Electric nail gun and its nail feeding method

Abstract

A method for feeding nails in an electric nail gun includes sequentially energizing a nail-firing electromagnet and a nail-feeding electromagnet to perform work, and then de-energizing and demagnetizing them. The nail-firing electromagnet drives a striking pin to perform a nail-firing movement and a subsequent reset movement, while the nail-feeding electromagnet drives a nail-pushing claw to perform a retraction movement before nail feeding and a nail-feeding movement during nail feeding. The timing of energizing the nail-feeding electromagnet to perform work is before or at the timing of de-energizing and demagnetizing the nail-firing electromagnet, and the timing of de-energizing and demagnetizing the nail-feeding electromagnet is during or after the nail-firing electromagnet is de-energized and demagnetized, causing the striking pin to perform the reset movement, thereby shortening the nail feeding sequence after nail firing.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] This invention relates to the timing control of nail feeding during the nailing process of an electric nail gun, and particularly to a nail feeding method and an electric nail gun using the nail feeding method. [Previous Technology]

[0002] The nail-driving operation of existing electric nail guns, categorized by power source, generally includes two types: those powered by electricity and those powered by high-pressure air. Among them:

[0003] The technology of driving a nail with electric power mainly relies on a battery to drive a power flywheel to generate rotational kinetic energy, and the battery power to excite a nail-driving electromagnet to do work, which pulls one of the power flywheel and a firing pin to move or swing, thereby driving the power flywheel and the firing pin to mesh with each other, so as to transfer the rotational kinetic energy generated by the power flywheel to the firing pin, thereby driving the firing pin to generate linear nail-driving kinetic energy to fire a nail.

[0004] Known patents such as TWI749905 (US2022161405A1), TWI762323 (US2022371166A1), TWI349601 (US7575142B2), TWI340075 (US7575141B), and TWI404604 (US8991675B2) disclose the details of the mechanism for the meshing and transmission of the power flywheel and the striker; these can be broadly classified into the following two forms:

[0005] The first type is disclosed in the patents of Chen Ru TWI749905 (US2022161405A1) and TWI762323 (US2022371166A1), which belongs to the category of electric nail guns that "drive the firing pin to swing by the nail-driving electromagnet to engage the power flywheel to generate linear nail-driving kinetic energy"; wherein, the firing pin is slidably mounted in a swing seat in the gun body along a nail-driving axis, the power flywheel is pivotally placed in the gun body but does not swing or move, and the nail-driving electromagnet is used to drive the swing seat to make the built-in firing pin swing, thereby engaging the power flywheel to generate nail-driving kinetic energy.

[0006] The second type is disclosed in the patents of Chen Ru TWI340075 (US7575141B), TWI349601 (US7575142B2) and TWI404604 (US8991675B2), which belong to the category of electric nail guns that "use the electromagnet to drive the power flywheel to swing or move to engage the firing pin and generate linear nail-driving kinetic energy"; wherein, the swing seat (or guide seat) is pivotally (or movably configured) on the gun body and provides the power flywheel for pivoting (not for the firing pin), the firing pin is slidably mounted in the gun body along the nail-driving axis without swinging or moving, and the nail-driving electromagnet drives the swing seat (or movable part) to cause the built-in power flywheel to swing or move, thereby engaging the firing pin to generate linear nail-driving kinetic energy.

[0007] Furthermore, the technology of driving nails with a high-pressure air source mainly relies on a cylinder filled with high-pressure air installed on the nail gun. This cylinder can provide high-pressure air at a constant pressure inside the gun body, thereby driving a nail-driving piston connected to the firing pin, causing the firing pin to generate linear nail-driving kinetic energy. Its feature is that the high-pressure air inside the gun body can be recycled, eliminating the need for an external high-pressure air supply pipe.

[0008] The electric nail gun equipped with the gas cylinder mentioned above is still equipped with the electromagnet used to control the nail-driving timing. As disclosed in US8387718B2 patent, a conventional gas cylinder power device is used, and in particular, Figure 9 shows that the timing of the firing pin being driven by high-pressure air to drive the nail-driving action can be controlled by a solenoid (equivalent to an electromagnet) 140.

[0009] In addition, the existing electric nail gun's nail feeding operation relies on a nail magazine attached to the gun body that can hold multiple nails. This allows the nails stored in the nail magazine to be continuously pushed into a firing hole in the gun body one by one during the nailing operation, thus becoming nails to be fired.

[0010] Conventional nail magazines generally include one type with strip-shaped nail compartments and another type with round nail compartments. The strip-shaped nail magazine is used to load a plurality of nails arranged in rows, and a pusher plate with elastic force is provided inside the magazine to push the nails one by one into the firing port. The round nail magazine is used to load a spiral nail chain formed by a plurality of nails linked together, and a feed actuator on the nail gun pushes the nails on the nail chain one by one into the firing port to become nails to be fired, so that the nail gun can fire the nails to be fired one by one in the firing port by a firing pin.

[0011] Since the number of multiple nails that can be loaded in a strip-shaped nail compartment is relatively smaller than that in a circular nail compartment, and it is known that the nail feeding operation must be carried out continuously in a cyclical manner after the nailing operation. The multiple nails loaded in the strip-shaped nail compartment generally have a straight nail feeding path, which allows the elastic nail pusher to push the nails to the perforation hole smoothly and immediately following the straight nail feeding path after the nailing operation by means of its own elastic thrust. On the other hand, the multiple spiral-shaped nails loaded in the circular nail compartment have a spiral-shaped nail feeding path, which requires the timely operation of the nail feeder to push the chain-like nails to the perforation hole one by one after each nailing operation.

[0012] Regarding electric nail guns equipped with this nail feeder, patent TWI853997B discloses existing control technology that combines nail-firing and nail-feeding timing. This technology involves controlling a nail-firing electromagnet to perform a nail-firing operation by a control unit, counting a delay time after completion, and then controlling a nail-feeding electromagnet to perform a nail-feeding action. This delay time design avoids interference between the nail-firing and nail-feeding operations. However, since the nail-feeding operation is affected by the delay time, it lengthens the operation time of a single cycle from the start of nail-firing to the completion of nail-feeding, which is particularly unfavorable for continuous nail-firing and nail-feeding operations with multiple cycles. Therefore, improvements are urgently needed. [Summary of the Invention]

[0013] The purpose of this invention is to improve the problem of excessively long operation time for a single nail-driving and nail-feeding operation caused by counting a delay time in the TWI853997B patent technology. The inventors have abandoned the method of counting the delay time and instead developed a nail-feeding (or nail-feeding) method that does not cause interference between the nail-driving operation and the nail-feeding operation.

[0014] It must be stated that the two nail-driving kinetic energy transmission technologies of mutual meshing drive between the power flywheel and the firing pin disclosed in the prior art patents TWI749905 (US2022161405A1), TWI762323 (US2022371166A1), TWI349601 (US7575142B2), TWI340075 (US7575141B) and TWI404604 (US8991675B2), as well as the gas cylinder type electric nail gun technology disclosed in the US8387718B2 patent, are all suitable for incorporating the nail feeding method of the present invention.

[0015] Specifically, a preferred embodiment of the present invention provides a nail feeding method comprising: energizing a nail-firing electromagnet to perform work and controlling a firing pin to perform a nail-firing movement to fire a nail to be fired in a firing hole; subsequently de-energizing and demagnetizing the nail-firing electromagnet to control the firing pin to perform a reset movement; and energizing a nail-feeding electromagnet to perform work and controlling a nail-pushing claw to perform a retraction movement toward a direction away from the firing hole; subsequently de-energizing and demagnetizing the nail-feeding electromagnet to control the nail-pushing claw to perform a nail-feeding movement toward the firing hole to push one of a plurality of backup nails into the firing hole to become the nail to be fired; wherein the timing of energizing the nail-feeding electromagnet to perform work is before or at the timing of de-energizing and demagnetizing the nail-firing electromagnet, and the timing of de-energizing and demagnetizing the nail-feeding electromagnet is during or after the firing pin performs the reset movement.

[0016] In a further embodiment, the spare pin enters the firing hole through a feeding hole, and the reset movement process performed by the firing pin includes the firing pin moving through the feeding hole. The feeding movement of the pusher claw is performed after the firing pin passes through the feeding hole, so as to avoid the nail firing operation and the nail feeding operation interfering with each other.

[0017] In a further implementation, when the nail-driving electromagnet performs work, it first drives a flywheel that stores rotational kinetic energy to swing, so as to engage and drive the firing pin to perform the nail-driving movement.

[0018] In a further implementation, when the hammering electromagnet does work, it first drives a hammer seat that provides sliding displacement of the hammer to swing, so that the hammer engages a flywheel that stores rotational kinetic energy, and then drives the hammer to perform the hammering movement through the flywheel.

[0019] In a further implementation, before the nail moves, the firing pin is subjected to the pressure thrust of the high-pressure air in the gun body. When the nail-firing electromagnet does work, it releases the firing pin subjected to the pressure thrust to perform the nail-firing movement.

[0020] Another preferred embodiment of the present invention provides an electric nail gun suitable for the above-described nail feeding method, comprising: energizing a nail-firing electromagnet to perform work and controlling a firing pin to perform a nail-firing movement to fire a nail to be fired in a firing hole; subsequently de-energizing and demagnetizing the nail-firing electromagnet to control the firing pin to perform a reset movement; and energizing a nail-feeding electromagnet to perform work and controlling a nail-pushing claw to perform a retraction movement away from the firing hole; subsequently de-energizing and demagnetizing the nail-feeding electromagnet to control the nail-pushing claw to perform a nail-feeding movement towards the firing hole to push one of a plurality of spare nails into the firing hole to become the nail to be fired; wherein the time point of energizing and energizing the nail-feeding electromagnet is before or at the time point of de-energizing and demagnetizing the nail-firing electromagnet, and the time point of de-energizing and demagnetizing the nail-feeding electromagnet is during or after the firing pin performs the reset movement.

[0021] In a further embodiment, the spare pin enters the firing hole via a feeding hole, and the reset movement process performed by the firing pin includes the firing pin moving through the feeding hole. The feeding movement of the pusher claw is performed after the firing pin passes through the feeding hole.

[0022] In a further embodiment, when the firing electromagnet performs its work, it first drives a flywheel storing rotational kinetic energy to swing, thereby engaging and driving the firing pin to perform the firing pin movement. Alternatively, when the firing electromagnet performs its work, it first drives a firing pin seat that provides sliding displacement for the firing pin to swing, causing the firing pin to engage a flywheel storing rotational kinetic energy, and then driving the firing pin to perform the firing pin movement via the flywheel. Or, before the firing pin movement, the firing pin is subjected to the pressure thrust of high-pressure air within a gun body, and when the firing electromagnet performs its work, it releases the firing pin subjected to the pressure thrust to perform the firing pin movement.

[0023] Another preferred embodiment of the present invention provides an electric nail gun for performing the above-described nail feeding method, comprising: a nail driving assembly, a frame, a nail feeder, and a control unit, all mounted within a gun body; wherein the nail driving assembly includes a nail-firing electromagnet and a firing pin, the firing pin being slidably disposed in the gun body along a nail-firing axis and inserted into the firing port, the firing pin being reciprocated by the nail driving rod to perform the nail-firing movement and the reset movement; the frame is used to guide a nail chain, the nail chain consisting of a plurality of The nail links are linked together, and the plurality of nail links include the nail to be driven and the plurality of backup nail links linked to the rear of the nail to be driven; the nail feeder includes the nail feeding electromagnet and the nail pusher mounted on the truss, the nail pusher being controlled by the nail feeding drive rod to reciprocate the retraction movement and the nail feeding movement; and the control unit is constructed between the nail driving electromagnet and the nail feeding electromagnet electrically connected by a DC power supply, for controlling the DC power supply to power and demagnetize the nail driving electromagnet and the nail feeding electromagnet.

[0024] In a further embodiment, the gun body has a nail feeding hole, and when the nail pusher performs the nail feeding movement, it pushes the spare nail through the nail feeding hole into the firing hole.

[0025] In a further embodiment, the nail drive assembly also includes a power flywheel electrically connected to the DC power supply. The DC power supply provides current to drive the power flywheel to generate rotational kinetic energy. The nail electromagnet is used to drive one of the power flywheel and the firing pin that has generated rotational kinetic energy, causing the power flywheel and the firing pin to mesh with each other, thereby performing the nail movement.

[0026] In a further embodiment, the nail-driving assembly further includes a swing arm pivotally mounted in the gun body for configuring the power flywheel, and the nail-driving electromagnet drives the power flywheel to engage the firing pin via the swing arm to perform the nail-driving movement. Alternatively, the nail-driving assembly further includes a firing pin seat pivotally mounted in the gun body for sliding the firing pin, and the nail-driving electromagnet drives the firing pin to engage the power flywheel via the firing pin seat to perform the nail-driving movement.

[0027] In another embodiment, the electric nail gun is a cylinder-type electric nail gun filled with high-pressure air.

[0028] Accordingly, compared to patent TWI853997B, since the timing of energizing the feeding electromagnet in this invention occurs before or at the timing of de-energizing the hammering electromagnet, there is no delay time in between. Therefore, the problem of excessively long operation time for feeding (or delivering) the nail after a single hammering operation can be avoided. In other words, this invention has the advantage of effectively shortening the operation time of a single hammering and feeding (or delivering) operation without the hammering and feeding operations interfering with each other. Furthermore, compared to the prior art disclosed above, this invention still possesses the same advantage of shortening the timing of feeding (or delivering) the nail after hammering.

[0029] The implementation details and technical effects disclosed above will be presented in detail in the following figures and implementation methods.

Implementation Method

[0030] In order to fully illustrate the feasibility of the nail feeding method provided by the present invention, a more advanced electric nail gun (hereinafter referred to as nail gun) of the prior art, which "drives the firing pin to swing by a nail-firing electromagnet to engage a power flywheel to generate linear nail-firing kinetic energy", will be cited as an example.

[0031] Specifically, as shown in Figures 1 and 2, the nail gun includes a gun body 10 composed of a frame and a housing. The gun body 10 has a firing hole 11 along a nailing axis Z for inserting a plurality of nails 21 one by one. A firing pin 43 is slidably assembled in the gun body 10 along the nailing axis Z. The firing pin 43 is used to drive the nails 21 in the firing hole 11 to complete the nailing operation.

[0032] The gun body 10 can serve as a fixed end for mounting necessary components, including the outer shell and the grip 15, which are all part of the gun body 10. In this invention, the gun body 10 is equipped with a battery 13 that can provide DC power; in addition, the DC power can also be provided by an external power supply terminal of the gun body 10; the gun body 10 is equipped with a frame 14 for mounting a nail feeder 30, or the frame 14 can be regarded as part of the gun body 10; in addition, the gun body 10 is also equipped with a nail driving assembly 40 and a control unit 50 (described in detail later).

[0033] The derrick 14 may be formed on one side of the firing port 11 for guiding the nails 21 into the firing port. In one embodiment, the derrick 14 is used to connect a nail magazine 16, which may be conventionally equipped with a circular nail chamber 160 capable of holding a spiral nail chain 20 formed by a plurality of nails 21 linked together, such that the nail magazine 16 can be connected between the extension end of the grip portion 15 of the gun body 10 and the derrick 14. The nail feeder 30 is mounted on the derrick 14 for guiding and pushing the nail chain 20 supplied by the circular nail chamber 160, so that the chain-like plurality of nails 21 can enter the firing port 11 one by one. For ease of explanation, the present invention specifically distinguishes the plurality of nail pieces 21 into a nail piece 211 waiting to be nailed at the foremost position of the nail chain 20, at least one backup nail piece linked behind the nail piece 211, and the backup nail piece may include a first backup nail piece 212, a second backup nail piece 213, and a third backup nail piece 214, etc., and so on.

[0034] Please refer further to Figures 3 and 4 together, which disclose that the nail feeder 30 includes a nail feeding electromagnet 31 installed on the truss 14, a nail pusher 32 that can elastically swing under the traction of the nail feeding electromagnet 31, and a limiting pawl 33 elastically pivotally connected to the truss 14. The nail feeding electromagnet 31 can be electrically excited to drive its own nail feeding drive rod 311 to perform work; the nail pusher 32 is formed with a plurality of nail pusher portions 321 arranged in a row, and the limiting pawl 33 is formed with a limiting pawl portion 331. Both the nail pusher portion 321 and the limiting pawl portion 331 have a beveled edge, and at least one nail pusher portion 321 and the limiting pawl portion can be staggered and opened and closed respectively for implantation between the plurality of nails 21 of the nail chain 20.

[0035] Furthermore, the pusher claw 32 is pivotally mounted on the housing of the frame 14 or the feeder 30 in a swingable manner, and the feeder drive rod 311 and the pusher claw 32 are pivotally connected to each other in a linkage manner. When the feeder electromagnet 31 is electrically excited and drives the feeder drive rod 311 to do work, it can compress a pusher spring 34 to accumulate elastic force and pull the pusher claw 32 to swing elastically; when the feeder electromagnet 31 is de-energized and demagnetized, the pusher spring 34 can release elastic force and drive the feeder drive rod 311 and the pusher claw 32 to return to their original positions before doing work; so that the multiple pusher claws 321 can perform moving pusher and elastic opening and closing repositioning operations between the nails 21. As shown in Figure 4, the limiting claw 33 is pivotally mounted in the frame 14 and is loaded with the elastic force of a limiting spring 35, so that the limiting claw portion 331 of the limiting claw 33 can perform an elastic opening and closing limiting operation between the nails 21.

[0036] Please refer again to Figures 1 and 2, which disclose that the nail drive assembly 40 includes a power flywheel 41, a nail-firing electromagnet 42, and the firing pin 43. The power flywheel 41 can generate rotational kinetic energy via a motor 44 through an intermediate drive belt 45. In the prior art, the power flywheel 41 can also generate rotational kinetic energy via a coaxial drive of a motor. The firing pin 43 is slidably positioned above the firing hole 11 along the nail axis Z. When electrically energized, the nail-firing electromagnet 42 drives its own nail-firing drive rod 421 to perform work, thereby causing the power flywheel 41 to engage the firing pin 43, and thus driving the firing pin 43 to perform a nail-firing movement, thereby striking the nail to be fired 211 within the firing hole 11. Furthermore, the nail drive rod 421 can be connected to an elastic element (a conventional device, not shown) to provide elastic force as needed; when the nail electromagnet 42 is energized and drives the nail drive rod 421 to perform work, the nail drive rod 421 is loaded with the elastic force; when the nail electromagnet 42 is de-energized and demagnetized, the nail drive rod 421 can be pushed by the elastic force and return to its original position before performing work, as described above.

[0037] Furthermore, in the embodiments shown in Figures 1 and 2, a swing arm 17 is pivotally mounted inside the gun body 10, which can be pulled by the nail-firing electromagnet 42 and supported by an elastic element (a known element, so it is not shown) to swing back and forth. The power flywheel 41 is disposed on the swing arm 17, so that the nail-firing electromagnet 42 can drive the power flywheel 41 to move slightly toward the firing pin 43 via the swing arm 17, and finally engage the firing pin 43 to transmit rotational kinetic energy to the firing pin 43, thereby driving the firing pin 43 to fire the nail to be fired 211 in the firing hole 11 along the nail-firing axis Z.

[0038] In an alternative embodiment, the swing arm 17 can also be replaced by a movable support [as taught in patent TWI340075 (US7575141B)] that is driven by the firing pin electromagnet. Furthermore, the firing pin can also be oscillatingly disposed within the gun body [as taught in patent TWI749905 (US2022161405A1) or TWI762323 (US2022371166A1)], allowing the firing pin electromagnet to pull a firing pin seat of the firing pin slide slightly toward the power flywheel, thereby causing the firing pin to engage the power flywheel. This similarly enables the transfer of the rotational kinetic energy of the power flywheel to the firing pin, generating the movement of the firing pin to strike the nail in the firing hole. Therefore, regardless of whether the object driven by the hammer electromagnet 42 is the swing or movement of the power flywheel 41 or the hammer seat of the sliding hammer 43, it can drive the power flywheel 41 and the hammer 43 to mesh with each other, so that the hammer 43 generates the hammer movement, thereby firing the hammer piece 211.

[0039] Please also focus on Figure 5 and in conjunction with Figures 1 to 4, which reveals that the control unit 50 may be composed of a control circuit electrically connected to the battery 13. The control unit 50 is also electrically connected to a slide switch 55, a trigger switch 56, the power flywheel 41 (or the motor 44 that drives the power flywheel 41), the nail-firing electromagnet 42 and the nail-feeding electromagnet 31 disposed on the gun body 10.

[0040] The slide switch 55 is a known device that generates a safety signal P when triggered by a safety slide bar (not shown in Figures 1 to 4) surrounding the firing port 11. Furthermore, when the user holds the gun body 10 and intends to operate the nailing operation, the user can press the safety slide bar against the surface of the workpiece to be nailed, thereby triggering the safety signal P and sending it to the control unit 50. The trigger switch 56 (as shown in Figure 2) is located within a trigger 57 of the grip 15. When the user holds the gun body 10 and intends to operate the nailing operation, pressing the trigger 57 triggers a nailing signal N, which is then sent to the control unit 50.

[0041] The control unit 50 can control the power flywheel 41 (or the motor 44 driving the power flywheel 41) to start based on either the safety signal P or the nail-firing signal N, so that the power flywheel 41 generates rotational kinetic energy. The control unit 50 can also sequentially energize the nail-firing drive rod 421 of the nail-firing electromagnet 42 and the nail-feeding drive rod 311 of the nail-feeding electromagnet 31 when both the safety signal P and the nail-firing signal N are present, to perform work.

[0042] Further, the control circuit constituting the control unit 50 includes a drive circuit capable of driving the nail-firing electromagnet 42 and the nail-feeding electromagnet 31 respectively; the drive circuit may be composed of a coil in the electromagnet capable of generating inductance and resistance, or the coil electrically connected to at least one resistor. It must be noted that the present invention uses the inductance value L generated by the coil in the electromagnet when energized, and the resistance value R generated by the resistor, based on the basic principle that the quotient of the inductance value L and the resistance value R is the time constant τ (as shown in the following formula): τ is used to design the magnitude of the current flowing through each electromagnet and the resistance value to obtain the required time constant τ, thereby controlling the energy storage and release speed of each inductor. In other words, the present invention can thereby control the timing of the nail-firing electromagnet 42 and the nail-feeding electromagnet 31 performing work when energized, and the timing of the nail-firing electromagnet 42 and the nail-feeding electromagnet 31 being de-energized and demagnetized.

[0043] In another possible embodiment, the transmission structure between the power flywheel 41, the swing arm 17 and the firing pin 43 in the nail drive assembly 40 can be replaced with the pneumatic structure of the high-pressure air-driven firing pin of the gas cylinder electric nail gun disclosed in US08387718B2, so that before the nail moves, the firing pin is subjected to the pressure thrust of the high-pressure air in the gun body. When the nail electromagnet 42 drives the nail drive rod 421 to do work, it can release the firing pin subjected to the pressure thrust to perform the nail movement. Furthermore, the nail-driving electromagnet 42 disclosed in the above-described structural embodiment can be regarded as an electromagnet used to control the high-pressure air-driven firing pin to drive the nail (equivalent to the nail-driving electromagnet 140 disclosed in Figure 9 of US08387718B2 patent). Both have the same characteristic of generating inductance after the electromagnetic coil is energized, and both can drive the nail-driving rod 421 to do work and drive the firing pin to perform the nail-driving movement.

[0044] Based on the above description, it is evident that the hammering electromagnet 42 and its hammering drive rod 421 of the present invention can indeed be applied to different hammering drive structures (including the flywheel drive assembly and the pneumatic structure of the high-pressure air) to control the firing pin 43 to perform the hammering movement and a reset movement (described in detail later).

[0045] Furthermore, based on the various embodiments disclosed in the above-mentioned nail gun, the present invention can further implement a nail feeding method. The nail feeding method will be described below with four control flows and their operation sequence:

[0046] Please refer to Figures 6a and 6b to illustrate the first control flow and operation sequence of the feeding method of the present invention, including sequentially executing the following steps S10 to S80:

[0047] Step S10: Power on the nail-driving electromagnet to perform work.

[0048] In this step, when the control unit 50 receives both the safety signal P and the nail-driving signal N (as shown in Figure 5), it energizes the nail-driving electromagnet 42 via the driving circuit of the nail-driving electromagnet. The nail-driving rod 421 moves and performs work due to the inductance generated by the coil in the nail-driving electromagnet.

[0049] Please refer to Figures 8a and 8b to see the state of the nail-driving rod 421 of the nail-driving electromagnet 42 before it has done work (as shown in Figure 8a) and when it has done work (as shown in Figure 8b). This allows the swing arm 17, on which the power flywheel 41 is mounted, to be driven by the nail-driving rod 421 of the nail-driving electromagnet 42 when it has done work, so that the power flywheel 41 evolves from a state where it has not engaged the striker 43 (as shown in Figure 8a) to a state where it engages the striker 43 (as shown in Figure 8b).

[0050] Step S20: The firing pin performs the driving pin movement.

[0051] This step describes that the power flywheel 41, which generates rotational kinetic energy, can drive the firing pin 43 to perform the firing pin movement along the firing pin axis Z when it engages the firing pin 43. During the firing pin movement, the firing pin 43 can move from a firing pin starting point to a firing pin ending point within a predetermined firing pin operation time (as shown in Figure 6b) to fire the nail to be fired 211 in the firing hole 11 (as shown in Figure 8b).

[0052] Step S30: Power on the feeding electromagnet to perform work.

[0053] In this step, the control unit 50 controls the feeding electromagnet 31 to be energized by the driving circuit of the feeding electromagnet after the firing pin performs the nail-firing movement (step 20). The feeding drive rod 311 moves and performs work by being pushed by the inductance generated by the coil in the feeding electromagnet.

[0054] Step S40: The pusher claw performs a retraction movement.

[0055] This step describes how, when the feeding drive rod 311 of the feeding electromagnet 31 performs work, it can drive the pusher claw 32 to perform the retraction movement. Further, please refer to Figures 9a and 6b, which illustrate that after the firing pin 43 performs the firing movement to strike the nail to be struck 211, there is no nail to be struck 211 in the firing hole 11 (as shown in Figure 9a). The feeding electromagnet 31 drives the feeding drive rod 311 to perform work, pulling it down to a low point and compressing the pusher spring 34 to generate an elastic force. This force is used to cause the pusher claw 32 to elastically swing from a feeding endpoint (as shown in Figure 6b) and perform the retraction movement to a feeding starting point (as shown in Figure 6b). This process allows the pusher claw portion 321 of the pusher claw 32 to separate from the first backup nail. The first backup nail 212 and the second backup nail 213 behind it (as shown in Figure 9a); from the evolution of Figure 9a to the action shown in Figure 9b, it can be seen that the starting point of the feeding of the nail pusher 32 is located at the outer edge of the second backup nail 213 and the third backup nail 214; at this time, since the first backup nail 212, the second backup nail 213 and the third backup nail 214 are still linked together as one unit, and the first backup nail 212 is blocked by the limiting claw 331, the first backup nail 212, the second backup nail 213 and the third backup nail 214 do not move.

[0056] Step S50: De-energize and demagnetize the hammer electromagnet.

[0057] As shown in Figure 6b, this step is performed immediately after the firing pin 43 performs the firing pin movement. Specifically, this step involves the control unit 50 de-energizing and demagnetizing the firing pin electromagnet 42, thereby removing the inductance from the firing pin drive rod 421. Furthermore, as shown in Figure 6b, the time point for energizing the feeding electromagnet to perform work (step S30) can be earlier than the time point for de-energizing and demagnetizing the firing pin electromagnet in this step. In other words, there is an earlier time t1() between the time point for energizing the feeding electromagnet to perform work and the time point for de-energizing and demagnetizing the firing pin electromagnet.

[0058] In accordance with this, and compared to the time-consuming problem caused by the TWI853997B patent, which delays the time point of the energized feeding electromagnet to perform work until after the firing pin performs the reset movement by a delay time, the present invention has the advantage of shortening the feeding sequence after the firing pin is driven.

[0059] Step S60: The striking pin performs a reset movement.

[0060] This step is executed immediately after the de-energization of the nail-driving electromagnet (step S50). That is, the firing pin 43 can perform the reset movement by being pushed by multiple elastic elements (known elements, so not shown in the figure) arranged between the gun body 10 and the firing pin 43. In this state, the nail-driving rod 421, the swing arm 17, the power flywheel 41 and the firing pin 43 shown in Figure 8b can each return to their original positions before the work was performed as shown in Figure 2. That is, as can be seen from Figure 6b, the firing pin 43 performs the reset movement from the nail-driving end point to the nail-driving start point.

[0061] Step S70: Power off and demagnetize the feeding electromagnet.

[0062] As shown in Figure 6b, during the resetting movement (step S60) of the firing pin 43, that is, after the firing pin 43 starts resetting movement from the end point of the nail, and before it has reset to the starting point of the nail, step S70, de-energizing and demagnetizing the feeding electromagnet, is executed. Specifically, de-energizing and demagnetizing the feeding electromagnet 31 means that the control unit 50 shuts off the drive circuit that supplies current to the feeding electromagnet 31, reducing the electromagnetic force of the coil of the feeding electromagnet 31 to a state where it is insufficient to resist the pushing force of the pusher spring 34.

[0063] Step S80: The pusher claw performs the feeding movement.

[0064] This step is generated immediately after the control unit 50 de-energizes the feeding electromagnet (step S70) and releases the thrust of the pusher spring 34. Please refer to Figures 9b to 9d in sequence. Figure 9b shows that when the feeding electromagnet 31 is de-energized, the pusher claw 32 begins to perform feeding movement. At this moment, the elastic force stored in the pusher spring 34 when it is compressed is released, causing the feeding drive rod 311 to drive the pusher claw 321 to close and insert it between the first backup nail member 212, the second backup nail member 213, and the third backup nail member 214. Figure 9c reveals that the feeding drive rod 311 is pushed by the pusher spring 34 and returns to its original position before work as shown in Figures 3 and 4. It also drives the pusher claw 321 to push the first standby nail 212 into the injection port 11 to become the nail to be fired 211. In this way, as shown in Figure 6b, the pusher spring 34 pushes the feeding drive rod 311 from the feeding start point to the feeding end point to perform the feeding movement.

[0065] More specifically, as shown in Figures 9b and 9c, the backup pin 21 enters the firing hole 11 through a feeding hole 110. The reset movement (step S60) process performed by the firing pin 43 includes the firing pin 43 moving through the feeding hole 110. Since the stroke of the firing pin 43 performing the reset movement is relatively longer than the stroke of the feeding movement, the feeding movement of the pusher claw 32 can be performed after the firing pin 43 passes through the feeding hole 110, so as to avoid the first backup pin 212 hitting the firing pin 43 when the feeding enters the firing hole 11 and causing a pin jam.

[0066] Please also refer to Figure 9d, which is a diagram with a different cross-sectional view than that of Figure 9c. In addition to showing the state in which the pusher claw 32 pushes the nail into the injection port 11 to become the nail to be hit 211, Figure 9d also shows that during the nail feeding movement shown in Figures 9b to 9c, the limiting claw 331 with the inclined surface feature can be pushed by the advance movement of the nail 21 and elastically swing away to the outer edge of the nail 21 (i.e., release the limiting). After the advance movement of the nail 21 is completed, it elastically returns to the position between the nails 21 to limit the movement.

[0067] Please refer to Figures 6a and 6c together to illustrate the second control flow and operation sequence of the feeding method of the present invention. The second operation sequence shown in Figure 6c is different from the first operation sequence shown in Figure 6b. The difference is that the timing of de-energizing the feeding electromagnet (step S70) is performed after the striker 43 completes the reset movement (step S60), so that there is a time difference t3() between the time when the striker 43 completes the reset movement (step S60) and the time when the feeding electromagnet is de-energized (step S70) (as shown in Figure 6c). It must be noted that this time difference t3 is not the same in definition as the delay time used in patent TWI853997B to delay the energization of the feeding electromagnet, because the time difference t3 described in the present invention will not delay the energization of the feeding electromagnet and cause the overall time of nail striking and feeding to be too long (as in patent TWI853997B). This is hereby stated. Furthermore, this approach increases the margin for preventing jamming, thus constituting an additional solution derived from the first operational sequence described above. Apart from this, the remaining steps of the second control flow and its operational sequence are identical to those of the first control flow and its operational sequence.

[0068] Additionally, please refer to Figures 7a and 7b together to illustrate the third control flow and its operation sequence of the feeding method of the present invention. The difference between this third and the first control flow and its operation sequence described above is as follows:

[0069] The work of energizing the feeding electromagnet is represented by step S31, and the work of de-energizing the demagnetizing electromagnet is represented by step S51. This is to explain that the timing of energizing the feeding electromagnet in step S31 and de-energizing the demagnetizing electromagnet in step S51 is the same, so that the advance time t2 shown in Figure 7b is 0. In addition, the pusher claw performs the retraction movement in step S40 immediately after the feeding electromagnet performs the work in step S31. Also, the de-energizing electromagnet in step S51 is executed during the reset movement of the striker in step S60. The remaining steps are the same as the first control flow and its timing.

[0070] Due to the characteristics of the nail gun, the stroke of the firing pin 43 for nailing and resetting is longer than that of the pusher claw 32 for retraction and feeding. Therefore, during the resetting movement of the firing pin in step S60, there is sufficient time to perform the de-energization and demagnetization of the feeding electromagnet in step S70, and then the pusher claw performs the feeding movement in step S80 immediately afterwards. This implementation avoids the time-consuming problem caused by the TWI853997B patent, which delays the energization of the feeding electromagnet until after the firing pin's resetting movement, thus ensuring that the third control flow and its operation sequence still have the advantage of shortening the feeding time after nailing.

[0071] Furthermore, please refer to Figures 7a and 7c together to disclose the fourth control flow and its operation sequence of the feeding method of the present invention, wherein the fourth operation sequence disclosed in Figure 7c is different from the third operation sequence in Figure 7b, and the difference is as follows:

[0072] The timing of de-energizing the feeding electromagnet 31 (step S70) is performed after the striker 43 completes the reset movement (step S60), resulting in a time difference t3() between the time the striker 43 completes the reset movement (step S60) and the time of de-energizing the feeding electromagnet (step S70) (as shown in Figure 7c). This increases the space margin to prevent pin jamming, thus representing an additional solution derived from the third operation sequence described above. Apart from this, the remaining steps of the fourth control flow and its operation sequence of the present invention are the same as those of the third control flow and its operation sequence.

[0073] The above embodiments are merely preferred embodiments of the present invention, and should not be construed as limiting the scope of the present invention. Therefore, the present invention should be determined by the claims as defined in the patent application. [Simplified Explanation of the Diagram]

[0074] Figure 1 is a perspective view of the electric nail gun disclosed in this invention, showing the gun body after removing the grip and outer casing. Figure 2 is a partial sectional view of the front of Figure 1, showing the appearance and structure of the gun body with the outer casing and grip. Figure 3 is a partial sectional view of section AA in Figure 2. Figure 4 is a partial sectional view of section BB in Figure 2. Figure 5 is a schematic diagram of the configuration of the control unit implemented in the electric nail gun shown in Figure 1. Figure 6a is a schematic diagram of the first and second control flows of the nail feeding method of this invention. Figure 6b is a schematic diagram of the operation timing of the first control flow shown in Figure 6a. Figure 6c is a schematic diagram of the second operation timing extended from the control flow shown in Figure 6a. Figure 7a is a schematic diagram of the third and fourth control flows of the nail feeding method of this invention. Figure 7b is a schematic diagram of the operation timing of the third control flow shown in Figure 7a. Figure 7c is a schematic diagram of the fourth operation timing extended from the control flow shown in Figure 7a. Figures 8a to 8b respectively show the operation schematic diagrams of the firing pin shown in Figure 2 in the nail-driving movement and reset movement processes. Figures 9a to 9d respectively illustrate the operation diagrams of the pusher claw shown in Figures 3 and 4 during the retraction and feeding movements.

Claims

1. A method for feeding nails, comprising: A striking electromagnet is energized to perform work, controlling a firing pin to perform a striking movement to strike a nail to be fired in a firing hole. Subsequently, the striking electromagnet is de-energized and demagnetized, controlling the firing pin to perform a reset movement. A feeding electromagnet is energized to perform work, controlling a pusher claw to perform a retraction movement away from the firing hole. Subsequently, the feeding electromagnet is de-energized and demagnetized, controlling the pusher claw to perform a feeding movement towards the firing hole, to push one of a plurality of reserve nails into the firing hole to become the nail to be fired. The timing of energizing the feeding electromagnet is before or at the time of de-energizing the striking electromagnet; and the timing of de-energizing the feeding electromagnet is during the process of de-energizing the striking electromagnet and causing the firing pin to perform the reset movement.

2. The feeding method as described in claim 1, wherein the spare pin enters the firing hole via a feeding hole, the reset movement performed by the firing pin includes the firing pin moving through the feeding hole, and the feeding movement of the pusher claw is performed after the firing pin has passed through the feeding hole.

3. The nail feeding method as described in claim 1, wherein when the nail-firing electromagnet performs work, it first drives a flywheel storing rotational kinetic energy to swing, thereby engaging and driving the firing pin to perform the nail-firing movement.

4. The nail feeding method as described in claim 1, wherein when the nail-firing electromagnet performs work, it first drives a nail holder that provides sliding displacement for the firing pin to swing, causing the nail to engage a flywheel that stores rotational kinetic energy, and then drives the firing pin to perform the nail-firing movement via the flywheel.

5. The nail feeding method as described in claim 1, wherein before the nail moves, the firing pin is subjected to the pressure thrust of high-pressure air in a gun body, and the nail-firing electromagnet releases the firing pin subjected to the pressure thrust to perform the nail-firing movement when it does work.

6. A method for feeding nails, comprising: A striking electromagnet is energized to perform work, controlling a firing pin to perform a striking movement to strike a nail to be fired in a firing hole. The striking electromagnet is then de-energized to demagnetize the striking electromagnet, controlling the firing pin to perform a reset movement. A feeding electromagnet is energized to perform work, controlling a pusher claw to perform a retraction movement away from the firing hole. The feeding electromagnet is then de-energized to demagnetize the feeding electromagnet, controlling the pusher claw to perform a feeding movement towards the firing hole, pushing one of a plurality of reserve nails into the firing hole to become the nail to be fired. The timing of energizing the feeding electromagnet is before or at the time of de-energizing the striking electromagnet. Furthermore, the timing of de-energizing the feeding electromagnet is after the striking pin has completed the reset movement following the de-energization of the striking electromagnet.

7. The feeding method as described in claim 6, wherein the spare pin enters the firing hole via a feeding hole, the reset movement performed by the firing pin includes the firing pin moving through the feeding hole, and the feeding movement of the pusher claw is performed after the firing pin has passed through the feeding hole.

8. The nail feeding method as described in claim 6, wherein when the nail-firing electromagnet performs work, it first drives a flywheel storing rotational kinetic energy to swing, thereby engaging and driving the firing pin to perform the nail-firing movement.

9. The nail feeding method as described in claim 6, wherein when the nail-firing electromagnet performs work, it first drives a nail holder that provides sliding displacement for the firing pin to swing, causing the nail to engage a flywheel that stores rotational kinetic energy, and then drives the firing pin to perform the nail-firing movement via the flywheel.

10. The nail feeding method as described in claim 6, wherein before the nail moves, the firing pin is subjected to the pressure thrust of high-pressure air in a gun body, and the nail-firing electromagnet releases the firing pin subjected to the pressure thrust to perform the nail-firing movement when it performs work.

11. An electric nail gun for performing the nail feeding method as described in claim 1 or 6, comprising, within a gun body, the following components: A nail-driving assembly includes a nail-driving electromagnet and a firing pin, the firing pin being slidably disposed on the gun body along a nail axis and inserted into the firing port, the firing pin being controlled by a nail-driving rod to reciprocate the nail-driving movement and the reset movement; a frame for guiding a nail chain, the nail chain being formed by linking a plurality of nails, the plurality of nails including the nail to be driven and a plurality of the backup nails linked behind the nail to be driven; a nail feeder including a nail-feeding electromagnet and a nail-pushing claw mounted on the frame, the nail-pushing claw being controlled by the nail-feeding driving rod to reciprocate the retraction movement and the nail-feeding movement; and a control unit constructed between the nail-driving electromagnet and the nail-feeding electromagnet electrically connected by a DC power supply, for controlling the DC power supply to power and demagnetize the nail-driving electromagnet and the nail-feeding electromagnet.

12. The electric nail gun as claimed in claim 11, wherein the gun body has a nail feeding hole, and the nail pusher pushes the spare nail through the nail feeding hole into the firing hole when performing the nail feeding movement.

13. The electric nail gun as claimed in claim 11, wherein the nail-driving assembly further includes a power flywheel electrically connected to the DC power supply, the DC power supply providing current to drive the power flywheel to generate rotational kinetic energy, and the nail-driving electromagnet driving one of the power flywheel and the firing pin that has generated rotational kinetic energy, causing the power flywheel and the firing pin to mesh with each other, thereby performing the nail-driving movement.

14. The electric nail gun as claimed in claim 13, wherein the nail-driving assembly further includes a swing arm pivotally mounted in the gun body for configuring the power flywheel, the nail-driving electromagnet driving the power flywheel to engage the firing pin via the swing arm to perform the nail-driving movement.

15. The electric nail gun as claimed in claim 13, wherein the nail-driving assembly further includes a firing pin seat pivotally disposed within the gun body for sliding the firing pin, the nail-driving electromagnet driving the firing pin to engage the power flywheel via the firing pin seat to perform the nail-driving movement.

16. The electric nail gun as described in claim 11 is a cylinder-type electric nail gun filled with high-pressure air.

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