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US 4,380,312 AGranted
Stapling tool
AssigneeMinnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company
InventorEdward L. Landrus
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A tool for applying fasteners to fasten an article to the workpiece. A compressible foot is provided to limit the drive distance of a plunger to position dependent upon the thickness of the article. A drive groove in the tool provides support for the fastener until it is driven into the workpiece. The fastener may be a plastic staple and multiple driving strokes may be used to drive the staple into the workpiece. A retainer activated by the compressible foot may be utilized to prevent the advancement of the next staple to the drive position while multiple drive strokes are being used.
Claims19
A tool for applying fasteners to fasten an article to a workpiece, comprising:
- a fixed guide for holding a plurality of said fasteners therein, one of said plurality of fasteners being held in a drive position;
- a compressible foot operatively coupled to said fixed guide defining a drive groove, said compressible foot adapted to contact said workpiece and be compressed into said fixed guide, said drive groove engaging the fastener located in said drive position and providing support for said fastener during a driving operation;
- said compressible foot and said fixed guide cooperating with each other and with said article and said workpiece to allow said compressible foot to be compressed into said fixed guide a distance dependent upon the thickness of said article;
- a plunger operatively coupled to said fixed guide for driving the fastener located in said driving position from said fixed guide through said drive groove of said compressible foot and into said workpiece;
- and
- a drive limiting means coupled to said plunger for preventing said plunger from driving beyond a fixed predetermined position relative to said fixed guide;
- whereby said fastener located in said drive position may be driven into said workpiece a distance relative to said fixed guide and into said workpiece a distance dependent upon said thickness of said article.
4 more elements
A tool for applying fasteners to fasten an article to a workpiece, comprising:
- a fixed guide for holding a plurality of said fasteners therein, one of said plurality of fasteners being held in a drive position and the fastener next to said one of said plurality of fasteners being held in a retaining position;
- a compressible foot operatively coupled to said fixed guide defining a drive groove, said compressible foot adapted to contact said workpiece and be compressed into said fixed guide, said drive groove engaging the fastener located in said drive position and providing support for said fastener during the driving operation;
- said compressible foot and said fixed guide cooperating with each other and with said article and said workpiece to allow said compressible foot to be compressed into said fixed guide a distance dependent upon the thickness of said article;
- a retaining means coupled to said fixed guide and activated by the compression of said compressible foot for preventing advancement of the fastener being held in said retaining position to said drive position;
- a plunger operatively coupled to said fixed guide for driving the fastener located in said driving position from said fixed guide through said drive groove of sad compressible foot and into said workpiece;
- and
- a drive limiting means coupled to said plunger for preventing said plunger from driving beyond a fixed predetermined position relaitve to said fixed guide;
- whereby said fastener located in said drive position may be driven with a plurality of driving strokes into said workpiece a distance relative to said fixed guide and into said workpiece a distance dependent upon said thickness of said article.
5 more elements
A tool for applying fasteners to fasten an article to a workpiece, comprising:
- a fixed guide for holding a plurality of said fasteners therein, one of said plurality of fasteners being held in a drive position;
- a compressible foot operatively coupled to said fixed guide defining a drive groove, said compressible foot adapted to contact said workpiece and be compressed into said fixed guide, said drive groove engaging the fastener located in said drive position and providing support for said fastener during a driving operation until said fastener enters said workpiece;
- a plunger operatively coupled to said fixed guide for driving the fastener located in said driving position from said fixed guide through said drive groove of said compressible foot and into said workpiece;
- positioning means coupled to said compressible foot, said positioning means for cooperating with said article to ensure the proper positioning of said fastener with respect to said article;
- said compressible foot and said fixed guide cooperating with each other and with said article and said workpiece to allow said compressible foot to be compressed into said fixed guide a distance dependent upon the thickness of said article;
- and
- a drive limiting means coupled to said plunger for preventing said plunger from driving beyond a fixed predetermined position relative to said fixed guide;
- whereby said fastener located in said drive position may be fully supported by said drive groove while being driven into said workpiece.
5 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.