US3561641A

US3561641A - Fastener supply device

Info

Publication number: US3561641A
Application number: US785176A
Authority: US
Inventors: Charles E Kerr Jr
Original assignee: Eltec Inc
Current assignee: Eltec Inc
Priority date: 1968-12-19
Filing date: 1968-12-19
Publication date: 1971-02-09
Anticipated expiration: 1988-02-09

Abstract

A magazine-type fastener supply device attached to a powerdriven tool and adapted to feed fasteners into a fastening position with the supply device held in any position. The supply device includes a conduit which a column of side-by-side fasteners are moved along by the action of a stream of air flowing through the conduit. The conduit terminates at its downstream end at a fastener retaining station, one side of which is bounded by a split diaphragm which releasably holds a fastener in the retaining station. A plunger adjacent the retaining station and opposite the diaphragm is operable on actuation to thrust a fastener in the retaining station endwise through the diaphragm and into a fastening position. The plunger is rotatable and is driven by the tool.

Description

United States Patent 72] Inventor Charles E. Kerr, Jr.

Hillsboro, Greg. [2]] Appl. No. 785,176 [22] Filed Dec. 19, 1968 [45] Patented Feb. 9, I971 [73] Assignee Eltec, Inc.

Lake Oswego, Oreg. a corporation of Oregon [54] FASTENER SUPPLY DEVICE 8 Claims, 3 Drawing Figs.

[52] U.S. Cl 22l/224; 221/267, 221/278 [5 I Int. Cl B65h 5/00 [50] Field of Search 221/278, 224, 267, 226

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,493,868 1/1950 Griffin"... 221 27sx Primary Examiner-Samuel F. Coleman Att0meyl(olisch & Hartwell ABSTRACT: A magazine-type fastener supply device attached to a power-driven tool and adapted to feed fasteners into a fastening position with the supply device held in any position. The supply device includes a conduit which a column of side-by-side fasteners are moved along by the action of a stream of air flowing through the conduit. The conduit terminates at its downstream end at a fastener retaining station, one side of which is bounded by a split diaphragm which releasably holds a fastener in the retaining station. A plunger adjacent the retaining station and opposite the diaphragm is operable on actuation to thrust a fastener in the retaining station endwise through the diaphragm and into a fastening position. The plunger is rotatable and is driven by the tool.

PATENTED ma m Fig 3.

Charles E-KerrJr.

BY INVENTOR 5504+ W FASTENER SUPPLY DEVICE This invention relates to a magazine-type fastener supply device.

In the assembly of many structures, such as the frame of an aircraft, it is necessary to join members in the structure with a multiplicity of screwable fasteners. This operation may be performed with a significant reduction in labor cost by using a power-operated tool such as a power-operated wrench, where such tool is provided with a device for automatically feeding fasteners one after another into a fastening position. The device for feeding fasteners preferably should be compact and light in weight, to permit it to be handled easily. The device also should be capable of feeding fasteners at any position that the power-operated wrench is held.

A general object of the invention is to provide a novel fastener supply device which is simple and reliable in operation.

ble of supplying fasteners with the tool with which it is incorporated held in any position. i

The supply device of the invention may be constructed as an attachment for a power-driven tool; or as an integral part of the tool.

More specifically an object isto. provide a novel supply device which includes a conduit forming a course along which a column of side-by-side fasteners'may be moved, with the conduit terminating at its downstream end at a retaining station. Fasteners within the column are urged to move in a downstream direction toward the retaining station by a' stream of fluid (usually air) flowing through' the conduit. Yieldable stop means at the retaining stationr'eleasably holds a fastener therein and an ejector is operable to eject a fastener endwise Another object is to provide a fastener supply device capafrom the retaining station and move it beyond the stop means toward a fastening position.

Still more specifically, an "object is to provide in such a supply device a novel diaphragm which forms a yieldable stop means, and a power-operated plunger opposite the diaphragm which upon actuation advances toward the diaphragm to thrust a fastener through it.

These and other objects and advantages will become more fully apparent as the following description is read in conjunction with the drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation of. a fastener supply device constructed in accordance with an embodiment of the invention, shown attached to a power-operated toolfwith portions of the supply device and tool broken'away;

member 18 of the tool. A screw-tightened split-ring clamp 34 secured to the right end of barrel section 32 in FIG. 1 serves to secure the supply device to tool 10.

A helical portion of conduit 38 is defined within the wall of barrel section 32. This portion of theconduit spirals from an upstream end 38a, at the right of barrel section 32 in FIG. I, toward the left in that figure. Conduit portion 38 is noncircular in cross section, and is of such size as to receive a column of fasteners, such as nuts 40, with the nuts in sidc-by-side relation to each other andwith a common set of nut ends facing a common side of the conduit portion. For the sake of simplicity, nuts have not been illustrated filling the entire conduit. It should be realized, however, that the conduit portion may be completely, or only, partially filled with a column of such fasteners. with the fasteners in abutting edge-to-cdge contact. The conduit portion is filled with nuts through a capped opening adjacent end 38a which is not shown in FIG. l-as being part of structure broken away from the drawing.

Secured to the left, or downstream end of barrel section 32 is a disc-shaped end plate 44. As is best seen in FIG/2, plate 44 has a spiral channel 46 defined therein, constituting another conduit portion, which has a cross section similar to the cross section of conduit portion 38. Conduit portion 46 spirals inwardly from and forms an extension of conduit portion 38. Thus, the conduit portions may be thought of as collectively forming a single conduit. Conduit portion 46 terminates at what is referred to herein as a fastener retaining station 48 adjacent the center of the plate. I

A bore 52 extends inwardlyfromthe left face of plate 44 and part way through the plate. Set within this bore against floor 47 is a disc-shaped elastomericdiaphragm 54. As is best seen in FIG. 2, diaphragm 54 is split transversely along angularly disposed lines, thus to'form a cross-shaped opening 56 through the diaphragm. Diaphragm 54 provides what is referred to herein as a yieldable retainer means at the retaining station for releasably holding a fastener in the station. With diaphragm 54 being made of an elastomeric material and being split, it permits a nut to be forced endwise therethrough, as will be discussed further.

A cylindrical guide member 60 is secured to plate 44 with its right end in FIG. 1 set within bore 52 and against diaphragm 54. A bore 62 extends axially through the guide member and is aligned with the retaining station. As is seen in FIG. 1, a downstream, or left, end portion 62a of bore 62 has a cross section sufficient to accommodate the movement of a FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the supply device, taken generally along the line 2-2 inFIG. l; and

FIG. 3 illustrates aportion vofthe'supply device of FIG. 1 during operation. I

Referring now to the drawings, the first more specifically to FIG. 1, at 10 is indicated an air powered tool similar to a conventional air-powered wrench. The. tool includes a handle 12, a trigger l4, and a rotor housing 16 having a hollow cylindrical forward end portion 16a at the left end of tool 10 in FIG. 1. A rotatable drive member 18 is mounted in a recessed portion within end portion 160. An elongatedsocket 18a (dotted outline), which has a noncircular cross section, extends axially inwardly from the left end of the drive, member. An air hose 22 connected to the base of handle 12 is adapted to supply air under pressure to the tool. The tool operates in a conventional manner. Upon pulling trigger l4air under pressure from hose 22 is admitted to the tool causing drive member 18 to be rotated under power. i

One end of an elongated air supply line 26 is tapped into the rear end of housing 16 of the tool in such a manner that it is fastener through it. The right end portion of the bore 62b (adjacent the diaphragm) has a larger diameter and is beveled at 62c. i

Referring againto the right end of the supply device in FIG. 1, it will be seen that an end of a fluid-supply line 66 is secured to clamp ring 34, and a fluid inlet aperture 68 is defined through the clamp to provide fluid communication between line 66 and the upstream end of the conduit. Supply line 66 is adapted to be connected to a source of fluid under pressure, such as air. With fluid under pressure supplied through aperture 68 an air stream is produced within conduit 38 which passes over fasteners within the conduit and exhausts through opening 56 in the diaphragm. The stream acts as biasing or advancing means urging fasteners in the conduit toward the retaining station. I

Mounted within barrel section32, is a spool-shaped element 72. Element 72 comprises a hollow cylinder 72a and opposed spaced-apart end plates 72b, 72c'with peripheries extending radially outwardly from cylinder72a. End plate 72b has a bore 74 extending axially through its center. The outer end of the plate rests flush against end plate 44 to enclose channel 46. Bore 74 is aligned with the fastener retaining station in the end plate and bore 62 in the guide member.

End plate 72c of the spool-shaped element has a bore 76 extending axially therethrough which is aligned with bore 74 in the other end plate, and with socket in drive member 18. With the supply device secured to, the tool, the outer end of end plate 720 fits snugly against the outer, or left, end of end portion 16a of the tool housing.

A fluid inlet port 78 extends radially outwardly through end plate 72c from the hollow interior of cylinder 72a. Encircling barrel housing 32, in line with end plate 72c, is a ring member 82 to which is secured one end of air-supply line 26. A port 84 extending inwardly through ring 82 and barrel housing 32 connects with port 78 to provide a passage through which fluid under pressure supplied through line 26 may be injected into the interior of cylinder 72a.

Reciprocably mounted within cylinder 72a is an elongated plunger 86 which extends through bores 74, 76 in the end plates of element 72. The right end of plunger 86. has a noncircular cross section which substantially matches the cross section of the socket in drive member I8 of the tool, and is slidably received in the socket. With plunger 86 thus received in the socket of drive member 18, it may be reciprocated relative to the drive member. The noncircular cross section of the plunger establishes a connection between the plunger and the drive member whereby they rotate simultaneously.

The forwardmost, or left end of plunger 86, adjacent the fastener retaining station, has a recessed socket 86a defined therein which has a cross-sectional outline substantially similar to that of the periphery of a fastener carried in the device. This socket is adapted to receive a fastener.

Mounted within cylinder 72a and secured to plunger 86 is a piston 88. Fluid underpressure supplied to cylinder 72a and against the right side of piston 88 through port 78 acts to bias the piston and plunger toward .the left in FIG. I and toward and through diaphragm 54. The plunger thus is adaptedto move laterally of the conduit and retaining station to force a fastener from the retaining station and through the diaphragm.

I A compression spring 90 within cylinder 72a is supported at one end against end plate 72b and at its other end against piston 88, to bias the piston and plunger toward the right in FIG. 1.

Explaining now the operation of the supply device, fasteners such as nuts 40 are placed side-by-side in conduit 38 with common ends of the nuts facing a common side of the conduit. As' used herein, an fend" of a fastener refers to an extremity in an axial direction. The nuts illustrated have a washerlike end portion, which with the fastener screwed onto a workpiece will provide an enlarged bearing surface, while the remainder of the nut has a substantially hexagonal cross section permitting it to be driven rotatably. A substantially continuous supply of air is supplied through line 66, with the air then entering conduit 38 and passing in a stream over nuts 40 prior to exhausting through the opening in the diaphragm. This urges the nuts to move along the conduit in a downstream direction, with the nut which is furthest downstream being moved laterally into the fastener retaining station. The biasing action of the air streams follows the helical course of the conduit and works with the tool in any position.

The retaining station is bounded onits sides by the sidewalls of channel 46, at the right in FIG. 1 by an end of plunger 86, and at the left in FIG. 1 by diaphragm 54.

To fasten one of the nuts onto a threaded stud bolt 96 which projects outwardly from a workpiece 98 as shown in FIG. 3, the forwardmost end of guide member 60 is placed against the surface of the workpiece with stud bolt 96 projecting into bore 62.

On pulling trigger 14, the tool drive member 18 is caused to rotate, and air under pressure is supplied through line 26 against piston 88. The rotation .of drive member 18 causes the plunger to rotate, and air under pressure introduced behind the piston urges it and the plunger toward the diaphragm. As the plunger advances toward the diaphragm, the nut within the fastener retaining station moves into socket 86a in the plunger and thence rotates with the drive member and plunger. Further movement of the plunger moves the fastener through the diaphragm as illustrated in FIG. 3. with enlarged portion 62b of bore 62 in the guidemembcr receiving folded back portions of the diaphragm. The eventually is guided onto the stud bolt whence it becomes screwed in place.

, In case of of socket 860 in the plunger with a nut on initial advance of the plunger. the diaphragm acts lightlyto hold the nut against thc rotating plunger until registry is reached.

Once the trigger IS released, drive member I8 ceases to rotate and air ceases to be supplied through line 26 to one side of the piston. Spring then biases the piston and plunger to the right in FIGS. 1 and 3, to place once again the plunger in the position shown in FIG. 1 thereby permitting the advancement of another fastener intothefastener retaining station.

The device involves relativcly fewmoving parts. is fast and reliable in operation, can hold a large supply of fasteners. and obviously has numerous other advantages.

While an embodiment of the invention has been disclosed herein, it is not intended to be specifically limited to the structure disclosed.

Iclaim:

l. A magazine-type fastener supply device comprising a conduit having a downstream end and terminating at its downstream end at a fastener retaining station, said conduit upstream from said station having a noncircular cross section which is shaped to hold a column of fasteners with such fasteners side-by-side in such column and maintained by the conduit with a common set of fastener ends facing a common side of the conduit, fluid flow advancing means for biasing a column of fasteners within the-conduit toward said fastener retaining station including an inlet for introducing fluid under pressure into the conduit and an exhaust downstream from said inlet with fluid on flowing between said inlet and exhaust producing a stream for carrying fasteners along the conduit.

retainer means at said retaining station releasably holding a fastener in the retaining station, and

ejector means actuatable to effect ejection of a fastener from said retaining station. I

2. The device of claim 1, wherein said ejector means comprises a power-operated ejector which is actuatable to thrust a fastener past said retainer means.

3. The device of claim 1, wherein the conduit extends in a helical course.

4. The device of claim 1, wherein said retainer means comprises an elastomeric diaphragm which is split to permit a fastener to be moved therethrough.

5. The device of claim 4, wherein said exhaust means comprises an opening defined through said diaphragm.

6. The device of claim 4, wherein said ejector means comprises a plunger disposed opposite said diaphragm adjacent said retaining station, said plunger upon actuation advancing toward said diaphragm to force a fastener in said retaining station through said diaphragm.

7. The device of claim 6, wherein said plunger is partially mounted within an elongated hollow cylinder, a relatively reciprocable piston is mounted in said cylinder and is secured to said plunger, the plunger extends-out from said cylinder toward said-diaphragm, and fluid passage means is provided for supplying fluid under pressure to one side of said piston'to advance said piston and plunger toward said diaphragm.

8. The device of claim 4, wherein said diaphragm is positioned to support an end of a fastener in said retaining station the ejector means effects ejection by shifting a fastener endwise through said diaphragm, and guide means is provided for receiving a fastener moved through said diaphragm by said ejector means.

Claims

1. A magazine-type fastener supply device comprising a conduit having a downstream end and terminating at its downstream end at a fastener retaining station, said conduit upstream from said station having a noncircular cross section which is shaped to hold a column of fasteners with such fasteners side-by-side in such column and maintained by the conduit with a common set of fastener ends facing a common side of the conduit, fluid flow advancing means for biasing a column of fasteners within the conduit toward said fastener retaining station including an inlet for introducing fluid under pressure into the conduit and an exhaust downstream from said inlet with fluid on flowing between said inlet and exhaust producing a stream for carrying fasteners along the conduit, retainer means at said retaining station releasably holding a fastener in the retaining station, and ejector means actuatable to effect ejection of a fastener from said retaining station.

3. The device of claim 1, wherein the conduit extends in a helical course.

7. The device of claim 6, wherein said plunger is partially mounted within an elongated hollow cylinder, a relatively reciprocable piston is mounted in said cylinder and is secured to said plunger, the plunger extends out from said cylinder toward said diaphragm, and fluid passage means is provided for supplying fluid under pressure to one side of said piston to advance said piston and plunger toward said diaphragm.

8. The device of claim 4, wherein said diaphragm is positioned to support an end of a fastener in said retaining station, the ejector means effects ejection by shifting a fastener endwise through said diaphragm, and guide means is provided for receiving a fastener moved through said diaphragm by said ejector means.