Driving tool

Details Driving tool Driving tool

2000-12-04

2003-06-03

Smith, Scott A. (Department: 3721)

Elongated-member-driving apparatus

With means to move or guide member into driving position

Including supply magazine for constantly urged members

C227S142000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06572000

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a hoseless driving tool in which compressed air of a pressure that is higher than the working pressure of an output section is stored in an air tank coupled to the tool body, and the high pressure compressed air in the air tank is supplied to the output section with reducing the pressure by a pressure reducing valve, to operate the output section, thereby driving a fastener such as a nail.
2. Description of the Related Art
The assignee of the present invention has proposed in Japanese patent application No. HEI11-73400 (U.S. Ser. No. 09/527,303) a hoseless driving tool in which an air tank for storing compressed air at a pressure that is higher than a pressure at which an output section is operable is attached to the body of the driving tool, and the high pressure compressed air in the air tank is supplied to an output section with reducing the pressure to operate the output section, thereby driving a fastener.
As compared with a conventional driving tool which is operated by supplying compressed air from an external compressed air source via an air hose or the like, the proposed hoseless driving tool has an advantage that the workability is excellent because the use of the tool is enabled without dragging an air hose and is not restricted by the place where an external compressed air source is disposed.
However, the attachment of the air tank, a pressure reducing valve, and the like causes the dimensions and the weight of the tool to be increased. In order to store compressed air at a pressure that is higher than the air pressure at which the output section is operable, particularly, the air tank must have a shell which is thicker than the output section. Depending on the arrangement of the air tank and the pressure reducing valve, therefore, the tool may difficult to use in a confined place, or the weight balance of the whole tool may be impaired. As a result the workability is sometimes lowered.
As shown in
FIG. 1
, for example, a pressure reducing valve
104
and a long air tank
103
may be arranged in series with starting from the rear end of a handle section
102
, and on a line extended from the axis
170
of the handle section
102
. In this case, the total length is so long that the tool is hardly used in a confined place. Since the air tank
103
which is heavy is remote from a gripping portion of the handle section
102
, the center of gravity
140
of the whole driving tool is positioned behind the handle section
102
. When the handle section
102
is gripped to hold the body, the moment acting on the hand is M•L where M is the weight of the tool body and L is the distance between the center
131
of the gripping portion
130
and the center of gravity
140
. In the case of
FIG. 1
, the distance L is long, and therefore a large moment of gravity acts on the hand to impair the weight balance of the whole body, thereby producing problems such as that a large force is required for holding the driving tool in the direction to the target.
FIG. 2
is a front view of an example in which the air tank
103
is attached to another position. A plane
120
includes the axis
160
of an output section
101
and the axis
170
of the handle section
102
. The air tank
103
has a shape in which the left side in the figure with respect of the plane
120
is larger. The air tank
103
causes the center of gravity
140
of the whole driving tool to be shifted from the plane
120
to the left side in the figure. According to this configuration, when the handle section
102
is gripped and the body is lifted by gripping the handle section
102
, the body turns about the axis
170
of the handle section
102
so that the center of gravity
140
is positioned vertically below the handle section
102
. Therefore, a nose
107
located above the axis
160
of the output section is directed obliquely downward, and hence it is difficult to aim the nose
107
at the driving position (FIG.
3
). During a driving operation, a reaction
190
occurs in the direction toward the axis
160
of the output section, and the body tries to turn about the center of gravity
140
. As shown in
FIG. 4
, when the center of gravity is positioned to be separated from the plane
120
, rotation about the axis
170
of the handle section
102
is caused so that the body is tilted. As a result, a fastener
108
is driven while being bent, or a driver blade
109
is disengaged from the fastener
108
to strike a material to be fastened
150
, so that the member
150
is easily damaged.
FIG. 5
shows a driving tool which has been proposed by the assignee of the present invention in Japanese Patent application No. HEI11-73400 (U.S. Pat. No. 6,220,496). In the driving tool, a piston
8
which is disposed in a cylinder
4
to be vertically moveable is driven by compressed air in a first accumulator chamber
2
disposed in the tool body
1
, so that a fastener
6
is driven by a drive bit
7
. A second accumulator chamber
20
is disposed which can store compressed air at a pressure that is higher than a pressure at which the tool body
1
is operable. The driving tool comprises: an air intake
16
which is connectable with an air compressor via an air hose or the like; a communication control valve
22
which controls communication between the second accumulator chamber
20
and the air intake
16
; and a pressure reducing valve
21
through which the compressed air in the second accumulator chamber
20
is supplied to the first accumulator chamber
2
while reducing the pressure of the compressed air. The driving tool can be used without being connected with an air compressor via an air hose or the like. Consequently, the driving tool has features that the driving tool is free from cumbersome handling of an air hose and hence has excellent workability, and that the filling of compressed air can be easily performed. Also a configuration in which a discharge value through which, after the driving tool is used, the compressed air in the second accumulator chamber
20
is discharged is disclosed.
FIG. 6
shows a driving tool which has been proposed by the assignee in JP-A-10-109280. In the driving tool, an air duster mechanism is incorporated into the driving tool, so that a cleaning work of blowing wood chips and the like by the air duster and a driving operation by the driving tool are performed by one tool. The driving tool is used in a state where an air hose is connected with the driving tool, and therefore cannot be used without connecting an air hose.
Since compressed air is accumulated in the tool body as described above, the driving tool of
FIG. 5
is preferably structured so that, after a driving work is ended, the compressed air in the tool body can be easily discharged to the atmosphere, and also that, after the driving work, a discharge valve can be operated as far as possible to completely discharge the compressed air from the tool body.
The driving tool shown in
FIG. 6
incorporates the air duster mechanism, and therefore is very convenient for use. However, the driving tool cannot be used without connecting an air hose, and is restricted by the length of the air hose and the place where a compressed air source is disposed. Therefore, the driving tool has a disadvantage that the workability is poor. In the cleaning work by the air duster, particularly, the tool must be used with directing a nozzle to various directions in accordance with cleaning places, and hence it is cumbersome to handle the air hose.
Also, the above-mentioned driving tool shown in
FIG. 5
is driven by the compressed air accumulated in the second accumulator chamber
20
. Therefore, the driving tool can be used without being connected with an air compressor via an air hose or the like. Consequently, the driving tool has features that the driving tool is free from cumbersome handling of an air hose. When the driving operation is repeatedly performed, the compressed air in the second accumulator chamber
20
is consumed, and the pressure of

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