Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
3 The present invention relates to the use of port~ble power saws.
Portable power saws are operable to efflrtlessly and rapidly
6 make clean cuts in wood and the like. Accordingly, such power saws
7 are commonly used in the construction of buildings, furniture and other
8 like applications. A disaclvantage with the use of portable power saws
9 is that d~e to the rapidity of their cutting actian, once a cut is started
10 there is no easy and safe way to compensate for any misalignment.
11 Further, portable power saws, once energized, represent very danger-
12 ous instruments which can kill and dismember if not carefully
13 controlled.
14
Consequently, it is highly desirable that portable power saws be
16 accurately and safely guided along predetermined cutting paths when-
17 ever used in order to avoid the occurrence of serious accidents and the
18 making of improperly aligned cuts.
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1 SUMMA~Y OF THE ~NVENTION
3 It is an object of the present invention to provide
4 an improved assembly and method for guiding a portable power
saw to make straight cuts in a workpiece.
7 It is ~urther an object of the present invention
, 8 to provide an improved assembly and method for guiding a
9 portable power saw to make straight cuts in a workpiece
characterized by employing a cuttable guidepiece which is
11 trimmed to define a reference edge which may be thereafter
12 used to align a predetermined cutting path defined by the
13 assembly with a selected line on a~workpiece along which a
14 cut is to be made.
16 In accomplishing these and other objects of the present
i, 17 invention, there is provided in one embodiment a saw guide
18 assembly formed by housing structure; a planar guidepiece;
19 and a guideplate arranged for securement to the base of a portable
power saw. A guide groove for slidably receiving the
21 guideplate is defined along the length of the housing top
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22 surface, and the guideplate preferably extends beyond the
23 base of the saw to which it is attached so that the guideplate
24 and groove may be slidably mated prior to movement of the
saw into a cutting position.
26
27 A slot for receiving the planar guidepiece is defined
28 within the housing to open along one of the longitudinal
2~ sides of the housing.
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1 Mechanism is provided for securing the guidepiece in a
2 fixed position in the slot whereat it extends a selected
3 distance therefrom. A reference edge is formed on the guide-
4 piece in alignment with the cutting path defined by the saw guide
assembly. This reference edge may be formed by guiding the saw
6 when energized along the predetermined cutting path defined by the
7 saw guide assembly to trim the guidepiece to form a reference
8 edge thereon aligned with the cutting path.
To make a straight cut in a workpiece, the saw guide
11 assembly is placed on the workpiece with the reference edge formed
12 on the guidepiece aligned along the line the cut is to be made,
13 and the power saw is guided by means of the saw guide assembly
14 along the predetermined cutting path defined ~hereby. The saw
may be repeatably guided along this predetermined cutting path
16 of movement by sliding the guideplate through the guide groove.
17
18 In another embodiment provided,the saw guide assembly
19 has a selectively positionable guide bar mounted on its housing
top surface instead of a guide groove formed therein. By sliding
21 the portable power saw along the housing top surface, with the
22 baseplate of the saw riding against the guide bar, a reference
23 edge may be cut on the planar guidepiece. The power saw may
24 be used with tiliS embodiment of saw guide assem~ly to make a
straight cut in a workpiece by aligning the reference edge formed
26 on the guidepiece with the line along which the cut is to be
27 made and sliding the power saw along the housing top surface
28 with the saw baseplate riding against the guide bar. Additional
29 objects of the present invention reside in the construction of the
embodiments of saw guide assembly hereinafter described in con-
31 junction with the several drawings as well as in their method of
32 operation.
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From one aspect thereof, the subiect invention resides
in a saw guide assembly, comprising housing structure, means
associated with said housing structure for guiding an asso-
: ciated power saw along said housing structure in a straight
. path with the saw blade of said power saw moving along a
predetermined straight cutting path alongside said housing
structure, a guidepiece having a longitudinal dimension, -
said guidepiece being made of a material cuttable by said
power saw to define a reference edge, and means associa~ed
o with said housing structure for holding said guidepiece in
a fixed position on said housing structure with ~he longi-
tudinal dimension of said guidepiece substantially aligned
with said cutting path, said holding means being adjustable
. to selectively position said guidepiece across said cutting
., path whereby by making a cut along said cutting path with
: . said power saw said guidepiece may be trimmed along its
.~. longitudinal dimension to define a reference edge aligned
with said cutting path usable for positioning sàid saw
guide assembly on a workpiece.
. ~ From another aspect.thereof, the subject invention
`. resides in a saw guide assembly, comprising means for
repeatably guiding an associated power saw along a straight
, cutting path, a guidepiece having a longitudinal dimension
i for alignment along said straight cutting path and means
for holding said guidepiece in a fixed aligned position
~, with said cutting path to define a reference edge aligned
:~ with.said cutting path usable for positioning said saw guide
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assembly on a workpiece, said holding means being adjust-
able to selectively position said guidepiece across said
cutting path whereby by making a cut along said cutting
path with said power saw said guidepiece may be trimmed
along its longitudinal dimension to define a reference
edge aligned with said cutting path usable for positioning
said saw guide assembly on a workpiece, said means for
guiding an associated power saw being located on`said means
. for holding said guidepiece and said guidepiece being free
: t~ of said means for guiding an associated power saw.
: From a further aspect thereof, the subject invention
resldes in a saw guide assembly, comprising housing structure
~ having substantially flat parallel upper and lower surfaces
and longitudinally extending side edges, means associated
with said housing structure for guiding an associated power
saw along said housing structure in a straight path with :
the saw blade of said power saw moving along a predetermined
straight cutting path alongside said housing structure, a
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guidepiece having a longitudinal dimension, said guidepiece
being made of a material cuttable by said power saw to define
a reference edge, said housing structure defining a slot of
' ! predetermined depth for receiving said guidepiece, said slot
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being a planar cavity opening in one of the longitudinal
side edges of said housing structure, said slot being
defined substantially parallel to said upper and:lower
. surfaces of said housing structure and having its depth
dimension extending transversely across said housing
~f structure, said guidepiece being a planar member dimensioned
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for positioning in said slot to extend transversely from
said housing structure, and means associated with said
housing structure for releasably holding said guidepiece
in a fixed position on said housing s~ructure with the
longitudinal dimension of said guidepiece substantially
aligned with said cutting path, said holding means being
adjustable to sel~ectively position said guidepiece across
said cutting path whereby by making a cut alorg said
cutting path with said power saw said guidepiece may be
~D trimmed'along its longitudinal dimension to define a
reference edge aligned with said cutting path usable for
positioning said saw guide asser~ly on a workpiece.
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BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRA~INGS
3 Figures 1 and 2 are perspective views illustrating a saw
4 guide assembly according to the present invention along with an
associated portable power saw.
7 Figure 3 is a top plan view of the saw guide assembly
8 of Figures 1 and 2 with the power saw itself removed from its
9 baseplate to illustrate the arrangement securing an associated
guideplate to the saw baseplate.
11
12 Figure 4 is a view taken along the line 4-4 of Figure 3.
13
14 Figure 5 is an end elevation view of the saw guide assembly
of Figures 1 and 2 illustrating the cutting of a planar guide-
16 piece to define a reference edge.
17
18 Figures 6 and 7 are, respectively, perspective and end
19 elevation views of the saw guide assembly of Figures 1 and 2,
illustrating the use thereof in making a straight cut in a workpiece.
21
22 Figure 8 is a side elevation view of an alternate arrangement
23 for securing a guideplate on the baseplate of the portable power
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24 saw of Figure 2.
l 25
~1 26 Figure 9 is a perspective view of another embodiment of saw
; 27 guide assembly according to the present invention.
28
29 Figure 10 is a view taken along the line 10-10 of Figure 9.
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DETAI~ED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED E:MBODIMENTS
2 .
3 Referring to the drawings in more det~il, there is shown
4 in Figures 1-7 a saw guide assembly ge;~erally identified by the
numeral 10. The saw guide assembly 10 is formed by housing
6 structure 11; a planar guidepiece 12; and a guideplate or slide
7 13 arranged for securement to the base of a portable power
8 saw 14. .
~The housing structure 11 has top surface 20, bottom sur-
11 face 21J and longitudinally extending side edges 22 and 23. The
12 housing 11 may be formed of any suitable material, such as
13 plastis, and preferably is of a substantially flat, rectangular
14 shape. A uniformly shaped guide groove 24 is defined along the
length of the housing 11 between its ends 25 and 26. The guide
16 groove 24 has open ends, preferably a substantially U-shaped
17 cross section, and extends parallel and adjacent to the housing
18 longitudinally extending side edge 23.
19
The guide groove 24 is dimensioned for sl idably
21 receiving the guideplate 13 mounted on the portable power
22 saw 14. The guideplate 13 is a longitudinally extending rec-
23 tangularly shaped substantially planar member having a
24 substantially U-shaped cross section.
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The guideplate 13 is secured on the baseplate 30 of the power saw
2 14 to extend forwardly and rearwardly a predetermined distance there--3 from with its U-shaped cross section in inverted relationship to the
4 guide groove 24. The guideplate 13 is secured on the power saw base-
plate 30 in a substantially parallel disposition to the longitudinal axis
6 of the power saw 14 and is appropriately posit~oned laterally thereon so
7 that with the guideplate 13 slidably mated with the guide groove 24, the
8 circular saw blade 31 is positioned a predetermined distance outside of
9 the longitudinal housing edge 23.
11 The guideplate 13 may be secured to the saw baseplate 30 in any
suitable manner. One suitable manner is shown in Figures 1--7. As
13 there shown, wing nuts 32 are secured through aligned holes and slots
14 33O The holes and slots are located respectively in the saw baseplate
30 and the guideplate 13.
16
17 Another suitable method for securing the slide 13 on the saw base-
18 plate 30 is shown in Figure 8. As there shown, adjustable clamp
19 structure, generally identified by the numeral 34, is secured by screws
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35 to the guideplate 13. The adjustable clamp structure 34 is made up
21 of fixedly positioned pieces 36 and 37, which are held in place by the
22 screws 35, and moveable clamp member 38~ Clamp member 38 may be
23 selectively advanced toward or away from the saw baseplate 30 by turn-
24 ing in the appropriate sense the screw 39 threaded through the upwardly
.j 25 extending portion 40 of the member 36~
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1 In operation, the saw guideplate 13 is secured on the saw
2 baseplate 30 by turning the screw 39 to advance the clamp 38
3 against the adjacent upturned edge 41 of the saw base 30. There-
4 by, clamp 38 along with the stop 42 formed on the fixed member
37 operate to hold the guideplate 13 clamped in place on the saw
6 baseplate 30 against the baseplate upturned edges 41.
8 A slot S0 for receiving the planar guidepiece 12 is defined
9 within the housing 11 to open along housing longitudinal side 23.
The slot 50 is defined as a rectangular cavity which has a depth
11 dimension extending transversely to the housing 11 and substan-
12 tially equal to housing width. The guidepiece insert 12 may be
13 made of any suitable material, preferably masonite, and is a
14 rectangularly shaped member appropriately dirnensioned for
being fitted within the slot 50. The guidepiece insert 12 is
16 free of the saw guiding means.
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17 In Figure 1, the guidepiece 12 is illustrated being inserted
18 in the slot S0. The guidepiece 12 is inserted in the slot 50 to ex-
19 ~ tend from the housing side edge 23 a predetermined distance
and is clamped in place by tightening clamping mechanism.
21 Clamping mechanism is shown in Figures 3 and ~ in the form of
22 a screw 51 which may be tightened to force the corrugations
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23 52a on a moveable member 52 against one of the end edges of the
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2L~ guidepiece 12. Corrugations 50a are formed on the opposite
housing side edge defining the slot 50. Screw Sl, when tightened,
26 exerts a pressure on corrugated moveable member 52 to press
27 the corrugations 52a thereof against guidepiece insert 12.
28 Insert 12, in turn, presses against the corrugated innerside 50a
29 of housing 11.
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As a result of these actions, insert 12 is firmly locked in
2 place. ~dditionally, as shown in Figures 3 and 5, screws 53
3 may be tightened in holes 54 as an added clamping mechanism
4 to bear down on the top surface of the guidepiece 50, thereby
to clamp it tightly in place. The inclusion of the screws 53
6 with their associated holes 54 may not be desired in all in-
7 stances, and accordingly may be omitted as appropriate.
9 The guidepiece 12 is clamped in place in the slot 50 with
its outer edge extending across the predetermined cutting path
11 defined by the saw guide assembly 10. Thereby, by moving the
12 power saw 1~ along this predetermined cutting path by sliding the
13 guideplate 13 through the guide groove 24, the guidepiece insert
14 12 is cut to define a reference edge 55. 'rhe cutting of this re-
ference edge is shown in Figure 5. It is noted that prior to cutting
16 the reference edge 55 the angular orientation of the power saw blade
17 31 should be properly set by means of the angular adjustment
18 mechanism S6 contained on the power saw 14.
19
Once the guidepiece 12 has been cut to define the reference
21 edge 55, the assembly 11 is positioned on a workpiece 60 to be
22 cut with reference edge 55 aligned along the selected line on the
23 workpiece 60 along which a cut is to be made. The assembly 11
24 is shown so positioned in Figure 6 making a cut in the workpiece
60. The workpiece 60 is positioned on a work table 61 and the
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26 housing 11 is positioned on the workpiece 60.
27
28 It is noted to prevent slippage o~ the housing 11 during the
29 CUttillg of the reference edge 55 or the making of a straight cut on a
workpiece that a non-slipping material 62, such as natural cork or
31 neoprene cork, is secured on the lower surface 21 of the housing
32 structure 11.
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Also, it is noted to permit accurate alignment of the reference
2 edge 55 with a line along which a straight cut is to be made that the
3 distance between the reference edge 55 and the bottom surface of the
4 housing 11 should be as small as possible. Further, it is desirable that
the reference edge 55 extend, as illustrated, substantialty the entire
6 length of the housing 11 so as to fully utilize the length of the assembly
- 7 housing 11.
9 Thus, an assennbly and method has been provided for making
straight cuts on a workpiece. It is noted that the straight cuts may be
11 made on the workpiece 60 independently of the outer peripheral edges of
12 the workpiece, that is to say the outer peripheral edges of the workpiece
13 are not needed as references. The line on which the straight cut is to
`d 14 be made in the workpiece 60 may be scribed thereon or simply indicated
thereon by two points. The guidepiece reference edge 55 is aligned
16 along this line where the cut is to be made and the power saw is guided
17 by the saw guide assembly 10 in the -manner illustrated in Figure 7 to
18 make a straight cut.
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1 Referring to Figures 9 and 10, another embodiment of
2 saw guide assembly 10' is there shown associated with portable
3 power saw 14'. The assembly 10 and saw 14 are generally
4 similar in construction and operation to the above-described
assembly 10 and saw 14. Accordingly, corresponding parts of
6 each are identified by the same numerals used in Figures 1-8
7 with a prime added.
9 The assembly 10' differs from the assembly 10 by having
a selectively positionable guide bar 63 for guiding the path of
` 11 movement of the power saw 14' instead of the above-described
12 guide groove 24 and cooperating guide plate 13. The guide bar
13 63 is straight longitudinal member dimensioned to extend from one
14 end 25' of the housing 11 to its other end 26'. The bar 63
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preferably has a right angled cross-section made up of mutually
16 perpendicular portions 63a and 63b. The bar 63 is shown positioned
17 with its portion 63a resting on the housing top surface 20-'
18 and its portion 63b positioned towards the housing edge 21-'.
19 The portion 63b defines a guide surface which extends upwardly
in a substantially parallel disposition to the housing edge
21 21'.
22
23 A transversely extending guide bar adjustment slot 64
24 is formed through the surface 20' of the housing 11' adjacent
each end thereof. The slots 64 extend parallel to the housing
26 edges 25-', 26' and open in cavities or openings 69 formed by
27 the housing 11. Fastening means in the form of wing nuts 65
28 and bolts 66 are employed to secure the guide bar 63 in place
29 on the housing surface 20'.
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1 The bolts 66 extend upwardly through the slots 64
2 into and through holes 68 formed in the ends of the guide bar
3 portion 63a. By threading the wing nuts 65 on the bolts
~ 66 and tightening them thereon, the guide bar 63 may be
selectively clamped or secured in the position in which it
6 is adjusted on the housing 11'.
8 With the guide bar 63 clamped in a fixed position,
9 and the guidepiece insert 12' secured in place, the saw 14' may
be used to cut a reference edge on the insert 12' by guiding the
11 saw baseplate 30' along the housing surface 20' with the straight
12 baseplate inner edge 67 riding against the straight guide bar
13 portion 63b. Once the reference edge is cut on the insert 12',
14 the housing 11' may be used with the saw 14' in the manner
hereinbefore described to make straight cuts on a workpiece.
16
17 It is noted that the specific power saw used with the
18 assemblies 10 or 10' may be changed. However, each time the
19 power saw used is changed or the angle of its blade is changed,
a new reference edge should be trimmed on the guidepiece 12 or
21 12'. It is also noted that instead of cutting or trimming
22 the guidepiece to form the reference edge that in instances
23 the referencç edge thereon could be formed by inserting the
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24 guidepiece in the slot 50 or 50' and then adjusting its position
outwardly therefrom to a location where its outer edge lies
26 parallel to and a selected distance apart from the path of
27 travel of the saw blade. Clamping the guidepiece in such a
28 position would clamp its outer edge in a reference position
29 so that its outer edge could be used as a reference edge.
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1 A shim could be used between the $aw blade and the
2 outer edge of the guidepiece when setting the reference edge
3 in this manner. It is noted that each time the guidepiece
; 4 is retrimmed in order to define a new reference edge very
- 5 little of the material need be used. Further, by making the
6 guidepiece of a relatively durable material, such as masonite,
7 the guide edge may be used over and over again for a considerable
8 period of time without being substantially damaged.
. 9
Although the invention has herein been shown and de-
11 scribed in what is conceived to be the most practical and pre-
12 ferred embodiments, it is recognized that departures may be
13 made therefrom within the scope of this invention.
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