Driving tool

A driving tool that uses compressed air as a driving source for a driving operation, comprising:

• a main body;
• a magazine of members to be driven;
• a grip;
• a mode switch lever;
• an electronic controller with a timer circuit;
• a trigger;
• a tip end;
• a contact arm which vertically contacts an external material onto which the members are to be driven;
• a starting valve having an on state in which the compressed air is supplied and an off state in which the compressed air is discharged;
• a rod-shaped driver that moves downwards and drives a member from the magazine out of the tip end of the driving tool;
• a first actuation portion (1) comprising a first cylindrical rod portion, (2) that is integrally provided with the contact arm and (3) that moves between a first actuation portion on-position in which the starting valve is moved to the on state and a first actuation portion off-position in which the starting valve is moved to the off state;
• and
• a second actuation portion (1) comprising a second cylindrical rod portion, a piston and a torsion spring between a top of the piston and the main body and (2) that moves, independently of the first actuation portion, between a second actuation portion on-position thereby moving the starting valve to the on state and a second actuation portion off-position thereby moving the starting valve to the off state;
• wherein:
• the driving tool is configured such that when the driving tool contacts the external material, the contact arm moves upward, whereupon moving upward by a particular length results in a contact arm on-operation and pulling the trigger back by a particular distance results in a trigger on-operation;
• the driving tool performs the driving operation only if both the trigger on-operation and the contact arm on-operation occur;
• the driving tool has two modes, a first mode, in which the mode switch lever is switched to a first position, where power is not supplied to the electronic controller and in a fully mechanical operation, the driving operation is performed only when the trigger on-operation occurs after the contact arm on operation occurs, and a second mode, in which the mode switch lever is switched to a second position, where power is supplied to the electronic controller, and the driving operation is performed regardless of an operational order of the trigger on-operation and the contact arm on-operation;
• in the second mode, a timer control routine is performed by the timer circuit of the controller such that the driving operation is performed only when a time difference between a time when one of the trigger on-operation or the contact arm on-operation occurs and a time when another of the trigger on-operation and contact arm on-operation occurs is within a predetermined time period;
• both in the first mode and in the second mode, the first actuation portion moves to the first actuation portion on-position to allow the starting valve to the moved to the on state and moves to the first actuation portion off-position to allow the starting valve to be moved to the off state;
• and
• in the second mode, the second actuation portion moves to the second actuation portion on-position to allow the starting valve to be moved to the on state and moves to the second actuation off-position to allow the starting valve to be moved to the off state.