Tension-Fed Fastener Tool for Jam-Free Collated Strip Feeding
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional screw guns with pusher feeders face issues such as complex mechanisms, timing-dependent operation, jamming, misfeeds, and tangling of flexible screw strips, which hinder efficient fastener installation.
Innovation Solution
A tension-fed fastener installation tool with a guide and tension feeder that applies constant tension to the collated fastener strip, preventing sagging and tangling, and includes a backstop for proper alignment and depth adjustment, allowing for easy installation of different fastener sizes and types.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a pusher feeder mechanism is used to advance the collated strip, then the strip can be pushed toward the nose for driving, but the mechanism becomes complicated and requires timing-dependent operation that causes jamming and misfeeds
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of pushing the collated strip forward with a complex pusher feeder mechanism, the patent inverts the approach by allowing the strip to feed itself through the guide using its own flexibility and the natural movement of the tool. The strip is guided through a curved path that utilizes its flexibility to navigate the geometry, eliminating the need for active pushing mechanisms and their associated complexity and timing issues.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent removes the pusher feeder mechanism entirely from the system. By extracting this complicated component, the design eliminates the source of jamming and misfeed problems while still achieving effective strip advancement through the simplified guide geometry that works with the strip's inherent properties.
2Productivity
If the pusher feeder is used to push the collated strip, then the strip can be advanced, but the flexible screw strips bunch or tangle as they are pushed toward the nose piece
Solution Approach 1:
Rather than pushing the strip which causes bunching and tangling, the patent allows the strip to feed itself through a guide that uses pulling and guiding forces. The guide geometry creates a natural path that maintains strip stability, with the strip's flexibility working in favor of smooth feeding rather than against it.
3Ease of operation
If a complicated pusher feeder mechanism is used, then the strip can be advanced, but jamming occurs that requires disassembly of the nose piece to fix
Solution Approach 1:
By removing the pusher feeder mechanism entirely, the patent eliminates the components that cause jamming. The simplified guide-based feeding system has fewer parts that can fail or become misaligned, and any issues can be resolved by adjusting the guide geometry rather than disassembling the nose piece.
Data Source
AI summary
An installation tool and related methods are provided. The tool can pull a strip of collated fasteners along a collated fastener path to a guide, where individual fasteners are sequentially separated from the strip and advanced into a workpiece. The tool can include a tension feeder located downstream of the guide. The tension feeder is configured to apply tension to the strip between the guide and a leading end of the strip. The tool can include a driveshaft configured to attach to a conventional drive tool chuck or a drive tool having hexagonal type drive components. The guide can be one piece and replaceable, with a guide body and a guide head. A strip slot can be defined in the same to align a fastener head with a backstop and facilitate entry of a fastener shank in a feed slot. Related methods of use are provided.