Abstract:
A nail positioning device includes a base member having a plurality of nail positioning notches for holding different sizes of nails in vertical for hammering into a workpiece by a hammer, and a nail punch installed in the base member for attaching to the head of a nail being partially driven into the workpiece for enabling the nail to be completely driven into the workpiece positively and accurately without damaging the workpiece.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0002]    The present invention relates to a nail positioning tools and more particularly, to a nail positioning device, which is attached with a nail punch and practical for use to hold any of a variety of nails of different sizes in vertical, for enabling the nail to be accurately driven into the workpiece by a hammer. 
         [0003]    2. Description of the Related Art 
         [0004]    Referring to  FIG. 1 , a conventional nail positioning device  10  comprises a rod member  12  curbed at an angle, and a grip  14  sleeved onto one part of the rod member  12 . The rod member  12  has a nail positioning groove  124  located on an end face  122  thereof. The nail positioning groove  124  extends vertically through a top plane  126  and a bottom pane  128  that are located on the top and bottom sides of the rod member  12  and respectively extended from the top and bottom edges of the end face  122  at right angles. When using a hammer to drive a nail into a workpiece, attach the nail to the nail positioning groove  124  to keep the head and point of the nail respectively spaced above the top plane  126  and below the bottom pane  128  at a distance, and then hold the grip  14  of the nail positioning device  10  with one hand to keep the nail in the nailing position and operate the hammer with the other hand to drive the nail into the workpiece. Thus, the user needs not to hold the nail by hand and can drive the nail into the workpiece conveniently, avoiding any accidental finger injury during nailing. 
         [0005]    In order to hold any nail within a predetermined range of diameters, the nail positioning groove  124  is made having a certain width and the periphery of the nail positioning groove  124  is made magnetically attractive. Thus, a relatively smaller diameter nail can be secured to the nail positioning groove  124  in vertical. However, when a nail having a diameter smaller than the width of the nail positioning groove  124  is attached to the nail positioning groove  124 , the nail may be not kept in vertical and may be biased during nailing, causing the nail to be driven into the workpiece in a wrong or oblique position. In this case, the nail positioning device  10  loses its function. 
         [0006]    Further, the rod member  12  of the aforesaid prior art nail positioning device  10  has a certain length so that the user&#39;s hand can be kept away from the nailing position at a distance, avoiding accidental injury. Thus, a major part of the nail positioning device  10  is used for holding by hand, wasting much useful space. Designing a supplementary tool within this useful space can enhance the functioning of the nail positioning device, increasing its value. 
         [0007]    Therefore, it is desirable to provide a nail positioning device, which eliminates the drawbacks of the aforesaid prior art design. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0008]    The present invention has been accomplished under the circumstances in view. It is the main object of the present invention to provide a nail positioning device, which is practical for holding any of a variety of different sizes of nails in vertical for nailing. 
         [0009]    It is another object of the present invention to provide a nail positioning device, which is equipped with a nail punch to assist nailing. 
         [0010]    To achieve these and other objects of the present invention, a nail positioning device comprises a base member and a nail punch. The base member has a top surface, a bottom surface opposing the top surface, a first end portion, and a plurality of nail positioning notches spaced on the end edge of the first end portion and cut through the top surface and the bottom surface for holding nails of different diameters. Each nail positioning notch has an opening at the end edge of the first end portion. The nail punch is installed in the base member, having a pressure-receiving face and a pressure-output face opposing the pressure-receiving face. When nailing a nail into an object, the user can attach insert the nail into one suitable nail positioning notch and then hold the nail positioning device with one hand to keep the nail vertically in the nailing position and then operate a hammer to drive the nail into the object positively and accurately. Further, after the nail has been driven into the object to a certain depth, the user can attach the pressure-output face of the nail punch to the head of the nail and then strike the hammer against the pressure-receiving face of the nail punch to drive the nail into the object further, forcing the head of the nail into the surface of the object without damaging the object. 
         [0011]    Other and further benefits, advantages and features of the present invention will be understood by reference to the following specification in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference signs denote like elements of the structure. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0012]      FIG. 1  is an elevational view of a nail positioning device according to the prior art. 
           [0013]      FIG. 2  is an elevational view of a nail positioning device in accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0014]      FIG. 3  is a top plain view of the nail positioning device in accordance with the first embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0015]      FIG. 4  is a front view of the nail positioning device in accordance with the first embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0016]      FIG. 5  shows an application example of the nail positioning device in accordance with the first embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0017]      FIG. 6  shows another application example of the nail positioning device in accordance with the first embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0018]      FIG. 7  is a top view of a nail positioning device in accordance with a second embodiment of the present invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0019]    Referring to  FIGS. 2˜4 , a nail positioning device  20  in accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention is shown comprising a base member  30  and a nail punch  40 . 
         [0020]    The base member  30  is a narrow elongated flat bar, having opposing top surface  31  and bottom surface  32 . When viewing in direction from the top surface  31  toward the bottom surface  32 , the base member  30  is divided into a first end portion  33 , a second end portion  34  and a body portion  35  connected between the first end portion  33  and the second end portion  34 . The first end portion  33  has a circular shape. The diameter of the first end portion  33  is greater than the width of the body portion  35 . The first end portion  33  has five nail positioning notches  36  cut through the top surface  31  and the bottom surface  32  and equally spaced around the border. Each nail positioning notch  36  has an opening  362  located on the end edge  332  of the first end portion  33 , a passage  364  extended from the opening  362  toward the inside of the base member  30  and a round hole  366  connected to the end of the passage  364  remote from the opening  362 . The round holes  366  of the five nail positioning notches  36  have different diameters for the insertion of nails having different diameters. The width of the passage  364  of each nail positioning notch  36  is smaller than the diameter of the associating round hole  366  so that the nail that is inserted through the round hole  366  of one nail positioning notch  36  will not pass out of the round hole  366  through the associating passage  364  easily. Further, the second end portion  34  of the base member  30  has a through hole  37  cut through the top surface  31  and the bottom surface  32 . 
         [0021]    The nail punch  40  is made of a metal material and processed through a special hardening treatment and shaped like a cylindrical rod member, however the two distal ends thereof are tapered and gradually reducing in reversed directions away from each other. Thus, one end of the nail punch  40  terminates in a pressure-receiving end face  42 , and the other end of the nail punch  40  terminates in a pressure-output end face  44 . The cross section of the pressure-receiving end face  42  is slightly smaller than the cross section of the middle part of the nail punch  40 . The cross section of the pressure-output end face  44  is smaller than that of the pressure-receiving end face  42 . The nail punch  40  is fixedly mounted in the through hole  37  of the base member  30  in such a manner that the pressure-receiving end face  42  suspends above the elevation of the top surface  31  and the pressure-output end face  44  suspends below the elevation of the bottom surface  32 . 
         [0022]      FIG. 5  shows an application example of the nail positioning device  20 . As illustrated, when using a hammer  50  to drive a nail  51  into an object  52  (for example, a wood plate or wood wall), the nail  51  must be held firmly in vertical at the selected location. At this time, the user can insert the nail  51  into the round hole  366  of one nail positioning notch  36  of the nail positioning device  20 , enabling the nail  51  to be held in vertical by the nail positioning device  20  and aimed at the selected location. At this time, the user can hold the nail positioning device  20  with one hand and operate the hammer  50  with the other hand to drive the nail  51  into the object  52  accurately in the desired position. After the nail  51  has been driven into the object  52  to a certain depth, the user can move the nail positioning device  20  relative to the nail  51 , for enabling the nail  51  to pass through the associating passage  364  and then to separate from the nail positioning device  20 . 
         [0023]      FIG. 6  shows another application example of the nail positioning device  20 . As illustrated, after the nail  51  has been driven into the object  52  to a certain depth and removal of the nail positioning device  20  from the nail  51 , the user can hold the body portion  35  or first end portion  33  of the nail positioning device  20  with one hand and attach the pressure-output end face  44  of the nail punch  40  to the head  512  of the nail  51  and operate the hammer  50  to hit the pressure-receiving end face  42  of the nail punch  40 , driving the nail  51  into the object  52  till that the head  512  of the nail  51  has been completely merged into the inside of the object  52 . Subject to the use of the nail positioning device  20 , the nail  51  can be accurately driven into the object  52 , avoiding damage to the object  52  during hammering. 
         [0024]    According to the aforesaid first embodiment of the present invention, the round holes  366  of the nail positioning notches  36  of the nail positioning device  20  have different diameters for holding different sizes of nails. Thus, this single nail positioning device  20  can be used to assist installation of different sizes of nails. Further, one same nail positioning device  20  provides an extra nail punching function, enhancing the value of the tool. 
         [0025]    However, it is to be understood that the base member  30  of the nail positioning device  20  is not limited to the shape of the aforesaid narrow elongated flat bar. The base member  30  can be made in any of a variety of shapes convenient for enabling the user to hold the nail positioning device  20  with one hand and to keep the hand away from the hammering position at a certain distance, and with an end edge  332  provided for the formation of the openings  362  of the designed nail positioning notches  36 . Further, the end edge  332  of the first end portion  33  is not limited to the arched shape. For example,  FIG. 7  illustrates a nail positioning device  60  in accordance with a second embodiment of the present invention. According to this second embodiment, the base member  30  of the nail positioning device  60  is shaped like a flat rectangular bar. The first end portion  33  of the base member  30  that carries the nail positioning notches  36  has a flat end edge  332 , and the openings  362  of the nail positioning notches  36  are located on the flat end edge  332 . Thus, this second embodiment achieves the same effects as the aforesaid first embodiment of the present invention. 
         [0026]    Further, a magnet (not shown) may be set inside the first end portion  33  of the base member  30  of the nail positioning device  20  or  60  so that a magnetic attractive force is provided at the periphery of the round hole  366  of each nail positioning notch  36 . Alternatively the periphery of the round hole  366  of each nail positioning notch  36  may be directly coated with a layer of magnetic material. Thus, when a ferrous nail is inserted into the round hole  366  of one nail positioning notch  36 , it is secured to the round hole  366  in place by magnetic attraction. 
         [0027]    Although particular embodiments of the invention have been described in detail for purposes of illustration, various modifications and enhancements may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the invention is not to be limited except as by the appended claims.