Fastener delivery tube
OwnerCyril K. Edwardsinventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A fastener delivery tube (21) incorporates an internal guide (22)--such as a continuous sleeve lining, flexible, or resiliently deformable spring strips (34, 37, 38) or re-circulating balls (54)--forming a longitudinally movable constriction, inhibiting fastener free-fall through the tube and preserving fastener orientation, by maintaining fastener (25) contact with a driving plunger (28) in its passage there-through and upon exit there-from into contact with a workpiece.
Claims10
A delivery tube for a fastener application machine for delivering fasteners in succession to a fastening station at which the fasteners are applied to a workpiece, the fasteners each having an elongate shank and a relatively enlarged head having a predetermined cross-sectional dimension and the application machine having a drive which includes a fastener application plunger, the delivery tube comprising a tubular member provided with an internal longitudinal passage defining an internal surface and having a cross-sectional dimension greater than the predetermined cross-sectional dimension of the enlarged head of the fastener when the shank is substantially aligned with the longitudinal direction of said passage;
- and displaceable guide means extending substantially along the entire longitudinal extent of said internal surface of the delivery tube for rendering the cross-sectional dimension of at least portions of said passage smaller than said predetermined cross-sectional dimension of said enlarged head to form a constriction resulting from an interference fit with the enlarged head of the fastener as the fastener is guided through said passage to restrain a fastener from free fall through said passage and for providing local passage constriction longitudinally movable along the delivery tube in response to a force applied to the fastener head by the plunger for preserving a desired fastener orientation while enabling the fastener to advance and be guided along the delivery tube to the fastening station.
A delivery tube for a fastener application machine for delivering fasteners in succession to a fastening station at which the fasteners are applied to a workpiece, the fasteners each having an elongate shank and a relatively enlarged head having a predetermined cross-sectional dimension and the application machine having a drive which includes a fastener application plunger, the delivery tube comprising a tubular member provided with an internal longitudinal passage defining an internal surface and having a cross-sectional dimension greater than the predetermined cross-sectional dimension of the enlarged head of the fastener when the shank is substantially aligned with the longitudinal direction of said passage;
- and displaceable guide means extending substantially along the entire longitudinal extent of said internal surface of the delivery tube for rendering the cross-sectional dimension of at least portions of said passage smaller than said predetermined cross-sectional dimension of said enlarged head to form a constriction resulting from an interference fit with the enlarged head of the fastener as the fastener is guided through said passage to restrain a fastener from free fall through said passage and for providing local passage constriction longitudinally movable along the delivery tube in response to a force applied to the fastener head by the plunger for preserving a desired fastener orientation while enabling the fastener to advance and be guided along the delivery tube to the fastening station, said displaceable guide means comprising a plurality of circumferentially-spaced ball bearing assemblies, looped tracks for said ball bearing assemblies, at least portions of said looped tracks being arranged longitudinally along said passage, and a plurality of fastener head contact ball bearings circulating in said tracks.
A delivery tube for a fastener application machine for delivering fasteners in succession to a workpiece, the fasteners each having an elongated shank and a relatively enlarged head and the application machine having a drive which includes a fastener application plunger, the delivery tube having an internal longitudinal passage and a displaceable guide means extending substantially along the entire longitudinal extent of said internal passage to reduce its internal diameter over at least part of its internal periphery to form a constriction resulting from an interference fit with the enlarged head of the fastener as the fastener is guided through said passage to restrain the fastener from free-fall through said passage and to provide local passage constriction longitudinally movable along the delivery tube to preserve a desired fastener orientation while the fastener is advanced and guided along the delivery tube to the workpiece in response to a force applied to the fastener head by the plunger.
A delivery tube for a fastener application machine for delivering fasteners in succession to a workpiece, the fasteners each having an elongated shank and a relatively enlarged head and the application machine having a drive which includes a fastener application plunger, the delivery tube having an internal longitudinal passage and a displaceable guide means extending substantially along the entire longitudinal extent of said internal passage to reduce its internal diameter over at least part of its internal periphery to form a constriction resulting from an interference fit with the enlarged head of the fastener as the fastener is guided through said passage to restrain the fastener from free-fall through said passage and to provide local passage constriction longitudinally movable along the delivery tube to preserve a desired fastener orientation while the fastener is advanced and guided along the delivery tube to the workpiece in response to a force applied to the fastener head by the plunger, said displaceable guide means comprising a plurality of circumferentially-spaced ball bearing assemblies, looped tracks for said ball bearing assemblies, at least portions of said looped tracks being arranged longitudinally along said passage, and a plurality of fastener head contact ball bearings circulating in said tracks.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.