US2780811A

US2780811A - Tool for holding and driving fasteners

Info

Publication number: US2780811A
Application number: US494168A
Authority: US
Inventors: Emil A Rodin
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1955-03-14
Filing date: 1955-03-14
Publication date: 1957-02-12
Anticipated expiration: 1974-02-12

Description

Feb. 12, 1957 E. A. RODIN TOOL FOR HOLDING AND DRIVING FASTENERS Filed March 14, 1955 EMIL A. RODIN L INVENTOR.

HIS ATTORNEY United States Patent 2,780,811 TOOL FOR HOLDING AND DRIVING FASTENERS Emil A. Rodin, Los Angeles, Calif. Application March 14, 1955, Serial No. 494,168

4 Claims. (Cl. 1-47) This invention relates to a tool which is particularly adapted for use by sheet metal workers to hold shoenails of the type used by them during the start of the nail driving operation and to open and close lock seams of the type used in sheet metal work.

It is an object of my invention to provide such a tool which is simply and economically formed from a single piece of material, which tool is simple and rapid to use and which is extremely durable.

My tool is particularly adapted for holding short nails which are to be driven into hard substances such as concrete, brick and the like. In the past, workers have held such nails manually or with pliers, which is dangerous in the former case and slow and inefiicient in either case.

It is a further object of my invention to provide such a tool which is capable of transmitting a hammer blow to the held nail with the same force and proper direction as if the nail itself were struck a direct blow.

Another object of my invention is to provide such a tool in which a nail is held by the head rather than by the stem and in which the nail cannot come out of the holder, rock, roll or move during the driving operation.

A still further object of my invention is to provide such a tool which is also capable without any alteration thereof of being used to open and close lock seams of the type which are commonly used in sheet metal work.

It is also among the objects of my invention to provide such a tool which is extremely fast and simple to load and unload, which automatically retains the nail in the proper position and which is not damaged as the nail strikes an impenetrable surface. My tool may also be used to finish driving a nail, if the head of the nail is inaccessible with a hammer.

My invention also comprises such other objects, ad vantages and capabilities as will later more fully appear and which are inherently possessed by my invention.

While I have shown in the accompanying drawings a preferred embodiment of my invention, it should be understood that the same is susceptible of modification and change without departing from the spirit of my invention.

Referring to the drawings, Fig. l is a top elevational' view of my tool;

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view of the same;

Fig. 3 is an end view of the same;

Fig. 4 is a side elevational view of my tool in use, with only one end of the tool being shown;

Fig. 5 is a side elevational view of my tool in use to complete the driving of a nail;

Fig. 6 is a side elevational view of my tool in use to unlock a sheet metal seam.

A preferred embodiment which has been selected to illustrate my invention comprises an elongated body member 10, which is preferably formed from a single solid bar of steel. Body member 10 is preferably somewhat fiat rather than round so that it will not roll away from the user when placed on a fiat surface.

One end of body member 10 is provided with a passage 11, which extends completely through body member 10 from one side thereof to the other side. The passage 11 is of substantially truncated triangular shaped cross section, with the apex of the triangle being cut off along the line of the end surface 13 of body member 10 to provide an open end 12 for the passage 11. The passage 11 is tapered so that the entrance 14 on one side thereof is wider than the entrance 15 on the opposite side thereof, with the side walls 11a of passage 11 gradually and equally narrowing from entrance 14 to entrance 15. The side walls 11a of the passage 11 preferably extend at the same angle and are always equidistant from the center of the passage 11.

The base 16 of the passage 11 is fiat and extends parallel to the end surface 13 of body member 10. At each corner of the base 16, a small groove 17 is cut into body member ill to a point slightly beneath the base 16. The substantially equidistant angular side walls 11a converge toward open end 12.

In use, a short nail it; of the type which is commonly used by metal workers may be inserted so that its head 19 enters the larger entrance 14 of the passage 11, with the stem 20 or" the nail extending outwardly from body member id through the open end 12 of passage 11. The nail 18 is moved along passage 11 from entrance 14 toward the narrower entrance 15 until its further movement is prevented by engagement of the walls of the passage ill with the head 19 of nail 13.

The head 19 has a top 21, which is substantially square in cross section, with its bottom having only a slight taper toward the stem of the nail. The engagement which takes place between the head 19 and the passage 11 is a three point engagement in which the flat surface of the top 21 of nail it lies fiat against the base 16 of passage 11 to prevent rearward movement of the nail 18. The side walls of passage 11 engage the bottom edge of the top 21 on a line which preferably extends substantially diametrically through the axis of the nail 18 to prevent movement of the nail 13 in a downward or sideward direction.

This engagement of the nail l8 and passage 11 preferably takes place substantially on a line with the longitudinal axis of the body member 10 so that the nail is held in line with such axis.

The tool is now loaded and ready for use. It is moved to the place desired and the end 22 of body member 10 which is remote from passage 11 is struck by a hammer. The blow is transmitted through base 16 directly and firmly to the top of nail 18 with the same force and effect as if the head of the nail had been directly struck. When the nail has been driven a sufficient distance to take hold, the tool may be removed by sliding it downwardly until the head 19 of the nail 18 is removed from the passage 11 through'entrance 14. The nail can then be driven the rest of the distance by direct blows. If the nail is inaccessible for direct hammer blows, the end surface 12 of the tool may be placed against the top 21 of the nail is to complete the driving operation.

My tool may also be used for unlocking seams such as the Pittsburgh lock seam, which seams are commonly used in sheet metal work. After the seam has been slightly loosened, the passage 11 is used to grip the loosened portion 25 and exert upward pressure thereon to break the seam in the manner shown in the drawings. My tool may also be used to close such seams and is more rapid and efficient than hammers, pliers or other devices which are now in use for opening and closing seams.

I claim:

1. A tool comprising an elongated body member formed of a single piece of rigid material, said body member having a passage at one end thereof, said passage having an open entrance at one side of said body member, said passage having a substantially flat base extending transversely to the longitudinal axis of said body member, a pair of substantially equidistant angular side walls converging from said base to an open end disposed at the end of said body member on the opposite side of said passage from said base, said side walls also tapering gradually and equally toward each other from said entrance toward the opposite side of said body member, said base adapted to engage the top of a nail head, said side walls adapted to engage the bottom edge of the nail head at two separate points on a line extending substantially diametrically through the axis of the nail to hold said nail with its stein extending through the open end of said passage and prevent movement of the nail, the end of said body member remote from said passage adapted to be struck by a hammer to drive said nail.

2. The subject matter of claim 1, said passage extending across the lateral axis of said body member and the distance between said side walls along the transverse axis of said body member being substantially equal to the width of a nail head so that the nail is held within said passage on a direct line with the longitudinal axis of said body member.

3. A tool comprising an elongated body member formed of a single piece of rigid material, said body member having a passage at one end thereof, said passage having an open entrance at one side of said body member, said passage having a substantially flat base extending transversely to the longitudinal axis of said body member said passage having a pair of angular side walls converging from said base toward an open end disposed at the end of said body member on the opposite side of said passage from said base, said side walls also tapering toward each other from said entrance toward the opposite side of said body member, said base adapted to engage the top of a nail head, said side walls adapted to engage the nail'head at two separate points to hold said nail with its stem extending through the open end of said passage and prevent movement of the nail, the end of said body member remote from said passage adapted to be struck by a hammer to drive said nail.

4. A tool comprising an elongated body member formed of a single piece of rigid material, said body member having a passage at one end thereof, said passage extending through said body member from one side thereof to the other, said passage having a pair of entrances on opposite sides of said body member, one of said entrances being substantially larger than theother, said passage having a pair of side walls extending from one of said entrances to the other, said side walls tapering toward each other from the larger of said entrances to the smaller of said entrances, said passage having a base, said base extending between said side walls from one side of said body member to the other, said passage having an open end disposed oppositely from said base, said open end being disposed at the end of said body member, said side walls also tapering toward each other from said base toward said open end, both longitudinal and transverse sections of said passage substantially defining a trapezium, said open end being larger than the stem of the nail to permit the nail stem to extend therethrough, said passage adapted to removably receive and hold a nail, the head of said nail being inserted in the larger of said entrances and moved toward the smaller of said entrances, the head of said nail being held within saidpassage with the top of the nail head disposed against said base, the stem of said nail extending through the open end of said passage, said side walls engaging the under side of the nail head at two separate points on a line extending substantially diametrically through the longitudinal axis of the nail.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 411,633 Balfour Sept. 24, 1889 612,833 Dexter Oct. 25, 1898 1,535,032 Ochs Apr. 21, 1925 1,867,928 Smith July 19, 1932