Needle for use as part of a plastic fastener dispensing tool

Abstract

A needle for use as part of a fastener dispensing tool adapted for dispensing plastic fasteners of the type typically used to attach tags to products for marking and identification. In one embodiment, the needle is made from a single sheet of metal by a stamping and/or rolling technique, and comprises an elongated, generally cylindrical, hollow, slotted member having a stem portion and a base portion. The stem portion terminates at its front end in a relatively sharp tip. The base portion, which is sized and shaped for insertion in an opening in the nose of the tool, includes a pair of outwardly extending, spring biased tabs. A first portion of one of the tabs is sized and shaped to releasably engage a recessed area formed in one of the walls of the opening so as to prevent unintended removal of the base portion from the opening and to limit rearward insertion of the base portion into the opening. This first portion also extends partially out of the opening so as to permit a user to grasp it and to push it inwardly out of engagement with the recessed area. A second portion of the same tab is sized and shaped to engage another wall of the opening so as to prevent upward movement of the base portion in the opening. The other tab serves as a registration member to align the base portion in its desired longitudinally, vertical and axial orientations.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.