Dust-removing structure of a nailer

The present invention provides a dust-removing structure for the nailer. The dust-removing structure, located at a preset position of the nailer, includes a release valve lever with a control unit for drive. The control unit is a lever-type control unit, having a pivot point, a drive portion and a laterally extended control portion. The drive portion is coupled with the release valve lever, and the control portion swings around the pivot point. An actuating arm is implemented through the control portion and the swinging behavior, making it possible to more easily operate using a single-hand. When the dust-removing structure is assembled at different heights with different shapes of nailers, the operator is only required to replace the lever-type control unit with different lengths to obtain the optimum pressing location.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED U.S. APPLICATIONS

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

NAMES OF PARTIES TO A JOINT RESEARCH AGREEMENT

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REFERENCE TO AN APPENDIX SUBMITTED ON COMPACT DISC

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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates generally to a nailer or nail gun, and more particularly to an innovative nailer with a dust-removing structure.

To improve the performance of existing nailers, an innovative nailer with a dust-removing structure has been developed. The dust-removing structure is commonly located at a preset position on the nailer body for easy operation. This dust-removing structure blows out air towards a predefined direction, thus removing dust from the objects.

In view of the structural patterns of commercially available prior art dust-removing structures of nailers, the manual control portion is often designed as a pushbutton, as shown in FIG. 1 from Taiwan Patent Application No. 92114547, entitled “Nailer with dust-remover”. The air blowing is activated to remove dust by manually pressing the pushbutton11of the dust-removing structure10.

The following shortcomings are found for this typical structure in application.

Referring toFIG. 1, since the nailer handle12is held by the palm and four fingers, only the thumb is able to control the pushbutton11of the dust-removing structure10. Since a spring is often assembled within said pushbutton11to support it elastically, and since the pushbutton11is located often at a top of the nailer and away from the nailer handle12, it is difficult for the operator to raise the thumb to the pushbutton. Thus, the force applied by the thumb to the pushbutton11is very weak. The inverse spring force also makes it difficult to manipulate the nailer's dust-removing structure with a single hand. In such a case, the goal of operating the dust-removing structure by a single hand cannot be achieved in practice.

The other problem is that a variety of nailers differ from each other with respect to appearance and specifications. As for the pushbutton11of said dust-removing structure, the possibility of single-hand operation is reduced if it is positioned far away from the nailer handle12. Even if the pushbutton is located in a higher location, the operation will remain inconvenient since the vertical spacing cannot be changed, for example, when the pushbutton of the dust-removing structure is parallel with the nailer handle. In such a case, the dust-removing structure of a typical nailer has poor applicability for different nailers, resulting in higher assembly cost.

Additionally, another prior art dust-removing structure of a nailer has been developed. Referring to FIG. 2 from Taiwan Patent Application No. 94200404, entitled “Nailer with dust-removal function”, a cylinder14is assembled at one side of the nailer13, and a piston rod15is inserted into the cylinder14. One end of the piston rod15protruding from the cylinder is linked to a switch16. The operator may pull the switch16to drive the piston rod15, so the inner end17of the piston rod15is disengaged from a retaining groove18, allowing internal air pressure to be blown out from the jet hole19. However, since the operation of the dust-removing structure is finished by pulling the switch16, the application of force from the fingers will lead to inconvenient operation by single hand.

Thus, to overcome the aforementioned problems of the prior art, it would be an advancement in the art to provide an improved structure that can significantly improve efficacy.

To this end, the inventor has provided the present invention of practicability after deliberate design and evaluation based on years of experience in the production, development and design of related products.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Based on the unique present invention, the lever-type control unit50comprises a pivot point51, a drive portion52and a control portion53extended laterally. The drive portion52is coupled with the stress end42of the release valve lever40, and the control portion53swings around the pivot point51. As compared with a typical structure in the prior art, an actuating arm structure could be implemented through the control portion53of said lever-type control unit50and the designed swinging behavior, making it possible to save force more easily and operate it more conveniently by a single-hand.

Through the laterally extended control portion53of said lever-type control unit50, when the dust-removing structure is assembled at different heights with the changing shape of a nailer, the operator is only required to replace the lever-type control unit50with different lengths of control portion53to obtain the optimum pressing location, thus greatly reducing the cost arising from replacement of the nailer and providing better applicability.

As the control portion53of the lever-type control unit50is provided with a protruding guide rod55, the guide groove24is located opposite to the top cover21for insertion and limitation of the protruding end56of the guide rod55. So, the control portion53of the lever-type control unit50provides better stability if it is pressed.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The features and the advantages of the present invention will be more readily understood upon a thoughtful deliberation of the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment of the present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIGS. 3,4and5depict preferred embodiments of the improved dust-removing structure of a nailer of the present invention. The embodiments are provided only for explanatory purposes.

The dust-removing structure A is assembled onto the top cover21of the nailer20nearby a compressed air chamber22

The dust-removing structure A comprises a jet hole23, located at a preset position of the top cover21of the nailer20. The inner end of the jet hole23is linked to the compressed air chamber22of the nailer20.

A hold tank30is located on the top cover21of the nailer20axially to the jet hole23. The hold tank30is internally provided with a through-hole31opposite to the jet hole23, while an assembly port32is externally shaped onto the hold tank30.

A release valve lever40has a braking end41and a stress end42. The braking end40can pass the through-hole31of the hold tank30, and then extend to the lockable jet hole23. The stress end42of the release valve lever40can pass through the assembly port32of the hold tank30, thus placing the release valve lever40in an axial slide state. The release valve lever40can be located securely through a spacing member. The braking end41of the release valve lever40and the middle section are separately provided with a ring seal43,44, thus enabling air-tightness of jet hole23and through-hole31.

A lever-type control unit50is located externally onto the assembly port32of the hold tank30, and designed into a long plate or post. The lever-type control unit50comprises a pivot point51, a drive portion52and a laterally extended control portion53. The drive portion52is coupled with the stress end42of the release valve lever40, and the control portion53swings around the pivot point51.

An elastic reset member60, e.g. a spring, is assembled securely onto the hold tank30, so that the axial slide of the release valve lever40could be reset.

The spacing member for the release valve lever40comprises a bulge ring71and a positioning cylinder72. The bulge ring71is prefabricated onto the section of release valve lever40corresponding to the hold tank. So, the bulge ring71may shift synchronously with the release valve lever40. The hollow positioning cylinder72is provided with a through-hole73for the release valve lever40. A stop flange74is shaped within the through-hole73to block off the bulge ring71. A threaded portion75is assembled externally onto the positioning cylinder72, so that a screwed section33is set in the assembly port32of the hold tank30for screwing the threaded portion75of the positioning cylinder72.

Referring toFIGS. 3-5, the pivot point51of the lever-type control unit50could be prefabricated onto the middle section of the lever-type control unit50(e.g. punch forming), and fastened at a fixed point. In this preferred embodiment, the pivot point51is adapted onto the external surface of said positioning cylinder72. In addition, the drive portion52could be designed into a curved shape, and also provided with a through-hole54for the stress end42of the release valve lever40. The stress end42allows a pin45for radial penetration, and the control portion53is extended laterally to a predefined length far away from the drive portion.

A guide rod55is located on the control portion53of the lever-type control unit50, while the protruding end56of guide rod55is assembled towards the top cover21of the nailer20, so that a guide groove24is located opposite to the top cover21for insertion and limitation of the protruding end56of the guide rod55. With the guide rod55and guide groove24, the control portion53of the lever-type control unit50provides better stability under a pressing state.

Based upon above-specified structures, the preferred embodiment of the present invention is operated as follows:

Referring toFIG. 5, when the control portion53of the lever-type control unit50is not pressed, and when the bulge ring71is pushed flexibly by the elastic reset member60, the braking end41of the release valve lever40is stopped securely in the jet hole23, making it impossible for the high-pressure air in the compressed air chamber22of nailer20to be blown out. On the other hand, the drive portion52of the lever-type control unit50is stopped onto the external surface of positioning cylinder72with the inward shift of release valve lever40. The control portion53at the other end will tilt outwards due to the support of pivot point51.

Referring also toFIG. 6, if it is intended to activate the dust-removing structure A, the control portion53of the lever-type control unit50is pressed. In such a case, the pivot point51enables the drive portion52to tilt outwards. Thus, through connection of the drive portion52and stress end42, the release valve lever40may slide outwards, and the braking end41of the release valve lever40is disengaged from the jet hole23, enabling the high-pressure air in the compressed air chamber22of nailer20to be blown out.

Referring also toFIG. 7, the operator manually holds the handle of nailer20and presses the control portion53of the lever-type control unit50by thumb. Since the control portion53is extended laterally, the force applied from the thumb can be greatly reduced. In addition, the thumb may naturally apply a downward toggle force, as shown by arrow L inFIG. 7. This proves that, as compared with the prior art pushbutton structure, the control portion53of the present invention actually reduces the required force, serving the purpose of improving single-hand operation.

Referring also toFIG. 8, the pivot point51B and control portion53B of the lever-type control unit50B can be separately located at both ends of the lever-type control unit50B. Thus, the pivot point51B is assembled onto a fixed point of the nailer top cover21, and the drive portion52B is assembled onto the middle section of the lever-type control unit50B. When the control portion53B is pressed, as shown inFIG. 9, the drive portion52B shifts inwards to drive the stress end42of the release valve lever40. However, the internal structure of the release valve lever40differs from the aforementioned embodiment. For example, an expanded lever head46is shaped at the internal end of the release valve lever40, so that the elastic reset member60is located between the expanded lever head46inner edge of the jet hole23. Then, the expanded lever head46is normally supported and stopped at a circular shoulder34, making it impossible for high-pressure air in the compressed air chamber22of nailer20to reach the jet hole23. Otherwise, if the control portion53B is pressed to drive the release valve lever40for internal shift, as shown inFIG. 9, the expanded lever head46can be disengaged from the circular shoulder34, enabling the high-pressure air in the compressed air chamber22to reach the jet hole23through a predefined channel, as shown by arrow L2inFIG. 9.