Patent ID: 6330841
Filing Date: 2001-12-18
Classification: B23P,B25B

Abstract:
An apparatus for driving a screw into a workpiece, said apparatus having a housing with an end positionable on the workpiece, said apparatus comprising:a drive unit attached to the housing and having a drive shaft connected to an engagement tool,a feed tube mounted to said housing,a screw holder pivotably mounted on the housing and having a tubular passage, said screw holder being pivotable between a first position, in which the tubular passage is aligned with said feed tube to allow the screw to be loaded into the screw holder via the feed tube, and a second position, in which the tubular passage is aligned with said drive shaft to allow the engagement tool to engage the screw when the screw is in the screw holder, said screw holder having a first section proximate one end of the tubular passage through which said screw is initially received and a second section proximate another end of the tubular passage through which said screw is eventually driven,a first plurality of locking and centering elements disposed in said first section to temporarily capture the screw when the screw is in the tubular passage,a second plurality of locking and centering elements disposed in said second section and adapted to center and guide the screw during at least a portion of the driving of the screw into the workpiece, andwherein said first and second plurality of locking and centering elements are adapted to be displaced radially outwardly in response to the passage of the screw through said tubular passage.