Cutlery – Cutting tools – Adjustable blade
Reexamination Certificate
1998-11-25
2001-11-27
Young, Lee (Department: 3729)
Cutlery
Cutting tools
Adjustable blade
C030S340000, C007S100000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06321455
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND
This invention relates to methods and devices for removing the windshield from an automobile, and in particular to a hand held device for effectively cutting the sealant employed to secure the windshield in place.
In current automobile manufacturing practice the windshield is affixed to the automobile by being placed between the interior body portion of the automobile and an exterior molding, with a tough, reliable sealant, usually a urethane formulation, adhesively securing the windshield in place. To remove a windshield from an automobile, which is necessary when a windshield has been damaged or is to be recovered as salvage, this tough sealant material must be efficiently cut through to effect a clean removal of the windshield from the vehicle. To compound the problem of windshield removal, since 1990 the aerodynamic design of most vehicles has increased the curvature of the body of the automobile, including the area into which the windshield is affixed. In a number of late model automobiles the windshield actually wraps around the bottom side of the pillar posts.
Many methods and devices have been suggested in the past to aid in this vexing problem of windshield removal as is evident from the patent literature. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,622,093, issued Apr. 22, 1997, a suction cup assembly
12
(
FIG. 5
) is affixed to the interior of a windshield with an attached cutting wire
18
(
FIG. 5
) being threaded through the windshield seal, the wire then being manipulated in a reciprocal motion so as to cut through the seal. Again, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,995,153, issued Feb. 26, 1991, two wire end gripping devices
14
(
FIG. 1
) are described for securing the ends of a cutting wire
12
(
FIG. 1
) being utilized to cut through the seal securing a windshield to an automobile frame.
Cutting knives attached to power sources have also been employed as is evident from U.S. Pat. No. 4,955,124, issued Sep. 11, 1990. This patent teaches the use of a cutting blade
18
attached to a slightly curved rigid sheath
24
, which in turn is connected to a source of power
12
(FIG.
1
), such as a portable jig saw. In this manner the cutting blade contacts the polyurethane seal and severs the seal without breaking the windshield. Another potentially power driven cutting knife is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,395,825, issued Aug. 2, 1983. This patent teaches the use of an elongated, flexible blade
1
(
FIG. 1
) secured within a holder
2
, said holder being adapted for either gripping with a handle
15
or with a hammer stem
8
being connected to a reciprocating power tool
18
(FIG.
4
). In this manner the blade is used to cut the elastomeric strip bonding the windshield to the vehicle.
Hand held devices are, of course, commonly employed in windshield removal applications as is evident by U.S. Pat. No. 4,694,576, issued Sep. 22, 1987. This patent teaches the use of a U shaped blade
16
(
FIG. 3
) attached to an elongated shaft
14
with a handle
12
to facilitate the removal of excess urethane sealant from the outer edges of an automobile windshield. Again, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,400,512, issued Mar. 28, 1995, a trapezoidal cutting blade
30
(
FIG. 2
) is secured within a head portion
20
(
FIG. 1
) attached to a neck
50
and body portion
12
of a generally tubular shaft. The neck portion is extendable from the body portion, and the cutting blade is pivotable up and down in the direction of the plane in which the body portion if being held. The device is intended for removing windshield molding from a vehicle.
While the above noted devices and methods provide useful means for vehicle windshield removal, they do not envisage the economy in fabrication and the simplicity of operation of the present invention.
It is therefore a primary object of the present invention to provide a new and improved knife for procedures involving removing a windshield from a vehicle.
An additional object of the present invention is to provide a knife to be employed in vehicle windshield removal that is economical to manufacture.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a knife to be employed in vehicle windshield removal wherein the knife blade is replaceable and the cutting surface of the blade is length adjustable.
Another object of the invention is to provide a pivotable cutting blade for rapid and efficient cutting of the adhesive bond between the frame of a vehicle and a curved windshield.
SUMMARY
These and other objects are obtained by the windshield remover knife and method of the present invention.
As noted above, cutting through the tough, adhesive bond between a windshield and other glass windows within a vehicle has traditionally been a time consuming and vexing procedure for the automobile mechanic. Understandably automobile manufacturers are primarily concerned with the structural integrity of the vehicle, particularly as it concerns a roll over or frontal collision. This remains true even as style dictates ever more curved windshields for both domestic and foreign automobiles.
A standard windshield removal operation in the past comprised three steps. A first step involved removing the existing molding. The second step is to cut out the top and sides of the adhesive bonding between the windshield and the automobile frame, usually employing what is known as a “cold knife”. The third step involved using what is known as a “long knife”. The procedure is to get inside the vehicle with the mechanic then using his or her head to press against the windshield, raising the windshield just enough to start cutting the bottom corners.
As can be imagined from the above description this procedure left much to be desired, and especially so with the newer, highly curved windshield designs. It occurred that in this third step if the knife blade could be pivoted at just the right angle relative to the shaft holding the blade the procedure could be done comfortably for the mechanic, and in a fraction of the time previously required.
This thought process has led to the development of the windshield remover knife of the present invention. A knife has been devised comprising an elongated, rectangularly shaped box like shaft attached to a pivotally connected neck portion in which a trapezoidally shaped, commercially available knife blade is secured. The neck portion has a removable block portion, which, when removed, creates a slot for the insertion of the blade into the neck portion. The trapezoidally shaped blade has a sharpened bottom edge, and a top edge containing two notches a spaced distance apart. When the blade is positioned in the slot within the neck portion, the block portion then fits into the slot. A hole in the neck portion matches a threaded hole in the block portion enabling a screw to firmly secure the neck portion, blade, and block portion together. A second hole through the neck portion and block portion permits the placement of a locking pin in one of the two notches in the top edge of the blade so that a greater or lesser amount of the cutting edge of the blade is exposed beyond the neck portion for actual cutting operations.
The neck portion and shaft portion of the knife are pivotally connected together at one end of the shaft and the end of the neck portion opposite the tip of the exposed cutting edge portion of the blade. The union of the shaft and the neck portion can be effected by means of two projections on the face portion of this end of the shaft, with the neck portion end face having two matching slots to receive the two shaft end projections. The two shaft end projections have virtually the same O.D. as the I.D. of the slots so that a tight, frictional fit is secured when the end projections are placed within the slots. Vertically aligned, matching holes in the two shaft end projections match up with a hole in each of the upper shelves above each of the two slots in the neck portion end face. An aligning pin can now be placed in the matching shelves and projection holes which now secures the neck portion and shaft portion of the knife securely together. Depen
Quast, Esq. W. Patrick
Young Lee
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