Rivet setting machine

A device for delivery of fasteners having heads with tenons disposed beneath said heads to an insertion tool, said device comprising:

• track means having a proximal end and a distal end and comprising two spaced-apart rails each having a fastener receiving surface to receive undersides of heads of the fasteners falling thereon, said track means disposed in a downwardly inclined slope between its distal and proximal ends whereby fasteners on said track means slide from the proximal end towards the distal end;
• means for placing fasteners randomly onto said track means whereby some of the fasteners are correctly aligned with tenons between rails and undersides of the heads being on the rails and some are misaligned;
• fastener orienting means disposed adjacent the proximal end of said track means, said fastener orienting means including a plurality of fluid injector ports disposed in a housing around said track means, two of said ports facing each other and a third port disposed over said track means, said housing having a face with an opening therein and a stop wall surrounding said opening, said track means and said fasteners passing through said opening, said stop wall being spaced from said fastener receiving surface by a predetermined distance whereby aligned fasteners can pass through said opening on said track and misaligned fasteners are stopped and fall off;
• and
• means to direct a fluid through said ports sequentially so that misaligned fasteners on said track means are forced into alignment or removed from said track means thereby leaving only properly aligned fasteners to proceed on said slope towards said distal end.

A device for transferring fasteners to an insertion tool, said device comprising:

• segregation means including a pair of spaced apart surfaces adapted to receive undersides of heads of the fasteners, said segregation means having a proximal and a distal end, the proximal end of said segregation means being arranged to receive a supply of fasteners arriving in a continuous aligned row from a source and the distal end being arranged to deliver a single fastener, said segregation means further including a gate means disposed between the proximal and distal ends of said segregation means, said gate means including:
• an entry means, a means to stop a first in line of the fasteners being carried on said surfaces and a shuttle means to move the first in line fastener through the segregation means;
• exit means at the distal end of said segregation means to transfer the first in line fastener from the segregation means to a receiver, said receiver being disposed to receive said fastener from said exit means and to hold it in an operative relationship relative to said insertion tool;
• means to withdraw the fastener from the exit means including:
• a fluid jet port in said segregation means and a vacuum port in said receiver and means to operate said ports simultaneously by drawing a vacuum in said vacuum port and forcing fluid through said fluid jet port to move the fastener to said receiver.

A device for delivery of fasteners having heads with tenons disposed beneath said heads to an insertion tool, said device comprising:

• track means having a proximal end and a distal end and comprising two spaced-apart rails each having a fastener receiving surface to receive undersides of heads of the fasteners falling thereon, said track means disposed in a downwardly inclined slope between its distal and proximal ends whereby fasteners on said track means slide from the proximal end towards the distal end;
• means for placing fasteners randomly onto said track means whereby some of the fasteners are correctly aligned with tenons between the rails and undersides of the heads resting on the rails and some are misaligned;
• fastener orienting means disposed adjacent the proximal end of said track means, said fastener orienting means including a plurality of fluid injector ports disposed around said track means, two of said ports facing each other and a third port disposed over said track means;
• means to direct a fluid through said ports sequentially so that misaligned fasteners on said track means are forced into alignment or removed from said track means thereby leaving only properly aligned fasteners to proceed on said slope towards said distal end;
• segregation means including a pair of spaced apart surfaces adapted to receive the undersides of the heads of the fasteners, said segregation means having a proximal and a distal end, the proximal end of said segregation means being arranged to receive a supply of fasteners arriving in a continuous aligned row from the distal end of said track means and the distal end of said segregation means being arranged to deliver a single fastener to said insertion tool, said segregation means further including a gate means disposed between the proximal and distal ends of said segregation means, said gate means including an entry means, a means to stop a first in line of the fasteners being carried on said surfaces and a shuttle means to move the fastener through the segregation means;
• exit means at the distal end of said segregation means to transfer the first in line fastener from the segregation means to a receiver, said receiver being disposed to receive said fastener from said exit means and to hold it in an operative relationship relative to said insertion tool;
• and
• means to withdraw said fastener from said exit means and transfer it to said receiver.