a portable hand - held screw driving tool is provided for use with collated strips of screws . a collated strip of screws enters from an upper - rear area of the tool and runs through a pathway or slot in an elongated , movable upper guide mounted at the tool &# 39 ; s upper housing , then to a movable slide body having that receives and indexes the collated strip so a screw can be driven by the tool . the upper guide provides containment that prevents the flexible collated strip becoming substantially misaligned while moving through the guide &# 39 ; s slot . when the tool is actuated to drive a screw into an object , the sliding guide moves longitudinally along the top of the tool , along with the tool &# 39 ; s front - end screw - driving mechanism . thus the flexible collated strip is always in a relatively fixed orientation as compared to the movable front end portion of the tool .