Patent ID: 6854178

Claim:
A fastener installation tool for feeding a threaded fastener through a hole formed in a workpiece, the threaded fastener including a head, the fastener installation tool comprising: a tool body having a reciprocating portion, the reciprocating portion being aligned along a longitudinal axis of the tool body; a magazine assembly coupled to the tool body and having a dispensing end that is aligned to an axis that is parallel to the longitudinal axis of the tool body, the magazine assembly being configured to hold at least the threaded fastener and to dispense the threaded fastener into the dispensing end; a fastener feed mechanism coupled to the tool body and the magazine assembly, the fastener feed mechanism including a fastener gripper that is movable between an extended condition, wherein the fastener gripper is aligned to the dispensing end of the magazine assembly along said parellel axis to receive the fastener, and a retracted condition, wherein the fastener gripper is aligned to the reciprocating portion such that a longitudinal axis of the threaded fastener is coincident with the longitudinal axis of the tool body; and a controller that controls the fastener feed mechanism and is operable in a first condition, which maintains the fastener gripper in the retracted condition, and a second condition, which maintains the fastener gripper in the extended condition.