Patents Examined by Jim Calve
  • Patent number: 6152245
    Abstract: A compressed-air-operated percussion mechanism includes a housing, a percussion body and a balancing body, which form an operating chamber therebetween. A secondary valve seals the operating chamber during an operating stroke and opens the chamber to evacuate compressed air after the termination of the operating stroke. A primary valve is connected to the compressed air inlet passage and intermittently opens to provide compressed air to the operating chamber.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 25, 1998
    Date of Patent: November 28, 2000
    Inventor: Goran Nilsson
  • Patent number: 6152244
    Abstract: A mobile drilling apparatus has a front chassis with two wheels, and a rear chassis with two wheels, which are joined together by an intermediate articulation about a vertical axis. To improve the lateral stability when turning, the front chassis is extended backward behind the intermediate axis of articulation and above a portion of the rear chassis. The front chassis thus extends support, in addition to the drilling arm or arms and the driving and work station of some of the electrical and/or hydraulic equipment of the apparatus. In a converse arrangement, the rear chassis is extended forward, in front of the axis of articulation and over a portion of the front chassis.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 8, 1998
    Date of Patent: November 28, 2000
    Assignee: Sandvik Tamrock Secoma SA
    Inventor: Chouaib Rokbi
  • Patent number: 6148930
    Abstract: A percussion drill and/or jack hammer has a handle that is spring-buffered against the hammer housing which has at least one straight guiding track running parallel to the longitudinal axis of the hammer. The handle can be moved to a limited extent along the guiding track in relation to the hammer housing and is spring-buffered in such a way that its movement against the guiding track is limited on all sides.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 25, 1999
    Date of Patent: November 21, 2000
    Assignee: Wacker-Werke GmbH & Co. KG
    Inventors: Rudolf Berger, Thomas Maurer
  • Patent number: 6145724
    Abstract: A combustion powered tool has a self-contained internal combustion power source constructed and arranged for creating a combustion for driving a driver blade to impact a fastener and drive it into a workpiece. The tool includes a housing constructed and arranged to enclose the power source, a combustion chamber defined at an upper end of the housing and a cylinder disposed be in fluid communication with the combustion chamber. A valve member is disposed to periodically close the combustion chamber. A piston is associated with the driver blade and is configured for reciprocal movement within the cylinder between a start position and a driving position. Also included on the tool is a nosepiece having a workpiece contact element configured for contacting a workpiece. The workpiece contact element is movable relative to the nosepiece, and upon such contact, the movement of the workpiece contact clement causes the valve member to close the combustion chamber.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 20, 1999
    Date of Patent: November 14, 2000
    Assignee: Illinois Tool Works, Inc.
    Inventors: Yury Shkolnikov, James W. Robinson, Tony Deieso
  • Patent number: 6145726
    Abstract: Device for conveying and fitting components which are to be inserted in a workpiece and are guided in a rail, which serves as a magazine and, at one end, has an opening (33) for delivering a component (17). The opening merges into a receiving part for a single component, which receiving part is connected to the rail via a hinge and is aligned with this rail, and the rail, together with the receiving part, is mounted in a longitudinally displaceable manner in a guide in which the receiving part, in order to receive a component, is, in the pushed-back position of the rail, held in a receiving position in which it is aligned with the rail. The receiving part is arranged in such a way that, when the rail is pushed forward, the receiving part, together with the component, projects out of the guide and, via the hinge, pivots through approximately 90.degree.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 19, 1999
    Date of Patent: November 14, 2000
    Assignee: EJOT Verbindungstechnik GmbH & Co. KG
    Inventor: Gerhard-Helmut Hoof
  • Patent number: 6145723
    Abstract: A combustion-powered, fastener-driving tool useful to fasten a dimpled membrane to a foundation wall, via a fastener and a polymeric plug, is arranged to drive a fastener from a nosepiece, through the plug and the membrane, into the wall. An actuating member mounted movably on the tool is movable thereon between an extended, tool-disabling position and a retracted, tool-enabling position. A workpiece-contacting probe is mounted to the actuating member so as to be conjointly movable with the actuating member. The probe includes a plug-holding member adapted to hold the plug as the fastener is being driven, having a tubular wall defining a recess adapted to receive the plug, and having two pointed elements in diametric opposition to each other, each having a point projecting inwardly from the tubular wall so as to press against the plug received in the recess. The workpiece-contacting probe includes a mounting bracket mounted to the actuating member.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 27, 1998
    Date of Patent: November 14, 2000
    Assignee: Illinois Tool Works Inc.
    Inventor: Harish C. Gupta
  • Patent number: 6142243
    Abstract: A hand held power tool has a coupling formed for transmission of torques of different values and including at least two coupling parts provided with transmission members for rotary-fixed connection with one another, a coupling spring having an adjustable tensioning force operatable for holding one of the coupling members of one of the coupling parts in a rotary-locked engagement with another of the coupling members of another of the coupling parts, and blocking members with which the coupling parts are rotary-fixed coupled in addition to the transmission members, and which are bringable in engagement with one another in a drilling operation or an impact drilling operation for transmitting a maximum torque.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 20, 1999
    Date of Patent: November 7, 2000
    Assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
    Inventor: Thomas Mayer
  • Patent number: 6142352
    Abstract: In a roofing washer-dispensing and fastener-driving machine, which has a fastener-feeding tube, a fastener-engaging pawl is mounted operatively to the tube, near its upper end. The pawl is pivotable between a normal position wherein the pawl is arranged to engage a fastener dropped into the tube so as to prevent the fastener from dropping through the tube and a pivoted position wherein the pawl is arranged to disengage from the fastener. An elongate rod is arranged to pivot the pawl from the normal position into the pivoted position when the machine is operated.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 8, 1999
    Date of Patent: November 7, 2000
    Assignee: Illinois Tool Works Inc.
    Inventors: Paul M. Larson, Riaz Hasan, Sigismund G. Paul
  • Patent number: 6135337
    Abstract: An electrically powered stapler is disclosed having a sliding blade for driving staples which is reciprocated by a lever and crank mechanism driven by an electric motor through a torque increasing gear train. Jamming of the stapler is prevented by mounting the lever's fulcrum on a plunger which is releasably retained to a fixed support by a flexible collar. The plunger has an enlarged head, and the collar has a plurality of flexible fingers which grip the plunger behind the head to retain the plunger to the collar. The plunger can be disengaged from the collar by the application of a predetermined force directed away from the plunger, such as occurs on the fulcrum during a jammed condition when the blade cannot drive a staple and is stalled. The pivot point of the lever then shifts to the blade end of the lever and the plunger is reciprocated by the lever instead of the blade, allowing the motor and other components to cycle through their full range of motion without stalling.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 15, 1999
    Date of Patent: October 24, 2000
    Assignee: Hunt Holdings, Inc.
    Inventors: James M. Harris, Gerald P. Fregeolle, Jeffrey A. Karg, David F. Tyndell
  • Patent number: 6131671
    Abstract: A power-driven hammer has a tool holder a middle bore portion which is supported inside a housing and urged backward by a compression spring. The rear end of a large bore portion of the tool holder is slidably fitted into a spline ring which is secured to the front end of a middle housing. Spline grooves are formed in the inner periphery of the spline ring at its front end while spline gears are formed on the outer periphery of the large bore portion. When the spline grooves and the spline gears are engaged with each other, the tool holder, being urged backward, is locked with its rotation prohibited. This tool holder can be temporarily unlocked to allow its rotation by sliding a change ring cover forward and the tool holder itself, thereby disengaging the large bore portion from the spline ring.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 23, 1996
    Date of Patent: October 17, 2000
    Assignee: Makita Corporation
    Inventors: Mitsuyoshi Shibata, Masaaki Uchida
  • Patent number: 6131790
    Abstract: A stapler and cartridge for joining together layers of body tissues. In a first aspect of the invention, a pair of handles, pivotally connected between opposite end portions, open a pair of jaws when the handles are rotatably moved apart and close the jaws when the handles are rotatably brought together. A detent is provided which assists a surgeon in properly clamping the layers of tissue before firing the staples through the tissues. A disposable cartridge is detachably mounted in one of the jaws by a pair of rails which slidably engage a pair of channels in one of the jaws and a convex boss which forcibly engages an aperture of the jaw. The cartridge is comprised of a staple retaining member and a staple unloading member. During a firing and clinching of the staples the cartridge members are telescoped together such that the size of the cartridge is reduced. In a second aspect of the invention, end portions of a pair of pivotally connected handles form jaws.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 2, 1998
    Date of Patent: October 17, 2000
    Inventor: Hadi A. Piraka
  • Patent number: 6131286
    Abstract: The fabrication assembly includes a first fabrication element having a slot defined therein and a second fabrication element having a locking mechanism secured thereto. The locking mechanism has (1) an alignment member, and (2) a twist tab connected to the alignment member. The locking mechanism cooperates with the slot to lock the first fabrication element to the second fabrication element. A method of attaching a first fabrication element to a second fabrication element is also disclosed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 17, 1999
    Date of Patent: October 17, 2000
    Assignee: Caterpillar Inc.
    Inventors: Gordon W. Kelly, Robert E. Klimko, Charles F. Sieck, Richard H. Wetherill
  • Patent number: 6131786
    Abstract: The device is used for fixing rivets, buttons, etc., which comprises an article lower part and an article upper part, to a fabric. It has a lower gripper (1) supporting the article lower part and a plunger (2) performing the riveting stroke. With the lower end of the plunger is associated an upper gripper (3) acting on the article upper part and with the upper end is associated a drive mechanism (4) responsible for the stroke movement. A finger guard bow (11), associated with the plunger and extending into the movement path of the upper gripper and which, after initiating a plunger riveting stroke, on encountering an obstacle and before reaching its end position, stops the drive mechanism and consequently the plunger.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 3, 1998
    Date of Patent: October 17, 2000
    Assignee: YKK Corporation
    Inventor: Rolf Kamps
  • Patent number: 6131787
    Abstract: A two-piece magazine for strips of nails in nailing tools, combinations thereof and methods therefor including first and second magazine portions each having an elongated side wall with front and rear end portions. The first magazine portion includes a first lower portion with a tongue protruding therefrom, and the second magazine portion includes a second lower portion with a groove. The tongue is disposable and frictionally retainable in the groove to assemble the first and second magazine portions. The first and second magazine portions are formed preferably at least partially by extrusion and partially in one or more stamping operations.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 27, 1999
    Date of Patent: October 17, 2000
    Assignee: Illinois Tool Works Inc.
    Inventor: Patrick J. Curtis
  • Patent number: 6131788
    Abstract: A device to improve attaching wires to a substrateby with a staple gun is disclosed. An elongated nose piece extends down from the front of the tool body and locks in position to hold the tool bottom a preset distance away from the substrate. The nose piece includes a recess to provide clearance for the wire as the nose piece is pressed against the substrate. The wire guide improves the operation of stapling wires by preventing the staple from crushing the wire and by aligning the tool over the wire so that the staple points are inserted a safe distance to each side of the wire. The present invention is an improvement over the prior art staple gun wire guides since it is a permanent part of the tool. It is slidably fixed to a vertical track at the front end of the tool. It does not increase the bulk of the tool front end and cannot be misplaced. In one embodiment the wire guide is internal to the tool in sliding contact with the plunger.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 9, 1998
    Date of Patent: October 17, 2000
    Assignee: WorkTools, Inc.
    Inventor: Joel S. Marks
  • Patent number: 6123158
    Abstract: In a hand-held electric tool driven by an electric motor (2) and capable of being connected to a single-phase alternating current (4a), the electric motor (2) has no collector or slip ring, and its driving energy is supplied by control electronics (5) which are powered at their input by the single-phase alternating current (4a) and which supply at their output the type of current (4b) suitable for the motor. The control electronics (5) are arranged in a handle (1a) of the electric tool and are cooled by the cooling air flow (7) which also cools the motor (2).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 25, 1999
    Date of Patent: September 26, 2000
    Assignee: Wacker-Werke GmbH & Co., KG
    Inventor: Michael Steffen
  • Patent number: 6123244
    Abstract: A stapler includes a driving tool rotatably received in one end and a sleeve slidably engaged on the driving tool and biased outward of the stapler. A base and a barrel and a latch are secured onto the sleeve. A casing is slidably engaged onto the base. The base includes an arm having a groove for slidably receiving the ends of the fasteners that are secured in a belt. The casing includes a flange for guiding the belt. The latch includes a passage and a slot for guiding the belt and for allowing the belt to stably and smoothly supply the fasteners into the barrel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 22, 1999
    Date of Patent: September 26, 2000
    Inventor: Shih Chang Huang
  • Patent number: 6123243
    Abstract: A high pressure gas operated setting tool and including guide cylinder, a fastening element guide (6) arranged, in a setting direction, in front of the guide cylinder and axially displaceable against a spring-biasing force in a direction opposite to the setting direction by a maximum amount (S), a drive piston (8) axially displaceable in the guide cylinder, a return device for displacing the drive piston to its ignition-ready position, and an elastic resetting element (9), surrounding the stem (82) of the drive piston and extending between the stop (73) of the guide cylinder (7) and a front, in the setting direction, end surface of the drive piston head (81), the resetting element (9) having a length corresponding at least to a maximum distance (A) between the stop (73) and the front end surface (83) of the drive piston head (81) reduced by the amount of the axial displacement of the fastening element guide (6).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 15, 1998
    Date of Patent: September 26, 2000
    Assignee: Hilti Aktiengesellschaft
    Inventors: Norbert Pfister, Gerhard Ehmig, Tilo Dittrich
  • Patent number: 6119912
    Abstract: A gauge adapted for use with a nail gun is provided including an elongated member. A plurality of adjustable stops are each slidably situated on the elongated member and securable thereon at selected points.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 3, 1998
    Date of Patent: September 19, 2000
    Inventor: William A. Peck
  • Patent number: 6119793
    Abstract: The rock drill (9) includes a reversible rotary motor (10) and a percussion unit (11) with a percussion valve (17). Rotary unit and Percussion unit (11) are operated via separate valves (39, 46) in a control unit (34). The percussion frequency of the percussion unit (11) is coupled to the rotation rate of the rotary motor (10) in such a way that the percussion unit (11) stops automatically when the rotary motor (10) comes to a standstill. The coupling is achieved by employing a fluid driven assembly without a mechanical clutch between the rotary motor (10) and the percussion valve (17). When disassembling the drill rods a jammed thread can be shaken loose with the percussion unit (11) be manually bypassing the fluid coupling. The same is also possible in case the drill rods becomes jammed in the drill bore. With the described embodiment a simple, space-saving and cost-effective construction is achieved which is versatile in application.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 2, 1998
    Date of Patent: September 19, 2000
    Assignee: SIG Rocktools AG
    Inventor: Max Siegenthaler