Holder strip for feeding fastening elements into a setting device

Claim 1

A holder assembly for supplying fastening elements into the barrel of a setting device so that the fastening elements can be driven into a target material by means of a piston driven by an explosive force developed within the setting device, the holder assembly includes a flat elongated strip having a plurality of holes therethrough spaced apart in the elongated direction of said strip and a fastening element positioned within each hole, each said fastening element includes an elongated shank having a first end and a second end with the first end arranged to be inserted first into the target material and a head extending transversely laterally outwardly from the circumferential periphery of the shank at the second end thereof, wherein the improvement comprises that the shank of each said fastening element is secured within one of the holes in said holder strip adjacent the first end thereof and spaced for a considerable axial length of the shank from its second end so that the head of the fastening element is spaced from said holder strip, said holder strip having a width greater than the diameter of the heads of said fastening elements so that the sides of the strip extend laterally outwardly beyond the lateral periphery of the heads, said holder strip is perforated adjacent to and on opposite sides of each hole so that the perforations are spaced radially outwardly from the hole and inwardly from the sides of the strip and in angularly spaced relation to one another about the hole with which they are associated and said perforations for each hole are separate from and spaced in the elongated direction of said strip from the perforations for the adjacent holes with a portion of said strip extending transversely of the elongated direction thereof and located between the perforations about adjacent holes, the radially inner edges of the perforations relative to the hole with which they are associated are in general alignment with the lateral periphery of the head of the fastening element held in the hole and the radially inner edge has an arcuate configuration generally conforming to the shape of the lateral periphery of the head of the fastening element, and said holder strip is formed of a selected material and thickness so that in combinatioN with the perforations formed about each hole a washer-like portion of said strip laterally enclosing the shank of the fastening element can be punched from the strip by the head of the fastening element as it is driven into the target material by the explosive force driven piston in the setting device with the perforations assisting in the punching out of the washer-like portion.