Stone working – Miscellaneous
Reexamination Certificate
1999-08-03
2001-09-25
Banks, Derris H. (Department: 3723)
Stone working
Miscellaneous
C125S014000, C248S295110
Reexamination Certificate
active
06293269
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF INVENTION
The invention relates to a guide rail for an apparatus for processing concrete and rock, especially for concrete saws or for core drilling equipment, with the guide rail having longitudinally extending supporting and guide surfaces for the apparatus housing, and a profile extending parallel to the supporting and guide surfaces and having equidistantly spaced contacting edges extending transverse to longitudinal extent of the guide rail for a feed mechanism provided on the apparatus.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART
Concrete saws and core drilling equipment for processing concrete and rock are well known and, for example, are produced by the assignee herein. The processing equipment includes a carriage with direct driving and adjusting mechanisms for a saw blade or a core bit, accommodated in the equipment housing. The processing equipment usually is driven electrically or hydraulically. The equipment carriage is mounted on a guide rail. The guide rail includes supporting and guiding surfaces for rollers or slides provided on the equipment housing.
During the working of the constructional component, the position of the equipment carriage can be adjusted along the longitudinal extent of the guide rail. For example, for a core drilling apparatus, the distance between the core bit and the constructional component must be variable, in order to be able to produce the intended borehole. For a concrete saw, it must be possible to adjust the depth and, in addition, to move the saw blade also parallel to the constructional component, in order to be able to advance the cut also parallel to the guide rail. In order to ensure that the apparatus carriage can be shifted, the guide rail includes a profile, which usually is formed as a serrated slat. A feed mechanism, provided at the apparatus housing, engages the contacting edges of the serrated slat and ensures the desired adjustability of the position of the feed mechanism in the longitudinal direction of the guide rail. The feed mechanism can also be constructed so that it can be actuated manually, for example, by a gearwheel, which engages the serrated slat, and is driven by a crank handle. This solution usually is used in core drilling equipment. For concrete saws, the position of the saw carriage usually is adjusted automatically. For this purpose, for example, a gearwheel, which can be rotated automatically to the desired extent, protrudes from the side of the equipment housing, which faces the serrated slat. The teeth of the gearwheel and of the serrated slat, mutually engaging one another, ensure the desired adjustability of the position of the saw carriage along the guide rail.
In order to save weight, guide rails usually are formed of aluminum profiles, which are cast, rolled, drawn or produced in a similar manner. Supporting and guiding surfaces are provided at the seating ledges of a steel material, which is screwed onto the aluminum profile. The supporting ledges may be formed, for example, of a corrosion-resistant steel. The bolted connection with the aluminum profile also offers the possibility of changing the steel ledges when necessary. To prevent corrosion, the serrated slat usually is formed of a galvanized steel. The serrations usually are produced by milling. The separate serrated slat can also be bolted to the aluminum profile. The known guide rails are thus formed as composite constructions of aluminum profiles and steel parts. Numerous manufacturing steps are required in order to produce the individual parts. The installation of the rail is very complex and requires a large number of installation steps. The manufacture of these known guide rails is, therefore, very labor intensive, time consuming and expensive. In spite of being formed of an aluminum profile, the guide rail remains relatively heavy because of the steel parts that have been bolted to it. They are therefore usually available only in lengths of about 1 to 2.5 m, specified by the supplier. These lengths are a result of the total weight of the guide rails, which arises from that of the aluminum profiles and that of the installed steel parts. The length of the guide rails is selected so that the resulting rail weight is still tolerable for the user. The individual rail lengths produced by the assignee herein can be assembled to the desired length, as required.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to modify a guide rail for concrete saws or core drilling equipment in such a manner, that these disadvantages of the prior art rails are eliminated. A guide rail is to be provided, the manufacture of which is simplified. The number of expensive, preparatory manufacturing and installation steps is to be reduced. The handling of the guide rail is to be simplified for the user, in particular, the weight of the rails is to be reduced. At the same time, the requirement that the length of the rail can be adapted easily to that desired by the user is to be met.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
These and other objects of the present invention, which will become apparent hereinafter, are achieved by providing a guide rail for an apparatus for processing concrete or rock, especially for concrete saws or core drilling equipment, which has supporting and guiding surfaces, which extend in the longitudinal direction, for the apparatus housing. Parallel to the supporting and guiding surfaces, a profile extends with contacting edges for a feed mechanism provided at the processing equipment. The contacting edges are disposed at regular intervals from one another and extend transversely to the longitudinal direction of the rail. The guide rail is formed of a sheet metal profile, obtained by bending an elongate, bent part, punched out of sheet metal. The supporting and guiding surfaces and the profile for the advancing device are formed as one piece with the sheet metal profile.
Due to the one-piece construction of the guide rail as a sheet metal bent part, punched out of sheet metal, the number of processing steps, which are required for the manufacture, are clearly reduced. Sheet metal parts can be produced and worked easily. The preparatory work, such as cutting to size, punching or the like, can be carried out in one step, immediately prior to the bending step for producing the desired sheet metal profile. The guide rail can be produced in a continuous process by conventional sheet metal profiling equipment. With the shaping of the sheet metal profile, the supporting and guiding surfaces and the profile for the advancing mechanism of the equipment carriage are also produced. Expensive installation steps, such as the bolting on of steel strips or stainless steel serrated slats are omitted. The weight of the guide rail no longer represents the primary limiting factor for the length to which the rail is cut, since sheet metal profiles generally are relatively light. The sheet metal profiles can therefore be made available by the manufacturer in relatively large uniform length, which reduces storage costs and simplifies the logistics. In a later step, the guide rails can also be cut very easily by the user himself to a particular required length.
According to one embodiment of the invention, the contacting edges for the advancing mechanism are provided at crossbars, which are disposed at regular intervals from one another on a flat side of the sheet metal profile. Preferably, the crossbars are disposed between the supporting and guiding surfaces. For example, the crossbars can also protrude, be raised from the surface of the guide rail. The crossbars can be produced, for example, by stamping or punching the reverse side of the sheet metal profile.
In an advantageous embodiment of the present invention, the contacting edges are formed by crossbars, which are disposed in perforations of the sheet metal profile, which are provided at regular intervals from one another. Preferably, the perforations are made before the bending step, for example, by the stamping method. The perforations can also be made by milling. Finally, the possibility also exists of cutting th
Schittl Josef
Selb Michael
Banks Derris H.
Hilti Aktiengesellschaft
Shakeri Hadi
Sidley Austin Brown & Wood LLP
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