Abstract:
A rod shaped steel tool designed to aid in the installation of t-nuts. The T-Nut Driver has a tip  10  on which a t-nut is placed. There is an end  14  which is inserted into a pneumatic air hammer.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
       [0001]    This application claims the benefit of provisional application serial No. 60/361,468, filed May 20, 2002. 
     
    
     
       TECHNICAL FIELD  
         [0002]    This invention generally relates to fastening tools and more particularly relates to tools for installing t-nuts.  
         BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0003]    A t-nut is a common fastener used as an alternative to a washer and standard nut. It is common in many industries including the furniture, amusement, and artificial climbing wall industry. T-nuts are produced in many varieties but they all share a common design theme. Specifically, they all include a threaded barrel portion that terminates into a flange. The flange can include barbs (for securing the t-nut to a mounting surface) but barbs are not necessary in many applications. Traditionally t-nuts are installed in one of two ways: using a ordinary hammer or using a customized heavy duty pneumatic press. This has made the installation of t-nuts both time-consuming and costly, and often times resulted in incorrect installation. When using a hammer, it is very easy for the installer to misalign the barrel portion of the t-nut with a preexisting hole. This in turn makes it very probable that a mating bolt will cross-thread the t-bolt and/or push-out the t-nut from the preexisting hole. Installation with a hammer requires a great deal of physical effort. This can result in fatigue and then lead to improper installation. The invention of the pneumatic press has greatly reduced the physical effort and helped to eliminate poor installation. However, using a pneumatic press can be very expensive and has the drawback of not being portable. Typically, these presses are massive stationary units that only work with skinny board or rails, and only work with a special type of t-nut. Typically these units only work in a vertical manner.  
         OBJECTS AND ADVANTAGES  
         [0004]    Accordingly, several objects and advantages of the present invention include stronger installations through proper alignment, less operator fatigue, portability, and a greater compatibility with various brands and sizes of t-nuts. Due to the design of the T-Nut Driver, and the power of the pneumatic air hammer, the t-nuts are easily installed at the correct angle and depth. In addition, the T-Nut Driver can be used at any angle. Other objects and advantages include faster installation and a lower equipment cost.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0005]    The T-Nut Driver aids in the efficient and proper installation of t-nuts. The T-Nut Driver reduces physical effort and yields a portable alternative to traditional methods of installation. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0006]    [0006]FIG. 1 is a side view of the T-Nut Driver.  
         [0007]    [0007]FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the T-Nut Driver.  
         [0008]    [0008]FIG. 3 is an environmental view of the T-Nut Driver in use. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0009]    [0009]FIG. 1 shows a side view of the present invention  8 . FIG. 2 shows a perspective view of the present invention  8 . FIG. 3 shows an environmental view of the present invention in use. The drawing shows a user installing a t-nut using the present invention and a pneumatic air hammer. The preferred embodiment would be a high strength, hardened, tool grade steel such as A-1. However, the present invention could be manufactured from any suitable high strength steel.  
         [0010]    The present invention includes body portion  12  which terminates into first and second end portions  10 , 14  respectively. First end portion  10  includes stem portion  16  and a shoulder portion  18 . Stem  16  and shoulder  18  support the t-nut during installation. Second end  14  includes a raised surface  20  and a cylindrical stub  22 . The combination of the retaining surface  20  and stub  22  facilitate attaching the present invention  8  to a pneumatic air hammer.  
         [0011]    Operation of Invention  
         [0012]    The manner of using the present invention is to first insert the second end  14  into a pneumatic air hammer and to affix thereto. The user then would place a t-nut onto the first end portion  10  such that stem  16  is received within barrel opening  24  of t-nut  26 . The user would then align the barrel  28  with a pre-drilled hole placed in the mounting material to which the t-nut is to be joined. The t-nut is secured to the mounting material by means of a friction fit between the barrel  28  and the side walls of the preexisting hole, the frictional engagement between the t-nut barbs and the mounting material, or both. The user would then activate the air hammer which causes the shoulder  18  of the present invention to pound against a driving surface of the t-nut thereby driving the t-nut into the mounting material. Once the t-nut is properly inserted into the material, the user would then pull the present invention out from the properly installed t-nut.  
         [0013]    Advantages  
         [0014]    From the description above, advantages to the present invention become evident:  
         [0015]    (a) The present invention provides near effortless installation by using the power of an air hammer to install the t-nut rather than human force. This results in greater efficiency and more consistent work.  
         [0016]    (b) The present invention will install t-nuts more correctly thereby helping to eliminate problems such as cross-threading of the bolt and or t-nut, and reduced the likelihood of t-nut push out.  
         [0017]    (c) The present invention provides a portable solution allowing installation on large surfaces at any angle.  
         [0018]    (d) The present invention provides a low cost alternative to other machine installed options.  
         [0019]    Conclusions, Ramifications, and Scope of Invention  
         [0020]    The reader should see that the present invention offers better and faster installation of t-nuts. In addition, the present invention is so simple to use that even those with no experience will achieve excellent results.  
         [0021]    The present invention can be made in a variety of sizes to accommodate various t-nuts and various air hammers. The tip  10  can be made in a variety of shaped and the end  14  can be made in any size necessary to adapt to any air hammer. The present invention can be made in any length to suit various needs. Thus the scope of the invention should be determined by the appended claims and their legal equivalents, rather than by the examples given.  
         [0022]    Drawings—List of Reference Numerals  
         [0023]    [0023] 8  T-Nut Driver  
         [0024]    [0024] 10  first end portion  
         [0025]    [0025] 12  body  
         [0026]    [0026] 14  second end portion  
         [0027]    [0027] 16  stem  
         [0028]    [0028] 18  shoulder  
         [0029]    [0029] 20  raised surface  
         [0030]    [0030] 22  stub  
         [0031]    [0031] 24  barrel opening of  26   
         [0032]    [0032] 26  t-nut  
         [0033]    [0033] 28  barrel of  26   
         [0034]    [0034] 30  barbs of  26