U.S. patent number 3,765,588 [Application Number 05/223,911] was granted by the patent office on 1973-10-16 for nail feeding apparatus.
Invention is credited to Elmer Frederickson.
United States Patent |
3,765,588 |
Frederickson |
October 16, 1973 |
NAIL FEEDING APPARATUS
Abstract
A nail feeding apparatus for use with a supply of nails and a
reciprocating hammer wherein a magnet fixed to a receiver plate
with a nail shaft aligning groove therein magnetically attracts to
and retains successively arriving nails along the groove as they
are supplied from a delivery means spaced from and confronting the
receiver plate. Each nail is retained in nailing relationship while
the hammer drives the nail into nailable material. The plate has an
angled section thereon and is movably mounted relative to the
hammer so that as the hammer strikes the angled section of the
receiver plate the plate moves from a first position within the
path of the hammer to a second position outside the path of the
hammer, leaving the nail behind to be driven by the hammer without
interference from the plate, the moving receiving plate triggering
the release of a successive nail which is then attracted to the
groove and seized by the magnet when the plate returns to first
position.
Inventors: |
Frederickson; Elmer (Waubun,
MN) |
Family
ID: |
22838488 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/223,911 |
Filed: |
February 7, 1972 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
227/113;
227/115 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B27F
7/13 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
B27F
7/00 (20060101); B27F 7/13 (20060101); B25c
001/00 () |
Field of
Search: |
;227/113,115,116,119 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Custer, Jr.; Granville Y.
Assistant Examiner: Smith, Jr.; Harold P.
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A nail feeding apparatus for use with a supply of nails and with
a reciprocating hammer moving within a path to successively drive
individual nails into nailable material comprising:
a magnet having a magnetic field adequate to magnetically retain a
nail shaft;
nail shaft aligning means in the magnetic field adapted to align a
nail shaft in a predetermined position parallel to the path of the
hammer when the nail shaft is magnetically retained by said
magnet;
delivery means including a slot along which the heads of the nails
are guided as individual nails from the supply of nails are
successively conveyed to the magnetic field so that the said magnet
retains the nail shaft in the predetermined position;
means mounting said aligning means for movement relative to the
path of the hammer to move between a first position wherein said
nail shaft aligning means and said magnet retain the nail in
nailing relationship in the path of the hammer and a second
position wherein said aligning means is outside of the path of the
hammer so the hammer can freely drive the nail shaft into the
nailable material; and
said nail shaft aligning means including a receiver plate of
non-magnetic material with a nail shaft groove on the said receiver
plate, the groove being parallel to the path of the hammer when
said aligning means is in first position and confronting said
delivery means, said parallel groove being of a length
substantially less than that of the nail shaft and having a first
end confronting the hammer and a second end confronting the
nailable material, said first end being positioned below the level
of said delivery means slot so that the nail head of the nail is
substantially spaced from said first end of said groove when the
nail is received from said slot, thereby assuring that the nail
shaft moves parallel to and along said groove as the hammer strikes
the nail head, the nail head contacting said parallel groove only
after the nail tip is firmly embedded in the nailable material.
2. The combination according to claim 1 wherein said delivery means
includes a gravity actuated nail guide having a pair of fingers
adjacent to and confronting the said aligning means, said guide
extending from the nail supply and terminating at the said pair of
fingers, the fingers adapted to arrest the gravity induced movement
of the head of each nail as the nail moves along said guide and the
nail shaft is attracted to and swung toward said aligning means by
the said magnet, resulting in the nail swinging about an axis
passing through the fingers and its shaft then being retained by
the said magnet.
3. The combination according to claim 2 wherein said fingers are
angled upwardly relative to the said guide and are on each side of
the guide to closely control the position of the nail shaft as it
is attracted to said magnet.
4. A nail feeding apparatus for use with a supply of nails and with
a reciprocating hammer moving within a path to successively drive
individual nails into nailable material comprising:
a magnet having a magnetic field adequate to magnetically retain a
nail shaft;
a nail shaft aligning means in the magnetic field adapted to align
a nail shaft in a predetermined position relative to the hammer
when the nail shaft is magnetically retained by said magnet;
delivery means for successively conveying individual nails from the
supply of nails to the magnetic field so that the said magnet
retains the nail shaft in the predetermined position;
means mounting said aligning means for movement relative to the
path of the hammer to move between a first position wherein said
nail shaft aligning means and said magnet retain the nail in
nailing relationship in the path of the hammer and a second
position wherein said aligning means is outside of the path of the
hammer so the hammer can freely drive the nail shaft into the
nailable material;
said shaft aligning means including a receiver plate having a
section thereon oriented at an angle to the path of the hammer and
arranged to lie in the path when said receiver plate is in the
first position to generate a force component on the said plate
which is directed outwardly from the path in response to striking
of the angled section by the hammer as a nail is driven, in order
to swing said plate to the second position outside the path of the
hammer; and
said means movably mounting said aligning means including a
flexible spring member attached to and extending from the delivery
means and supporting said aligning means for swinging movement
between said first and second positions, said spring member
retaining the aligning means in first position until displaced to
said second position and then swinging said aligning means back to
said first position.
5. A nail feeding apparatus for use with a supply of nails and with
a reciprocating hammer moving within a path to successively drive
individual nails into nailable material comprising:
a magnet having a magnetic field adequate to magnetically retain a
nail shaft;
nail shaft aligning means in the magnetic field adapted to align a
nail shaft in a predetermined position relative to the hammer when
the nail shaft is magnetically retained by said magnet;
delivery means for successively conveying individual nails from the
supply of nails to the magnetic field so that said magnet retains
the nail shaft in a predetermined position;
means mounting said aligning means for movement relative to the
path of the hammer to move between a first position wherein said
nail shaft aligning means and said magnet retain the nail in
nailing relationship in the path of the hammer and a second
position wherein said aligning means is outside of the path of the
hammer so that the hammer can freely drive the nail shaft into the
nailable material;
said delivery means including a gravity actuated nail guide having
a pair of fingers adjacent to and confronting the said aligning
means, said guide extending from the nail supply and terminating at
the said pair of fingers, the fingers adapted to arrest the gravity
induced movement of the head of each nail as the nail moves along
said guide and the nail shaft is attracted to, and swung toward
said aligning means by the said magnet, resulting in the nail
swinging about an axis passing through the fingers and its shaft
then being retained by the said magnet in the predetermined
position; and
said delivery means further including a nail release mechanism to
selectively obstruct nail flow along said nail guide, the movably
mounting aligning means being operatively associated with the nail
release mechanism such that movement of said aligning means between
first and second position actuates said nail release mechanism
causing it to permit passage of a nail along the guide toward said
fingers.
6. The combination according to claim 5 wherein said nail release
mechanism includes first and second cooperating gates spaced from
each other along the guide and adapted to alternately obstruct the
nail guide, the gates arranged for movement transverse to the nail
guide in response to movement of said aligning means between said
first and second positions, each of said gates arranged to move
between an obstructing position blocking nail flow along the nail
guide and a release position wherein the gate moves clear of the
nail guide, said second gate being downstream of said first gate
and arranged to move to an obstructing position when said first
gate is in a release position and to a release position when said
first gate is in an obstructing position so that nail flow along
the guide is obstructed by said first gate and unobstructed by said
second gate when the said aligning means is in first position, said
first gate being in release position and said second gate being in
obstructing position when the aligning means is in said second
position, resulting in the discharge of a single nail in response
to swinging of the aligning means between first and second
positions.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to the field of automated or semi-automated
nailing machines of the type used for construction of wooden
pallets, prefabricated housing and the like and has utility in both
portable nailers and in numerous assembly line nailing
operations.
A number of commercially available nailing machines utilize
magnetic attraction to retain the head of a nail while driving the
nail, and all have elaborate, complex mechanical structures
requiring a substantial capital investment. Typically, the machine
utilizes a reciprocating plunger as a hammer, the plunger having a
magnet to hold the head of the nail against the plunger while the
nail is driven into the nailable material. Ordinarily both moving
plunger and carried nail move within a stationary guiding sleeve,
the plunger finally driving the nail from the open end of the
sleeve and into the nailable material. Use of this sleeve and a
magnet to retain nails by their heads increases the frequency of
malfunction and machine breakdown.
Commercially available nails are not perfectly uniform and the
heads of such nails are rarely perfectly flat or uniform. The
greater the irregularily of the nail head, the less suitable the
nail is for use with the commercially available machines.
Irregularities on and around the nail head make it impossible to
keep the nail's shaft perfectly perpendicular to the surface to be
nailed while such an irregular head is magnetically retained
against the smoothly machined hammer surface. As the angle between
shaft and surface to be nailed departs increasingly from the
perpendicular, the likelihood increases that the nail will enter
the nailable material crookedly and bend before full penetration of
the nail is achieved. If the nail bends before leaving the sleeve
the nail is likely to obstruct the sleeve and disable the nailing
machine.
Another shortcoming of prior art nailing machines results from the
fact that nails being driven into material of varying hardness
require different amounts of energy to fully drive each nail. Even
the same material may vary in hardness, as when knots are
encountered in a piece of lumber. If a nail is not fully driven,
the reciprocating hammer often has no way of compensating and
simply picks up a new nail from the feed mechanism and drives the
new nail on top of the old, still projecting nail. This new nail
strikes the old partially driven nail and often bends within the
sleeve, jamming the machine. These shortcomings have been
eliminated by the present invention.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The invention comprises a nail feeding apparatus for use with a
nailing machine. The invention is adaptable to nails of all sizes
and types which are made of ferrous or magnetic materials. The
invention can be used with large stationary nailing machines and
with smaller, portable units; it is highly resistent to malfunction
and inexpensive and simple to produce and operate. The invention
can be used to drive nails into any nailable material at any angle
and from any direction.
The apparatus has a magnet and nail shaft aligning means including
a receiver plate fixed to the magnet and made of nonmagnetic
material. Nails are delivered to the magnetic field of the magnet
and the field then attracts each nail shaft to and retains it in a
nail shaft groove in the receiver plate, the groove being arranged
to align the nail shaft in a predetermined position in which a
reciprocating hammer can drive the nail into the nailable material.
The invention thus makes it unnecessary to retain nails by their
already described irregularly shaped heads and makes it possible to
hold them in nailing relationship with the hammer by retaining the
nail shaft which is far more uniform than the head.
The invention is used with a conventional reciprocating plunger
type of hammer, the receiver plate being movably mounted relative
to the hammer and having an angled section thereon which is adapted
to be struck by the descending hammer as the hammer drives the
nail. As the hammer starts the nail and strikes the angled section
of the plate, it generates a force component directed outwardly
from the hammer and acting on the plate, the force moving the plate
from a first position in the path of the hammer to a second
position away from the nail and outside the path of the hammer, so
the hammer can drive the nail into the nailable material.
The invention includes a delivery means for successively conveying
individual nails from a supply of nails to a position within the
field of the magnet so that the magnet can attract, seize, and
retain the nail shaft in a predetermined position against the
receiver plate.
Movement of the receiver plate and magnet between first and second
positions actuates a nail release mechanism on the delivery means
which responds by successively releasing individual nails which are
then delivered to the magnetic field and receiver plate along a
gravity actuated nail guide.
Because the nails are held by the nail shaft instead of by the nail
head, the shaft is easily oriented perpendicularly to the surface
of the nailable material, resulting in a minimum of nails entering
the nailable material at an angle substantially different from the
perpendicular. The invention greatly reduces the number of nails
which bend before fully entering the material and provides a more
reliable fastening device. In addition because each nail is held by
its shaft in the path of the reciprocating hammer, there is no need
for a sleeve surrounding the nail and hammer during the driving of
the nail. As a result the formerly serious problem of nail bending
within the sleeve is eliminated. If due to error a first nail is
driven into the material and a second nail is driven downward on
top of the first nail, the second nail bounces harmlessly away and
does not obstruct or damage the nail feeding apparatus. The
invention thus eliminates the clogging problems encountered by the
prior art.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the nail feeding apparatus
invention with the outer housing shown in phantom.
FIG. 2 is a top elevation view of the apparatus of FIG. 1 showing
the alternative positions of the magnet and receiver plate relative
to the path of the hammer.
FIG. 3 is a front view of the apparatus of FIG. 2 taken along the
cutting plane 3--3.
FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the path followed by a nail
during operation of the invention.
FIG. 5 is a partial top elevation view of the apparatus of FIG. 1
illustrating the operation of the nail release mechanism.
DESCRIPTION AND OPERATION OF THE INVENTION
Referring now to FIG. 1, the nail feeding apparatus invention 10 is
shown provided with a supply of nails 12 and positioned to
cooperate with a reciprocating plunger or hammer 13 arranged to
move within a known path 14. For illustrative purposes the path is
hereshown as being substantially perpendicular to the nailable
material represented by wooden board 15.
As will be recognized by those skilled in the art the use and
operation of a reciprocating hammer 13 in a nailing machine is well
known and the detailed machinery associated with its operation will
not be discussed in detail except to say that the hammer can be
triggered automatically by any appropriate means or controlled
manually depending on the task to which the nailing machine is
applied.
The nail feeding apparatus 10 has a magnet 16 to which a receiver
plate 17 formed of non-magnetic material such as stainless steel,
brass, aluminum, or the like is fixed by any appropriate means such
as brazing. The preferred material for plate 17 is stainless steel.
The receiver plate 17 has a shaft aligning groove 18 running
substantially parallel to the path 14 of the reciprocating hammer
13. The plate 17 extends between the poles 19 and 20 of the magnet,
and the groove 18 is cut deeply into the non-magnetic receiver
plate. It has been found that the use of such a plate and groove
causes the magnetic field of the magnet 16 to urge nails within the
field toward the groove 18, as opposed to merely attracting the
nails to the poles 19 and 20. The receiver plate and resulting
magnetic field functions in the same way if the groove 18 is cut
all the way through the plate 17, and such a configuration is
within the purview of the invention.
The aligning groove 18 is oriented substantially parallel to the
path of the hammer and arranged to align the nail shaft 21
therealong (FIG. 4). The receiver plate 17 with its groove 18
serves as a nail shaft aligning means. Any nail leaving slot 22 of
nail guide 23 enters the magnetic field, and as a result of the
receiver plate 17 and groove 18 on magnet 16, is attracted to a
predetermined position defined by the groove 18 along which the
nail shaft 21 is retained by the magnet 16 beneath the hammer 13
and substantially parallel to the hammer path 14.
The receiver plate 17 has an angled section 24 at its end nearest
the hammer whose purpose is to provide a surface for receiving a
blow from the reciprocating hammer 13 in order to generate a force
to swing the magnet and plate outward from the path of the driving
hammer 13 and away from a partially driven nail for reasons to be
further described hereafter.
The magnet 16 is a permanent U shaped magnet having a magnetic
field strength adequate to magnetically attract a nail shaft, pull
it to the groove 18 and retain the shaft in groove 18 until the
hammer 13 drives the nail. It should be understood that although a
permanent magnet is shown, any magnet of acceptable field strength
including an electromagnet may be substituted for the shown magnet
and is within the purview of the invention.
The magnet 16 and 17 are movably mounted relative to the path 14 of
the hammer 13. A flexible spring member 25 attached to frame 26 and
extending to and carrying the magnet 16 and plate 17 constitutes
means mounting the aligning means for movement relative to the
hammer path 14 between a first position 27 (FIG. 2) where the
receiver plate is within the path 14 of the hammer and a second
position 28 where the plate is outside of the path 14. The magnet
16 may be attached to the spring member 25 by any known means
including the screw 29 and nut 30. When the plate 17 is struck by
descending hammer 13 the plate, magnet, and spring member 25 swing
from first position 27 to second position 28 in response to which
the spring member 25 generates a restoring force which returns the
receiver plate and magnet to first position 27 after hammer 13 has
returned to a cocked position 31.
It should be understood that the means movably mounting the nail
shaft aligning means may be any appropriate known apparatus which
can move it between first and second positions, and all such
apparatuses are within the purview of the invention. The shaft
aligning means need not be attached to the delivery means and can
instead be mounted in any known fashion to move between first and
second positions.
The delivery means 32 shown herein within protective housing 33 is
illustrative of one type of delivery means useable with the
invention. The shown delivery means 32 has a frame 26 and includes
tracks 34 and 35 adjustably attached to the frame 26 by mounting
screws such as 36. The tracks 34 and 35 are preferably formed of
nonmagnetic material to diminish any possible induced magnetic
effects between track and nails located therealong. The spacing
between tracks 34 and 35 is adjustable for varying nail shaft
diameters, the tracks being movable toward and away from one
another to accommodate smaller or larger nails, respectively. The
nail heads are supported by the tracks with their shafts suspended
along slot 22 which has a width adequate to permit nails to slide
freely therealong when the tracks are angled downwardly to permit
the force of gravity to urge the nails downwardly along the slot 22
and toward the magnet 16. The tracks 34 and 35 include lower guide
surfaces 37 and 38 which assure that the shafts of the nails are
aligned so as to direct them toward the magnetic field of magnet 16
as will be described hereafter. The spaced tracks 34 and 35 with
their lower surfaces 37 and 38, respectively, comprise a nail guide
along which nails are stored and from which they are delivered
toward the shaft aligning means and magnet 16.
A nail release mechanism 39 to control nail flow along slot 22 has
first and second cooperating gates 40 and 41, respectively, spaced
from each other along the slot 22 of the nail guide and adapted to
alternately obstruct the slot. The first gate 40 is rigidly
attached to the spring member 25 and extends from the spring member
under the track 34 and transverse thereto, terminating at the
second track 35 and providing an obstruction to movement of nails
along slot 22 when the spring member 25 and receiver plate 17 are
in the first position 27.
The second gate 41 located downstream of gate 40 and attached to
and supported by the flexible spring member 25 passes over and
around the track 35 in opposed relationship to gate 40, terminating
at the edge of slot 22 without obstructing slot 22 so long as the
receiver plate 17 and magnet 16 are in first position 27. The
distance between the gates 40 and 41 as measured along slot 22 is
substantially equal to the thickness of a single nail shaft.
The tracks 34 and 35 of the nail guide terminate in fingers 42 and
43, respectively, which are adjacent to and confront the plate 17
and arrest the gravity induced movement of each nail as it leaves
the nail guide and moves toward the plate 17 and groove 18. The
fingers 42 and 43 are angled upwardly relative to the tracks to
catch the head 44 of each nail (FIG. 4), briefly retaining the head
while the shaft 45 swings about an axis 46 (FIG. 2) passing through
the fingers, as magnetic attraction pulls it to groove 18. The
guide surfaces 37 and 38 of the nail guide direct the nail toward
the plate 17 as it leaves the tracks 34 and 35. The fingers 42 and
43 are designed to release the nail head 44 as the magnetic field
pulls the nail toward the receiver plate 17 and they insure that
the head of each nail is at substantially the same level as it
arrives at the plate 17.
The finger 43 is slightly longer than finger 42, the unequal length
of the fingers tending to cause the nail to turn toward the spring
member 25 as it pivots about the axis 46 through the fingers (FIG.
2). As a consequence of this turning movement and the simultaneous
countering force supplied by the magnet 16, the nail point follows
a curved path 47 from the guide to the groove 18. This curved path
47 permits the nail's velocity in direction 48 to be steadily
diminished as it contacts plate 17 while approaching the groove 18.
While the use of a curving path 47 has been found helpful, it is
not essential to the operation of the invention and a nail released
from any point confronting plate 17 is attracted directly to the
groove 18 and retained there.
The nail release mechanism 39 is connected to the flexible spring
member 25 and actuated by transverse movement of the member 25.
Consequently when the descending hammer 13 forces the plate 17 and
magnet from first position 27 to second position 28, the nail
release mechanism 39 is actuated to begin releasing a single nail
49 (FIGS. 2, 3). As the restoring force generated by displaced
spring member 25 restores the plate and magnet to first position
27, the nail 49 is released and delivered to the magnetic field of
the magnet 16.
It should be understood that the delivery means 32, including the
nail guide, the nail release mechanism 39, and the fingers 42 and
43, are illustrative of one type of delivery means useful with the
invention, and that any means is acceptable and within the purview
of the invention if it conveys a nail to the magntic field of
magnet 16 and properly orients the nail to be attracted to and
retained in the groove 18 by the magnet.
It should be understood that the spring member 25 is but one
mechanism by which the magnet 16 and receiver plate 17 can be
movably mounted relative to the path 14 of the reciprocating hammer
13. Any means known to the art by which the plate and hammer can be
moved clear of the path of the hammer is useable by the invention
and within its purview. In addition it should also be understood
that the shown nail release mechanism 39 is merely illustrative and
that other forms of nail release mechanisms can be used with the
invention and are also within its purview.
In operation, an operator first provides a supply of nails 12 to
the machine 10 by arranging a plurality of nails along the slot 22
of the nail guide's tracks 34 and 35, the nails being arranged
successively one after another along the slot 22. The first gate
40, which remains in an obstructing position 50 (FIG. 2) when the
magnet 16 and plate 17 are in the shown first position 27, prevents
the nails from leaving the slot until needed. The operator places a
single nail 21 in the groove 18 and the nailing machine 10 is ready
for operation.
When the reciprocating hammer-plunger 13 is actuated, it descends
rapidly along path 14, striking the head 51 of the nail 21 and
driving it into the nailable material 15, which is positioned
adjacent the plate 17 such that the nail enters the material 15
before the hammer 13 strikes the angled section 24 of the plate. As
the hammer 13 strikes the angled section 24, it forces the plate
and magnet outward from the nail shaft to the second position 28
(FIG. 2). As the plate and magnet move outward, the descending
hammer drives the nail 21 fully into the nailable material,
completing the nailing operation. The hammer 13 then is withdrawn
to the cocked position 31 awaiting the next nail.
As the magnet and plate are forced outward to the second position
28 a restoring force is generated in the flexible spring member 25
which will swing the member 25 back to the original first position
27. While the spring member is in the second position the nail
release mechanism 39 begins releasing the next nail 49.
As the receiver plate 17 is displaced from first position and swung
to second position, the first gate 40 (FIG. 2) moves transversely
to the nail slot 22 causing the first gate 40 to be withdrawn from
the slot 22, moving from obstructing position 50 (FIG. 2) to
release position 52 (FIG. 5). Nail 49 slides downwardly along the
slot 22 until it encounters the second gate 41 (FIG. 5), which due
to the swinging movement of spring member 25 has moved into an
obstructing position 53 (FIG. 5) across the slot 22 preventing
further movement of nail 49 along the slot. The spacing between
first gate 40 and second gate 41 is sufficient to permit only a
single nail to fit therebetween.
As the receiver plate returns to first position 27 due to the
restoring force generated by the spring member 25, first gate 40
returns again to an obstructing position 50 (FIG. 2), preventing
nails upstream of the gate 40 from moving past the gate 40. The
single nail 49 (FIG. 5) which had already passed first gate 40 only
to be obstructed by second gate 41, is now free to move downwardly
along the slot since return of the spring member 25 to first
position 27 resulted in second gate 41 being moved clear of the
slot 22 to a release position 54 shown in FIG. 2. Since nail 49
(FIG. 4) has already passed gates 40 and 41 there is no further
obstruction along the slot 22 to prevent its further movement, and
gravitational attraction causes the nail to slide down slot 22
toward the receiver plate 17.
As the nail 49 slides downwardly in slot 22 (FIG. 4) its head 44 is
caught and its downstream movement substantially arrested by
upwardly angled fingers 42 and 43. As the head is slowed down, the
shaft 49 swings about an axis 46 (FIG. 2) passing through the
fingers as the combined inertia of the moving nail and the magnetic
field of magnet 16 pull the shaft toward the groove 18 of receiver
plate 17. The fingers assure that the head of each nail reaches the
receiver plate at substantially the same vertical level. The
reciprocating hammer 13 is now actuated and descends, driving the
nail 49, now in position 21 (FIG. 4) into the nailable material and
forcing plate 17 and magnet 16 outward from the first position 27
to the second position 28 to trigger the release of the next nail
from the delivery means 32.
As larger or smaller nails are used with the invention, it may be
necessary to adjust the position of magnet 16 on member 25 so as to
have the head of the nail in the desired position.
Best results are obtained with the invention if the supply of nails
consists of a single size nail, various sized nails not being
simultaneously intermixed along the slot. It should be understood,
however, that such mixing of various sized nails can be done
without harm to the invention. The problem arising from mixing
various size nails is that the hammer may not have sufficient
energy to drive an oversized nail if it is set to drive a smaller
nail, and more than one blow may be required to fully sink the
oversize nail. If nails of a single size are used, the hammer 13
can be adjusted to deliver the right amount of energy for effective
driving of that size nail. The feed mechanism itself is not
adversely affected by intermixing nails of various sizes.
If for any reason the nailing machine 10 drives a nail on top of an
already driven nail, the second nail simply bounces off and away
from the driven nail without damaging or jamming the feeding
apparatus. Since the invention requires no sleeve to surround the
reciprocating hammer, there is no danger of the nails bending
within the sleeve and jamming the apparatus.
It should be noted that the magnet 16 and shown aligning means will
attract and retain any nail entering the magnetic field in close
proximity to the magnet. This is true no matter how the magnet and
plate are aligned in space. Consequently when the magnet and
aligning means are provided with an appropriate delivery means
which does not require gravitational force for its operation, the
resulting nailing machine can drive a nail in any direction
selected by the operator. Since none of the required parts are
overly large or heavy the invention is well adapted to a portable
nailing machine, and such structures are within the purview of the
invention.
Accordingly, it is seen that the present invention provies a highly
reliable, simple, rugged, and compact feeding apparatus for a
nailing machine and eliminates the described substantial
shortcomings of the prior art machines.
While the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been
described, it should be understood that various changes,
adaptations and modifications may be made therein without departing
from the spirit of the invention and the scope of the appended
claims.
* * * * *