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Nail Guns: Overview During the past several decades, litigation over injuries caused by nail gun accidents has grown significantly. These powerful tools can fire up to nine nails per second at velocities as high as 1,400 ft. per second and, as such, extreme care is needed when using them. Numerous cases of nail gun injuries have been documented, involving injuries not only to the extremities such as hands, feet, arms and legs, but also potentially fatal injuries to the head, neck and heart. In addition to being struck by a discharged nails, workers have also been injured from concrete and wood chips flying from the nailed surface. While there have been several large million dollar verdicts, there also have been many verdicts in favor of the defendant manufacturers as a result of misuse of product and contributory negligence. Types of Nail Guns Spring-driven: As the name suggests, the hammering force of this model comes from heavy duty springs positioned in the gun's barrel. Electromagnetic: The electromagnetic Nail Gun uses rail gun principles to accelerate the nail projectile up to speed before driving the nail into the intended surface. Explosive: The source of pressure is from a small explosion of gas from a combustion chamber. Explosive nail guns are typically only used to nail into extremely hard surfaces. Pneumatic: This, the most popular of all models for light and heavy construction, uses compressed air to drive the nail. How Pneumatic Nail Guns Work The pneumatic nail gun, the most popular of all models, derives its force from compressed air generated by a gas compressor. Piston cylinders draw air and force it out to the gun on impact. A pneumatic nail gun also uses a hammer with a sliding piston that drives a long blade. When the pressure above the piston head is great enough, the piston is forced downward. When the trigger of the nail gun is released, compressed air is distributed to the valve plunger and through the air reservoir to the bottom of the plunger, through the trigger valve and a small plastic tube until it reaches the area above the plunger. When the trigger is released, there is always greater pressure above the plunger than below it. When pulling the trigger on a pneumatic nail gun, the trigger valve closes and as passageway to the air is created, greater pressure is created below the plunger. The plunger rises up, and the compressed air makes its way to the piston head. The compressed air forces the piston and the blade downward, propelling the nail out of the chamber. As more air is pushed into the chamber, the pressure level rises. When the trigger is released, compressed air pushes the plunger back into place, blocking the air flow to the piston head. With no downward pressure, the compressed air in the return air chamber can push the piston head back up. The air above the piston head is forced out of the gun, into the atmosphere. Safety Devices Most modern nail guns are built with safety catch devices which imposes two separate firing triggers. The gun has a catch that holds the blade in place and to release the catch one must press the gun against the intended surface while depressing the firing trigger. A flaw of this system is that it allows users to keep the trigger depressed to quickly fire nails by merely apply the gun to the intended surface. Many accidental discharges result from workers, in tight spaces, accidentally bumping into one another and the nail gun. A safer gun is one that employs a sequential trip system which requires that the trigger be pulled each time before the surface is nailed. Manufacturers have not produced many guns with sequential trip systems due, in part, to excessive costs as well as the fact that most users prefer the convenience and speed of the nail guns without the sequential trip device over the safety benefits of the guns with them. |
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