Screw strip and method for forming the same

Claim 1

In a unitary holding strip made of extruded plastics material comprising a plurality of screws retained in a row by said strip which defines a strip plane, said screws having longitudinal axes and a threading with a given outer thread diameter, said unitary holding strip including a plurality of screw holding sleeves and lands interconnecting said screw holding sleeves each of which extends along a portion of the threaded length of the respective screw in the longitudinal direction of the screw, the improvement wherein the wall thickness of said lands and the wall thickness of the sleeves are substantially equal to each other and substantially smaller than said outer thread diameter, wherein said lands interconnecting said sleeves extend in said strip plane, said screws having longitudinal axes substantially located in said strip plane, said sleeves and lands being formed by extruding said plastics material from one side only relative to said strip plane and perpendicularly to said longitudinal axes of the screws so that said sleeves non-uniformly surround said screws and form inwardly facing screw threads which closely conform to and hold said screw threading, said sleeves further comprising along the side opposite said one side thereof, substantially between said lands as a result of said non-uniform surrounding, an area of reduced strength such that a screw when it is being threaded into a workpiece is automatically screwed out of and separated from its sleeve while said sleeves and lands remain in one substantially intact strip, whereby each of said sleeves guides its screw by its inwardly facing screw threads as a screw is screwed out of its sleeve.