Patent ID: 7788787

Claim:
A method for making a tape-less fastener assembly comprising the steps of: arranging a plurality of fasteners in a row parallel to one another, each of the fasteners having a longitudinal axis; preheating the plurality of fasteners to elevate the temperature of the fasteners; molding a polymer material onto the preheated fasteners and between adjacent fasteners to form a first plastic molding having a collar fully encircling a shank of each fastener and a connecting portion between adjacent fasteners and molding a polymer material onto the heated fasteners and between adjacent fasteners to form a second plastic molding having a collar fully encircling the shank of each fastener and a connecting portion extending between the collar portions of adjacent fasteners, one of first and second plastic moldings being an upper plastic molding and the other being a lower plastic molding, the connecting portions extending parallel to and coplanar with a plane defined by the longitudinal axes of the fasteners; and cooling the strip to form the fastener assembly, wherein in the molding and cooling steps, the plastic molding adheres to the fasteners such that when a fastener is driven into a substrate, debris generated from driving the fastener generates less than about 50 percent of the debris generated by driving a non-pre-heated fastener into the substrate from a like assembly, and wherein the collar portion encircling the shank and substantially the entire connecting portion extending from the collar portion to about the next subsequent collar portion penetrates the substrate with the fastener.