Abrading – Frame or mount – Rotary tool supporter
Reexamination Certificate
2002-03-02
2003-09-23
Nguyen, Dung Van (Department: 3723)
Abrading
Frame or mount
Rotary tool supporter
C451S449000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06623342
ABSTRACT:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
not applicable
STATEMENT RE: FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH/DEVELOPMENT
not applicable
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to hand tools, and more particularly, to an accessory for supporting and thereby enhancing the use and performance of hand tools during material processing of a substrate.
2. Description of the Related Art
Hand tools, especially power-assisted hand tools are well known and widely used in the construction, retrofitting or repair of solid surfaces and articles, such as by the selective removal of material in order to produce a desired contour, relief, conformation or shape as by grinding or sanding. For example, a builder may selectively grind a groove into a concrete surface to form a thermal relief, or sand some wood from a beam in order to produce a neat fit, or grind or sand away a contour to smooth or reconfigure a surface or edge. The procedure of such selective removal, particularly if carried out by abrasive means, involves the expenditure of considerable physical effort, as the required grinder or sander itself may have considerable weight, is typically awkward and clumsy to work with, without benefit of a stabilizing platform or guide not common to such hand tools, and contrary to the need for compactness and portability. Over the course of performing what is typically a physically arduous task in oftentimes challenging work environments, there is an increased possibility of reduced accuracy and consistency in providing the grinding/sanding operation because of the lack of a stabilizing or guiding platform.
More specifically, hand-held tools and especially power tools such as disc grinders employ grinding wheels and cut-off wheels with grinding surfaces or sharpened cutting edges or teeth for grinding, sanding, or cutting all manner of stone, masonry, wood and other material that may be provided in block, sheet, slab or other forms. For example, disc grinders may be used to cut slotted or grooved reliefs at predetermined intervals in solid surfaces such as concrete to serve as stress reliefs during curing and thereafter when the concrete may expand and contract in response to thermal loads provided internally during curing and externally in response to environmental factors. Slots and grooves may be cut through the thickness of the concrete slab to serve as expansion/contraction joints. Alternatively, the slab may be provided with grooves to a subsurface depth, but not the complete depth of the slab for several purposes. One purpose is to serve as scoring lines for separation or demolition purposes. Another purpose is to serve as localized centers for cracking and crazing within the slot so provided, thereby minimizing or preventing the appearance of thermal cracking/crazing at the surface of the slab. Such hand tools may also be used for shaping and cutting other hard and durable material in sheet, slab or other forms, both natural and artificial, including granite, marble, stone and wood, as well as artificially formed materials including slab or sheet stock of solid surfacing materials commonly used for applications including but not limited to foundations, flooring, counter tops, and roofing. Due to the nature of these applications, conventional portable, hand-held power tools are necessarily built with a strong and durable construction, and are hence heavy and cumbersome, requiring significant strength, agility and endurance by the technician or operator for continuing use especially on extended or elaborate projects.
An important problem in the related art, as noted above, is that the technician must continuously balance the tool while guiding it during the material processing operation for essentially the entirety of the cut, so that the grinding wheel remains in substantially the same orientation while in contact with the underlying substrate to achieve the desired cut. The nature of this work again requires considerable strength, endurance and precision, and even a slight loss of any of these attributes by the technician or operator typically results in waste and spoilage of the stock material being cut, in addition to the lost labor and commensurate losses in production time and output. This problem is especially acute in the concrete cutting industry, where the substrate being worked is often large cast-in-place slabs for which inaccurate scored relief lines and grooves can materially and negatively affect subsequent construction requirements, and wherein the cutting saws may be of commercial grade with a commensurately greater weight than those saws provided on the consumer retail level. A related problem is maintaining an accurate cut when guiding the power tool over a surface featuring undulations or other features that challenges the technician or operator in maintaining a perfect cut through the substrate.
Accordingly, there exists a need for an apparatus that enhances the use and performance of portable power tools used in all manner of performing cuts, slots and grooves, and overcomes the substantial shortcomings of the prior art, while maintaining portability and compactness of the portable power tool.
OBJECTS AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for supporting and stabilizing a portable power tool saw to improve operating precision.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an improvement for supporting a portable power tool that may easily and conveniently be retrofitted to conventional portable power tools such as power disc grinders, sanders, and other hand-held power tools for which improved and consistent handling characteristics are desirable.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an improvement for supporting a portable power tool that is easily and readily affixed and removed by the professional and amateur alike, and once properly installed with the cutting saw, provides consistent cutting results irrespective of a user's strength or endurance.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a support accessory for a power hand tool that is operably affixed to and supported by the hand tool in a manner that negligibly effects its portability and compactness.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a power hand tool constructed with the present invention.
According to the present invention, an accessory for a power hand tool overcomes the shortcomings of the related art by providing a rolling support structure that enhances ease of handling and operation of the power hand tool for supporting and carrying the hand tool over a substrate at a user-selected or preselected working depth or height of the disc grinder or sander or similar material processor. The accessory includes a support bracket having a longitudinal axis, for attachment to a portion of the housing at an intermediate to position of the support bracket, and a pair of low-friction surface engaging devices such as rollers secured to the support bracket at mounting locations longitudinally separated from the intermediate attachment position. As is common to many power hand tools, the tool housing includes a cylindrical housing portion through which the drive shaft extends for supporting the disc grinding wheel or sanding wheel. The inventive apparatus thus includes a corresponding concavity for being installed about the cylindrical portion of the housing in nesting relationship with a clearance fit or sliding fit therebetween to allow for angular adjustment therebetween.
A curvilinear fastener slot is provided in the support bracket parallel to and radially outwardly spaced from the concavity of the support bracket, and is used to secure the support bracket to the housing at a desired position, when the power tool is adjusted to the desired angular position and vertical height relative to the substrate to be processed, by a fastener securing the support bracket to the housing. Additionally, the rollers are carried on axles supported by
Nguyen Dung Van
Pearl Abrasive Company
Rosenberg Marshall E.
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