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A fastener-driving tool includes an integrated function member that performs at least two of the following three functions: a check pawl function, a last fastener-retaining function, and a dry fire lock-out function. In the disclosed embodiment, the integrated function member is provided as a lever-

A fastener-driving tool includes an integrated function member that performs at least two of the following three functions: a check pawl function, a last fastener-retaining function, and a dry fire lock-out function. In the disclosed embodiment, the integrated function member is provided as a lever-type structure that constitutes part of the access door assembly by means of which access is gained to the fastener drive track along which fasteners (e.g., roofing nails) are fed to the driving portion of the tool. Also disclosed is an improved method of retaining the last nail in the drive track by a lateral head gripping action and a tool for performing the method.

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1. A fastener-driving tool for driving fasteners into a workpiece, said fastener-driving tool comprising:a main body portion; a nose portion attached to said main body portion, said nose portion having a fastener drive track therein that is configured to receive a fastener to be driven into the work

1. A fastener-driving tool for driving fasteners into a workpiece, said fastener-driving tool comprising:a main body portion; a nose portion attached to said main body portion, said nose portion having a fastener drive track therein that is configured to receive a fastener to be driven into the workpiece; a fastener-driving member that drives the fastener that is to be driven out of said drive track and into the workpiece; and an actuator that is actuated to cause said fastener-driving member to drive the fasteners into the workpiece; wherein said fastener-driving tool further comprises an integrated function member having a last-fastener-retaining portion and a dry fire lock-out portion, said integrated function member being configured and operatively disposed relative to said drive track and said actuator such that 1) when a last fastener remains to be driven into the workpiece, said last-fastener-retaining portion holds the last fastener within said drive track to prevent the last fastener from falling out of said drive track without being driven into the workpiece and 2) such that when no fasteners remain within said fastener-driving tool, said dry fire lock-out portion prevents operation of said actuator, thereby preventing fastener-driving movement of said fastener-driving member. 2. The fastener-driving tool of claim 1, wherein said nose portion further defines a fastener feed track that is configured to receive a succession of fasteners from a magazine and to guide the succession of fasteners toward and into said drive track, said magazine assembly including a feed mechanism for advancing the succession fasteners in guided relation with said feed track so that a leading fastener is moved into said drive track.3. The fastener driving tool of claim 2 wherein said fasteners are headed nails each having a shank and a head on one end of said shank and being collated with the shanks in parallel relation to one another and retained in said parallel relation by flexible elongated structure fixed to the shanks thereof, said magazine portion being configured to retain a succession of collated and retained headed nails firmed into a coil formation so as to allow a leading succession of the coil formation to be moved outwardly thereof mud into the fastener feed track to be advanced therealong by said feed mechanism.4. The fastener driving tool of claim 3, wherein said last fastener-retaining portion includes an arcuate head engaging surface disposed at a position disposed laterally with respect to the direction of movement of a last headed nail into said drive track, said arcuate surface being biased to move into engagement with a peripheral portion of the head of the last headed nail in said drive track and to grip the engaged head between said arcuate surface and a laterally spaced opposite arcuate surface of said drive track so that the last headed nail can be driven out of said drive track while being gripped.5. The fastener-driving tool of claim 4, wherein said integrated function member is biased toward said fastener feed track by a spring.6. The fastener-driving tool of claim 5, wherein said nose portion further bas a drive track access door by means of which said fastener feed track is accessed to load a new supply of fasteners into said nose portion, and wherein said integrated function member is operatively connected to said drive track access door and is configured such that when said drive track access door is in a closed position for operation of said fastener-driving tool, said integrated function member is urged toward said fastener feed track by said spring.7. The fastener-driving tool of claim 6, wherein said integrated function member is disposed within a recess formed on a drive-track-facing side of said drive track access door.8. The fastener-driving tool of claim 6, wherein said integrated function member is generally lever-shaped and is pivotally mounted near an end thereof to said drive track access door.9. The fastener-driving tool of claim 4, wherein said fasteners are nails and said fastener-driving tool is a roofing tool.10. The fastener-driving tool of claim 9, wherein said fastener-driving tool is pneumatically actuated.11. The fastener-driving tool of claim 1, wherein said dry fire lock-out portion prevents operation of said actuator by blocking movement of at least one component of said actuator.12. The fastener-driving tool of claim 11, wherein said actuator comprises a trigger mechanism, a contact arm that is configured and disposed along said nose portion so as to move along said nose portion as the workpiece-contacting end of said drive track is moved toward a fastener-driving location on the workpiece, and a contact arm linkage mechanism operatively interconnecting or interlocking said trigger mechanism with said contact arm, whereby said trigger mechanism cannot be operated to actuate said fastener-driving tool until the workpiece-contacting end of said track is within a predetermined or preselected distance from the fastener-driving location on the workpiece.13. The fastener-driving tool of claim 12, wherein said integrated function member is configured and disposed relative to said actuator such that when no fasteners remain within said fastener drive track, said dry fire lock-out portion prevents operation of said actuator by blocking travel of said contact arm or said contact arm linkage mechanism.14. The fastener-driving tool of claim 13, wherein said dry fire lock-out portion comprises a finger-shaped extension extending from a main body portion of said integrated function member.15. The fastener-driving tool of claim 12, wherein said nose portion further has a drive track access door by means of which said fastener feed track is accessed to load a new supply of fasteners into said magazine assembly wherein said integrated function member is operatively connected to said drive track access door and is configured such that when said drive track access door is in a closed position for operation of said fastener-driving tool, said integrated function member is urged toward said fastener feed track.16. A fastener-driving tool for driving fasteners into a workpiece, said fastener-driving tool comprising:a main body portion; a magazine assembly including a magazine portion configured to receive therein a supply of fasteners to be driven into the workpiece; a nose portion extending from said main body portion, said nose portion having a fastener drive track therein that is configured to receive a header fastener to be driven into the workpiece; a fastener-driving member cooperable with said drive track so as to drive the fastener that is to be driven out of said drive track and into the workpiece, said nose portion further having a fastener feed track that is located between said drive track and said magazine portion, said fastener feed track being configured to receive a succession of fasteners from said magazine portion and to guide the succession of fasteners toward and into said drive track; an actuator that is actuated to cause said fastener-driving member to drive the headed fasteners into the workpiece; and fastener feed mechanism that advances the succession of fasteners along said fastener feed track to feed successive leading fasteners into said drive track; and wherein said feed mechanism further comprises an integrated function member having a check pawl portion and a last-fastener-retaining portion, said integrated function member being configured and operatively disposed relative to said fastener feed track and said fastener drive track such that 1) during operation of said fastener-driving tool in which two or more fasteners remain in the supply to be driven, said check pawl portion of said integrated function member engages the succession of fasteners within said fastener feed track to limit the succession of fasteners from moving away from said drive track as said feed mechanism retracts while operating to advance the succession of fasteners toward said drive track; and 2) such that when a last fastener remains to be driven into the workpiece, said last-fastener-retaining portion holds the last fastener within said drive track to prevent the last fastener from falling out of said drive track without being driven into the workpiece. 17. The fastener driving tool of claim 16 wherein said headed fasteners are headed nails each having a shank and a head on one end of said shank and being collated with the shanks in parallel relation to one another and retained in said parallel relation by flexible elongated structure fixed to the shanks thereof, said magazine portion being configured to retain a succession of collated and retained headed nails formed into a coil formation so as to allow a leading succession of the coil formation to be moved outwardly thereof and into the fastener feed track to be advanced therealong by said feed mechanism.18. The fastener driving tool of claim 17 wherein said last fastener-retaining portion includes an arcuate head engaging surface disposed at a position disposed laterally with respect to the direction of movement of a last headed nail into said drive track, said arcuate surface being biased to move into engagement with a peripheral portion of the head of the last headed nail in said drive track and to grip the engaged head between said arcuate surface and a laterally spaced opposite arcuate surface of said drive track so that said last headed nail can be driven from said drive track while being gripped.19. The fastener-driving tool of claim 18, wherein said nose portion further has a drive track access door mounted for movement between a closed operative position and an open access position enabling a user to manually load a new supply of fasteners into said magazine assembly.20. The fastener-driving tool of claim 19, wherein said integrated function member is operatively connected to said drive track access door and is configured such that when said drive track access door is in the operative closed position thereof, said integrated function member is urged toward said fastener feed track.21. The fastener-driving tool of claim 20, wherein said integrated function member is disposed within a recess formed on a feed-track-facing side of said drive track access door.22. The fastener-driving tool of claim 20, wherein said integrated function member is generally lever-shaped and is pivotally mounted near an end thereof to said drive track access door.23. The fastener-driving tool of claim 21, wherein said drive track access door has an arcuate portion which matches the shape of the arcuate surface disposed laterally opposite the arcuate surface of said last-fastener retaining portion which defines at least a portion of said drive track and wherein the arcuate shape of said last-fastener-retaining portion matches the arcuate shape of said arcuate portion of said drive track access door, whereby during the operation of said fastener-driving tool, the arcuate surface of said last-fastener-retaining portion cooperates with said arcuate surface of said drive track access door to define a portion of said drive track.24. The fastener-driving tool of claim 18, wherein,said integrated function member has a bearing surface and is biased toward said fastener feed track such that during operation of the fastener-driving tool, the bearing surface bears against the shanks of said headed nails, which maintains said integrated function member in proper operative position for said operation of the fastener-driving tool, and wherein said check pawl portion comprises one or more check pawl shoulder portions, each check pawl shoulder portion having 1) a blocking surface that limits the succession of headed nails from moving away from said drive track as said feed mechanism retracts while operating to advance the succession of headed nails toward said drive track; and 2) a cam surface over which the shanks of the succession of headed nails move to push said integrated function member away from said feed track as said feed mechanism advances while operating to advance the succession of fastener members toward said drive track. 25. The fastener-driving tool of claim 24, wherein said nose portion further has a drive track access door by means of which said fastener feed track is accessed to manually load a new supply of fasteners into said nose portion and wherein said integrated function member is operatively connected to said drive track access door and is configured such that when said drive track access door is in a closed position for operation of said fastener-driving tool, said integrated function member is urged toward said fastener feed track of said nose portion so as to bias said check pawl shoulder portions toward said fastener feed track.26. The fastener-driving tool of claim 16, wherein said fastener-driving tool is pneumatically actuated.27. A fastener-driving tool for driving fasteners into a workpiece, said fastener-driving tool comprising:a main body portion; a magazine assembly including a magazine portion configured to receive therein a supply of fasteners to be driven into the workpiece; a nose portion extending from said main body portion, said nose portion having a fastener drive track therein that is configured to receive a fastener to be driven into the workpiece; a fastener-driving member cooperable with said drive track so as to drive the fastener that is to be driven out of said drive track and into the workpiece, said drive track having a workpiece-contacting end, said nose portion further having a fastener feed track that is located between said drive track and said magazine portion of said fastener-driving tool, said fastener feed track being configured to receive a succession of fasteners from said magazine portion and to guide the succession of fasteners toward and into said drive track; an actuator that is actuated to cause said fastener-driving member to drive the fasteners into the workpiece; and fastener feed mechanism that advances the succession of fasteners along said fastener feed track to feed the fasteners into said drive track, said feed mechanism including an integrated function member having a check pawl portion and a dry fire lock-out portion, said integrated function member being configured and operatively disposed relative to said fastener feed track and said actuator such that 1) during operation of said fastener-driving tool in which approximately two or more fasteners remain in the supply to be driven, said check pawl portion of said integrated function member engages the succession of fasteners within said fastener feed track to limit the succession of fasteners from moving away from said drive track as said feed mechanism retracts while operating to advance the succession of fasteners toward said drive track; and 2) such that when no fasteners remain within said fastener-drive track, said dry fire lock-out portion prevents operation of said actuator, thereby preventing fastener-driving movement of said fastener-driving member. 28. The fastener-driving tool of claim 27, wherein said nose portion further has a drive track access door by means of which said fastener feed track is accessed to manually load a new supply of fasteners into said magazine assembly.29. The fastener-driving tool of claim 28, wherein said integrated function member is operatively connected to said drive track access door and is configured such that when said drive track access door is in a closed position for operation of said fastener-driving tool, said integrated function member is urged toward said fastener feed track.30. The fastener-driving tool of claim 28, wherein said integrated function member is disposed within a recess formed on a feed track-facing side of said drive track access door.31. The fastener-driving tool of claim 30, wherein said integrated function member is generally lever-shaped and is pivotally mounted near an end thereof to said drive track access door.32. The fastener-driving tool of claim 28, wherein said magazine portion includes a magazine cover member by means of which said magazine portion is accessed to load a supply of fasteners into said magazine portion, and wherein said drive track access door and said magazine cover member are cooperatively configured and arranged such that said drive track access door and said magazine cover member can be moved separately or together as a unit, whereby said fastener feed track and said magazine portion are opened and can be accessed simultaneously.33. The fastener-driving tool of claim 27, wherein said integrated function member has a bearing surface and is biased toward said fastener feed track such that said bearing surface bears against the fasteners and wherein said check pawl portion comprises one or more cheek pawl shoulder portions, each check pawl shoulder portion having 1) a blocking surface that limits the succession of fasteners from moving away from said drive track as said feed mechanism retracts while operating to advance the succession of fasteners toward said drive track; and 2) a cam surface over which the succession of fasteners move to push said integrated function member away from said feed track as said feed mechanism advances while operating to advance the succession of fasteners toward said drive track.34. The fastener-driving tool of claim 33, wherein said nose portion further has a drive track access door by means of which said fastener feed track is accessed to manually load a new supply of fasteners into said magazine assembly and wherein said integrated function member is operatively connected to said drive track access door and is configured such that when said drive track access door is in a closed position for operation of said fastener-driving tool, said integrated function member is urged toward said fastener feed track so as to bias said check pawl shoulder portions toward said fastener feed track.35. The fastener-driving tool of claim 34, wherein said integrated function member is generally lever-shaped and is pivotally mounted near an end thereof to said drive track access door.36. The fastener-driving tool of claim 27, wherein said dry fire lock-out portion prevents operation of said actuator by blocking movement of at least one component of said actuator.37. The fastener-driving tool of claim 36, wherein said actuator comprises a trigger mechanism, a contact arm that is configured and disposed along said nose portion so as to move along said nose portion as a workpiece-contacting end of said drive track is moved toward a fastener-driving location on the workpiece, and a contact arm linkage mechanism operatively interconnecting said trigger mechanism with said contact arm, whereby said trigger mechanism cannot be operated to actuate said fastener-driving tool until the workpiece-contacting end of said drive track is within a predetermined or preselected distance from the fastener-driving location on the workpiece.38. The fastener-driving tool of claim 37, wherein said integrated function member is configured and disposed relative to said actuator such that when no fasteners remain within said magazine assembly, said dry fire lock-out portion prevents operation of said actuator by blocking travel of said contact arm or said contact arm linkage mechanism.39. The fastener-driving tool of claim 38, wherein said dry fire lock-out portion comprises a finger-shaped extension extending from a main body portion of said integrated function member.40. The fastener-driving tool of claim 27, wherein said fasteners are headed nails in a coil formation and said fastener-driving tool is a roofing tool.41. The fastener-driving tool of claim 40, wherein said fastener-driving tool is pneumatically actuated.42. A fastener-driving tool for driving fasteners into a workpiece, said fastener-driving tool comprising:a main body portion; a magazine assembly having a magazine portion configured to receive therein a supply of fasteners to be driven into the workpiece; a nose portion attached to said main body portion, said nose portion having a fastener drive hack therein that is configured to receive a headed fastener to be driven into the workpiece; a fastener-driving member cooperable with said drive track so as to drive the fastener that is to be driven out of said drive track and into the workpiece, said nose portion further having a fastener feed track that is located between said drive track and said magazine portion of said fastener-driving tool, said fastener feed track being configured to receive a succession of fasteners from said magazine portion and to guide the succession of fasteners toward end into said drive track; an actuator that is actuated to cause said fastener-driving member to drive the headed fasteners into the workpiece; and fastener feed mechanism that advances the succession of fasteners along said fastener feed track to feed the leading fastener of the succession of fasteners into said drive track; wherein said feed mechanism comprises an integrated function member having a check pawl portion, a last-fastener-retaining portion, and a dry fire lock-out portion, said integrated function member being configured and operatively disposed relative to said fastener feed track and said drive track such that 1) during operation of said fastener driving tool in which approximately two or more fasteners remain in the supply to be driven, said check pawl portion of said integrated function member engages the succession of fasteners within said fastener feed track to limit the succession of fasteners from moving away from said drive track as said feed mechanism retracts while operating to advance the succession of fasteners toward said drive track; 2) such that when a last fastener remains to be driven into the workpiece, said last-fastener-retaining portion holds the last fastener within said drive track to prevent the last fastener from falling out of said drive track without being driven into the workpiece; and 3) such that when no fasteners remain within said fastener drive track, said dry fire lock-out portion prevents operation of said actuator, thereby preventing fastener-driving movement of said fastener-driving member. 43. The fastener driving tool of claim 42, wherein said headed fasteners are headed nails each having a shank and a head on one end of said shank and being collated with the shanks in parallel relation to one another and retained in said parallel relation by flexible elongated structure fixed to the shanks thereof said magazine portion being configured to retain a succession of collated and retained headed nails formed into a coil formation so as to allow a leading succession of the coil formation to be moved outwardly thereof and into the fastener feed track to be advanced therealong by said feed mechanism.44. The fastener driving tool of claim 43, wherein said last fastener-retaining portion includes an arcuate head engaging surface disposed at a position disposed laterally with respect to the direction of movement of a last headed nail into said drive track, said arcuate surface being biased to move into engagement with a peripheral portion of the head of the last headed nail in said drive track and to grip the engaged head between said arcuate surface and a laterally spaced opposite arcuate surface of said drive track so that the last fastener can be driven out of the drive track while being gripped.45. The fastener-driving tool of claim 44, wherein said drive track access door has an arcuate portion which matches the shape of the arcuate surface disposed laterally opposite the arcuate surface of said last-fastener retaining portion which defines at least a portion of said drive track and wherein the arcuate shape of said last-fastener-retaining portion matches the arcuate shape of said arcuate portion of said drive track access door, whereby during said operation of said fastener-driving tool, the arcuate surface of said last-fastener-retaining portion cooperates with said arcuate surface of said drive track access door to define a portion of said drive track.46. The fastener-driving tool of claim 44, wherein said magazine portion includes a magazine cover member by means of which said magazine portion is accessed to load a supply of fasteners into said magazine portion, and wherein said drive track access door and said magazine cover member are cooperatively configured and arranged such that said drive track access door and said magazine cover member can be moved separately or together as a unit, whereby said fastener feed track and said magazine portion are opened and can be accessed simultaneously.47. The fastener-driving tool of claim 46, wherein said nose portion further has a drive track access door by means of which said fastener feed track is accessed to manually load a new supply of fasteners into said magazine assembly and wherein said integrated function member is operatively connected to said drive track access door and is configured such that when said drive track access door is in a closed position for operation of said fastener-driving tool, said integrated function member is urged toward said fastener feed track so as to bias said check pawl shoulder portions toward said fastener feed track.48. The fastener-driving tool of claim 47, wherein said integrated function member is generally lever-shaped and is pivotally mounted near an end thereof to said drive track access door.49. The fastener-driving tool of claim 44, wherein said nose portion further has a drive track access door by means of which said fastener feed track is accessed to manually load a new supply of fasteners into said magazine assembly.50. The fastener-driving tool of claim 49, wherein said integrated function member is operatively connected to said drive track access door and is configured such that when said drive track access door is in a closed position for operation of said fastener-driving tool, said integrated function member is urged toward said fastener feed track.51. The fastener-driving tool of claim 50, wherein said integrated function member is disposed within a recess formed on a feed-track-facing side of said drive track access door.52. The fastener-driving tool of claim 50, wherein said integrated function member is generally lever-shaped and is pivotally mounted near an end thereof to said drive track access door.53. The fastener-driving tool of claim 43, wherein said integrated function member has a bearing surface and is biased toward said fastener feed track such that said bearing surface bears against the fasteners and wherein said check pawl portion comprises one or more check pawl shoulder portions, each check pawl shoulder portion having 1) a blocking surface that limits the succession of fasteners from moving away from said drive track as said feed mechanism retracts while operating to advance the succession of fasteners toward said drive track; and 2) a cam surface over which the succession of fasteners move to push said integrated function member away from said feed track as said feed mechanism advances while operating to advance the succession of fastener members toward said drive track.54. The fastener-driving tool of claim 42, wherein said fastener-driving tool is pneumatically actuated.