US 5,855,151 AGranted

Lockable telescoping screwdriver

OwnerG. Lyle Habermehlinventor

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Abstract

A driver attachment for a collated screwstrip carrying screws in which a slide body is slidable in a housing parallel a longitudinal axis about which a drive shaft is rotatable. The slide body receives a screwstrip such that a screw feed activation mechanism coupled between the housing and the slide body advances successive screws into a position to be driven by the drive shaft with relative sliding of the slide body relative the housing between an extended and a retracted position. A latch system is provided to latch the slide body to the housing against extension towards the extended position beyond an extension limit position. With the slide body and housing latched together, the driver attachment may be used to drive or withdraw separate screws independently of the screwstrip, with or without the screwstrip engaged in the slide body.

Claims26

Dependent claims

An apparatus for driving with a power driver a screwstrip comprising threaded fasteners such as screws or the like, which are joined together in a strip comprising:

housing means;
elongate drive shaft means for operative connection to a power driver for rotation thereby and defining a longitudinal axis;
slide body means coupled to the housing means for displacement parallel to the axis of the drive shaft means between an extended position and a retracted position;
spring means biasing said slide body means forwardly relative to the housing means parallel the axis to the extended position;
screw feed advance means to engage the screwstrip and successively, incrementally advance fasteners on the screwstrip into axial alignment with said drive shaft means for driving of successive fasteners by the drive shaft means;
the screw feed advance means coupled between the slide body means and the housing means whereby displacement of the slide body means relative the housing means between the extended position and the retracted position activates the screw feed advance means to advance successive fasteners;
extension limit means activatable to releaseably prevent the housing means and slide body means from being extended relative each other towards the extended position beyond an extension limit position;
wherein the extension limit means comprises first catch means on the slide body means and second catch means on the housing means;
one of the first and second catch means being manually adjustable to assume either an activated or an inactivated position;
wherein with the adjustable one of the first and second catch means in the activated position, when the slide body means and housing means are retracted beyond the extension limit position the first and second catch means are engageable to prevent the housing means and slide body means from being extended relative each other beyond the extension limit position, and
wherein with the adjustable one of the first and second catch means in the inactivated position, the first and second catch means do not engage to impede relative sliding of the housing means and the slide body means.

8 more elements

An apparatus for driving with a power driver a screwstrip comprising a length of holding strip holding a plurality of threaded fasteners in a row in spaced side by side relation comprising:

a housing;
elongate drive shaft with a rearmost end for operative connection to a power driver for rotation thereby and a forwardmost end carrying a fastener engaging bit, the drive shaft defining a longitudinal axis;
a slide body coupled to the housing for displacement parallel to the axis of the drive shaft between an extended position and a retracted position;
a screw feed advance mechanism to engage the screwstrip and successively, incrementally advance fasteners on the holding strip in a direction transverse the axis into axial alignment with said drive shaft for driving of successive fasteners by the bit forwardly from the holding strip and into a workpiece while maintaining the length of the holding strip unsevered;
an extension limit mechanism activatable to releaseably prevent the housing and slide body from being extended relative each other towards the extended position beyond an extension limit position in which the bit is located forward of the holding strip.

2 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.