Patent ID: 7744475

Claim:
An assembly line for continuously manufacturing fasteners from a rod having a groove disposed therein for receiving a wire for retaining the fasteners in a strip, comprising, in sequence: a receiver for receiving rod; a die press arranged to receive the rod from said receiver having a piercing member for piercing an aperture in each fastener and a cutting member for cutting each fastener from the rod received by said die press; a tapping member for providing internal ribs to an inner wall of the aperture formed in the fastener by said piercing member; an inspection station for inspecting the internal rib formed into the inner wall of the aperture disposed in the fastener, thereby verifying exactness of the aperture and the internal rib; a regroover configured to reform irregularities in the groove formed in the fasteners for receiving the wire and forming a continuous groove having parallel side walls; and a wire insertion device for inserting the wire into the groove of each fastener thereby forming a strip of fasteners, wherein said insertion device receives the fasteners from said inspection station after verification of the exactness of the aperture disposed in each fastener.