Cutting by use of rotating axially moving tool – With work-engaging structure other than tool or tool-support – Having tool-opposing – work-engaging surface
Reexamination Certificate
1999-09-28
2001-07-24
Bishop, Steven C. (Department: 3722)
Cutting by use of rotating axially moving tool
With work-engaging structure other than tool or tool-support
Having tool-opposing, work-engaging surface
C269S131000, C081S065200, C408S112000, C408S712000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06264406
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to the art of tools for performing work on a pipe and, more particularly, to a tool support for mounting a working tool on a pipe.
The present invention finds particular utility in connection with the mounting of a hole cutting tool on a pipe for drilling or cutting a hole therein and, accordingly, will be disclosed and discussed in detail in connection with such a tool. At the same time, it will be appreciated that the invention is applicable to the mounting of tools other than hole saws on a pipe upon which work is to be performed.
It is of course well known to provide a support for mounting a working tool such as a hole saw, drill or the like on a pipe through the use of a chain-type clamping arrangement in which a chain extends about the pipe between opposite ends of the support and is adjustable to releasably clamp the support on the pipe. Such supports heretofore available are shown, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 2,281,366 to Metcalf and U.S. Pat. No. 2,585,343 to Newlon and are used in connection with a hole cutting tool available from the Ridge Tool Company of Elyria, Ohio under the latter's product designation Model HC-450. In these clamping arrangements, one end of the chain is anchored to an adjusting screw component and the other or free end of the chain is adapted to be adjustably interengaged with a holding component to allow the support to be mounted on pipes having different diameters. When the free end of the chain is interengaged with the holding component, the screw mechanism is rotated to tighten the chain about the pipe and thus clampingly engage the support thereon.
A major disadvantage of clamping arrangements of the foregoing character resides in the fact that it is difficult for a single worker to position the support and tool on a pipe and interengage the free end of the chain with the support to establish a preliminary mounted condition in which the operator can rotate the adjusting screw mechanism to tighten the chain and complete the mounting. In this respect, the operator must rest the support and tool on the pipe and stabilize the support and tool with one hand while using the other hand to move the free end of the chain under the pipe to the opposite side of the support and achieve interengagement of the free end of the chain with the holding component. If the pipe is of large diameter and/or at an elevation which requires the operator to stoop down or reach upwardly to manipulate the support, tool and chain, the difficulty of stabilizing the assembly with one hand and moving the chain with the other is optimized. In any event, engaging the free end of the chain with the holding component often must be achieved by “feel” as opposed to being able to observe relative displacement between the chain and holding component.
Another disadvantage with regard to such clamping chain arrangements is that the initial interengagement of the free end of the chain with the holding component results in the chain being loose to the extent that the operator must continue to stabilize the assembly with one hand until the chain is tightened through operation of the adjusting screw. In this respect, the holding component generally engages between adjacent chain rolls or roll pins extending from axially opposite sides of a link and the space between adjacent rolls or pins in the direction of the length of the chain is such that one roll or set of pins will not reach the holding component and the next adjacent ones that will result in the chain sagging away from engagement with the pipe. Accordingly, until the operator takes the slack out of the chain by rotating the adjusting screw, he or she must continue to stabilize the support and tool against displacement circumferentially of the pipe. Such support and tool assemblies are quite heavy and the difficulty with respect to stabilizing the assembly while rotating the adjusting screw increases as the diameter of the pipe decreases. Accordingly, it will be appreciated that considerable effort is required on the part of an operator to stabilize the support and tool when the assembly weighs more than 40 pounds and the diameter of the pipe can be as small as 1¼ inch as is possible in connection with use of the aforementioned Ridge Tool hole cutting tool.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In accordance with the present invention, a tool support for mounting a working tool on a pipe is provided which minimizes or overcomes the foregoing and other disadvantages of such supports heretofore available. More particularly in accordance with the present invention, a tool support having a chain-type clamping arrangement for mounting the support on a pipe minimizes the stabilizing effort required on the part of an operator in connection with displacing the free end of the chain into engagement with the holding component prior to operation of the adjusting screw to tighten the chain about the pipe. Moreover, the clamping arrangement in accordance with the present invention provides for the free end of the chain and the holding component to be visible to the operator, thus to optimize the ease with which the interengagement can be achieved. More particularly, these advantages are achieved by anchoring one end of the chain to the side of the support opposite the adjusting screw assembly and providing the holding component on the latter assembly, whereby an operator can reach beneath the pipe, pull the free end of the chain toward the adjusting mechanism and engage the chain with the holding component thereon and then rotate the adjusting mechanism to tighten the chain, all of which requires less effort on the part of the operator than that required in connection with the clamping arrangements heretofore available.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, the end of the chain which is anchored to the support is interengaged therewith through an arrangement for biasing the chain against displacement in the direction of tensioning of the chain when operating the adjusting components to tighten the chain about a pipe. Accordingly, when the free end of the chain is moved into interengagement with the holding component, the biasing arrangement provides for such interengagement to result in the chain engaging with the pipe as opposed to sagging relative thereto following the initial mounting operation. Accordingly, the stabilizing effort on the part of the operator is minimized in connection with subsequent displacement of the adjusting mechanism to tightly clamp the support on the pipe.
In accordance with yet another aspect of the invention, an improved chain mountable support and pipe working tool arrangement is provided in which the tool is interengaged with the support by a release arrangement which advantageously enables the tool and support to be carried as a unit to a working site and quickly separated if desired to facilitate mounting of the support on a pipe independent of the tool, and then accommodates quick mounting of the tool on the support for use. The release arrangement advantageously optimizes the options available to an operator in connection with mounting the support and tool assembly on a pipe and in this respect, for example, allows the operator to separate the tool from the support and mount the latter on a pipe with minimum effort being required to stabilize the support relative to the pipe as a result of eliminating the weight and physical bulk of the pipe working tool. Further in accordance with this aspect of the invention, the tool is provided with a carrying handle structurally associated therewith in a manner whereby the tool and support can be carried as a unit in which the location of the handle and the weight distribution relative thereto optimize the ease with which the unit can be lifted and carried and the comfort of an operator in doing so. Moreover, the handle likewise facilitates the ease of lifting and maneuvering the tool during mounting thereof on the support.
It is accordingly an outstanding object of the present invention to provide an
Baracskai Robert M.
Bowles Richard R.
Bishop Steven C.
Emerson Electric Co.
Vickers Daniels & Young
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