Dual purpose staple gun tacker

A staple gun tacker for driving staples of various leg lengths is disclosed in which the staple gun housing has a front staple gun driving end and a base. The base has a staple discharge opening formed therein through which staples to be driven by the staple gun are discharged into a workpiece. A staple spacer guide is slidably mounted on the staple driving end of the housing and includes a free end which extends beyond the staple discharge opening and the base of the staple gun. Cooperating means are provided on the spacer guide and the housing to enable the spacer guide to be retracted along the housing relative to the base, thereby to control the position of the staple discharge opening relative to the workpiece into which a staple is to be driven. By controlling the position of the staple driving end of the staple gun relative to the workpiece, the depth to which a particular staple is driven in the workpiece can be controlled to avoid damage to the item being stapled to the workpiece.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
(Not Applicable) 
STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY RESPONSIVE RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT 
(Not Applicable) 
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention relates to staple gun tackers and more in particular 
to staple gun tackers which are adapted to drive staples of multiple 
lengths and shapes to varying controlled depths. 
Heavy duty staple gun tackers are well known hand tools which are adapted 
to drive staples of varying lengths into a workpiece in order to tack 
something to the workpiece or work surface. Such staple gun tackers are 
very popular in use, particularly those sold by the Arrow Fastener 
Company, Inc. under the trademarks T-50.RTM. and T-25.RTM.. Such staple 
gun tackers are designed to drive staples in a range of leg lengths. 
The Arrow Fastener Company has developed specific staple guns which are 
adapted to drive staples having a round crown shape, which staples are 
used for stapling telephone wires, electrical cables, and the like, to a 
workpiece. Such staple gun tackers, while entirely satisfactory in use, 
have not had the ability to control the depth to which the staples are 
driven. Thus, whether the wire to be attached to a workpiece was a small 
diameter wire or a larger diameter wire, the staple was driven to 
essentially the same depth. As a result, when a large diameter wire was 
used, it was possible that the wire would be damaged by the bight portion 
of the staple when the staple was driven. In order to avoid that 
possibility sometimes larger size staples than necessary were used to hold 
the wire to the workpiece. 
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
It is an object of the present invention to provide a staple gun tacker 
which is adapted to drive staples to a variety of different depths. 
Another object of the present invention is to provide a staple gun tacker 
of relatively simple construction which can drive staples of various sizes 
and shapes to different depths. 
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a staple gun 
tacker of the character described which is relatively simple in 
construction and reliable in use. 
A further object of the invention is to provide a staple gun which will 
drive staples having flat or round crowns. 
In accordance with an aspect of the present invention, a staple gun tacker 
is provided which has an internal staple driving mechanism of conventional 
construction. The staple driving mechanism used in the invention can be 
any of the mechanisms used, for example, in the Arrow T-50.RTM., T-25.RTM. 
and T-75.TM. staple gun tackers. The mechanism, per se, forms no part of 
the present invention. 
The staple gun tacker of the invention includes a housing containing the 
driving mechanism. The housing has a front staple driving end and a base 
which includes a staple discharge opening. As will be apparent to those 
skilled in the art, staples contained in a magazine mounted in the base of 
the staple gun are discharged by a driving knife operated in the staple 
gun's front driving end when the handle of the staple gun is depressed. 
The bottom edge of the front staple driving end of the housing is engaged 
against a workpiece when a conventional staple gun is operated. The staple 
in the staple gun will then be driven to a depth dependent upon the power 
of the staple driving mechanism in the housing and the length of the 
staple leg. The staple gun has no ability to control the depth to which 
the leg is driven. 
In accordance with the present invention, a staple spacer guide is slidably 
mounted on the staple driving end of the housing adjacent the staple 
discharge opening in its base. The guide has a free end which extends 
beyond the staple discharge opening. Means are provided for selectively 
controlling the position of the free end of the spacer guide on the 
housing relative to the position of the staple discharge opening. The free 
end of the staple guide engages the workpiece and thus spaces the 
discharge opening away from the workpiece a selected distance depending 
upon its position. In this way, when the staple is driven, the depth to 
which its legs can penetrate the workpiece is controlled by the position 
of the guide relative to the discharge opening. The further the free end 
of the guide is from the discharge opening, the less the legs of the 
staple will penetrate. 
The above and other objects, features and advantages of this invention will 
be apparent in the following detailed description of an illustrative 
embodiment thereof, which is to be read in connection with the 
accompanying drawings, wherein:

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
Referring now to the drawings in detail, and initially to FIG. 1, a staple 
gun tacker 10 constructed in accordance with the present invention is 
illustrated. Staple gun tacker 10 includes a housing 12 of generally 
conventional construction containing a drive mechanism (not shown) also of 
conventional construction such as is available in the Arrow T-50.RTM., 
T-25.TM. and/or T-75.TM. staple gun tackers. Housing 12 includes a front 
driving end 14 and a handle 16 which, when squeezed in a conventional 
manner, operates the driving mechanism to power and fire a driving knife 
18 (see FIGS. 5 and 6) which moves vertically in the front end 14 of 
housing 12 to engage a staple in the front end of a magazine in the base 
of the housing to drive it into the workpiece 20. The staples are 
contained in a conventional magazine (not shown) mounted in the 
conventional manner within the base 22 of the housing. The staples are 
supplied in a conventional manner in a strip of staples adhered together 
and held in place by a pusher arrangement 24, also of conventional 
construction. 
The free end 21 of knife 18 (shown in its raised position in dotted lines 
in FIGS. 3 and 4), may be shaped in a known manner to have a concave edge 
26 between the flat segments 27 in order to drive staples having round 
crowns, such as for example the staples shown at 28 and 30 in FIGS. 3 and 
4, respectively. The round shape 26 of the edge of the knife edge 21 
engages the round crown of the staple so as to maintain the staple's round 
shape during the driving operation. However, Applicant has found that 
staple gun tackers with this rounded end for knife 18 are equally suitable 
for driving flat crowned staples. In that case the flat segments 27 of 
knife 21 engage the flat crown of the staple 31 above the staple legs to 
drive the staple into the workpiece, as seen in FIG. 3. 
The front end 14 of staple gun tacker 10 includes a drive mechanism cover 
40 of generally conventional construction such as heretofore been used by 
conventional staple gun tackers. The lower end 41 of cover 40, adjacent 
the point at which the staple is ejected from the staple gun, has a 
concave edge 76 formed in it to enable the front end or nose of the staple 
gun to straddle a wire to be secured to a workpiece. 
Cover 40 also is shaped, particularly in the area 42 (illustrated in FIG. 
2), in order to provide a plurality of stop surfaces 44 along an edge of 
the cover, for reasons described hereinafter. 
A staple spacer guide 50 is slidably mounted on housing 12 over cover 40. 
Spacer 50 is shown in greater detail in FIG. 2. As seen therein, spacer 50 
has a front face 52 and a pair of perpendicularly extending side walls 54, 
56 which overly the sides of housing 12 and cover 40. Side walls 54, 56 
are slotted at 58 in order to provide a pair of legs 60, 62, respectively. 
Guide 50 is adapted to slide relative to cover 40, as described 
hereinafter, between two extreme limits to control the penetration of 
staples driven by the staple gun tacker. It includes a free end 70 and has 
an arcuate recess 72 formed therein for the purpose of overlying a wire or 
cable, or the like, as described above with regard to concave recess 76 in 
cover 40. However, recess 72 is of greater depth than recess 76. 
Spacer guide 50 is resiliently retained on the housing 12 by legs 60, 62. 
These legs, as seen in FIG. 2, are bent slightly inwardly. Since the cover 
is formed of a resilient metal material, these permanently bent legs apply 
a resilient gripping force to housing 12 which holds the guide removably 
on the housing while allowing it to slide vertically with respect to cover 
40. This sliding movement adjusts the position of free end 70 of spacer 
guide 50 relative to the staple discharge opening 53 (FIG. 5) in base 22 
of the staple gun. Leg 60 has an inwardly extending tab 80 which is 
located to engage the conventional bumper structure 82 that extends out of 
the staple gun tacker housing. This provides a lower stop for the position 
of the spacer guide relative to the housing. 
The upper limit of movement of the staple guide 50 is controlled by the 
stop surfaces 44 previously described. These stop surfaces are located to 
cooperate with a control plate 90, illustrated in FIGS. 5 and 6. Control 
plate 90 is a flat metal plate having a finger extension 92 formed 
thereon. Finger 92 is located to selectively engage stop surfaces 44. 
Plate 90 is pivotally mounted on a short pin 94 which is in turn mounted 
in a pivot opening 96 formed in the spacer guide leg 62. This allows plate 
90 to pivot relative to leg 62 within a limited range of motion, the 
extremes of which are shown in FIGS. 5 and 6. 
In the preferred embodiment illustrated in the drawings, plate 90 can pivot 
between three positions to selectively cause free end 98 of finger 92 to 
engage one of the three stop surfaces 44. Plate 90 has three recesses or 
grooves 100 formed on its outer surface which selectively engage with a 
small dimple or protuberance 102 formed or stamped on the inner surface of 
leg 62 to hold the plate in one of three positions, the two extremes of 
which are shown in FIGS. 6 and 7. By manually sliding spacer guide 50 to 
its lowermost position defined by the engagement of flange 80 with bumper 
82, the operator can pivot plate 90, using the finger tab opening 106, 
between one of the three positions. When the desired position is selected, 
the plate is slid back upwardly to engage the surface 98 with the selected 
stop surface 44. This positioning of guide 50 defines the amount to which 
free end 70 of the spacer guide extends beyond discharge opening 53 of the 
staple gun tacker. As seen in FIG. 3, the spacer guide 50 is shown in its 
uppermost position, corresponding to the position of plate 90 in FIG. 6. 
In this position the discharge opening 53 is closest to the workpiece and 
the staple gun can be used to drive flat crowned staples. Thus, when knife 
18 is driven downwardly to its extreme lowermost position in the housing, 
it will drive the staples to the greatest possible depth of penetration. 
In the intermediate position of plate 90 wherein finger 92 is in the 
central stop surface 42 the nose is positioned further down relative to 
the nose 41 of cover 40, as seen in FIG. 4. This corresponds to the 
position marked "3/165 mm" on cover 40 in FIG. 1. This position is 
preferably used with a round crown staple and smaller diameter wires, as 
illustrated by the wire 120 in FIG. 4. 
When it is desired to use the staple gun to secure a larger diameter wire, 
for example television cable wire, it is necessary that the crown of the 
staples be spaced further from the workpiece so as not to damage the wire. 
To accomplish this, spacer guide 50 is slid down again on the housing to 
engage stop flange 80 with bumper 82 thereby freeing plate 90 for pivotal 
movement from, for example, the position shown in FIG. 6 to the position 
shown in FIG. 7. The spacer guide is then slid back up on the housing to 
engage surface 98 with the forwardmost stop surface 44. When the nose of 
the staple gun is then engaged against the workpiece, free end 70 of the 
spacer guide engages the workpiece, as shown in FIG. 5, holding discharge 
opening 53 of the staple gun tacker still further away from the workpiece 
than it did in the position shown in FIG. 4. In this position, when knife 
18 of the staple gun tacker is driven to its lowermost position upon 
operation of handle 16, the staple will not be driven as deeply into the 
wood. The crown of the staple remains spaced from the wood without 
damaging the larger diameter cable wire. 
By the arrangement of the present invention, the workman using Applicant's 
staple gun tacker has the ability to quickly adjust the depth of 
penetration of the staples relative to the particular item being stapled 
to a workpiece, thereby to ensure that the element being stapled is not 
damaged. The staple gun tacker will accommodate various leg length 
staples, as is known in the art. 
Although an illustrative embodiment of the present invention has been 
described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings, it is to be 
understood that various changes and modifications may be effected therein 
by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope or spirit of 
this invention.