Point driver

A driver for driving points into a substrate, comprising:

• a body;
• a head, attached to the body, having a channel disposed between a first section and a second section, wherein a segment of the channel is open on a side opposite the second section of the head, and wherein the first section includes a mat contact surface, and the second section includes a guide surface extending substantially parallel to the mat contact surface, the substantially parallel surfaces separated from one another by a distance substantially equal to a thickness of said point;
• a selectively operable actuator;
• and
• a pushplate connected to the actuator and aligned with the channel;
• wherein the guide surface is positioned to guide the point into the substrate so that the point is driven into the substrate substantially parallel to the guide surface.

A point driver, comprising:

• a body;
• a selectively operable linear actuating actuator having a centerline and a piston;
• a pushplate connected to the piston at a position offset from the centerline;
• and
• a head having a channel disposed between a first section and a second section;
• wherein the head is aligned with the offset pushplate so that a portion or all of the pushplate can be driven by the selectively operable actuator through at least a portion of the channel.

A driver, comprising:

• a body;
• a selectively operable actuator;
• a flexible pushplate connected to the actuator;
• and
• a head having a channel disposed between a first section and a second section, wherein the channel include an arcuate path segment and a straight path segment;
• and wherein straight path segment and the arcuate path segments are positioned so that upon actuation of the point driver, the pushplate encountering a point in the straight path segment will drive the point through the arcuate path segment.