Abstract: A magazine for a stack of fasteners in which the mean surface area overlap between adjacent fastener heads is substantial, has a chute, a constantly-urged follower pushing the stack in the chute, a slideway that intersects the chute at a separation station for the lead fastener, and a slide for pushing the lead fastener to an expulsion station and then retracting to get behind the next fastener to dispense from the chute and accede to the separation station, it being the new lead fastener.

Abstract: A hammer tacker has a strike, a tack-driving piston, a tack-feeding mechanism, and a handle for a user to cause a strike against a target. The piston cycles between drive and retraction strokes. The tack-feeding mechanism cycles between recession and feed strokes to feed the tack in a next-to-lead position to the lead position after the preceding tack in the lead position is struck into the target, and includes an escaping driver for engaging a pallet of the tack in the next-to-lead position during the feed stroke to feed that tack to the lead position, as well as for escaping the pallet of that tack during the recession stroke and then receding to engage the pallet of the tack that succeeds to the next-to-lead position, if any. Wherein as the piston's drive stroke coincides with the recession stroke, the feed stroke lags after a pause behind the piston's retraction stroke.

Abstract: A tack for holding soft thin membrane-like materials such as roof shingles, roofing felt, or house wrap is produced in collated strips from a stock of band sheet metal. Each tack has a head and a shank lanced out of the head and bent out to leave behind a slot in the head. The shank of a given tack nests within the slot of an adjacent tack in a side by side relationship for collating in strips for use in a tacker tool. The production of the collated strips of tacks includes a progressive punch press operation wherein the stock of band sheet metal is indexed incrementally therethrough in a given indexing direction. At the extreme end of the progressive punch press operation, a completed tack is advanced to and through a collating operation in a given collating direction. In one example, the indexing direction and collating direction are arranged 135.degree. apart.