Patent ID: 6990731

Claim:
Apparatus for use in attaching structural members to one another using fasteners comprising: a rotary impact driver having an output spindle, said driver being operable on command to rotate said spindle and to repetitively impact said spindle when said spindle encounters a predetermined level of resistance to rotation; means connected to said spindle for supporting a tool bit in coaxial relation with said spindle so that rotational and rotary impact forces generated by said driver will be transmitted to said tool bit; a positioning plate, said positioning plate having a top end surface and a bottom end surface, a fastener drive bore extending between and through said top and bottom surfaces, said fastener drive bore being coaxial with said spindle; and telescoping means coupling said positioning plate to said driver so that said driver and said spindle can be moved toward and away from said top end surface of said positioning plate; whereby when said bottom end surface of said positioning plate is positioned on a first structural member that is to be attached to an underlying second structural member, said telescoping means permits said driver and spindle to be moved toward said first structural member to bring a tool bit attached to said spindle into engagement with the head of a fastener positioned in said fastener drive bore, so that operation of said driver will cause said fastener to be driven through said first structural member into said second structural member under the rotational and impact forces transmitted to said spindle by said driver.