Power tool

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11745323-B2
Application number	US-202117245971-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 30, 2021
Priority date	Nov 25, 2020
Publication date	Sep 5, 2023
Grant date	Sep 5, 2023

Abstract

A tool is provided for applying fasteners to a workpiece. The tool has a housing with a nosepiece, a motor, a drive actuator, a magazine assembly that holds fasteners, and a feed assembly with a feed actuator configured to move a lead fastener into the nosepiece. A driver in the housing is driven by a drive system that is associated with the driver actuator. A controller is connected to the feed actuator and the drive actuator to implement a firing sequence for driving each lead fastener into the workpiece using the driver and feeding the lead fastener into the nosepiece assembly. The actuators may be in the form of solenoids. The controller is designed to energize and deenergize the motor selectively while the drive actuator and feed actuator are activated.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A tool comprising:
a housing having a nosepiece assembly;
a motor;
a drive actuator;
a magazine assembly configured to hold a plurality of fasteners;
a feed assembly associated with the magazine assembly configured to advance each of the plurality of fasteners in a feed direction to present a lead fastener into the nosepiece assembly, the feed assembly comprising a feed actuator configured to move said lead fastener into the nosepiece assembly;
a driver provided in the housing and configured for translational movement within a drive channel along a drive axis to drive the lead fastener into a workpiece;
a drive system, associated with the drive actuator, configured to selectively drive the driver along the drive axis; and
a controller connected to the feed actuator and the drive actuator to implement a firing sequence for driving each lead fastener into the workpiece using the driver and feeding the lead fastener into the nosepiece assembly, wherein the firing sequence comprises a first electric pulse to the drive actuator and a second electric pulse to the feed actuator, and wherein the motor is activated for at least a portion of a time after the first electric pulse and before the second electric pulse, but the motor is not activated for at least a portion of a time during the first electric pulse and at least a portion of a time during the second electric pulse.

2. The tool according to claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to calculate timing in an excitation pattern for feeding the first electric pulse to the drive actuator and the second electric pulse to the feed actuator for activation thereof during the firing sequence, and calculate a delay time interval between the first and second electric pulses.

3. The tool according to claim 2 , wherein the motor is deenergized for at least a part of each of the first electric pulse to the drive actuator and the second electric pulse to the feed actuator.

4. The tool according to claim 1 , wherein the drive system further comprises a flywheel, wherein said motor is configured to drive the flywheel, and wherein the drive actuator is configured to move the driver into engagement with the flywheel such that energy is transferred from the flywheel to the driver and cause the driver to move translationally.

5. The tool according to claim 4 , wherein the drive system further comprises an arm and a roller, the arm being spring biased by a spring towards a first position, the drive actuator being configured to press against the spring to move the arm into a second position such that the arm moves the roller to push the driver into engagement with the flywheel to cause the translational movement of the driver.

6. The tool according to claim 1 , wherein the feed assembly further comprises a biasing spring and a feed rod configured to move the lead fastener into the nosepiece assembly, the biasing spring configured to bias the feed rod into a first position, and the feed actuator being configured to move the feed rod to a second position, against a biasing force of the biasing spring, for moving said lead fastener into the nosepiece assembly.

7. The tool according to claim 1 , wherein the drive actuator is positioned on a first axis, wherein the feed actuator is positioned on a second axis, and wherein said first axis and said second axis are positioned at a non-perpendicular angle relative to one another.

8. The tool according to claim 7 , wherein the first axis is parallel to the drive axis and wherein the second axis is parallel to the feed direction.

9. The tool according to claim 1 , wherein the drive axis is provided in a first plane and an axis of the feed actuator defining the feed direction is provided in a second plane, said first plane being different from said second plane.

10. The tool according to claim 1 , wherein the drive actuator and/or the feed actuator comprises a solenoid.

11. A method for operating a tool according to claim 1 , the method comprising:
deactivating power to the motor;
activating the drive actuator to thereby cause the translational movement of the driver thus drive the lead fastener into the workpiece; and
activating the feed actuator to feed the lead fastener into the nosepiece assembly.

12. The method according to claim 11 , further comprising deactivating the drive actuator and providing a time delay before activating the feed actuator.

13. The method according to claim 12 , further comprising activating power to the motor during the time delay and deactivating the feed actuator.

14. The method according to claim 11 , wherein the deactivating power to the motor is performed before activating the drive actuator or within a predefined time period after activating the drive actuator.

15. The method according to claim 11 , wherein the motor is deactivated for at least a part of the first electric pulse and the second electric pulse sent to activate the drive actuator and the feed actuator.

Assignees

• Black & Decker Inc

Inventors

• Lim Jongsoo
• Kirkpatrick Jonathan
• Myers Merrill
• Garber Stuart E

Classifications

• B25C1/003 Primary

  for belts of nails · CPC title

• B25C1/06

  operated by electric power · CPC title

• B25C5/15

  operated by electric power · CPC title

• B25C5/1617

  employing a spring-loaded pusher · CPC title

• B25C1/008

  Safety devices · CPC title