Staple forming and stapling machine

Abstract

A staple forming and driving apparatus utilizes bulk wire as the starting material. The apparatus has a fixed anvil block and movable forming and driving blocks. The anvil block contains an anvil about which a staple is formed and a stripper member which is normally biased to the extended position covering the anvil block. A forming block has a pair of projecting camming surfaces which, when it approaches the anvil block, causes the stripper member to recede. After the stripper has been cammed back, wire enters the anvil block across the anvil unit until it contacts the opposite side. The forming block continues to advance until a centrally disposed pressure foot contacts the wire holding the wire in place against the anvil. A forming blade on either side of the pressure foot continues to advance, cutting the wire and bending it around the anvil to form a staple. The forming block then recedes, enabling the stripper to remove the formed staple from the anvil and to place it into a guide channel in a guide member. The driving block then advances toward the forming block and the anvil block. A projecting driving blade on the driving block passes over the forming block and into the guide channel on the anvil block driving the formed staple out of the channel and into a workpiece. The driving block then recedes withdrawing the driving blade from the guide channel on the anvil block and the procedure is ready to begin again. In subsequent operations, the anvil and forming blocks are forming a new staple while the driving block drives the previously formed staple.