Nail Holder Assembly

Abstract

In a nail holder assembly for use in an explosive charge driven setting device, nails with heads extending transversely outwardly from the shank portion of the nail, are held in spaced relationship on and extending through an elongated belt-like strip. The strip is arranged to form a washer-like member around each nail as it is driven from the strip into a target material, the washer has an area which is a multiple of the area of the head of the nail. A sleeve is positioned about the shank portion of each nail between its head and the surface of the strip so that the sleeve is forced against the strip when the nail is driven into the target material. The sleeve can be cylindrically or frusto-conically shaped and the holes in the strip through which the nails pass, can be provided with a counterbore having a configuration corresponding at least to the configuration of the end of the sleeve directed toward the strip.

Description

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed to a nail holder assembly for use in an explosive charge driven setting device and, more particularly, it concerns the arrangement of a sleeve about each of the nails in the nail holder assembly.

In the inventor's earlier filed application, Ser. No. 174,847, filed Aug. 25, 1971, now U.S. Pat. No. 3,779,373, issued Dec. 18, 1973, a nail holder for use in an explosive charge driven setting deivce was disclosed in which the nails are held in and extend through an elongated belt-like strip. Spaced between the holes in the strip in which the nails are positioned, are transversely extending slots having a lengthless than the width of the strip. As each nail is driven from the strip into a target material, it separates a portion of the strip extending between adjacent slots and the separated portion forms a washer-like member about the shank portion of the nail. The transverse slots in the strip are spaced apart a sufficient distance so that the washer-like member has an area which is a multiple of the area of the head of the nail.

As described in the above-mentioned patent application, it is necessary in explosive charge driven setting devices, for fastening materials of low strength, to use large--surfaced washer-like members to prevent damage to the material as it is secured by the action of a nail driven through it into a target material. To assure that no excessive impact occurs between the washer-like members and the low strength material, caused perhaps by excess energy, it is necessary that the head of the nail does not bear tightly against the washer-like member after the driving process, but rather are disposed in spaced relationship.

In the nail holder described in the above-mentioned application, it is not possible to prevent the nail head from striking against the surface of the strip holding the nails, as the nails are driven into a target material. Further, the friction by which the nail is held in the strip may not be sufficient to separate the washer-like member from the remainder of the strip when the nail is driven.

Therefore, it is the primary object of the present invention to provide a nail holder assembly which affords the separation of the washer-like member from the strip without the disadvantages previously experienced.

In accordance with the present invention, a sleeve is positioned about and extends for at least a part of the length of the shank portion of the nail between the nail head and the adjacent surface of the strip in which the nail is positioned, for preventing contact between the head of the nail and the surface of the strip when the nail is driven.

Due to the use of the sleeve, the necessary spacing between the nail head and the surface of the strip is provided and, further, the sleeve assures that the proper separation of the washer-like member from the strip as the nail is driven.

To produce the sleeves in a very simple manner, they can be formed from a continuous length of a cylindrically-shaped tubular material.

In one embodiment of the invention, the end face of the cylindrically-shaped tubular sleeve directed toward the strip can be provided with a surface tapering toward the nail head and the hole in the strip through which the nail passes can be provided with a counterbore having a surface corresponding to the surface on the adjacent end face of the sleeve. Accordingly, as the sleeve is forced by the nail head toward the strip, it does not strike the surface of the strip abruptly, but a displacement of the material forming the sleeve and the strip takes place as the nail moves through the strip and such displacement has a damping effect due to the tapered configuration on the end face of the sleeve.

The damping effect can be increased if the outer surface of the sleeve has a frusto-conical configuration diverging toward the nail head and if the surface of the hole through which the nail passes in the strip has a corresponding frusto-conically shaped bore.

If the sleeve is formed of a plastically deformable material, it is deformed by any excess energy developed in the driving operation and, as a result, the possibility of damage to the material being fastened to a target material is prevented. Resistance by the sleeve to plastic deformation can be regulated, on one hand, by the selection of the material used for the sleeve and, on the other hand, by the wall thickness of the sleeve. The resistance to deformation by the sleeve is determined by the force which is necessary to ensure the separation of the washer-like members from the remainder of the strip during the nail driving operation. Particularly good results were obtained in tests with sleeves formed of brass, copper or aluminum.

The various features of novelty which characterize the invention are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure. For a better understanding of the invention, its operating advantages and specific objects attained by its use, reference should be had to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter in which there are illustrated and described preferred embodiments of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

In the drawing:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a nail holder assembly embodying the present invention; and

FIGS. 2, 3 and 4 are partial sectional views of different embodiments of the nail holder assembly illustrated in FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In FIG. 1 a nail holder assembly is shown consisting of a longitudinally extending belt-like strip 1 and a plurality of combined nails 4 and sleeves 8 mounted in spaced relationship in the strip.

Extending transversely of the longitudinal direction of the strip are slot-like openings 2 each of which is located between a pair of adjacent nails 4. As can be seen in FIG. 1, the slot-like openings do not extend for the full width of the strip, but are spaced inwardly from the edges of the strips leaving a web 5, 6 on both ends of the slot-like openings. These webs 5 and 6 form preset breaking or separating sections so that individual washer-like members 3 are separated from the strip as the nails are, in turn, driven through the strip by an explosive charge driven setting device, not shown. Each of the washer-like members extends for the length of the strip between adjacent slot-like openings 2. The surface area of the washer-like member 3 is a multiple of the projected area of the nail head 4a which extends transversely outwardly from the shank portion 4b of the nail 4.

Formed along the longitudinally extending edges of the band 1 are spaced recesses 7, arranged at regular intervals, for engagement with a known feeding arrangement within a setting device.

In FIG. 1 as well as in FIGS. 2 to 4, a sleeve 8 is shown positioned about the shank portion 4b of the nail 4 and extending for at least a part of the length of the shank portion between the nail head 4a and the adjacent surface of the belt-like strip 1. As illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, the outer surface of the sleeve has a cylindrical configuration and its end face more remote from the nail head 4a extends substantially normally of the axis of the nail.

In FIG. 3 a sleeve 8b laterally encloses a part of the shank portion 4b of the nail 4 and has a cylindrically-shaped outer surface. However, as distinguished from the sleeve 8a shown in FIG. 2, sleeve 8b has an end face 8c extending obliquely of the axis of the nail 4 and tapering from its inner surface to its outer surface in the direction of the nail head 4a. Additionally, the opening through the strip has a counterbore 1a with a configuration corresponding to the tapered end face 8c of the sleeve.

In FIG. 4 another sleeve 8d is shown which has a frusto-conically shaped outer surface diverging from its end adjacent the strip to its other end adjacent the nail head 4a. The opening through the strip 1, in which the nail 4 is held, has a frusto-conically shaped configuration, the taper of which corresponds to the taper on the outside surface of the sleeve 8d.

The sleeves for the nails can be formed of plastically deformable material, such as brass, copper or aluminum.

While specific embodiments of the invention have been shown and described in detail to illustrate the application of the inventive principles, it will be understood that the invention may be embodied otherwise without departing from such principles.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A nail holder assembly for feeding nails serially into an explosive charge driven setting device from which nails are driven into a target material, said nail holder assembly comprising a plurality of nails each having a shank portion and a head extending transversely of and outwardly from said shank portion, an elongated belt-like strip, said strip having a plurality of holes therethrough spaced apart in the longitudinal direction of said strip and each hole holding the shank portion of one of said nails, said strip having at least one slot-like opening spaced between each adjacent pair of said holes for said nails with the slot-like opening extending through said strip and transversely of its longitudinal direction and having a length less than the width of said strip, the area of said strip between adjacent slot-like openings being arranged to provide a multiple of the area of the nail head on said nails positioned within said strip so that, as each of said nails is driven by an explosive charge from the setting device, it causes the section of said strip surrounding said holes and extending between adjacent said slot-like openings therein to separate from the remainder of said strip and form a disk or washer on the shank of said nail which has an area considerably larger than the area of the nail head, wherein the improvement comprises that each said nail head is spaced from said strip by a part of the axial length of said nail shank portion, and a sleeve fitted about each said nail shank portion and said sleeve positioned on said nail shank portion between said strip and the head of said nail, each sleeve having an axial length less than the length of the part of the axial length of its associated nail shank portion which extends between the nail head and the strip, the outer surface of each sleeve having a frusto-conical configuration tapering outwardly toward the head of the nail, and each hole having a frusto-conically shaped configuration having a taper corresponding to the taper of the frusto-conical configuration of the sleeve.