Fastener feeder
First Claim
1. A feeder for orienting uncollated fasteners, each fastener having a head and shank, comprising:
- a base means,a drum means mounted for rotatable movement about its central axis and being adapted to receive a plurality of uncollated fasteners,rotating means associated with said drum means to rotate said drum means,scoop means disposed in said drum means and adapted to scoop a portion of said plurality of said fasteners in said drum means as said drum means is rotated,an inclined orienting assembly extending into said drum means, said orienting assembly including a rotatable orienting roller and an orienting rail defining a fastener path, trough means associated with said fastener path to direct fasteners from said scoop means toward said fastener path, said orienting roller having a plurality of straight longitudinally extending grooves, andmounting means mounting said orienting assembly in said drum means.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A feeder for fastener is used to supply uniformly oriented, uncollated fasteners to a detachably mounted loading assembly so that the uncollated fasteners can be loaded into a magazine of the fastener driving tool. The feeder includes a rotatable supply drum mounted on a base into which fasteners may be supplied. Scoops along the inner wall of the drum scoop up a quantity of fasteners as the drum is rotated and supplies the fasteners to an orientation assembly. The orientation assembly receives the unoriented fasteners on a funnel-shaped trough which directs the fasteners toward a rotatable orientation roller disposed on one side of a fastener path. The orientation roller has several notches or grooves that tend to jiggle or agitate the fasteners so that the fasteners are oriented in the fastener path with the heads of the fasteners lying on an orientation rail on the opposite side of the fastener path from the orientation roller. The fasteners travel along the fastener path toward the loading assembly which has a loading path in alignment with the fastener path. The drum and orientation roller are rotated by a single motor through a belt drive system having a plurality of pulleys such that the orientation roller can be rotated at a greater speed than the supply drum. Once the fasteners are supplied to the loading assembly a photo-optical control is used to detect when the loading path is full of fasteners so that the motor can be turned off when no further fasteners need be supplied to the loading assembly.
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Citations
44 Claims
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1. A feeder for orienting uncollated fasteners, each fastener having a head and shank, comprising:
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a base means, a drum means mounted for rotatable movement about its central axis and being adapted to receive a plurality of uncollated fasteners, rotating means associated with said drum means to rotate said drum means, scoop means disposed in said drum means and adapted to scoop a portion of said plurality of said fasteners in said drum means as said drum means is rotated, an inclined orienting assembly extending into said drum means, said orienting assembly including a rotatable orienting roller and an orienting rail defining a fastener path, trough means associated with said fastener path to direct fasteners from said scoop means toward said fastener path, said orienting roller having a plurality of straight longitudinally extending grooves, and mounting means mounting said orienting assembly in said drum means. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36)
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37. A feeder for orienting uncollated fasteners, each fastener having a head and shank, comprising:
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a base means, a drum means mounted for rotatable movement about its central axis and being adapted to receive a plurality of uncollated fasteners, rotating means associated with said drum means to rotate said drum means, scoop means disposed in said drum means and adapted to scoop a portion of said plurality of said fasteners in said drum means as said drum means is rotated, an inclined orienting assembly extending into said drum means, said orienting assembly including a rotatable orienting roller an orienting rail defining a fastener path, and trough means associated with said fastener path to direct fasteners from said scoop means toward said fastener path, said orienting roller including grooves, said grooves being L-shaped so as to tend to elevate the heads of said fasteners as the fasteners are being positioned in said fastener path, and mounting means mounting said orienting assembly in said drum means.
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38. A feeder for orienting uncollated fasteners, each fastener having a head and shank, comprising:
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a base, a housing disposed on said base, a drum means mounted for rotatable movement about its central axis and being adapted to receive a plurality of uncollated fasteners, rotating means associated with said drum means to rotate said drum means, scoop means disposed in said drum means and adapted to scoop a portion of said plurality of said fasteners in said drum means as said drum means is rotated, an inclined orienting assembly extending into said drum means and secured to said housing, said orienting assembly having orienting means to orient fasteners received from said scoop means in a fastener path, a loading assembly detachably mounted to said housing and on said base, said loading assembly having a loading path in alignment with said fastener path so as to receive oriented fasteners from said orienting assembly and having first alignment means, mounting bracket means to mount said loading assembly to said housing and on said base, said mounting bracket means having second alignment means interfitting with said first alignment means to properly align said loading path with said fastener path, said second alignment means having a plurality of projecting means and first alignment means including a plurality of slots adapted to receive said projecting means so that said loading path is in proper alignment with said fastener path when said loading assembly is mounted on said base and to said housing by said mounting bracket means, and coupler means to selectively maintain said fasteners in said loading assembly. - View Dependent Claims (39, 40, 41, 42)
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43. A feeder for orienting uncollated fasteners, each fastener having a head and shank, comprising:
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a base, a housing disposed on said base, a drum means mounted for rotatable movement about its central axis and being adapted to receive a plurality of uncollated fasteners, rotating means associated with said drum means to rotate said drum means, scoop means disposed in said drum means and adapted to scoop a portion of said plurality of said fasteners in said drum means as said drum means is rotated, an inclined or orienting assembly extending into said drum means and secured to said housing, said orienting assembly having orienting means to orient fasteners received from said scoop means in a fastener path, a loading assembly detachably mounted to said housing and on said base, said loading assembly having a loading path in alignment with said fastener path so as to receive oriented fasteners from said orienting assembly and having first alignment means, said loading assembly including an exit chute formed by first and second rail sections spaced apart so as to receive said fasteners therebetween, said first rail section having first slot means and said second rail section having second slot means and wherein said mounting bracket means includes first mounting bracket means having first projecting means to mate with said first slot means and second mounting bracket means having second projecting means to mate with said second slot means, mounting bracket means to mount said loading assembly to said housing and on said base, said mounting bracket means having second alignment means interfitting with said first alignment means to properly align said loading path with said fastener path, and coupler means to selectively maintain said fasteners in said loading assembly. - View Dependent Claims (44)
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Specification