Gas spring fastener driving tool with removable end cap for performing maintenance or service

A method for servicing a fastener driving tool, said method comprising:

• (a) providing an assembled fastener driving tool that includes:
• an outer housing;
• a working cylinder that includes a cylindrical sleeve and a movable piston therewithin;
• a storage chamber containing pressurized gas that is in fluidic communication with said working cylinder;
• a movable driver that is in mechanical communication with said piston at least during a driving stroke;
• an end cap that is attachable/detachable to/from said storage chamber proximal to a high pressure portion of the working cylinder of said fastener driving tool, said end cap being removably secured to said storage chamber by a plurality of fasteners;
• and
• a fill valve that is located in said end cap, said fill valve being accessible without removing any portion of said outer housing, said fill valve being in fluidic communication with said storage chamber, said fill valve being actuatable to release the pressurized gas from said storage chamber to the environment outside said fastener driving tool;
• (b) accessing and actuating said fill valve to vent the pressurized gas from said storage chamber to a safe pressure magnitude;
• (c) removing said end cap by loosening said plurality of fasteners in sequence, and evacuating any residual pressurized gas from said storage chamber to a safe pressure magnitude before the final one of said plurality of fasteners is removed;
• and
• (d) through an opening that is created by removing said end cap, without removing said outer housing, and without the use of any tool, directly accessing and removing at least one of:
• (i) said movable piston;
• (ii) said movable driver;
• and
• (iii) said sleeve of the working cylinder.

A fastener driving tool, comprising:

• (a) an outer housing;
• (b) a working cylinder that includes a cylindrical sleeve and a movable piston therewithin;
• (c) a storage chamber containing pressurized gas that is in fluidic communication with said working cylinder;
• (d) a movable driver that is in mechanical communication with said piston at least during a driving stroke;
• (e) a piston stop located at a distal end of said sleeve;
• (f) an end cap that is attachable/detachable to/from said storage chamber proximal to a high pressure portion of the working cylinder of said fastener driving tool;
• (g) a spacer that exhibits a plurality of spaced-apart protrusions, said spacer being mounted at a proximal end of said sleeve, wherein said proximal end of the sleeve is proximal to said end cap, and said spacer and protrusions being sized and shaped so as to hold said sleeve in a correct orientation with respect to said end cap;
• and
• (h) a mechanical bottom structure at a distal end of said working cylinder to which a distal end of the storage chamber is in mechanical communication with, and to which a distal end of the sleeve is in mechanical communication with, to thereby enclose said storage chamber to create a pressure vessel;
• wherein:
• a stack-up of said end cap, said spacer, and said sleeve holds the distal end of the sleeve in mechanical communication with said bottom structure of the working cylinder, without the use of internal fasteners.