Tension-Fed Fastener Guide to Prevent Strip Jamming
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional screw guns with pusher feeders face issues such as complex mechanisms, jamming, misfeeds, and tangling of flexible screw strips, requiring user intervention and disassembly for correction.
Innovation Solution
A tension-fed fastener installation tool with a guide and tension feeder that pulls collated fasteners through a guide, using a retractable elongate member and attachment pin to maintain tension, preventing sagging and tangling, and featuring a depth of drive adjuster for precise fastener placement.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If a pusher feeder mechanism is used to advance the screw strip, then the screws can be fed toward the nose of the tool, but the mechanism becomes complicated and prone to jamming and misfeeds
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of pushing the screw strip forward with a complex pusher feeder mechanism, the patent inverts the approach by using a tension feeder to pull the strip backward toward the nose. This simplifies the mechanism while maintaining feeding functionality and reducing jamming issues.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent removes the complicated pusher feeder mechanism entirely and replaces it with a simpler tension-based feeding system. The tension feeder applies tension to the strip between the guide and the leading end, eliminating the need for complex gear-driven pusher mechanisms.
2Productivity
If the pusher feeder is used to push the collated strip toward the nose, then fasteners can be driven, but the flexible screw strips bunch or tangle during the process
Solution Approach 1:
The patent inverts the feeding direction from pushing forward to pulling backward. By applying tension to pull the strip toward the nose, the system maintains better control over the flexible strip, preventing bunching and tangling while enabling continuous fastener driving.
Solution Approach 2:
The tension feeder applies tension to the strip in advance, between the guide and the leading end, to maintain proper alignment and prevent bunching before the fasteners reach the driving position. This preliminary tensioning action ensures stable strip composition throughout the feeding process.
3Ease of operation
If a pusher feeder with teeth is used to engage notches in the screw strip, then the strip can be advanced, but the mechanism requires complicated actuation and timing
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the complicated actuation mechanism entirely by replacing the pusher feeder with a tension-based system. The tension feeder applies continuous tension to the strip without requiring complex timing or separate drive mechanisms to actuate teeth.
Solution Approach 2:
The tension feeder system uses the natural tension in the screw strip itself to advance the fasteners, eliminating the need for external actuation mechanisms. The strip's own flexibility and the applied tension work together to enable automatic feeding without complex user intervention.
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.