Portable fastener driver using inflammable gas

Abstract: A gas type fastener driver 1 is supplied with electric power from an external consent 55 through an electric cord 53. When a trigger 46 is pulled to turn a switch 47 on, the external electric power is supplied to an ignition plug 17 to burn gas in a combustion chamber 14. Combustion gas pushes a piston 11 forward to drive a nail n by a driving rod 12 connected to the piston 11.

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION: The present invention relates to a portable fastener driving tool as defined in the pre-characterising portion of claim 1. Such a tool is, for example, known from the document US-A-4 522 162. In general, a fastener driver is usually an electric type driver utilizing electro-magnetic phenomenon, a hydraulic type driver using compressed air, or a gas type driver utilizing liquefied gas such as MPAA gas, propane gas or butane gas filled in a pressure container. An example of the gas type fastener driver is disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. H4-11337. Among others, the electric type fastener driver usually uses a commercial power source of 100V. Therefore, a driving power of the electric type driver is relatively low and its application is limited to a staple driver for fixing a plywood board or fixing a metal mesh as a base of mortar wall. Thus, the hydraulic type or the gas type fastener driver has been used as a riveter which must be more powerful. In the hydraulic type riveter, however, an air compressor must be provided separately. Therefore, it is troublesome to move and/or maintain the hydraulic type riveter with the air compressor. In addition thereto, an air hose connecting between the air compressor and the riveter may disturb a work of an operator of the riveter. On the other hand, the gas type riveter does not require such compressor and hose and, therefore, has no such problem inherent to the hydraulic type riveter. The gas type riveter is adapted to push a rivet forward by a forward movement of a driving rod fixed to a piston in a cylinder of the riveter, which is caused by igniting gas filling the cylinder by means of an ignition plug. It has been usual that the ignition plug is supplied with electric current from a power source such as a rechargeable battery or dry cells provided in the riveter as disclosed in the above mentioned Japanese Patent Publication or Japanese Patent Publication No. H3-25307. It has been known that the power source voltage to be used for the ignition plug of the riveter must be at least 6V. Further, since the capacity of such power source must be large enough to allow a continuous use of the riveter, the weight and size of the power source and hence the riveter become considerable. Further, a recharging operation or an exchange of dry cells is troublesome. In the case of the rechargeable battery, a battery charger is required, resulting in an increase of cost. Further examples of gas type riveters exhibiting two different positions of the pressure container within the tool are disclosed in the US-A-4,522,162, wherein the electrical power for ignition of the fuel is provided by a piezo-electric system. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a gas type portable fastener driving tool which is free from the above mentioned problems of the conventional gas type fastener driving tool. In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a portable fastener driving tool as set out in claim 1. Preferred embodiments of the tool according to the present invention are subject-matter of the dependent claims 2-9. Since the construction of the portable fastener driver according to the present invention does not require a battery provided therein, the fastener driver can be made light weight and compact compared with the conventional driver and, since there is no need of recharging operation or battery exchanging operation, the maintenance of the fastener driver is facilitated. On the other hand, since the electric cord is light weight and is easy to handle contrary to the air hose of the hydraulic type fastener driver and since it is easy to change a working area by using an extension cord or a position of a consent, the use of the electric cord does not disturb the use of the fastener driver. Therefore, according to the present invention, the gas type fastener driver can be made light weight and compact without degrading the usability thereof and thus the maintenance thereof can be facilitated. In addition, since there is no need of using a battery recharger, the cost of the fastener driver can be reduced. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS: Fig. 1(a) is a perspective view of a fastener driver according to an embodiment of the present invention; Figs. 1(b) and 1(c) are perspective views of a nail cartridges, respectively; Fig. 2 is a partially cross-sectioned side view of the fastener driver; Fig. 3 is a partially cross-sectioned side view of an upper portion of the fastener driver; Fig. 4(a) is a partially cross-sectioned side view of a rear portion of the fastener driver; Fig. 4(b) is an enlarged view of a portion of the fastener driver shown in Fig. 4(a), showing an operation of a valve; Fig. 5(a) is a partially disassembled, partially cross-sectioned side view of a forward portion of the fastener driver; Fig. 5(b) is a cross section taken along a line b-b in Fig. 5(a); Fig. 5(c) is a cross section taken along a line c-c in Fig. 5(a); Fig. 5(d) is a cross section showing a positioning pin; Fig. 6(a) is a cross sectional side view of the front portion of the fastener driver; Fig. 6(b) is a cross section taken along a line b-b in Fig. 6(a); Fig. 7(a) is a cross section taken along a line VII-VII in Fig. 2; Fig. 7(b) is a cross section taken along a line b-b in Fig. 7(a); Fig. 8 is a perspective view showing a mounting of a trigger; Fig. 9 is a perspective view of the mounting of the trigger looked from another side thereof; Fig. 10(a) shows a second embodiment of the present invention; Fig. 10(b) shows a third embodiment of the present invention; Figs. 11(a) and 11(b) are a right side view and a front view of a modification of the present invention, respectively; Fig. 12(a) is a cross section with a hollow pin being set; and Fig. 12(b) is a cross section with a solid pin being set. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A first embodiment of the gas type fastener driver according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to Figs. 1 to 9, in which Fig. 1(a) is a perspective view showing a whole construction of a fastener driver 1, Fig. 2 is a cross section thereof, and Figs. 3 and 4 are partial cross sections of various portions thereof. The gas type fastener driver 1 includes a housing 2 and a grip 2a attached to a lower surface of the housing 2. A fastener magazine 3 loaded with a plurality of fasteners which are, in this embodiment, nails n is arranged in front of the grip 2a and attached to a front surface of the housing 2 at an angle with respect to an axis of a driving rod to be described later. The nails n are arranged in parallel and supported by a paper tape t. The nails n can be arranged in parallel tightly by partially removing head portions thereof as shown in Fig. 1(b) or arranged in parallel with a space between adjacent nails as shown in Fig. 1(c), so that the nails n form a flat nail plate N. Fig. 7(a) is a cross section taken along a line VII-VII in Fig. 2 and Fig. 7(b) is a cross section taken along a line b-b in Fig. 7(a). As is clear from Figs. 7(a) and 7(b), the magazine 3 defines a space 4 therein which extends along the magazine into which the nail plate N is inserted. Further, a magazine follower 5 having a push-up member 6 which is in contact with the lowest nail n of the nail plate N is slidably inserted into the space 4 of the magazine 3. As shown in Figs. 1 to 3, a roller 7 is provided in an upper portion of the magazine 3. The roller 7 is rotatable about an axis extending in width direction of the magazine. An end of a coiled leaf spring 8 is fixed to the roller 7 and the coiled spring 8 is wound on the roller 7. The other end of the spring 8 is fixed to the magazine follower 5. The spring 8 wound on the roller 7 biases the magazine follower 5 upwardly such that the magazine follower 5 always pushes the nail plate N up. As shown in Fig. 3, a cylinder 10 is provided within the housing 2, which extends longitudinally of the housing. A piston 11 is slidably inserted into the cylinder 10. A driving rod 12 for driving the uppermost nail n of the nail plate N forward is suitably fixed to a front end of the piston 11. An elastic member 13 of such as rubber for absorbing mechanical shock and rebounding the piston 11 is provided in a front end portion of the cylinder 10. Behind the cylinder 10, a combustion chamber 14 having a diameter larger than that of the cylinder 10 is formed and a fan 16 driven by a motor 15 for agitating gas in the combustion chamber 14 is provided in a rear portion of the combustion chamber 14. An ignition plug 17 is provided above the motor 15 and a gas hole 18 is formed below the motor 15. A snap-ring 19 for preventing the piston 11 from moving into the combustion chamber 14 is provided between the cylinder 10 and the combustion chamber 14. A space 20 for receiving a gas container B filled with liquid gas such as liquid propane or butane gas is formed in a boundary portion between the cylinder 10 and the grip 2a. A valve 21 for discharging a constant amount of gas from the gas container B is provided in a rear end portion of the gas container B. A nozzle provided inside of the valve 21 is connected to the gas hole 18 such that the latter is communicated with the nozzle when the nozzle is pushed up to supply the constant amount of gas to the combustion chamber 14. The space 20 is opened rearward of the housing 2 and an openable cover 25 covers the opening. The cover 25 is rotatably supported by a pin 23 extending perpendicularly to the drawing sheet as shown in Figs. 2 to 4 such that the cover 25 can tilt backward about the pin 23. The cover 25 is formed with a pressing portion 25a for pushing the nozzle of the valve 21 up. When a sleeve 24 which is fitted in the cylinder 10 as to be described later is retracted as shown in Fig. 4(b), the pressing portion 25a is tilted backward about the pin 23 to push the nozzle of the valve 21 up to thereby discharge the constant amount of gas to the combustion chamber through the gas hole 18. A construction of the forward portion of the fastener driver 1 will be described with reference to Figs. 5 and 6, in which Fig. 5(a) is a partially disassembled, partially cross-sectioned side view of a forward portion of the fastener driver, Fig. 5(b) is a cross section taken along a line b-b in Fig. 5(a), Fig. 5(c) is a cross section taken along a line c-c in Fig. 5(a), Fig. 5(d) is a cross section showing a positioning pin, Fig. 6(a) is a cross sectional side view of the front portion of the fastener driver and Fig. 6(b) is a cross section taken along a line b-b in Fig. 6(a). A cover plate 26 is fixed to the front face of the housing 2 by a screw 27 and a pair of upper and lower guide members 28 and 29 for guiding the uppermost nail n of the nail plate N are arranged in front of the cover plate 26. As shown in Fig. 5(c), mating surfaces of the upper and lower guide members 28 and 29 are formed with semi-circular grooves which, when assembled with each other, form a guide passage 30 having a cross sectional shape coaxial to the driving rod 12. Further, as shown in Fig. 6, a rear end portion of the semi-circular groove of the lower guide member 29 is tapered to form a notch 33 for receiving an upper portion of the nail plate N biased upward in the magazine 3 upwardly and smoothly guiding the uppermost nail n. The upper guide member 28 is fixed to the cover plate 26 by a screw 32 as shown in Fig. 5(c) and the lower guide member 29 is fixed to an upper end face of the magazine 3 by a screw 33 as shown in Fig. 5(b). Further, as shown in Figs. 5(a) and 5(b), a pair of right and left positioning pins 34 protrude from the lower guide member 29 in parallel to the front face of the housing 2 and pass through the upper guide member 28. On the other hand, a lower portion of the magazine 3 is slidably fitted in a lower end of the grip 2a and the lower end of the magazine 3 and the grip 2a are fixed to each other by a knob 35 having a bolt. Therefore, by untightening the knob 35, the magazine 3 can slide down along the front face of the housing 2 obliquely to widen a gap between the upper and lower guide members 28 and 29 to thereby remove a nail n when the latter is jammed. When the knob 35 is removed from the housing, the magazine 3 can be removed from the housing 2. A cylindrical nose member 36 is slidably fitted on front end portions of the upper and lower guide members 28 and 29 to hold the guide members in their mating relation. On the nose member 36, a protective cylinder 37 of non-metallic material such as plastics is fitted. Further, an upper probe 38 extending rearward along the upper surface of the upper guide member 28 is provided and a lower probe 39 passing into the cover plate 26 on the front face of the housing 2 is fixed to the upper probe 38 by a screw 40. A rear end of the lower probe 39 is formed with a vertical portion 39a which intimately contacts with an inner face of the cover plate 26 and the vertical portion 39a is formed with a through-hole through which the driving rod 12 passes. As shown in Fig. 3, the sleeve 24 slidably covers a rear half portion of the cylinder 10 and a gang plate 41 extending forward engages with a front upper end of the sleeve 24. A vertical portion 41a which overlaps on the vertical portion 39a of the lower probe 39 through a spacer is formed on a front end of the gang plate 41 and a spring 43 is provided between the vertical portion 41a of the gang plate 41 and the front face of the cylinder 10. Therefore, by urging the fastener driver 1 to a member to be fastened, with the nose member 36 being in contact with the member to retract the nose member 36 against the spring 43, the sleeve 24 is retracted through the upper and lower guide members 28 and 29 and the gang plate 41. With the sleeve 24 being retracted, the pressing portion 25a of the cover 25 is tilted backward to push the nozzle of the valve 21 up to thereby a constant amount of gas is discharged from the gas container B into the combustion chamber 14, as described with reference to Fig. 4(b). The grip 2a of the housing 2 is constituted with a left and right halves and a space is defined between the halves. A trigger 45 is mounted in an upper portion of the grip 2a and biased forward by a spring 46. A switch 47 is provided behind the trigger 45 such that, when the trigger 45 is fully pulled, the switch 47 is turned ON to make an electric circuit for energizing the ignition plug 17 and the motor of the fan 16. As shown in Figs. 3 and 8, a forward extension 45a extending to a front portion of the space 20 is formed on an upper portion of the trigger 45. A cam 49 is rotatably supported by a horizontal pin 48 in a forward portion of the space 20 of the housing 2. An end portion of the forward extension 45a of the trigger 45 rotatably engages with a lower portion of the cam 49 by a pin 50 such that, when the trigger 45 is pulled, the cam 49 rotates. Further, as shown in Figs. 3 and 8, a stopper 51 formed by bending a wire to a generally U shape is fixed to a front lower portion of the sleeve 24, with a bottom portion of the U shaped stopper being positioned on an upper surface of the cam 49. Therefore, in a state where the nose member 36 is extended forward, the sleeve 24 is moved forward. Thus, the rotation of the cam 49 is blocked by the stopper 51 to prevent the trigger 45 from being pulled. On the other hand, when the nose member 36 is urged to the member to be fastened to retract the nose member 36 relative to the housing 2, the sleeve 24 and the stopper 51 are retracted to allow the cam 49 to rotate. Therefore, it is possible to turn the switch 47 by pulling the trigger 45. As mentioned, the nose member 36, the gang plate 41, the sleeve 24, the stopper 51 and the cam 49, etc., constitute a safety mechanism for preventing the nail n from being driven unless the nose member 36 is urged to the member to be fastened. A control box 52 containing a circuit breaker and a transformer, etc., is arranged in the grip 2a. One end of a conductor cord 53 is connected to the control box 52 and the other end thereof is led out from a lower face of the grip 2a and connected to a plug 54 having a rectifying and transforming function of converting a commercial A.C. 100V to a D.C. of about 6V. Electrical connections between the control box 52 and the switch 47 and between the switch 47 and the ignition plug 17 and the motor 15 for the fan 16 are of course provided. With the above mentioned construction, when the plug 54 is plugged into an electrical outlet 55 or the like provided on a wall of a building, etc., electric power is supplied to the fastener driver 1. Under this condition, when the trigger 45 is pulled with the nose member 36 being urged to the member to be fastened, a constant amount of gas is supplied to the combustion chamber 14 and, simultaneously, the switch 47 is turned ON to supply electric current to the ignition plug 17 to burn the gas to thereby drive the piston 11 and hence the driving rod 12 forward. Thus, the uppermost nail n of the nail plate N is driven. Since electric power is supplied externally through the cord 53, there is no need of providing a battery within the fastener driver 1 and it is possible to make the driver light weight and compact. Further, the fastener driver of the present invention is free from a battery recharging operation or battery change operation. Further, since the cord 53 itself is light weight, it does not adversely affect the work. By using an extension cord or changing the position of the outlet 55 or other source of electrical power, it is possible to easily change the working area. Therefore, the merits of the portable fastener driver, that is, the mobility and the usability, are satisfied. In the first embodiment, the electric power is supplied to the fastener driver 1 through the cord 53. In a second embodiment shown in Fig. 10(a), a jack 56 is provided in a suitable position of the grip 2a and a plug 57 connected to the plug 54 is inserted into the jack 56. The plug 54 may be one having no rectifying and transforming functions as shown in Fig. 10(b). However, the plug 54 having such functions may be preferable when considering the weight of the fastener driver 1 since there is no need of providing a rectifier and a transformer in the fastener driver 1. Fig. 11 schematically shows another embodiment of the fastener driver 1. In Fig. 11, a number of parallel nails are fixed on wires or a tape and the wires or the tape is rolled to form a roll of nails and the roll of nails are loaded in a drum shaped magazine 3. The principle of driving the nail is the same as that mentioned in the first embodiment. Although the present invention has been described when applied to the nail driver, the present invention can be used for driving various fasteners such as those for tightening or fixing a member. For example, as shown in Fig. 12(a), the present invention can be applied to drive a hollow pin P into a concrete structure C or a brick or to drive a solid pin P as shown in Fig. 12(b). Further, the present invention can be applied to a riveter or to a fastener driver for driving a pin, etc., to a relatively thin metal plate.

Claims: A portable fastener driving tool, including a housing (2) having handle means (2a) provided thereon; a combustion chamber (14) provided within said housing a fuel container (B) disposed within said housing for supplying fuel into said combustion chamber of said housing; an ignition plug (17) for igniting said fuel conducted into said combustion chamber of said housing; a driving rod (12) movably disposed within said housing such that said driving rod is driven forward along a drive axis and out of said housing as a result of the combustion of said fuel conducted into and ignited within said combustion chamber of said housing; fastener magazine means provided in front of said driving rod, when said driving rod is disposed in a fully retracted state, for serially supplying fasteners one by one to said drive axis such that said fasteners can be serially driven as a result of the successive forward movements of said driving rod; characterized in that an electric cord (53) is provided having one end thereof operatively connected to a power source (55) which is external of said tool for receiving electrical power from said external power source, and an opposite end thereof operatively connected to said housing for supplying said electrical power to said ignition plug (17) through an electrical switch means (47) mounted upon said handle means of said housing for movement between ON and OFF states when said electrical switch means (47) is disposed in said ON state. Tool according to claim 1, characterized in that fan means (16) are disposed within said combustion chamber (14) for agitating gases within said combustion chamber. Tool according to claim 2, characterized in that electric connections are provided connecting said fan means (16) to said electrical switch means (47) such that said electrical switch means controls the supply of said electrical power to both said ignition plug (17) and said fan means. Tool according to claim 1 to 3, characterized in that trigger means (45) are mounted upon said handle means and operatively connected to said electrical switch means (47) for activating said electrical switch means and said tool when a fastener is to be driven by said driving rod of said tool and into a substrate and means axially movable upon said housing between extended and retracted positions are provided, and operatively associated with said trigger means, for preventing movement of said trigger means and actuation of said electrical switch means when said axially movable means is not engaged with a substrate into which a fastener is to be driven whereby said axially movable means is disposed at said extended position and for permitting movement of said trigger means and actuation of said electrical switch means when said axially movable means is engaged with a substrate into which a fastener is to be driven whereby said axially movable means is disposed at said retracted position. Tool according to claim 1 to 4, characterized in that said fuel container (B) contains a liquid fuel and comprises nozzle means for discharging said liquid fuel through an end wall of said combustion chamber. Tool according to claim 5, characterized in that said liquid fuel comprises one of liquid propane and liquid butane. Tool according to claim 1 to 6, characterized in that transformer means (52) are disposed within said handle means (2a) and interposed between and interconnecting said electric cord (53) and said electrical switch means (47) so as to provide said tool with electrical power having a predetermined voltage level. Tool according to claim 1 to 7, characterized in that electrical rectifying and transforming means (54) operatively connected to said one end of said electric cord are provided which is operatively connected to said power source (55) so as to provide said tool with electrical power having predetermined voltage and current characteristics. Tool according to claim 1 to 8, characterized in that a cylinder (10) is provided within said housing and slidably supporting a piston (11) within a first part thereof and defining the combustion chamber within a second part thereof.

Inventors: DOHI YUJI, WENDLING ERNEST JOHN, DOHI, YUJI, WENDLING, ERNEST JOHN, DOHI, YUJI, C/O JAPAN POWER FASTENING CO.,LTD., Wendling, Ernest John, c/o ITW Paslode
Applicants: ILLINOIS TOOL WORKS, ILLINOIS TOOL WORKS INC.
Application year: 1996
Main classification: B25C1
IPC codes: B25C1, B21J15