Nail feeding apparatus

Claim 2

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.

Claim 3

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.

Claim 4

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.

Claim 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; 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.

Claim 6

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.

Claim 7

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.

Claim 8

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.

Claim 9

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.