Fastener-driving tool including a reversion trigger

Abstract

A fastener-driving tool includes a housing, a workpiece-contacting element movable between a rest position and an activated position, and a trigger movable between a rest position and an activated position. The tool includes an actuation lever movably connected to the trigger and a control valve including an actuating pin and an electromagnet where the actuating pin is movable between a rest position and an activated position. In a powered mode, the electromagnet is energized and attracts the actuation lever to the actuating pin and hold the actuation lever and the actuating pin in respective activated positions such that the tool is actuated each time the workpiece-contacting element contacts a workpiece. In a non-powered mode, the electromagnet is not energized such that the tool is actuated each time the workpiece-contacting element and the trigger are each moved from the rest position to the activated position in a designated sequence.

Claims

1. A fastener-driving tool actuatable to drive a fastener, the fastener-driving tool comprising: a housing; a workpiece-contact element movably connected to the housing, the workpiece-contact element being movable from a workpiece-contact element non-activated position to a workpiece-contact element activated position and from the workpiece-contact element activated position to the workpiece-contact element non-activated position; a trigger movably connected to the housing, the trigger being movable from a trigger non-activated position to a trigger activated position and from the trigger activated position to the trigger non-activated position; an actuation lever movably connected to the trigger, the actuation lever being movable from an actuation lever non-activated position to an actuation lever activated position and from the actuation lever activated position to the actuation lever non-activated position; a control valve including an actuating pin, the actuating pin being movable from an actuating pin non-activated position to an actuating pin activated position and from the actuating pin activated position to the actuating pin non-activated position; an electromagnet; and a controller configured to: (1) responsive to an occurrence of an activation event, energize the electromagnet to cause the actuation lever to remain in the actuation lever activated position; and (2) afterwards and responsive to an occurrence of a deactivation event, de-energize the electromagnet.

2. The fastener-driving tool of claim 1, wherein the deactivation event occurs when, after the electromagnet has been energized, the fastener-driving tool has not been actuated for a designated period of time.

3. The fastener-driving tool of claim 1, wherein the activation event occurs when the trigger is held in the trigger activated position after the fastener-driving tool is actuated following: (1) the workpiece-contact element being moved from the workpiece-contact element non-activated position to the workpiece-contact element activated position; and (2) the trigger being moved from the trigger non-activated position to the trigger activated position to cause the actuating pin to move from the actuating pin non-activated position to the actuating pin activated position.

4. The fastener-driving tool of claim 3, wherein the deactivation event occurs when, after the electromagnet has been energized, the trigger moves from the trigger activated position to the trigger non-activated position.

5. The fastener-driving tool of claim 4, wherein after the electromagnet has been energized and before the electromagnet has been de-energized, movement of the workpiece-contact element from the workpiece-contact element non-activated position to the workpiece-contact element activated position causes the actuating pin to move from the actuating pin non-activated position to the actuating pin activated position to actuate the fastener-driving tool.

6. The fastener-driving tool of claim 3, which includes a workpiece-contact element sensor assembly configured to sense whether the workpiece-contact element is in the workpiece-contact element non-activated position or the workpiece-contact element activated position and to generate and send a corresponding signal to the controller.

7. The fastener-driving tool of claim 3, which includes a trigger position sensor assembly configured to sense whether the trigger is in the trigger non-activated position or the trigger activated position and to generate and send a corresponding signal to the controller.

8. The fastener-driving tool of claim 3, wherein the deactivation event occurs when, after the electromagnet has been energized, the fastener-driving tool has not been actuated for a designated period of time.

9. The fastener-driving tool of claim 1, which includes a biasing element that biases the actuation lever to the actuation lever non-activated position.

10. The fastener-driving tool of claim 1, wherein the fastener-driving tool is in: (1) a sequential-actuation mode when the electromagnet is de-energized; and (2) a contact-actuation mode when the electromagnet is energized.

11. A fastener-driving tool operable in a sequential-actuation mode and a contact-actuation mode and actuatable to drive a fastener, the fastener-driving tool comprising: a housing; a workpiece-contact element movably connected to the housing; a trigger movably connected to the housing; an electromagnet; and a controller configured to: (1) responsive to an occurrence of an activation event, energize the electromagnet to cause the fastener-driving tool to operate in the contact-actuation mode; and (2) afterwards and responsive to an occurrence of a deactivation event, de-energize the electromagnet to cause the fastener-driving tool to operate in the sequential-actuation mode.

12. The fastener-driving tool of claim 11, wherein the activation event occurs when the trigger is held in a trigger activated position after the fastener-driving tool is actuated following: (1) the workpiece-contact element being moved from a workpiece-contact element non-activated position to a workpiece-contact element activated position, and (2) the trigger being moved from a trigger non-activated position to the trigger activated position.

13. The fastener-driving tool of claim 12, wherein the deactivation event occurs when, while the fastener-driving tool is in the contact-actuation mode, the trigger moves from the trigger activated position to the trigger non-activated position.

14. The fastener-driving tool of claim 13, wherein while the fastener-driving tool is in the contact-actuation mode, the fastener-driving tool actuates responsive to the workpiece-contact element moving from the workpiece-contact element non-activated position to the workpiece-contact element activated position.

15. The fastener-driving tool of claim 12, which includes a workpiece-contact element sensor assembly configured to sense whether the workpiece-contact element is in the workpiece-contact element non-activated position or the workpiece-contact element activated position and to generate and send a corresponding signal to the controller.

16. The fastener-driving tool of claim 12, which includes a trigger position sensor assembly configured to sense whether the trigger is in the trigger non-activated position or the trigger activated position and to generate and send a corresponding signal to the controller.

17. The fastener-driving tool of claim 12, wherein the deactivation event occurs when, while the fastener-driving tool is in the contact-actuation mode, the fastener-driving tool has not been actuated for a designated period of time.

18. The fastener-driving tool of claim 11, which includes: (1) an actuation lever movably connected to the trigger, the actuation lever being movable from an actuation lever non-activated position to an actuation lever activated position and from the actuation lever activated position to the actuation lever non-activated position; and (2) a control valve including an actuating pin, the actuating pin being movable from an actuating pin non-activated position to an actuating pin activated position and from the actuating pin activated position to the actuating pin non-activated position, wherein the actuation lever remains in the actuation lever activated position when the electromagnet is energized and the fastener-driving tool is operating in the contact-actuation mode.

19. The fastener-driving tool of claim 18, which includes a biasing element that biases the actuation lever to the actuation lever non-activated position such that the actuation lever is in the actuation lever non-activated position when the electromagnet is de-energized and the fastener-driving tool is operating in the sequential-actuation mode.

20. The fastener-driving tool of claim 19, wherein movement of the actuating pin from the actuating pin non-activated position to the actuating pin activated position causes the fastener-driving tool to actuate.

21. A fastener-driving tool actuatable to drive a fastener, the fastener-driving tool comprising: a trigger movable between a trigger non-activated position and a trigger activated position; an actuation lever movably connected to the trigger and movable relative to the trigger between an actuation lever non-activated position and an actuation lever activated position; and an electromagnet configured to be energized to cause the actuation lever to remain in the actuation lever activated position.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of an example conventional, trigger control mechanism for a fastener-driving tool in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure, wherein the actuation lever is positioned upon the trigger assembly at its sequential actuation mode position, the workpiece-contacting element has been depressed against the workpiece, but the finger contact portion of the trigger has not yet been depressed or moved upwardly;

(2) FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the conventional, trigger control mechanism for the fastener-driving tool of FIG. 1, wherein the actuation lever is positioned upon the trigger assembly at its sequential actuation mode position, the workpiece-contacting element has been removed from its depressed state against the workpiece, and the finger contact portion of the trigger has been depressed or moved upwardly;

(3) FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the conventional, trigger control mechanism for the fastener-driving tool of FIGS. 1 and 2, wherein, the actuation lever is positioned upon the trigger assembly at its contact actuation mode position, the workpiece-contacting element has not as yet been depressed against the workpiece, and the finger contact portion of the trigger has not as yet been depressed or moved upwardly;

(4) FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the conventional, trigger control mechanism for the fastener-driving tool of FIG. 3, wherein the actuation lever is positioned upon the trigger assembly at its contact actuation mode position, the workpiece-contacting element has been depressed against the workpiece, and the finger contact portion of the trigger has been depressed or moved upwardly;

(5) FIG. 5 is a perspective, partially exploded view of an example fastener-driving tool having another trigger control mechanism;

(6) FIG. 6 is a side elevation view of an example of the trigger control mechanism in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure, wherein the work contact element is in a first or rest position;

(7) FIG. 7 is a side elevation view of the trigger control mechanism of FIG. 6, wherein the work contact element is in a second or activated position;

(8) FIG. 8 is a side elevation view of an embodiment of the trigger control mechanism of FIG. 6, wherein the work contact element and the trigger are in the activated positions;

(9) FIG. 9 is a side elevation view of the trigger control mechanism of FIG. 6, wherein the actuation lever remains in contact with the actuation pin and the trigger remains in the activated position while the work contact element returns to the first or rest position;

(10) FIG. 10 is a side elevation view of the trigger control mechanism of FIG. 9, wherein the trigger returns to the non-activated or rest position after a designated amount of time has elapsed while the trigger was in the activated position;

(11) FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram of the operation of the trigger control mechanism shown in FIGS. 1-10;

(12) FIG. 12 is a side elevation view of another example trigger control mechanism in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;

(13) FIG. 13 is a side elevation view of another example trigger control mechanism in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;

(14) FIG. 14 is a side elevation view of another example trigger control mechanism in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure; and

(15) FIG. 15 is an enlarged perspective view of the trigger control mechanism of FIG. 14.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

(16) Referring now to FIGS. 5-11, a trigger control mechanism or assembly is disclosed and is generally indicated by the reference character 110. More particularly, it is seen that the illustrated trigger control mechanism 110 is adapted to be mounted upon a fastener-driving tool 112 which comprises a fastener-driving tool housing 114. A workpiece-contacting element assembly, which comprises a lower workpiece-contacting element 116 and is adapted to be disposed on contact with a workpiece, and an upper workpiece-contacting element linkage member 118 is slidably mounted in a reciprocal manner upon the fastener-driving tool housing 114, and a guide member 120 is fixedly mounted upon the fastener-driving tool housing 114 so as to guide the upper free end distal portion of the upper workpiece-contacting element linkage member 118 during its movement with respect to the trigger control mechanism or assembly 110.

(17) A control valve mechanism or assembly 122 is mounted upon the fastener-driving tool housing 114 so as to initiate either a sequential or contact actuation mode of operation of the fastener-driving tool 112 when the control valve mechanism or assembly 122 is actuated by means of the trigger control mechanism or assembly 110 as will be described below. More particularly, the control valve mechanism or assembly 122 includes a valve member 124 having a valve stem 128 biased by a spring 125 and configured to be seated upon a valve seat 126. The valve stem 128 is configured to be engaged by means of an actuation lever 130 of the trigger control mechanism or assembly 110. The actuation lever 130 is movable between a first or rest position (FIG. 6) and a second or activated position (FIG. 7) and includes a bias member or spring 132 that biases the actuation lever to the rest position. The control valve mechanism 122 also includes an electromagnet or electromagnetic coil 134 disposed around a portion of the valve stem 128 and defines a throughbore 129 configured to receive the valve stem 128 such that the valve stem reciprocally moves within the throughbore of the electromagnet.

(18) Referring to FIGS. 5-8, the trigger control mechanism or assembly 110 includes a trigger member 136 which essentially comprises a hollow housing structure having a pair of oppositely disposed side walls 138 (FIG. 5) to accommodate the actuation lever 130 and the coil spring 132 components therebetween. More specifically, the trigger member 136 has a throughbore 137 (FIG. 5) extending through the pair of oppositely disposed side walls for accommodating a pivot pin 139 (FIG. 5) for pivotally mounting the actuation lever 130 within the trigger member or trigger 136. Additionally, a swivel member 150 is mounted to an end of the valve stem as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 and pivots or swivels relative to the end of the valve stem to maintain contact between the swivel member 150 and the actuation lever 130 as the actuation lever pivots and changes position. Alternatively, the swivel member 150 may be mounted to the actuation lever 130 and pivot when the end of the valve stem contacts and engages the swivel member.

(19) A trigger position sensor assembly 152 (FIG. 7) includes a signal generator 156 associated with or on the trigger member and a sensor 154 associated with or on the tool housing for sensing and indicating whether the trigger member is in an activated or non-activated or rest position. In an embodiment, the trigger sensor is a Hall affect sensor that senses a signal generated by the signal generator when the signal is within a designated distance from the sensor. It should be appreciated, however, that a contact sensor or other suitable sensor may be employed as the sensor.

(20) Similarly, a work contact element position sensor assembly or WCE position sensor assembly 158 (FIG. 6) is associated with or mounted on the WCE 116 and the tool housing 114. The WCE position sensor assembly 158, which includes a sensor 160 associated with the housing 114 and a signal generator 162 associated with the workpiece-contacting element, senses and indicates when the WCE 116 is in an activated or non-activated position. Specifically as discussed above, the signal generator 162 generates a signal and the sensor 160 senses the signal when the signal is within a designated distance from the sensor. It should be appreciated that the trigger position sensor assembly 152 and the WCE position sensor assembly 158 are each suitably connected to a controller such as a circuit board for controlling the operation of the tool.

(21) Having described the various structural components comprising the new and improved trigger control mechanism or assembly 110, a brief description of the operation of the same within both of the sequential actuation and contact actuation modes of operation will now be described. With reference initially being made to FIGS. 6-8, the sequential actuation mode of operation will firstly be described.

(22) In the sequential actuation mode or non-powered mode, the electromagnet 134 is not energized and therefore does not hold the trigger 136 in an actuation or activated position. Initially, the trigger 136 and the workpiece-contacting element 116 are in the rest or non-activated positions as shown in FIG. 6. To initiate sequential actuation of the tool, the workpiece-contacting element 116 contacts or is pressed against a workpiece so that the workpiece-contacting element moves upwardly. In the activated position, the sensor 160 on the housing 114 senses a signal generated by the signal generator 162 on the workpiece-contacting element, the actuation lever 130 moves to a position adjacent to the swivel contact member 150 of the valve stem 128 as shown in FIG. 7. To actuate the tool 112 and drive a fastener into a workpiece, the trigger 136 is pressed or moved upwardly until the sensor 154 senses a signal generated by the signal generator 156 on the trigger and the actuation lever 130 contacts and engages the valve stem 128, which indicates that the trigger is in the activated position as shown in FIG. 8. The workpiece-contacting element 116, the actuation lever 130 and the trigger 136 are now in the activated positions to actuate the tool 112 and drive a fastener into the workpiece.

(23) As stated above, the electromagnet 134 of the control valve mechanism 122 is not energized or activated and therefore there is no attraction between the actuation lever 130 and the trigger 136 and the swivel contact member 150. Releasing the trigger 136 causes the spring 132 on the actuation lever 130 to bias the lever to the rest or non-activated position shown in FIG. 6. The above process is then repeated to actuate the tool and to drive another fastener into the workpiece. In the illustrated embodiment, the movement of the first and second signal generators 156 and 162 within a designated distance or pre-determined proximity of the sensors 154 and 160 indicate the relative positions of the workpiece-contacting element 116 and the trigger 136 for actuation of the tool 112. It should be noted that the tool may be operated in the sequential actuation mode or non-powered mode as described above when the tool does not have power, i.e., no battery or dead battery.

(24) To initiate contact actuation of the tool, the electromagnet 134 is energized or activated when the trigger 136 is moved to the second or activated position shown in FIG. 9. Energizing the electromagnet 134 causes the actuation lever 130 to be magnetically attracted to the swivel contact member 150. This action holds or secures the actuation lever in a position in which it can be contacted by the workpiece-contacting element 116 each time it engages a workpiece and moves to the activated position, allowing the tool 112 to be is actuated and drive a fastener into the workpiece. Thus, the contact actuation or powered mode causes the tool to be actuated in quick succession for driving fasteners along the edge of a board or other similar workpiece.

(25) When the workpiece-contacting element 116, and more specifically, the workpiece-contacting element position sensor assembly 158, is not activated for a designated period of time, or if the trigger 136 is released from its activated position, the electromagnet 134 is de-energized and releases the actuation lever 130 to the rest position due to the biasing force of the spring 132 as shown in FIG. 10. In this embodiment, a timer or other suitable time tracking device is connected to and in communication with the electromagnet 134 so that when the designed time period expires or is reached, the electromagnet is de-energized and the actuation lever 130 moves out of contact with the swivel contact element 150.

(26) Referring now to FIG. 12, another embodiment of the trigger control mechanism 110 is illustrated where the end 170 of the valve stem 128 does not include the swivel contact member. In this embodiment, the end 170 of the valve stem 128 contacts the actuation lever 130 directly when the actuation lever is moved into contact with the end 170 of the valve stem 128 such as when the workpiece-contacting element 116 is moved upwardly due to contact with a workpiece. To maintain sufficient contact between the end 170 of the valve stem 128 and the actuation lever 130, the end 170 of the valve stem 128 is configured to have a shape, such as a conical shape or conical contact surface, which engages and contacts the actuation lever. It should be appreciated that the end 170 of the valve stem 128 may have any suitable shape such as a round shape or any other suitable shape.

(27) Referring now to FIG. 13, another embodiment of the trigger control mechanism 110 is illustrated where an electromagnet 172 is connected to an end 176 of valve stem 128 secured in the swivel contact member 150 thereby enabling the electromagnet to directly contact the actuation lever 130 when the workpiece-contacting element 116 is moved to the activated position. It should be appreciated that the electromagnet or electromagnetic coil 134 on the swivel contact member 150 may be connected to the swivel contact member, surround the swivel contact member or be attached to the swivel contact member using any suitable connection method. It should also appreciated that there may be one or more electromagnets 134 attached to the swivel contact member 150 for varying the magnetic force between the swivel contact member 150 and the actuation lever 130.

(28) Referring now to FIGS. 14 and 15, a further embodiment of the trigger control mechanism 110 is illustrated where the actuation lever 130 includes an electromagnet or electromagnetic coil 173 that is in communication with a controller such as a circuit board via suitable wires or cables. In the illustrated embodiment, the electromagnet 173 is attached directly to the actuation lever 130 in the trigger 136. The electromagnet 173 includes a groove, notch or indent 180 that matingly engages a protruding lock member 182 on the actuation lever 130 for securing the electromagnet in position relative to the actuation lever. Additionally, a biasing member, such as a coil spring 174, surrounds a portion of the end 176 of the valve stem 128. An end 178 of the spring 174 contacts the actuation lever 130 to bias the actuation lever to the non-activated or rest position shown in FIG. 13. During operation, the electromagnet 173 on the actuation lever 130 is energized when the tool 112 is in the contact actuation or powered mode. Energizing the electromagnet 173 creates a magnetic attraction between the electromagnet 172 and the actuation lever 130 and locks the groove 180 and notch 182 in place thereby holding or securing the actuation lever in a position in which it can be contacted by the workpiece-contacting element 116 each time it engages a workpiece and moves to the activated position. As stated above, the actuation lever 130 remains in a position in which it can be contacted by the workpiece-contacting element 116 until the workpiece-contacting element 116 remains in a non-activated or rest position for a designated period of time or the trigger 136 is released from its activated position.

(29) While a particular embodiment of a powered fastener-driving tool has been described herein, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes and modifications may be made thereto without departing from the invention in its broader aspects and as set forth in the following claims.