EP3141348A1 - Driving device powered by combustion gas with valve member - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a tacker comprising a driving piston (4) guided in a cylinder (3) for driving a nail member into a workpiece, a combustion chamber (2) arranged on the driving piston (4) and capable of being filled with an ignitable gas mixture, a charging member (6) for achieving an overpressure of the gas mixture, and a feeler member (18, 22) for detecting a pressing of the tacker on a workpiece, wherein the combustion chamber (2) via a valve member (15) is connected to an outer space, wherein the valve member ( 15) as a function of a position of the feeler member (18, 22) is driven, so that in the case of non-ignition of the excess pressure of the gas mixture after settling of the tacking device on the valve member (15) can escape.

Description

The invention relates to a tacker, in particular a hand-held tacker, according to the preamble of claim 1.

WO 2009/140728 A1 describes a fuel gas operated driving tool for driving a nail into a workpiece in which a combustion chamber is charged with a fuel gas, wherein after a firing process, a driving piston is accelerated against the nail. The fuel gas can be charged by combined action by means of a fan and the stroke of the drive piston to an overpressure to achieve an increase in the driving energy.

US 8,091,751 B2 describes a fuel gas operated tacker, in which the fuel gas can be charged by means of an electric compressor to an overpressure. A combustion chamber of the device comprises a plurality of mutually movable combustion chamber parts and is closed by means of a Andruckgestänges when the tacker is pressed against a workpiece.

It is the object of the invention to provide a tacker that has a high reliability.

This object is achieved according to the invention for a drive-in device mentioned above with the characterizing features of claim 1. By providing the valve member, a charged, pressurized fuel clamp can be controlled and safely emptied, if no ignition is done.

Generally preferred, the valve member opens automatically when the tacker is dropped from the workpiece.

The failure of the ignition of the mixture can have any cause, for example, a voluntary cancellation of the setting process by the operator or even a malfunction.

Under an overpressure of the fuel gas mixture in the context of the invention, an increased by means of the Aufladegliedes pressure to increase the driving energy is understood. Even with conventional devices, the pressure of the fuel gas mixture is usually slightly above an ambient pressure, since the pressurized fuel gas is added to the air under atmospheric pressure in the combustion chamber. This is only a slight increase in pressure. An overpressure according to the invention is preferably at least 100 mbar, more preferably at least 200 mbar above atmospheric pressure.

A Aufladeglied can be within the meaning of the invention, any means that raises at least the air content of the fuel gas mixture targeted above the atmospheric pressure. In particular, it may be an electric compressor.

A valve member according to the invention blocks or opens a controllable connection between the combustion chamber and an outer space. For the purposes of the invention, the valve member is not understood to mean a movable combustion chamber part, by means of which displacement the combustion chamber is first formed.

Under a feeler member in the context of the invention, any mechanical, electro-mechanical, opto-electronic or other component understood by means of which a pressed-state of the tacker is detected. For example, the sensing element may be a movable linkage, an electrical switch, an optical sensor, or otherwise.

According to the invention, the feeler member is in communication with the valve member such that the valve member is driven in response to a position of the feeler member. In the case of non-ignition of the gas mixture settling of the tacker can be determined via the sensing element, and the pressurized fuel gas mixture can escape via the valve member.

In a generally advantageous embodiment of the invention, the combustion chamber comprises at least two mutually movable combustion chamber parts, wherein the combustion chamber parts are combined only in a pressed state of the tacker to the closed combustion chamber. Devices of this type are generally known and, by design, have a high degree of safety against unwanted or abusive tripping. However, when charging such conventional devices with overpressure that automatic opening or collapse of the combustion chamber may be disturbed when discontinuing the device, if no ignition was done. This is fundamentally because such a combustion chamber has large sealing surfaces and sealing systems on which act correspondingly high forces due to the pressure. Solutions in which a greater spring force of a return spring is provided according to the overpressure, are uncomfortable because of the required greater contact pressure by the operator. The additional valve member according to the invention allows a largely conventional construction of the combustion chamber, since the overpressure is initially deliberately reduced, after which an opening or a collapse of the combustion chamber takes place at low spring forces.

In a particularly preferred embodiment, it is provided that the combustion chamber parts are closed gas-tight in the closed state via a self-reinforcing sealing system. In such a system, the pressing forces of the seals increase with the pressure present in the combustion chamber, so that a maximum overpressure can in principle be chosen arbitrarily and independently of the force of a pressure spring or the like.

In a preferred detailed embodiment of the invention while the combustion chamber parts are moved to each other via a Andruckgestänge, wherein the feeler is provided in addition to the Andruckgestänge. This allows a reliable control of the valve member when discontinuing the tacker regardless of the selected pressure and its effect on the Andruckgestänge. In other embodiments, the valve member can also be controlled directly by the Andruckgestänge.

Generally, it is provided that the valve member is designed to be low-force with respect to the overpressure. This is preferably achieved in a simple manner in that a valve stamper of the valve member has a direction of movement which runs transversely to a direction of action of the overpressure of the gas mixture. Under a poor arm Training is presently understood to mean any valve arrangement in which a standard operating pressure changes a required actuating force of the valve member at most insignificantly.

In a first possible embodiment, the valve member is mechanically directly connected to the feeler member, so that a movement of the feeler member causes an adjustment of the valve. This allows a simple implementation and a high level of security against operational disturbances, for example control electronics.

In a second possible embodiment, the valve member may be adjustable via an electric actuator. Preferably, the actuator is connected to an electronic control unit of the tacker. In such an embodiment, the sensing element may be formed, for example, as an electrical switch or sensor, whereby a total of construction weight is saved. In addition, such a solution allows a universal control of the valve member as a security agent.

In a structurally simple and generally preferred embodiment of the invention, the charging member comprises an electric compressor. Alternatively, however, the charging member may also be a hand-operated compressor, a reservoir compressed air reservoir or the like. Preferably, the charging member is integrated in the setting device. Alternatively, the charging member may be separate from the rest of the setting tool.

In a generally advantageous development of the invention, the gas mixture escaping via the valve member drives a generator in order to partially convert mechanical pressure energy into electrical energy. The mechanical energy of the charged gas is thus not completely lost in a discontinuation of the setting process, but can be partly returned to a battery of the device. In a preferred embodiment, the generator is formed by changing the operating mode of the Aufladegliedes. As a result, additional components can be saved.

Further advantages and features of the invention will become apparent from the embodiments described below and from the dependent claims.

Fig. 1

zeigt eine schematische Schnittansicht eines erfindungsgemäßen Eintreibgerätes eines ersten Ausführungsbeispiels mit mechanisch angesteuertem Ventilglied in einem ersten Betriebszustand.

Fig. 2

zeigt das Eintreibgerät aus Fig. 1 in einem zweiten Betriebszustand.

Fig. 3

zeigt eine schematische Schnittansicht eines erfindungsgemäßen Eintreibgerätes eines zweiten Ausführungsbeispiels mit elektrisch angesteuertem Ventilglied.

Hereinafter, two preferred embodiments of the invention will be described and explained in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Fig. 1

shows a schematic sectional view of a Eintreibgerätes invention of a first embodiment with mechanically controlled valve member in a first operating state.

Fig. 2

shows the tacker Fig. 1 in a second operating state.

Fig. 3

shows a schematic sectional view of a Eintreibgerätes invention of a second embodiment with electrically controlled valve member.

The tacker off Fig. 1 is a hand-held device, comprising a housing 1 and a combustion chamber 2 received therein with a combustion chamber wall. Adjacent to the combustion chamber 2 is a cylinder 3 with a guided therein driving piston 4.

A safety mechanism of the device comprises a Andruckgestänge with a Aufsetzhülse 5, which is placed on a workpiece (not shown) and against the pressure of a spring (not shown) is pressed. Only in this state, a driving operation can be triggered by igniting a fuel gas in the combustion chamber 2. The combustion chamber 2 consists of several mutually movable combustion chamber parts (not shown), which are combined only after pressing the attachment sleeve 5 via the Andruckgestänge to a closed space for receiving an ignitable fuel gas mixture. Such types of combustion chambers with the aim of improving safety are generally known, for example from the publications mentioned above. In the present schematic drawings, therefore, the detailed description of this safety mechanism has been omitted.

An ignitable fuel gas mixture is introduced in the present case by means of a Aufladeglieds 6 and a fuel gas storage 7 in the combustion chamber 2. The charging member 6 is designed as supplied by a battery 8, electric compressor 9. The fuel gas is introduced via a metering valve 10 from the fuel gas storage in the compressed air downstream of the compressor 9, after which the flow of the fuel gas mixture via a feed line enters the combustion chamber 2.

When loaded combustion chamber can be triggered by a manually operated trigger 11 ignition of the fuel gas mixture, so that the driving piston 4 is driven and a Eintreibstößel 12 a nail member (not shown) from a magazine 13 in the Drives workpiece. The exhaust gases of the ignited and expanded fuel gas may enter the outer space via outlet openings 14 at the end of the travel of the drive piston.

A provision of the driving piston 4 after the driving operation is carried out in a conventional manner, for example by means of a return spring.

In the present example, the combustion chamber parts are sealed in the attached state of the device by means of a sealing system so that an increase in pressure in the combustion chamber 2 leads to an increase in the forces acting on the seals forces (self-reinforcing sealing system). At a corresponding overpressure by the loading by means of the Aufladegliedes 6 a spring-driven restoring force of the attachment sleeve is no longer sufficient to open the combustion chamber (or to collapse with the appropriate design). As a result, the combustion chamber would remain in the loaded state if the setting process is not triggered and the tacker is set down.

To reduce the overpressure in the combustion chamber, a valve member 15 is provided according to the invention, that the combustion chamber 2 connects to the outside space. The valve member 15 has a valve spool 16 which moves transversely to a pressure direction or outflow direction of the fuel gas mixture. As a result, a resistance of the valve spool is hardly dependent on the magnitude of the overpressure in the combustion chamber 2.

The valve slide 16 is connected via a mechanical linkage 17 with a feeler member 18. The feeler member 18 is located in the region of the attachment sleeve 5 and is shown in the schematic drawing as a depressable probe tip.

The linkage 17 is subjected to a force by means of a spring 19, so that the feeler member 18 is displaced forward in the non-attached state of the tacking device and the valve member 15 is in an open state (see Fig. 2 ).

When the tacker is mounted on the workpiece, the feeler member 18 is inserted against the spring pressure. The valve spool 16 is displaced via the rod 17 and the valve member 15 is closed. The valve function is illustrated in the drawings by overlapping orifices in the valve spool 16 and in the combustion chamber wall.

In the in Fig. 1 shown, mounted state of the tacker, the combustion chamber 2 is pressurized with the fuel gas mixture under pressure. Attachment sleeve 5 and probe member 18 are inserted.

If the device is now discontinued without triggering from the workpiece, the attachment sleeve 5 initially remains in its position, since the combustion chamber parts can not move. By contrast, the feeler member 18 advances due to the spring force of the spring 19, so that the valve member 15 is opened via the rod 17. In this way, the fuel gas mixture can escape and the overpressure in the combustion chamber 2 are reduced (intermediate state according to FIG Fig. 2 ).

After a reduction of the overpressure, the combustion chamber parts can be moved by acting spring forces, so that the attachment sleeve is also moved back into the front position (not shown).

It is understood that the valve member according to the invention also represents an advantageous development and a safety gain, if the sealing system of the combustion chamber is not designed as self-reinforcing or if the restoring spring force of the combustion chamber parts are designed to open under pressure. A malfunction in connection with a charged combustion chamber can thereby be reliably avoided.

Fig. 3 shows a second embodiment of the invention, in which, in contrast to the first embodiment, an electrical actuation of the valve member 15 takes place.

For this purpose, the valve member 15 has an electric actuator 20 which is connected to an electronic control unit 21. The feeler is designed as an electrical pushbutton 22 at the end of the attachment sleeve 5. The key switch 22 is also connected to the control unit 21.

As a further embodiment, the tacker has a manually operable switch 23, which is easily accessible on the housing 1 of the tacker.

Such a designed valve member may be designed, for example, as normally open to ensure maximum safety. An opening of the closed valve member of the present example is in operation when the feeler member 22 is not seated on a workpiece. However, an opening also takes place when the manually operated switch 23 is pressed. As a result, the operator can unload the combustion chamber at any time or make sure about the discharged state of the device.

Claims (10)

A tacker comprising
a driving piston (4) guided in a cylinder (3) for driving a nail member into a workpiece,
a combustion chamber (2) arranged on the driving piston (4) and capable of being filled with an ignitable gas mixture,
a charging member (6) for obtaining an overpressure of the gas mixture, and
a feeler member (18, 22) for detecting a pressing of the tacker on a workpiece;
characterized,
that the combustion chamber (2) via a valve member (15) is connected to an exterior space, wherein the valve member (15) depending on a position of the probe element (18, 22) is driven, so that in the event of non-ignition of the overpressure of the gas mixture through the valve member (15) can escape. A tacker according to claim 1, characterized in that the combustion chamber (2) comprises at least two mutually movable combustion chamber parts, wherein the combustion chamber parts are combined only in a pressed state of the tacker to the closed combustion chamber. A tacker according to claim 2, characterized in that the combustion chamber parts are closed gas-tight in the closed state via a self-reinforcing sealing system. A tacker according to one of claims 2 or 3, characterized in that the combustion chamber parts are moved relative to one another via a pressure linkage (5), the feeler link (18, 22) being provided in addition to the pressure linkage (5). A tacker according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the valve member (15) is formed with low force with respect to the overpressure, wherein in particular a valve stem (16) of the valve member (15) has a direction of movement which extends transversely to a direction of action of the overpressure of the gas mixture. A tacker according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the valve member (15) is mechanically directly connected to the feeler member (18), so that a movement of the feeler member (18) causes an adjustment of the valve member (15). A tacker according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the valve member (15) via an electric actuator (20) is adjustable, wherein in particular the actuator (20) is connected to an electronic control unit (21) of the tacker. A tacker according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the charging member (6) comprises an electric compressor (9). A tacker according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the gas mixture escaping via the valve member (15) drives a generator (6) in order to partially convert mechanical pressure energy into electrical energy. A tacker according to claim 9, characterized in that the generator (6) by changing the operating mode of the Aufladegliedes (6) is formed.

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