, and on the next feeding of the strip, the leg portion of the succeeding blank engages shoulder 52 to limit the strip.

For initially supporting the leg on its other two sides during the beginning of the driving operation, there is, in the lower part of the housing, a transversely movable guide block 55 (see Fig. 7) with a notched toe 56 that is beveled on its upper edge, this block having a hollow extension 57 that is slidably guided in a bushing 58 threaded into an opening in the lower part of the cover plate 15, and a spring 59 is operatively interposed between the bushing and the extension. The toe of the block is normally positioned in spaced relation to the rear of shoulder 52, so that the leg of the tack, when the tack is driven, is between the toe 56 and the shoulder and the edge of the leg between the block 55 and the face of the plate 12. The top of the guide block is beveled at a steep angle, so that when the lower end of the driver hits this surface, the block will be pushed back, i. e., toward the left as viewed in Fig. 7, to allow the driver to come down until its end is about flush with the bottom of the machine. However, at the time the guide block is pushed back, the fastener will have penetrated part way into the substance into which it is driven, and the leg will be unsupported by the toe only in the final stages of driving, at which time the short undriven length needs support no longer.

When the driver raises, the guide block springs back into position. It should be noted in Fig. 7 that the beveled surface of the guide block is below the point of the leg of the fastener next succeeding, so that the guide block offers no obstruction to the advancing of the strip of fasteners.

The supporting plate 12 has a hardened steel block 60 secured thereto with the top of this block forming an extension of the lower side of the groove 34. The upper forward corner 61 of this block just clears the shoulder or corner 24a of the driver, forming the other jaw of the shear for severing the fastener to be driven from the strip.

The lower end of the driver may, as shown in Figs. 4 and 6, project down further at the edges than at the center, so that when the fastener is being set at the end of the driving operation, the two ends ofthe cross bar forming the head of the fastener will be pressed down and eliminate any tendency for them to spring up. One of these projections, previously referred to, isv marked 24a and the other is designated 24b in Fig. 4.

In operation, assuming a strip of fasteners to have been entered in the machine, the first head of the strip will have no leg-forming portion (see Fig. 8). The strip will be pushed through until this end is under the driving plunger. Then the plunger is operated. The incomplete blank is sheared off and driven down. As the driver moves past shearing position tongue 23 on the driver, offset as it is to engage only the leg-forming portion, bends the leg of the next succeeding blank down, as shown in Fig. 9. During the down travel of the plunger feeder plate 40 is cammed to the right as viewed in Fig. 4. Then the plunger raises. Springs 45 pull the feed plate to the left, advancing the fastener strip until the newly sheared end hits the shoulder 53 (see Fig. 5). On the next operation of the plunger, the driver tongue 24 cuts off the second blank with its now depending leg, drives it, and the leg portion of the next blank is at: the same time turned down.

It will be observed in Fig. 6 that when the slide plate is cammed back and the fastener cut-01f on the down stroke of the plunger, the end of the strip bears against the rear edge of the tongue 24, so that when the plunger starts to move up, the strip cannot feed forward. Hence the cam may move up and disengage the roller 47 on the slide plate. Then when the end of the plunger clears the strip, the springs 45 act to snap the strip forward, giving a positive feed and driving the leg against shoulder 52 to make sure it is vertical and square against the guide shoulder. Thus the operation is repeated, a strip containing several hundred fastener blanks being accommodated in the machine.

The end of the driver guide may be shaped in various ways where desirable, to enable the driver to work in close to corners.

The strip feeding arrangement, cooperating with notches on the edge of the strip with the pawls working perpendicularly to the edge is of considerable importance in simplifying the feeding mechanism and making it compact and yet positive. If the feeding mechanism fails, the plate 12 with all of the feeder parts may be removed and replaced by a similar unit.

The machine provides a relatively simple, cheap driver, positive in its action for feeding, bending the legs, cutting off and driving the successive fastener blanks accurately, speedily, and easily.

While I have shown and described one preferred embodiment of my invention, it will be understood that various changes and modifications may be made therein.

I claim:

1. A fastener driving machine having a driver, a magazine for holding a coil of prepared flat strip with regular notches in one edge thereof, a reciprocable feeder positioned fiatwise of the edge of the strip and in a plane at one side of the edge of the strip and having means thereon engaging the notches in the edge, for advancing the strip from the magazine to the driver, and means for reciprocating the feeder.

2. In a machine of the class described having a driving plunger and a magizne for holding a prepared strip with regular notches in an edge thereof, a feeder for moving the strip step by step to feed the end thereof under the driving plunger, the feeder comprising a slide plate perpendicular to the flat face of the strip, pawl means on the plate movable in a direction normal to the edge of the strip into and out of the notches, and means for operating the feeder in coordinated relation to movement of the plunger.

3. In a machine of the class described having a driving plunger and a magazine for holding a prepared strip with regular notches in an edge thereof, a feeder for moving the strip step by step to feed the end thereof under the driving plunger, the feeder comprising a slide plate peragvnasisov the'p'late movahle'in" aidi'reet-ion' normal to the edge' of the stripinto" and out-= of the notches; means actuated W. the plunger fer operating-the feeder:v and detent means on the machine also movable in a direction normal. to

of the strip is provitled with' a successiomof Iongitudijnall'y extending leg form'i'ngjelements'and-the other edge is provided with" ratchet-like notches; the strip moving through the channel with the notched edge exposed at one side 01? the channel; feed means-movable back andforth along the channel and engaging said"not'ches= inthe ed'ge of the strip-hi e direction-normalto=theedge of the st'r-ip-for advancingth'estr-ip stepby step, and means for imparting b'acl'candforth' movementto said feed means.v

5. A machineof the class described-having a channel 2'0 118216545 fon'receiving' aistrip ofQfastener blanks in' which one edge of the strip i'sprovided* with a succession of longitudinally extending l'eg formingelements and theother edge is provided" with; ratchet-like" notches, the'- strip' moving through the channel With tll'e" notchededgeexposedat oneside of the channel, a feeder movable' back'andfbrth" along the notched edgeofthe'-strip"h'aving pawl elements I therein for engaging said matches to advance the strip:

step by step; and other meansenga'ging said "notches*' in the strip for holding" the sttip' agaihst movement i'n-one' direction; andfmeans-tor' imparting a back and -forth movement to the feeder:

Refrences (Iite'd in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 210,511 Felt'er Dec. 3"; 1878 3 121550" Brock Feb: 17', 188-5 6 l 3 -',5'69- Holi'hs Nov; 1} 1898 6"53,-772" Hobbs July 17; 1900 779,680 Wiseman Jan. 1 o;'1905' l*,388 ,8 46 Brock AIgg. 30, 1921 V Crofoot' Feb: 23-, 1932 2,174,708 Sears Oct; 3,, 1939 2,274,559 Nitkey" Feb. 24, 1942