# Patent

## Title
Apparatus for making debris-free nail collation

## Abstract

An apparatus for forming a plastic molded collated fastener assembly includes a conveyor for carrying a plurality of fasteners in a horizontal plane defining an upper surface and a lower surface, a preheater for preheating the plurality of nails and a plastic collation molding station. The molding station includes injection nozzles for applying molten plastic to the upper surface of the fasteners and to the lower surface of the fasteners. The station further includes forming wheels including a holding section to, in cooperation with the conveyor, secure the fasteners. The wheels include a forming section to mold the molten plastic to the fasteners to form a collation having a collar encircling the fasteners' shanks and a connecting portion extending between the collars. The apparatus includes at least one cooling spray nozzle to spray a cooling vapor onto the fasteners and collations and at least one cooling spray nozzle to spray a cooling vapor onto the forming wheels. An air chiller further cools the collations.

## Background
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention pertains to debris-free fastener collations. More particularly, the present invention pertains to an apparatus for making a debris-free collated nail strip formed with a plastic material for use in a fastener driving tool.
Fast-acting fastener driving tools are in widespread use in the construction industry and used in industries ranging from pre-fabricated housing construction to luxury residential, commercial and industrial construction.
The nails that are used in these tools are assembled in strips that are inserted into a magazine. There are two principal nail strip or nail collation formations—paper tape and plastic. As the name suggests, paper tape collations maintain the nails in a strip by using a strip of tape that is adhered to one or both sides of the arranged nails. Plastic collations use a formed or pre-formed collar-type element to secure the fasteners to one another and parallel in the strip form.
Paper tape has certain advantages, one of which is ease of manufacture. In addition, paper tape collations, which use a glue or adhesive to adhere the tape to the fasteners, tend to be quite rigid, but sufficiently easy to separate one fastener from an adjacent fastener, as when the fastener is driven from the tool into a substrate. While rigidity on the one hand is good for the collation in that it reduces the opportunity for strip corrugation, on the other hand, it tends to require additional force to separate the fastener from the strip. Moreover, paper tape collations also produce a significant amount of debris when the fastener is separated from the strip. This debris can cause increased tool maintenance as well as jamming and increased down-time for tool repair.
Plastic collations use a collar that is molded to or fit around the shank of the fasteners. The collars are connected by bridges that break or separate to permit the fastener to be separated from the strip. One drawback to commonly available plastic collations is that the collation, although molded around the fastener, is nevertheless only superficially affixed to the fastener. That is, although the fastener is supported within and by the collation, the fastener can be rotated within the collar. It may not be loosely held, but can nonetheless be rotated. This has two ramifications.
First, because the fasteners are loosely supported, the collation can be overly flexible. This can result in increased corrugation of the strip in the tool magazine. Second, because the plastic is only loosely affixed to the fastener, it has been observed the plastic collars and bridges fracture as the fastener is driven into the substrate. This has been shown to result in the generation of debris, and in certain instances substantial amounts of debris. At times, it has also been found that the collars collect under the fastener head, thus preventing the fastener from being driven fully into the substrate. This may thus require a user to then drive, by hand, e.g., with a hammer, the fastener the remainder of the way into the substrate. Another drawback to the known plastic collations was that because the collation material was quite brittle, the downstream collation fractured, causing fasteners to become off-centered in the tool, which resulted in tool jams and misfires.
In an effort to eliminate the drawbacks associated with the generation of debris and the accumulation of material under the fastener head, and off-centered driven fasteners, a debris-free fastener was developed that uses an adhesive-modified chemistry for the plastic collation material in conjunction with preheating the fasteners prior to application (molding) of the collation.
It was found that the improved, debris-free collation generated significantly less debris and that the plastic collation material adhered well to the fastener shank. As a result, the plastic material entered the substrate as the fastener was driven from the strip into the substrate. Such a fastener collation is disclosed in Shelton, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/383,032, filed May 12, 2006, Shelton, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/734,684, filed Apr. 12, 2007, and Heskel, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/935,541, filed Nov. 6, 2007, all of which are commonly assigned with the present application and are incorporated herein by reference.
While the above-noted fastener collations overcame many of the drawbacks in prior fastener collations, they were found to be very difficult to manufacture. Using known manufacturing devices and techniques resulted in too much flow of the collation material and thus mis-formed collations, sticking of the collation material to the forming molds, and other manufacturing obstacles.
Accordingly, there is a need for an apparatus for forming a plastic collation system for strip-formed fasteners. Desirably, such an apparatus provides a high quality collation formed on the fasteners. More desirably, such an apparatus uses portions of known extruders to apply adhesive-modified materials for the plastic collation. More desirably still, such a collation forming apparatus provides a high speed process with little to no waste or rejection of product. Most desirably, such a device is used to form a plastic collation formulated from an adhesive polymer such as a polyolefin, such that when the fastener is driven from a driving tool, the collar portion remains adhered to the fastener so that the collar portion penetrates the substrate with the fastener.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An apparatus is configured to form a plastic molded collation on fasteners having a shank, a head and a tip. The fasteners are carried on a conveyor, at least in part, in a horizontal plane that defines an upper surface and a lower surface of the fastener collation assembly. The collation so formed does not use a paper tape. That is, it is a paper tape-less collation.
The apparatus includes a preheater for preheating the plurality of nails and a plastic collation molding station. The station includes injection nozzles, preferably two nozzles, one for applying molten plastic to the upper surface of the fasteners and the other nozzle for applying plastic to the lower surface of the fasteners.
The collation station further includes upper and lower forming wheels (preferably two sets to form two sets of collations) that each include a holding section to, in cooperation with the conveyor, secure the fasteners and a forming section to mold the molten plastic to the fasteners to form the collations. Each collation has a collar encircling the fasteners' shanks and a connecting portion extending between the collars.
The apparatus includes a cooling spray nozzle to spray a cooling vapor onto the upper surface of the fasteners and collations, and a cooling spray nozzle to spray cooling vapor onto the lower surface of the fasteners and collations. The apparatus also includes at least one cooling spray nozzle to spray a cooling vapor onto the forming wheels (preferably at about the 12 o'clock position prior to engaging the fasteners).
The apparatus also includes air coolers or chillers to provide a chilled air stream over the fasteners.
In a present forming apparatus, the injection nozzles are disposed proximal to the upper and lower surfaces of the fasteners.
One or more temperature sensors can be disposed at the nozzles. A temperature sensor can be disposed to monitor the temperature of the fasteners following the preheater.
Hold-downs are positioned at the forming wheels to maintain the fasteners in the conveyor, in the horizontal plane and engaged with the lower forming wheel as the fasteners traverse between the forming wheels.
In a present apparatus the forming wheels are adjustably mounted to one another to permit some variation in the angle of the fasteners relative to the direction of travel through the apparatus. One adjustable mounting configuration includes a stub fixedly mounted to one of the forming wheels that is received in an opening in the other (its adjacent) forming wheel. The stub is resiliently received in the forming wheel to provide a small amount of movement of the wheels relative to each other. Resilient elements such as o-rings disposed on the stubs can provide the resilient interface of the wheels.
In a present apparatus the forming wheels are internally cooled. The wheels include internal cooling channels supplied by a shaft on which the forming wheels rotate. As such, the shaft includes internal cooling channels in flow communication with the internal cooling channels in the wheels.
The apparatus can include one or more fastener aligning elements disposed to align the fasteners head to head and/or tip to tip, within the plane. The aligning elements can be disposed prior to and immediately following the plastic collation molding station.
These and other features and advantages of the present invention will be readily apparent from the following detailed description, in conjunction with the claims.



BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS
The benefits and advantages of the present invention will become more readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the relevant art after reviewing the following detailed description and accompanying drawings, wherein:
FIG. 1 is a plan view of an exemplary nail collation formed in accordance with a method of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a schematic illustration of an apparatus for carrying out the present method;
FIGS. 2A and 2B are partial illustrations, as indicated in FIG. 2, of the apparatus and method carried out thereby;
FIG. 3 is a partial, enlarged view of fasteners being positioned in a singulating and conveying apparatus for preparing the fasteners for positioning within the collation forming apparatus;
FIG. 4 is a view of the apparatus of FIG. 3 as seen from an opposite perspective;
FIG. 5 is a front view of the apparatus showing the fasteners being positioned on a conveyor and showing both an alignment wheel and a fastener angle sensing station;
FIG. 5A is a view taken along line 5-5 showing the fasteners aligned in the conveyor (lying on the conveyor bands);
FIG. 6 is a perspective (front) view of the collation forming machine showing the fastener preheating station;
FIG. 7 is a perspective (front) view of the forming wheels shown in a disengaged state and illustrating the polymer injectors disposed above and below the plane along which the fasteners are conveyed;
FIG. 8 shows the wheels in the closed or engaged state with the coolant vaporizers operating to spray vaporized water onto the fasteners;
FIG. 9 is an illustration of the fasteners secured in and engaged by the forming wheels;
FIG. 10 is a sectional view taken along line 10-10 of FIG. 9;
FIG. 11 is a perspective (front) view of the collation forming machine showing the gas (air) cooling station;
FIG. 12 is a perspective (front) view of the cutting station showing the cutting blade moving down to engage a portion of a fastener strip;
FIG. 13 is a view similar to FIG. 12 showing the blade section pivoting to move with the strip as the cut is made;
FIG. 14 is a perspective (front) view of the turning plate for moving the cut strips onto a second portion of the conveyor and showing an ejection paddle in the extended (ejection) state;
FIG. 15 is an opposite side view of the turning plate and showing a strip of fasteners moving onto the second portion of the conveyor;
FIG. 16 is a top view of the nail strip on the second portion of the conveyor, as indicated at 16-16 in FIG. 15;
FIG. 17 is a perspective illustration of the tip coating preheater;
FIG. 18 is a perspective illustration of the tip coater;
FIG. 19 is a perspective (front) view of the end of the conveyor (downstream of the tip coating station);
FIG. 20 is a perspective (front) view of the conveyor and stacker;
FIG. 21 is a partial sectional view of the forming wheel shaft;
and
FIGS. 22A-D are partial sectional views of the forming wheels and shaft, as taken along lines 22A-22A through 22D-22D.



DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
While the present invention is susceptible of embodiment in various forms, there is shown in the drawings and will hereinafter be described a presently preferred embodiment with the understanding that the present disclosure is to be considered an exemplification of the invention and is not intended to limit the invention to the specific embodiment illustrated.
It should be further understood that the title of this section of this specification, namely, “Detailed Description Of The Invention”, relates to a requirement of the United States Patent Office, and does not imply, nor should be inferred to limit the subject matter disclosed herein.
Referring now to the figures and in particular to FIG. 1, there is shown an exemplary nail strip 10 having a plastic collation system 12 formed thereon. The collation 12 is as disclosed in the aforementioned U.S. Patent applications to Shelton et al. and Heskel et al. In the illustrated strip 10, the nails 14 are positioned parallel to one another (e.g., with their axes A14 parallel) and at an angle a of about 20 degrees to the transverse direction (as indicated at 16) of the strip 10. Other angles α (including zero degrees) are, however, contemplated. The nails 14 can be full head nails, D-head (or clipped head) nails or any other type of nail.
As discussed above, the nails 14 are collated and held to one another by the plastic collation 12. The plastic collation 12 is molded to, over and around the shanks 18 of the nails 14, and connects each nail 14 to its adjacent nail or nails (that is, extends between the nails 14). The collation 12 is formed as a contiguous molding around and between the nails 14; nevertheless, for purposes of this disclosure, the molding, indicated generally at 20, is viewed as having a collar portion 22, which is that portion that encircles the nail shank 18, and a connecting portion 24, which is that portion that extends between and connects adjacent collar portions 22. The collation 12 so formed does not use a paper tape. That is, it is a paper tape-less collation 12. Upper and lower moldings or collations 20 are shown that are formed with structure similar to one another. The structure can, however, be different from the upper to the lower collations.
As set forth above and in the aforementioned patents to Shelton et al. and Heskel et al., the present nail collation 12 differs from previously known plastic collations in a number of important aspects. First, rather than the plastic merely encircling and extending around and between the nails, the present collation 12 uses a material that is molded (or formed) around and adheres to the nails. It has been found that plastic that is adhered to the nails, rather than merely molded around the nails is advantageous in that the plastic material tends to remain on the nail shank during driving. That is, the collation 12 material is maintained on the shank 18 as the nail 14 penetrates the substrate and thus enters the substrate with the nail. Advantageously, much less debris is generated during driving of a nail from the present nail strip compared to prior known nail strips.
In addition, adhesion of the plastic material to the nails 14 also has benefits vis-à-vis the rigidity of the nail strip 10. That is, when the plastic merely encircles the nail shanks, the plastic can slip around the nail shanks. On the other hand, by adhering the plastic molding to the shanks, the nail strip tends to become more rigid and is less likely to flex and to corrugate.
A present material is an adhesive polymer, such as an adhesive polyolefin, such as a maleic anhydride modified polyolefin, such as polypropylene, polyethylene or the like. Other suitable materials, such as epoxies, other resins, such as a polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) based material, an ethylene vinyl alcohol (EVA) based material, an acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) based material, ionomers, methyl methacrylates and the like. Fillers can also be used as can blends of any of the materials, as suitable. Other materials will be recognized by those skilled in the art and are within the scope and spirit of the present invention.
In forming the collation 12, the nails 14 are first surface conditioned to enhance adhesion. Conditioning is first carried out by washing the nails in a caustic solution. The solution is a mildly acidic iron phosphate solution or a mildly alkaline solution. It was found that such a solution conditions the surface of the steel for adhesion with the plastic.
The conditioned nails are then fed into a collation forming machine or apparatus 26. The machine 26 includes, generally, a conveyor 30 to convey the nails 14 along and through various stations, including a preheating station 42, a collation forming station 43, a cooling station 100, a cutting station 102, a tip coating station 114 and a stacker 122. One or more drives 101, such as motors, drive the conveyor 30 and components at other driven stations. The machine 26, of course includes a controller 103 for controlling the overall operation of the machine 26.
The nails 14 are conveyed through a chute 28 and singulated prior to positioning on the conveyor 30. A present conveyor 30 is formed as two continuous bands 36, 38, each having a plurality of spaced apart grooves 40 formed therein, much like a saw blade. The bands 36, 38 rotate opposing one another in loops with one side of each loop 36a, 38a parallel and nearest to the opposing side of the other loop. The fasteners (nails 14) are carried in the grooves 40 opposite one another as the two loops rotate, thus carrying the nails 14 in a flat (horizontal) plane P along a straight path through the collation forming machine 26. The bands 36, 38 are movable relative to one another to adjust the angle a at which the nails 14 lie in between the bands 36, 38.
The nails are positioning into a conveyor 30 at a preselected angle that is the same as angle a, which in a present machine 26 and strip 10, is 22 degrees. The nails 14 are positioned on the conveyor 30 and aligned so that the tips 32 and heads 34 are all aligned with one another. In a present conveyor 30, the nails 14 are supported above and below (or outside of) the location at which the collations 12 will be formed. That is, the nails 14 are supported closer to the tips 32 and heads 34. An aligning element 35 aligns the nails head-to-head with one another. It will be appreciated that the aligning element could be configured to align the nails 14 tip-to-tip. The angle a is measured by an angular measurement device 37 downstream of the aligning element 35.
The nails 14 are then conveyed to the preheater 42 where they are preheated. A preheat temperature of about 500 deg. F. to about 620 deg. F. is a suitable range, and a preferred temperature is about 600 deg. F. for use with the maleic anhydride modified polypropylene. Other temperatures may be better suited for other materials. Preheating is carried out using flame heating, however, induction heaters or any other suitable heating medium and method may be used. Heating is controlled by a sensor 44 (e.g., an infra-red sensor) immediately downstream of the heaters 42. In a present collation forming apparatus, upper and lower heaters 42a,b are used to heat the nails 14 from above and from below to provide more consistent and even preheating.
As seen in FIGS. 7-10, the nails are then conveyed to the collation forming station at which a pair of forming wheels 46, 48 are configured to carry and embrace the nails 14 and to mold the plastic (collations 12) between the nails 14 and grooves 50 formed in the wheels 46, 48. Accordingly, the plastic is introduced to the nails 14 immediately prior to the nails 14 entering the nip 52 between the wheels 46, 48. To effect plastic introduction or flow, a nozzle 54 is positioned above the nails and another nozzle 56 is positioned below the nails 14, just prior to the forming wheels 46, 48. The plastic is carried by the nails 14 into the space between the wheels 46, 48.
Plastic flow rate and temperature (from the nozzles 54, 56) are both controlled to effect proper collation 12 formation. The plastic flow is controlled by the controller which controls the extruder (not shown) that supplies the plastic (that is the plastic feed), and by a gate or valve 58 (one shown) at the nozzles 54, 56. Sensors 57 in the nozzles 54, 56 monitor the temperature at the nozzles 54, 56. The plastic flows from the extruder exit to the nozzles 54, 56 through piping, tubing or conduit 60. In that the plastic is highly viscous, even though the extruder stops, plastic continues to flow from the extruder to the nozzles 54, 56. The valves 58 are configured to stop the flow of plastic but are also configured to prevent the build up of pressure at the nozzles 54, 56 (which could otherwise result in a shock of plastic when opened). As such, both a “shock” of plastic (upon resuming flow) and a drool of plastic (following isolation) are avoided. In this manner, flow is better controlled and waste is reduced.
Temperature of the plastic is also tightly controlled by heaters 62 located in the nozzles 54, 56. In this manner, the plastic is introduced to the nails 14 within a range of about 400 deg. F. to 440 deg. F., and preferably about 410 deg. F. Control of the plastic temperature at the nozzle 54, 56 (tip) also prevents the plastic from freezing (hardening) at the tip 64, thus interrupting the collation forming operation.
At the exit of the wheels (as indicated at 66 in FIG. 8), the plastic is hot and is still in a flowable state. In order to stabilize the collation 12, it is desirable to freeze the plastic—actually to cool the plastic—to a point such that an outer skin or layer is formed and is stable, although the plastic under the outer layer may still be in a plastic or flowable state. As such, the plastic is cooled by a spray of chilled water vapor at the exit 66 of the wheels 46, 48. As shown in FIG. 8, vapor spray nozzles 68 are located to spray water vapor V down onto the top surface 70 (as seen in Fla 9) and up onto the bottom surface 72 of the collation 12 as it exits the forming wheels 46, 48, to better and more evenly cool the plastic collation 12 and facilitate curing.
It has also been found that in order for the wheels 46, 48 to properly conform the plastic 12 to the shape of the grooves 50 (in the wheels 46, 48), and to release the plastic from the wheels 46, 48 without sticking (at the exit 66), a spray of chilled water vapor is applied to the wheels 346, 48. In a present method, a vapor spray is applied onto the upper wheel 46 from an upper spray nozzle 74 at a point prior to the wheels 46, 48 engaging the plastic 12 and the nails 14. In a present arrangement, the water vapor is applied to the wheels at the apex of the wheels' path (e.g., the 12 o'clock position); however, the exact location can be varied to effect a desired machine configuration.
In addition to externally cooling and lubricating the forming wheels 46, 48 (with the vapor spray 74), the wheels 46, 48 are cooled internally. As seen in FIG. 21-22A-D, cooling channels 76 are formed in the wheels 46, 48 to maintain the wheels 46, 48 at a desired temperature. The cooling channels 76 are fed through channels 78 formed in the shaft 80 about which the wheels 46, 48 rotate. Seals 82 are positioned on the shaft 80 to maintain a seal between the rotating wheels 46, 48 and the stationary shaft 80. A liquid, preferably water is introduced into the shaft channels 78, flows into and through the wheels 46, 48 and out from the wheels 46, 48 through the channels 78 in the shaft 80. Cooling is provided independently to each wheel 46, 48 through respective channels 78 in the shaft 80. Other cooling fluids are, of course, contemplated by the present invention.
The wheels 46, 48 are of a novel design. There are four wheels, which include an upper 46 and a lower 48 wheel for each of the two collations formed on the nails 14. The upper and lower wheels 46, 48 act in concert in forming each of the collations 12.
The wheels 46, 48 include a holding portion or groove 84 and a forming portion or groove 86. The nail 14 is held or secured in the holding portion 84, while the forming portion 86 has a slightly larger size groove and is that portion of the wheel 46, 48 in which the plastic forms (flows) around the nail 14. Essentially, the forming portions 86 of the upper 46 and lower 48 wheels form a mold cavity to form the collar 22 and connecting portions 24 of the collation 12. That is, there is sufficient space between the forming portions 86 (of the upper and lower wheels 46, 48) and the nail 14 to form the plastic collation 12 (the collar portion 22 of the collation 12), and sufficient space between the peaks 88 of the forming portions 86 to form the connecting portions 24 of the collations 12. The holding portions 84 are located, relative to the forming portions 84, to effect a desired collation profile. That is, if it is desired to form the collar 22 concentric with the shank 18, then the holding portion 84 is centered with the forming portion 86 (as seen in FIG. 10). Conversely, if it is desired to form the collar 22 eccentric relative to the shank 18, then the holding portion 84 is offset relative to the forming portion 86. In a present method, the holding portion 84 is centered relative to the forming portion 86 so that the collar 22 and shank 18 are concentric.
The wheels 46, 48 are also configured to allow some variation in the angle a of entry of the nails 14. It will be appreciated that the nails 14 are mass produced consumables and that the operating speed of the machine must be such that the collations 12 are formed at very high speeds. As such, although a desired angle (e.g., 20 degrees) is set by the various operations on the nails 14, there may be some slight variation in the angle (up to about +/−2.5 degrees) in which the collation is within acceptable tolerances. In order to accommodate that tolerance, and still provide an acceptable collation, the forming wheels 46, 48 are permitted to move (rotate) relative to one another with a small degree of freedom, and to allow some measure of misalignment of the nails 14 on the conveyor 30 relative to the wheels 46, 48.
As seen in FIG. 22B, the upper wheels 46a,b and the lower wheels 48a,b are mounted to one another by a stub 90 that extends between the wheels (e.g., 46a,b). The stub 90 is rigidly mounted to one of the wheels (e.g., 46a), but is mounted to the other wheel (e.g., 46b) with a resilient element 92 (such as an O-ring)  fitted on the stub 90 which is fitted into an opening 94 in the wheel 46b. This provides the small degree of relative movement (or freedom) between the wheels 46a,b. In this manner, if there is a small variation in the angle of the nails (within tolerances of course) as they enter the wheels 46, 48, the nails 14 continue to move through the wheels 46, 48 without mishap. It will be appreciated that if the nails are rigidly held by the wheels, the nails can, if the angle is slightly off, wedge into the wheels or not fit within the grooves, resulting in a failed collation, machine shut down and related time and material costs.
As the nails 14 move through and beyond the forming wheels 46, 48 they are held down on the conveyor 30 by a pair of hold down rails 96. These rails 96 do not apply any significant pressure on the nails 14, but hold them down on the conveyor 30 to prevent the nails 14 from lifting with the wheels 46 (as they exit the wheels) or from lifting as the plastic 12 cools and cures. Shortly downstream of the vapor spray cooling 68, the rails 96 end and the nail collations are continued in the conveyor 30.
At this point in time, the outer layer of the plastic has begun to harden or cure, but the material between the outer layer and the body of the nail, although highly viscous, is still in a formable state. A side rail 98 is positioned downstream of the hold-down rails 96 to (axially) align the fasteners tip-to-tip or head-to-head. Typically any adjustment in the alignment is minimal, if needed at all, but can be done with the collation material in this state.
A further cooling step is carried out using air coolers 100 to force a gas, preferably chilled air, over the nails 14. Following the cooling step, the collations are sufficiently cooled and cured to be cut into strips 10 of a predetermined length or number of nails 14. The nail strips 10 are cut at a cutting station 102 that includes a cutter blade 104 that is mounted to a reciprocating carriage 106. The carriage 106 is also configured to pivot (as at 108) so that the cut can be effected on the moving strip 10 (that is, without slowing or stopping the strip). A biasing element 110, such as a spring returns the carriage 106 (and thus the cutter blade 104) to the home position following the cut.
Once cut, the nail strips 10 have a tip coating applied. Prior to coating, the nail tips 32 are heated, such as by the illustrated flame heater 112. Induction heaters or the like, as suitable, may also be used. The coating is then applied. The coating enhances or eases penetration of the nails 14 into a substrate, and can also enhance the holding power of the nails 14. The coating can be applied by conveying the nails 14 through a tip coater 114 that includes, for example, a pair of rotating foam rollers 116, 118, one of which 116 is positioned in a reservoir 120 of the coating material (liquid). Following coating and drying, the nail strips 10 are then stacked for packaging at a stacker 122.
It will be appreciated that although certain specific details, for example plastic temperature ranges, preheat temperatures and the like are provided, these specific details are those for use with the noted maleic anhydride modified polypropylene and it is anticipated that the specific temperatures and the like will vary for other materials.
All patents referred to herein, are incorporated herein by reference, whether or not specifically done so within the text of this disclosure.
In the present disclosure, the words “a” or “an” are to be taken to include both the singular and the plural. Conversely, any reference to plural items shall, where appropriate, include the singular.
From the foregoing it will be observed that numerous modifications and variations can be effectuated without departing from the true spirit and scope of the novel concepts of the present invention. It is to be understood that no limitation with respect to the specific embodiments illustrated is intended or should be inferred. The disclosure is intended to cover by the appended claims all such modifications as fall within the scope of the claims.

## Claims

1. An apparatus for forming a plastic molded collated fastener assembly comprising:
a conveyor for carrying a plurality of fasteners, the fasteners having a shank, a head and a tip, the conveyor carrying the fasteners, at least in part, in a horizontal plane defining an upper surface and a lower surface;
a preheater for preheating the plurality of nails;
a plastic collation molding station including injection nozzles for applying molten plastic to the upper surface of the fasteners and to the lower surface of the fasteners, the plastic collation station further including forming wheels including a holding section to, in cooperation with the conveyor, secure the fasteners and a forming section to mold the molten plastic to the fasteners to form a collation having a collar encircling the fasteners' shanks and a connecting portion extending between the collars,
at least one cooling spray nozzle to spray a cooling vapor onto the fasteners and collations and at least one cooling spray nozzle to spray a cooling vapor onto the forming wheels; and
a cooler to cool the collations.

2. The apparatus for forming a plastic molded collated fastener assembly in accordance with claim 1 including upper and lower forming wheels.

3. The apparatus for forming a plastic molded collated fastener assembly in accordance with claim 1 including an injection nozzle disposed proximal to the upper surface of the fasteners and an injection nozzle disposed proximal to the lower surface of the fasteners.

4. The apparatus for forming a plastic molded collated fastener assembly in accordance with claim 3 including one or more temperature sensors at the nozzles.

5. The apparatus for forming a plastic molded collated fastener assembly in accordance with claim 1 including a temperature sensor to monitor the temperature of the fasteners following the preheater.

6. The apparatus for forming a plastic molded collated fastener assembly in accordance with claim 2 including hold-downs disposed at the forming wheels to maintain the fasteners disposed in the conveyor, in the horizontal plane and engaged with the lower forming wheel as the fasteners traverse between the forming wheels.

7. The apparatus for forming a plastic molded collated fastener assembly in accordance with claim 2 including two upper and two lower forming wheels.

8. The apparatus for forming a plastic molded collated fastener assembly in accordance with claim 7 wherein the upper forming wheels are adjustably mounted to one another and wherein the lower forming wheels are adjustably mounted to one another.

9. The apparatus for forming a plastic molded collated fastener assembly in accordance with claim 8 wherein the adjustable mounting includes a stub fixedly mounted to one of the upper forming wheels and a stub fixedly mounted to one of the lower forming wheels and openings in the other of the upper forming wheel and the lower forming wheel for receiving the respective stubs, the stubs being resiliently received in the others of the upper and lower forming wheels.

10. The apparatus for forming a plastic molded collated fastener assembly in accordance with claim 9 including resilient elements disposed on the stubs for interfacing with the openings in the forming wheels.

11. The apparatus for forming a plastic molded collated fastener assembly in accordance with claim 1 wherein the forming wheels are internally cooled.

12. The apparatus for forming a plastic molded collated fastener assembly in accordance with claim 11 wherein the forming wheels include internal cooling channels supplied by a shaft on which the forming wheels rotate, the shaft including internal cooling channels in flow communication with the internal cooling channels in the wheels.

13. The apparatus for forming a plastic molded collated fastener assembly in accordance with claim 1 including a fastener aligning element disposed to align the fasteners head to head and/or tip to tip, within the plane.

14. The apparatus for forming a plastic molded collated fastener assembly in accordance with claim 13 wherein the fastener aligning element is disposed prior to the plastic collation molding station.

15. The apparatus for forming a plastic molded collated fastener assembly in accordance with claim 14 including a second fastener aligning element disposed after the plastic collation molding station.

16. The apparatus for forming a plastic molded collated fastener assembly in accordance with claim 1 including at least two cooling spray nozzles wherein at least one cooling spray nozzle is directed to spray a cooling vapor onto the upper surface of the fasteners and at least one spray nozzle is directed to spray a cooling vapor onto the lower surface of the fasteners.

17. The apparatus for forming a plastic molded collated fastener assembly in accordance with claim 1 wherein the forming wheel cooling spray nozzle is disposed at about a 12 o'clock position for spraying the cooling vapor onto the forming wheel.

18. The apparatus for forming a plastic molded collated fastener assembly in accordance with claim 1 wherein the molten plastic includes a heat activated adhesive component and wherein the preheater supplies heat sufficient to activate the heat activated adhesive.

19. The apparatus for forming a plastic molded collated fastener assembly in accordance with claim 1 including one or more valves at the injection nozzles to permit and to stop the flow of molten plastic from the injection nozzles.

20. An apparatus for forming a plastic molded collated fastener assembly comprising:
a conveyor for carrying a plurality of fasteners, the fasteners having a shank, a head and a tip, the conveyor carrying the fasteners, at least in part, in a horizontal plane defining an upper surface and a lower surface;
a preheater for preheating the plurality of nails;
a plastic collation molding station including upper and lower injection nozzles for applying molten plastic to the upper surface of the fasteners and to the lower surface of the fasteners, the plastic collation station further including upper and lower forming wheels including a holding section to, in cooperation with the conveyor, secure the fasteners and a forming section to mold the molten plastic to the fasteners to form a collation having a collar encircling the fasteners' shanks and a connecting portion extending between the collars, the forming wheels being internally cooled;
upper and lower spray nozzles to spray a cooling vapor onto the upper and lower surfaces, respectively, of the fasteners and collations and at least one cooling spray nozzle to spray a cooling vapor onto the upper forming wheel;
hold-downs disposed at about the forming wheels to maintain the fasteners disposed in the conveyor, in the horizontal plane and engaged with the lower forming wheel as the fasteners traverse between the forming wheels; and
a cooler to cool the collations.

21. The apparatus for forming a plastic molded collated fastener assembly in accordance with claim 20 including two sets of forming wheels to form two sets of collations.

22. The apparatus for forming a plastic molded collated fastener assembly in accordance with claim 20 including fastener aligning elements disposed to align the fasteners head to head and/or tip to tip, within the plane, the fastener aligning elements being disposed prior to and following the plastic collation molding station.

23. The apparatus for forming a plastic molded collated fastener assembly in accordance with claim 20 wherein the molten plastic includes a heat activated adhesive component and wherein the preheater supplies heat sufficient to activate the heat activated adhesive.

24. The apparatus for forming a plastic molded collated fastener assembly in accordance with claim 20 including one or more valves at the injection nozzles to permit and to stop the flow of molten plastic from the injection nozzles.

25. An apparatus for forming a plastic molded collated fastener assembly comprising:
a conveyor for canying a plurality of fasteners, the fasteners having a shank, a head and a tip, the conveyor carrying the fasteners, at least in part, in a horizontal plane defining an upper surface and a lower surface;
means for preheating the plurality of nails;
a plastic collation molding station including injection nozzles for applying molten plastic to the upper surface of the fasteners and to the lower surface of the fasteners, the plastic collation station further including forming wheels including a holding section to, in cooperation with the conveyor, secure the fasteners and a forming section to mold the molten plastic to the fasteners to form a collation having a collar encircling the fasteners' shanks and a connecting portion extending between the collars;
means cooperating with the holding section to secure the fasteners at the forming wheels to maintain the fasteners disposed in the conveyor, in the horizontal plane and engaged with the lower forming wheel as the fasteners traverse between the forming wheels;
at least one cooling spray nozzle to spray a cooling vapor onto the fasteners and collations and at least one cooling spray nozzle to spray a cooling vapor onto the forming wheels; and
a cooler to cool the collations.

26. The apparatus for forming a plastic molded collated fastener assembly in accordance with claim 25 including aligning means for aligning the fasteners tip to tip and/or head to head.

27. The apparatus for forming a plastic molded collated fastener assembly in accordance with claim 26 wherein the aligning means is disposed prior to the preheating means.

28. The apparatus for forming a plastic molded collated fastener assembly in accordance with claim 27 including further aligning means disposed after the plastic collation molding station.

29. The apparatus for forming a plastic molded collated fastener assembly in accordance with claim 25 wherein the molten plastic includes a heat activated adhesive component and wherein the preheater supplies heat sufficient to activate the heat activated adhesive.

30. The apparatus for forming a plastic molded collated fastener assembly in accordance with claim 25 including one or more valves at the injection nozzles to permit and to stop the flow of molten plastic from the injection nozzles.