Shooting equipment for fastening clips

Abstract

 A description is given of a method and a shooting tool (1), wherein a fastening clip (8) comprising two raised, parallel parts (8-2) and a connecting part (8-1) extending between said two parts (8-2) and having an upper side (9-2) and a lower side (9-1) is secured via the lower side to a base (O). This takes place by means of a nail (10) which is inserted between said two parts (8-2) and which is provided with a nail head (10-2), said nail (10) being inserted into the connecting part (8-1). An axially hollow nail guide (11) whose cross section accurately fits the nail head's section is lowered over the nail head (10-2) and the nail (10) until the nail guide (11) contacts the upper side (9-2) of the connecting part (8-1). Subsequently, a firing pin (4) guided inside the lowered nail guide (11) impacts the guided nail head (10-2), causing the nail (10) to be driven into the base (O).

Description

[0001] The present invention relates to a method and a tool in the form of a gun by means of which nails are shot into a base for securing fastening clips for, for example, cables or tubes.

[0002] Such a method and such a tool are disclosed in WO 2004/061352 A1. In said document a description is given of a method and a nail gun, wherein a substantially U-shaped fastening clip comprises two raised clamping parts bent towards each other and a connecting part extending between said parts having an upper side and a lower side. In said upper side there is a space enabling the nail head to be countersunk. The lower side is secured to a base by means of a steel nail inserted between said two parts and provided with a nail head, said nail being inserted into the connecting part in order to be shot into the base. A firing pin which is movable in the barrel of the tool impacts, after being released, the nail head, as a result of which said nail head is driven into the base and the fastening clip is pulled from a strip of fastening clips and secured to the base. A row of clips in the magazine of the tool, which are pressed towards a magazine opening by spring members, are connected to one another by means of material bridges disposed at different levels between adjacent fastening clips.

[0003] A drawback resides in that shooting into bases of different composition does not always lead to satisfactory results.

[0004] It is an object of the present invention to provide a method and a shooting tool by means of which fastening clips for fixing cables, tubes, pipes and the like can be secured to in particular hard bases in a more accurate manner which is reproducible, stable and safe.

[0005] To achieve this, the method according to the invention is characterized by the characterizing part of claim 1 and the tool according to the invention is characterized by the characterizing part of claim 11.

[0006] An advantage of the method and the tool according to the invention resides in that the nail guide fulfils a double function: on the one hand, it guides, on the inside, the firing pin in its movement to and on the nail head and, on the other hand, it limits any radial deviations of the nail head and hence the nail during the stroke. Said multiple axial guidance functions are favourable in particular when the nail is driven into hard bases, because they reduce the risk of the nail being driven into the base at an oblique angle.

[0007] In addition, in the case of such hard bases the nail guide offers additional protection in the event of the nail breaking off or flying off. Possibly dangerous situations are thus prevented.

[0008] An embodiment of the method according to the invention is characterized in that before the guided firing pin impacts the nail head guided by the nail guide, said nail guide, upon contacting the upper side of the connecting part, moves the fastening clip in the direction of the base, causing the one or more material bridges to the adjacent fastening clip to be broken.

[0009] This has the advantage that the material bridge between the fastening clip to be driven in by the nail gun and the clip or clips still present in the magazine is already broken before or shortly after the firing pin starts moving. By virtue thereof, the lower side of the fastening clip advantageously already is in stable, immobile contact with the base before the nail guided inside the nail guide largely disappears in the base. By virtue of the increased initial stability, the eventual process of driving in the nail by the nail gun takes place with less risk of transverse vibrations and an oblique position of the nail, also when the material used to manufacture the fastening clips is softer and, by nature, offers less support when the nail is being driven in.

[0010] An embodiment of the tool and/or the method according to the invention is characterized in that the free stroke of the firing pin is at the most equal to the distance by which the nail head projects above the upper side of the clip part. In other words, the free stroke of the firing pin is at the most equal to the length of the shank of the nail projecting above the upper side.

[0011] By virtue thereof, advantageously, the nail can never be shot too deep, and always with the proper stroke length, into the connecting part and the base, so that the fastening achieved between the clip and the base is always free from play. As a result, the tube or cable or the like to be provided in or on the clip is always firmly attached to the wall, column, floor or ceiling.

[0012] Further detailed, possible embodiments, which are set forth in the remaining claims, are mentioned together with the associated advantages in the following description.

[0013] The tool and the method according to the present invention will now be explained in greater detail with reference to the figures mentioned below, in which corresponding parts are indicated by means of the same reference numerals. In the Figures:

• Figure 1 is a schematic representation of the tool according to the invention;
• Figure 2 shows a detail of the method according to the invention which is applied to drive in the nail by means of the nail gun; and
• Figure 3 shows a detail of an individual fastening clip which is suitable for use in the tool shown in figure 1.

[0014] Figure 1 shows a tool 1, in particular a manually operated tool, which is in the form of a gun 2 with a handgrip, and which comprises a barrel 3 accommodating a movable firing pin 4. Said firing pin 4 is movable under the influence of, for example, a charge of gunpowder which is to be detonated or, as schematically shown, by means of a pressurized gas cartridge holder 5. After a trigger 6 of the gun 2 is pulled, the firing pin 4 moves at high speed and with adjustable stroke length from top to bottom in the figure.

[0015] The shooting tool 1 further comprises a magazine 7 which is coupled to the barrel 3 and which can be filled with individual, yet preferably mutually connected fastening clips or saddles 8, which are connected to one another by means of clip material. Said shooting tool can be used to secure, for example, cables, tubes, fasteners or profiles to a base such as a wall, column, floor, or ceiling. Each fastening clip, hereinafter also referred to as clip 8, is provided with a connecting part 8-1 whose lower side 9-1 can be brought into contact with the base 0.

[0016] A nail 10 is inserted into said connecting part 8-1, said nail comprising a nail head 10-2 provided on a nail shank 10-1. In general said nail 10 is present already in the connecting part when the assembly of at least the part 8-1 and the nail 10 inserted therein are in the magazine 7. It is also possible, of course, to supply the clips 8 and the nails 10 separately and join them together in a manual or automated process before they are fed into the magazine 7.

[0017] The nail shank 10-1 is inserted in the connecting part 8-1 and projects above the upper side 9-2 thereof which is situated opposite said lower side 9-1 of the part 8-1. A nail guide 11, which preferably can spring, is attached to the barrel 3 or, as the case may be, to the tool 1, which nail guide, in preparation to driving in the nail 10, is to be provided over the nail head 10-2. If the nail guide 11, which may or may not spring, falls until it contacts the upper side 9-2 of the part 8-1 of the clip 8, the tool is ready to shoot the nail into the base. A nail guide 11 which can spring ensures that the nail guide can butt against the upper side 9-2 of the connecting part 8-1 in a flexible manner.

[0018] The inside dimension of nail guide 11 or, as the case may be, the inside diameter, if, for practically preferred reasons, the latter is round in section, closely matches the maximum outside dimension of the nail head 10-2 as well as the maximum outside dimension of the firing pin 4. In this manner, the nail guide 11 in principle guides the movement of the firing pin 4 as well as, after impact, the combined movement of firing pin and nail 10, particularly nail head 10-2. Usually, the width of the part of the firing pin 4 which, via the nail head 10-2, contacts the nail 10 does not exceed the width of the nail shank 10-1. After the trigger is actually pulled, the nail is driven into the base 0 and the nail head 10-2 is countersunk in a space R on the upper side 9-2 of the clip 8.

[0019] The distance over which the nail guide 11 moves over the nail 10 advantageously is automatically also a measure of the stroke length over which the firing pin 4 must move in order to firmly secure the clip 8 to the base. If the stroke length is larger, there is a risk that the nail head 10-2 is driven so deep into the material of the clip 8 that the clip part 8-1 might be damaged or deformed, which could adversely affect the function thereof. If the stroke length is smaller than necessary, the nail will not be driven in to the required depth and might project above the clip part 8-1 in an inconvenient way, as a result of which the clip will not be firmly secured to the base. In general, the free stroke of the firing pin 4 is at the most equal to the distance between the lower side of the nail head 10-2 and the upper side 9-2 of the clip part 8-1 or, as the case may be, the bottom of the space R.

[0020] The magazine 7 disposed at the location of the mouth of the barrel 3 is provided with push elements 12 which are arranged to move, usually by means of spring force, the fastening clips 8 accommodated therein in the direction of a muzzle 13 present in the magazine 7. When the nail gun is fired, the clip 8 whose nail 10 is driven into the base disappears through the muzzle 13 and at the same time said clip 8 becomes detached from the adjacent clips of the series of usually interconnected clips 8 accommodated in the magazine 7.

[0021] The fastening clips 8 may be, inter alia, arc-shaped, O-shaped or omega-shaped. If they are substantially U-shaped, as shown in figure 2, the nail 10 is passed through the part 8-1 and is flanked on both sides by raised, parallel legs 8-2 between which the nail shank 10-1 is situated. In this case, the clips are arranged side by side and coupled to adjacent clips by means of material bridges 14. Preferably, the material bridges are arranged at locations between adjacent clips 8, so that they can move to some extent relative to one another. This has the advantage that, in practice, the clips can be inserted into the magazine more easily and, in addition, the alignment of the clips is less critical because the row of clips can move and yield to a limited degree.

[0022] If the one or more material bridges 14 are disposed only between adjacent connecting parts 8-1 at the bottom of the fastening clips 8, as shown in figure 2, then, as shown in figure 3, the raised legs 8-2 of the clip 8 are movable at right angles to the plane of figure 3. In this position of the material bridges 14, the breaking of the bridges 14 is accompanied by less inconvenient vibrations. If the nail guide 11 is in (spring) contact with the upper side 9-2 of the connecting part 8-1, the respective fastening clip 8 is moved in the direction of the base 0, causing the bridges to break, after which the lower side 9-1 of the connecting part 8-1 directly is in stable abutment against the base 0. In a variant it is possible, yet less desirable for stability reasons, that the bridges 14 are not broken until the firing pin 4 moves downward, wherein the firing pin, with one move, moves the clip 8 downward and subsequently drives the nail into the base 0 before the lower side 9-1 is in stable and vibration-free contact with said base.

[0023] The fastening clips 8 are preferably made from a synthetic resin, particularly a biodegradable synthetic resin or bio-synthetic resin. A synthetic resin containing polybutylene succinate is preferred. If such a synthetic resin is less sturdy, the nail guide 11 providing multiple guidance of the firing pin 4 and the nail head 10-2 also provides greater stability of the method described herein, particularly if the nail 10 is shot into a hard base, such as concrete.

Claims

1. A method wherein a fastening clip comprising two raised, parallel parts and a connecting part extending between said two parts and having an upper side and a lower side is secured via the lower side to a base by means of a nail inserted between said two parts and provided with a nail head, said nail being inserted into the connecting part, wherein an axially hollow nail guide whose cross section accurately fits the nail head's section is lowered over the nail head and the nail until the nail guide contacts the upper side of the connecting part, after which a firing pin guided inside the lowered nail guide impacts the guided nail head, causing the nail to be driven into the base.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the nail guide is in spring contact with the upper side of the connecting part.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that a row comprising mutually connected fastening clips which are each provided with nails are pressed in the direction of the nail guide by spring elements.

4. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that adjacent fastening clips in the row are coupled so as to be movable relative to one another.

5. The method according to claim 3 or 4, characterized in that adjacent fastening clips in the row are coupled so as to be movable relative to one another by means of one or more material bridges disposed between said adjacent fastening clips.

6. The method according to claim 5, characterized in that the one or more material bridges are disposed only between the adjacent connecting parts of the fastening clips.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that before the guided firing pin impacts the nail head guided by the nail guide, said nail guide, upon contacting the upper side of the connecting part, moves the fastening clip in the direction of the base, causing the one or more material bridges to the adjacent fastening clip to be broken.

8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the fastening clips are all made of one and the same material, wherein the nail made from a hard material, such as steel, is inserted into the connecting part of each fastening clip.

9. The method according to claim 8, characterized in that the fastening clip is a clamping clip comprising resilient parts which are bent towards each other and between which, after the fastening clip is secured to the base, for example cables, pipes or tubes are fixed.

10. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that the fastening clips are made from a biodegradable synthetic resin such as a synthetic resin containing a polybutylene succinate (PBS).

11. A tool for carrying out the method according to any one of claims 1 to 10, comprising:

- a gun comprising a barrel accommodating a movable firing pin which is coupled to a gas cartridge holder operated by a trigger which is to be pulled for this purpose,

- a magazine which is coupled to the barrel and which is to be filled with fastening clips which each comprise two raised parts and a connecting part extending between said two parts and having an upper side and a lower side, which lower side is secured to a base by means of a nail inserted between said two parts and provided with a nail head, said nail being inserted into the connecting part in order to be driven into the base when the trigger is pulled, and

- an axially hollow nail guide which is movable in the barrel and whose cross section accurately fits the nail head's section, which nail guide can be lowered over the nail head and the nail between the two parts until the nail guide contacts the upper side of the connecting part, after which the firing pin which is movable inside the lowered nail guide is guided inside the hollow nail guide so as to impact the nail head guided by the nail guide, thereby causing the guided nail to be driven into the base.

12. The tool according to claim 11, characterized in that the gun comprises a barrel in which the free stroke of the movable firing pin is at the most equal to the distance between the lower side of the nail head and the upper side of the connecting part.

Drawing