Rotatable Shaft Trigger Lock for Nail Gun Empty Condition
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing nail guns face issues with trigger locking mechanisms that can be unreliable in a nail-empty condition, leading to potential damage and reduced lifetime due to user error or mechanical deformation, and existing solutions are either complex or inefficient in preventing accidental firing.
Innovation Solution
A nail gun design featuring a rotatable shaft with a locking portion and driven portion that engages with a trigger switch, allowing continuous firing until the last nail is shot, where the locking portion moves to prevent trigger activation, and automatically returns to fireable condition upon nail reloading.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a locking piece is stopped right behind the trigger to prohibit trigger movement, then the trigger can be prevented from being pulled in nail-empty condition, but the locking effect decreases when the trigger is deformed due to long time or improper use
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of stopping the locking piece behind the trigger, the patent inverts the approach by having the rotatable shaft lock the trigger from the front side. The locking portion engages with the front surface of the trigger, preventing backward movement while accommodating trigger deformation through the rotational locking mechanism that maintains engagement even when the trigger deforms.
2Reliability
If a rotatable shaft with locking piece is used to prevent trigger pulling, then the trigger can be locked in nail-empty condition, but the structure becomes complicated and requires manual operation to reset
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the rotatable shaft with the nail pushing member into a single integrated component. The shaft serves dual functions: it acts as both the rotational locking mechanism and the nail pushing member that advances nails from the magazine. This eliminates the need for separate locking pieces and manual reset operations, as the same component that pushes nails also controls the locking function.
3Difficulty of detecting and measuring
If the driven piece penetrates through the side wall of the nail magazine to be stopped against a nail, then the mechanism can detect nail presence, but the structure becomes more complex and requires manual rotation to reset
Solution Approach 1:
The patent makes the rotatable shaft serve multiple functions simultaneously: it acts as the detection mechanism (driven portion that penetrates the side wall to be stopped against nails), the locking mechanism (locking portion that engages the trigger), and the reset mechanism (rotating to unlock and allow nail reloading). This multi-functionality eliminates the need for separate detection and reset components, simplifying the overall structure.
Data Source
AI summary
A nail gun includes a rotatable shaft which can lock a switch of a trigger of the nail gun in a nail-empty condition. The rotatable shaft has a locking portion and a driven portion extending partly into a nail magazine, such that when a nail pushing member disposed in the nail magazine reaches a predetermined position, the nail pushing member pushes the driven portion to make the rotatable shaft rotate about an axis perpendicular to a marching direction of the nails loaded in the nail magazine. As a result, the locking portion of the rotatable shaft in an initial position and spaced away from the switch will move to a locking position to be engaged with the switch. Therefore, the nail gun can shoot nails continuously until there is totally no nail in the nail gun and the nail gun is locked.