Electric powered apparatus for dispensing individual plastic fasteners from fastener stock

Abstract

An apparatus for dispensing plastic fasteners from fastener stock includes a gun shaped casing. A hollow needle having an inlet opening is mounted on the casing. A guide groove is formed on the casing for receiving the fastener stock, the guide groove being in communication with said inlet opening in said hollow needle. A feeder element for intermittently advancing fastener stock loaded into the guide groove is mounted on the casing. An ejector rod is provided for pushing plastic fasteners from the fastener stock through and out of the hollow needle one at a time. The ejector rod and feeder element are driven by an electric motor powered by a battery pack removably mounted in the casing and which contains rechargeable batteries. The battery pack includes a receptacle which is arranged to enable the batteries to be recharged with the battery pack in or out of the tool. A converter assembly is provided for converting rotary motion of the drive shaft of the motor into linear motion of the ejector rod, the converter assembly including a worm on the drive shaft, a worm gear driven by the worm, a spur gear loosely coupled to the worm gear, a slider for holding the ejector rod and a rack driven by the spur gear and mounted on the slider. First and second single pole double throw switches are provided for controlling the operation of said electric motor so as to either cause rotation of the drive shaft in one direction, cause rotation of the drive shaft in the other direction or stop rotation of the drive shaft. The first switch is operated by a trigger which is pivotally mounted on the casing and the second switch is operated by an actuator moved by a slide bar which is moved by the slider.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.