Cutting – With work immobilizer – Work-stop abutment
Reexamination Certificate
1998-08-19
2002-03-26
Young, Lee (Department: 3729)
Cutting
With work immobilizer
Work-stop abutment
C083S438000, C083S477200, C369S300000, C369S300000, C369S300000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06360642
ABSTRACT:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
Not applicable.
STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT
Not applicable.
TECHNICAL FIELD AND INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to workpiece guides and, more particularly, to workpiece guides for cutting devices such as, for example, powered table saws. The present invention may be suitably adapted for use in connection with any device having a saw blade or other cutting member and wherein a workpiece is advanced into the cutting member in a controlled manner. Examples of possible applications of the workpiece guide of the present invention include use as a workpiece rip fence for a powered table saw.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Several known cutting devices include a cutting member such as, for example, a saw blade, that is at least partially surrounded by a workpiece support surface. In such devices, a workpiece is advanced along the workpiece support surface and into the driven cutting member to cut the workpiece. A familiar example of such a device is a powered table saw, which includes a rotating circular saw blade that is surrounded by a generally planar workpiece support surface or “saw table” on which the operator slides the workpiece so as to contact the saw blade.
In order to accurately cut the workpiece to the desired dimensions, workpiece guides and other workpiece positioning devices are known. For example, miter gauges, rip fences, and workpiece jigs are available to accurately position a wooden workpiece relative to the saw blade of a table saw. Rip fence workpiece guides have long been used on table saws for providing a fixed guide surface against which the wooden workpiece can be positioned and advanced during ripping operations. Generally, known rip fences have included an elongated fence member having two opposed, parallel faces that extend across the saw table from the front of the saw (i.e., adjacent the typical position of the operator of the saw) to the rear of the saw and generally parallel to the plane of the circular saw blade. The rip fences have themselves been secured either solely to a guide bar attached and extending parallel to the front of the saw table or to a set of guide bars, one guide bar attached to each of the front and the back of the saw table. Commonly, the front guide bar includes a measuring scale so that the operator may ascertain the distance between the rip fence and the saw blade or other cutting member. Ripping of a workpiece may be conducted by advancing the workpiece into the cutting member along the saw table on either side of (i.e., to the left or right of) the cutting member therefore, and the guide bars typically extend along the saw table to either side of the cutting member so that the rip fence may be mounted at positions to the left and right of the cutting member.
An example of a rip fence that is secured solely to the front guide bar of a table saw is that described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,600,184, the entire disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference. The rip fence of the '184 patent, which is partially shown in attached
FIG. 9
, includes a fence receiving member
10
and a workpiece fence
14
in the form of an elongated body having a number of workpiece guide surfaces on which a workpiece may by advanced during ripping operations. To accommodate placement of the '184 patent's rip fence to either side of the cutting member, the workpiece fence
14
may be releasably secured to either side of the fence receiving member
10
by a workpiece fence attachment system including knobs
16
, fasteners
20
, and plate
26
. By threadedly advancing knobs
16
onto threaded fasteners
20
disposed through fence receiving member
10
, wall
24
of the fence
14
may be securely clamped between the fence receiving member
10
and plate
26
. The knobs
16
, fasteners
20
, and plate
26
are shown in
FIG. 9
in positions appropriate for placement of the rip fence of the '184 patent to the right side of the cutting member, as that position is viewed from the typical position of an operator standing in front of the table saw. When ripping stock on the opposite side of the cutting member, the knobs
16
are unthreaded from the fasteners
20
, the fasteners
20
are removed from the fence receiving member
10
, and the orientation of the fasteners
20
and plate
26
is reversed so that the plate
26
is positioned on the opposite side of the fence receiving member
10
. The workpiece fence
14
is then repositioned so that wall
24
is disposed between the plate
26
and the fence receiving member
10
, but on the opposite side of the fence receiving member
10
. The knobs
16
are then re-threaded securely onto the fasteners
20
so that the wall
24
is secured between the plate
26
and the fence receiving member
10
.
Although the rip fence of the '184 patent allows the fence and its workpiece guide surface to be positioned on either side of the cutting member, repositioning the fence from one to another side of the fence receiving member requires unthreading the knobs
16
and reversing the arrangement of the knobs
16
, fasteners
20
, and plate
26
. When a series of workpieces are being ripped on alternate sides of the cutting member, the unthreading and repositioning procedure may need to be repeated a number of times. Therefore, it may be desirable to reduce the time and number of steps that is required to reposition the workpiece fence of the rip fence.
Accordingly, it would be advantageous to provide a table saw rip fence having a positionable workpiece guide surface that may be quickly and easily repositioned to allow ripping on opposite sides of the table saw's cutting member. More generally, and because a rip fence only represents one possible adaptation of a workpiece guide, it would in a broader sense be advantageous to provide a workpiece guide having a positionable workpiece guide surface that may be quickly and easily repositioned. Thus, a need exists for an improved workpiece guide providing such advantages.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention addresses the forgoing needs, among others, by providing an improved workpiece guide including a fence receiving member having first and second sides. A first mounting member is disposed adjacent the first side, and a second mounting member is disposed adjacent the second side. An attachment system is mounted on the fence receiving member and is connected to both the first and second mounting members, and the attachment system may selectively simultaneously bias the first mounting member toward the fence receiving member's first side and the second mounting member toward the fence receiving member's second side.
In one embodiment, the attachment system includes a plurality of linking members and at least one link receiving member. A first linking member is connected to the first mounting member, a second linking member is connected to the second mounting member, and both the first and the second linking members are connected to the link receiving member. The link receiving member may be manipulated to selectively simultaneously bias the first and second mounting members toward the link receiving member. Preferably, rotation of the link receiving member selectively simultaneously biases the first and second mounting members toward the link receiving member.
The workpiece guide of the present invention also may include a fence having a workpiece guide surface and an attachment portion. The attachment portion may be positioned intermediate the first mounting member and the first side of the fence receiving member or, in the alternative, intermediate the second mounting member and the second side. The link receiving member is manipulated, and preferably is rotated, to selectively secure the attachment portion of the fence in the selected intermediate position. In that way, the fence may be secured against one of the first side and the second side of the fence receiving member.
The present invention also is di
Miller David
Stanford Kim Dewayne
Chang Rick Kiitae
Delta International Machinery Corp.
Kirkpatrick & Lockhart LLP
Young Lee
LandOfFree
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