Patent 9943952 was granted and assigned to Makita on April, 2018 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
An electro-pneumatic tool drives a fastener into a workpiece by energizing an electric motor to drive a first piston and generate compressed air in a first cylinder. The compressed air is then supplied to a second cylinder and causes a second piston to move and drive the fastener into the workpiece. After the first piston has passed through its top dead center, braking is applied to the first piston according to one or more braking parameters. Then, if a control unit determines that the first piston has come to a stop at a position that is outside a predetermined range about the bottom dead center of the first piston, one or more of the braking parameters is changed in a subsequent fastener driving cycle to cause the first piston to stop closer to its bottom dead center after conclusion of the subsequent fastener driving cycle.