Patent ID: 6488195
Filing Date: 2002-12-03
Classification: B25C,B25F

Abstract:
A multi-stroke fastening device for driving fasteners into a workpiece, comprising:a housing; a fastener drive track carried by said housing; a striker assembly guide track mounted within said housing and having an internal surface; a striker assembly mounted in slidable relation within said guide track and including a driver member constructed and arranged to strike a fastener disposed in said fastener drive track, said striker assembly being moved along said guide track through a plurality of alternating drive strokes and return strokes to effect a plurality of impacts of said driver member upon said fastener; a power drive assembly resiliently coupled to said striker assembly, said power drive assembly including a slidable portion slidably received in said guide track and having a forward surface, said striker assembly including a slidable portion slidably received in said guide track and having a rearward surface, said slidable portions being substantially sealed with the internal surface of said guide track to contain a substantially sealed volume of gas between said forward and rearward surfaces; said power drive assembly being operable to move said slidable portion thereof in a plurality of reciprocating forward and reverse strokes within said guide track, said substantially sealed volume of gas maintaining a predetermined range of spaced distance between said forward and rearward surfaces of said slidable portions to establish a resilient, non-impacting driving relationship between said slidable portions during said forward and reverse strokes of the power drive assembly's slidable portion so that said substantially sealed volume of gas alternately moves said striker assembly through said drive stroke during the forward stroke of the power drive assembly's slidable portion and moves said striker assembly through said return stroke of the power drive assembly's slidable portion in order to drive said fastener into said workpiece, said substantially sealed volume of gas resiliently absorbing impacting of said driver member upon said fastener; a feed mechanism constructed and arranged to feed successive fasteners into said drive track, each fastener being fed into said drive track after a preceding fastener has received said plurality of impacts and driven into said workpiece.