Chop saw with improved storage mode

The present invention relates to chop saws, and in particular, to a chop saw with an improved storage mode.

Chop saws and miter saws are commonly found on jobsites because of their versatility and ability to make cuts that other power tools cannot make quickly. Typically a chop saw has a base assembly and a saw assembly attached to the base that can be lowered into a cutting position. One such chop saw illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 6,272,960, which is fully incorporated herein by reference.

A miter saw is a chop saw that has a rotatable table in its base assembly for allowing miter cuts. Some miter saws, such as the one illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 5,297,463, which is fully incorporated herein by reference, have a beveling saw assembly, which allows bevel cuts, i.e., inclined cuts relative to the workpiece-supporting plane of the base assembly and/or table. In addition, in some miter saws, the saw assembly may beveled rightwardly and leftwardly from a zero-bevel position, i.e., 90 degrees relative to the workpiece-supporting plane. One such chop saw illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 7,252,027, which is fully incorporated herein by reference.

Referring to FIGS. 1-3 , the chop saw 10 has a base assembly 12 , which includes a rotatable table 14 . A fence assembly 16 is connected to base assembly 12 .

Saw assembly 18 is pivotally attached to table 14 . Saw assembly 18 includes a trunnion 17 which is rotatably connected to table 14 . Trunnion 17 carries a hinge 17 H. A pivot arm 19 is pivotably attached to hinge 17 H. Pivot arm 19 supports a motor 27 in a housing 27 H. Motor 27 is operably connected to a blade 22 for driving blade 22 . A transmission 29 may connect motor 27 to blade 22 .

An upper portion of blade 22 may be covered by an upper guard 23 , which is supported by pivot arm 19 . A movable lower guard 24 may be rotatably attached to upper guard 23 . Lower guard 24 covers a lower portion of blade 22 until the pivot arm 19 (and thus saw assembly 18 ) is moved downwardly in a chopping action. A linkage (not shown) moves lower guard 24 to expose the lower portion of blade 22 for cutting a workpiece.

Chop saw 10 has a handle 28 for lowering pivot arm 19 (and thus saw assembly 18 ) in the chopping action. In addition, chop saw 10 may have a carrying handle 26 .

One problem with prior art chop saws is that they may be unwieldy to carry. Users tend to carry them by holding the base assembly 12 with both hands ( FIG. 1 ), or carrying them by the carrying handle 26 ( FIG. 2 ). Because of the typical placement of components, when carrying chop saw 10 by the carrying handle 26 , the center of gravity CG tends to be misaligned and not directly underneath carrying handle 26 and/or the workpiece-supporting plane of base assembly 12 and/or table 14 is inclined, rather than substantially horizontal or substantially vertical.

Prior art chop saws tend to have a bulky envelope. Even when chop saw 10 is in its most compact form, a chop saw that carries a 12 inch (304.8 mm) blade would require a 660 mm×570 mm×385 mm (144,837 cubic centimeters) package 10 P or larger ( FIG. 3 ). Similarly, a chop saw that carries a 10 inch (254 mm) blade would require a 550 mm×475 mm×321 mm (83,861 cubic centimeters) package or larger.

FIG. 1 is a front view of a user transporting a prior art chop saw.

FIG. 2 is a rear view of a user transporting the prior art chop saw of FIG. 1 in another orientation.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the prior art chop saw of FIG. 1 in a package.

FIG. 4 illustrates the chop saw of the present invention, where FIGS. 4A-4B are front perspective views of the chop saw with the table rotated in first and second positions, respectively, and FIGS. 4C-4D are rear perspective views of the chop saw from two different angles.

FIG. 5 illustrates the opening of the top trunnion hinge, where FIG. 5A and FIG. 5F are perspective views of the beginning and end of the opening process, respectively, and FIGS. 5B-5E are perspective views of the intermediate steps therebetween.

FIG. 6 illustrates a latch mechanism in the top trunnion hinge, where FIGS. 6A-6B are partial perspective views of the latch mechanism in the latched and unlatched positions, respectively.

FIG. 7 illustrates an arm interlock mechanism, where FIGS. 7A-7B are partial perspective views of the arm interlock mechanism in the enabled position showing the latch in unlocked and locked positions, respectively, and FIG. 7C is a partial perspective view of the arm interlock mechanism in a blocked position.

FIG. 8 illustrates the closing of the top trunnion hinge, where FIG. 8A and FIG. 8D are partial cross-sectional views illustrating the beginning and end of the closing process, respectively, FIGS. 8B-8C are partial cross-sectional views illustrating the intermediate steps therebetween, and FIG. 8E is a partial cross-sectional view of the top trunnion hinge.

FIG. 9 illustrates the chop saw with the opened top trunnion hinge with the saw assembly in the unlatched and latched positions, where FIGS. 9A-90 are perspective, rear and front views, respectively, of the chop saw with the opened top trunnion hinge with the saw assembly in the unlatched position, and FIGS. 9D-9F are perspective, rear and front views, respectively, of the chop saw with the opened top trunnion hinge with the saw assembly in the latched position.

FIG. 10 illustrates the saw assembly latch, where FIGS. 10A-10B are partial perspective views of the chop saw with a storage latch assembly in the unlatched and latched positions, respectively, FIG. 100 is a perspective view of the storage latch assembly, and FIG. 10D is an exploded view of the storage latch assembly.

FIG. 11 is a rear view of a user transporting the chop saw of FIG. 4 , where FIGS. 11A-11B show the user transporting the chop saw in first and second transportation orientations, respectively.

FIG. 4 illustrates a chop saw 100 according to the invention, where like numerals refer to like parts. Chop saw 100 has a base assembly 12 , which may include a rotatable table 14 . A fence assembly 16 is connected to base assembly 12 .

Saw assembly 18 ′ is preferably pivotally attached to table 14 . Saw assembly 18 ′ includes a trunnion 40 which is preferably rotatably connected to table 14 . Trunnion 40 carries a hinge 40 H. A pivot arm 19 is pivotably attached to hinge 40 H. Pivot arm 19 may support a motor 27 in a housing 27 H. Motor 27 may be operably connected to a blade 22 for driving blade 22 . A transmission 29 may connect motor 27 to blade 22 .

An upper portion of blade 22 may be covered by an upper guard 23 , which is preferably supported by pivot arm 19 . A movable lower guard 24 may be rotatably attached to upper guard 23 . Lower guard 24 covers a lower portion of blade 22 until the pivot arm 19 (and thus saw assembly 18 ′) is moved downwardly in a chopping action. A linkage (not shown) moves lower guard 24 to expose the lower portion of blade 22 for cutting a workpiece.

Chop saw 10 has a handle 28 for lowering pivot arm 19 (and thus saw assembly 18 ′) in the chopping action. In addition, chop saw 10 may have a carrying handle 26 .

With such arrangement, the user can change the cutting plane, i.e., the plane of blade 22 , relative to the plane of fence assembly 16 by rotating table 14 (and thus saw assembly 18 ′) relative to base assembly 12 , i.e., mitering the saw assembly 18 ′. The user can fix the rotational position of table 14 by engaging a miter lock assembly 14 L, which is well known in the art.

The user may also change the cutting plane relative to the workpiece-supporting plane of base assembly 12 and/or table 14 by rotating the trunnion 40 (and thus saw assembly 18 ′) relative to table 14 , i.e., beveling the saw assembly 18 ′. The user can fix the rotational position of trunnion 40 by engaging a bevel lock assembly 40 L, which is well known in the art.

Referring to FIG. 5 (where pivot arm 19 , bevel lock assembly 40 L, table 14 and other components have been removed to allow better view of the remaining components), trunnion 40 has a trunnion body 41 with a top trunnion hinge 42 . A top trunnion 43 is pivotally attached to top trunnion hinge 42 . Preferably trunnion body 41 has a substantially horizontal surface 41 H which supports top trunnion 43 . Top trunnion 43 in turn carries hinge 40 H.

Top trunnion 43 can be rotated relative to trunnion body 41 about top trunnion hinge 42 . This would allow a user to rotate saw assembly 18 ′ from a position where the plane of blade 22 extends through table 14 for cutting (as shown in FIG. 4 ) to a position where the plane of blade 22 does not extend through table 14 (as shown in FIG. 9 ). Persons skilled in the art will recognize that, in such position, the plane of blade is substantially parallel to the workpiece-supporting plane of base assembly 12 and/or table 14 .

Persons skilled in the art will recognize that top trunnion 43 will rotate about an axis 42 A that is preferably on a parallel plane to the workpiece-supporting plane of base assembly 12 and/or table 14 . Axis 42 A may also be substantially perpendicular to the axis 40 A of hinge 40 H, and substantially parallel to the bevel axis 40 B.

A plate 44 may be used to limit the travel range of top trunnion 43 relative to trunnion body 41 . Referring to FIG. 5 , plate 44 may be pivotally attached to top trunnion 43 via a fastener 43 F. Plate 44 preferably has a slot 44 S through which a fastener 41 F on trunnion body 41 extends therethrough. With such arrangement, top trunnion 43 can rotate open about hinge 42 and stop when fastener 41 F reaches the end of slot 44 S.

FIGS. 5-6 show the locking mechanism 43 L used for maintaining top trunnion 43 in the closed position. Persons skilled in the art will recognize that top trunnion 43 has been removed in FIG. 6 to better illustrate the locking mechanism 43 L. Locking mechanism 43 L includes a bolt 43 LB that may be slidably disposed within top trunnion 43 . Bolt 43 LB preferably has a handle 43 LH to allow a user to move bolt 43 LB from a latched position (shown in FIG. 6A ) to an unlatched position (shown in FIG. 6B ).

Bolt 43 LB preferably engages a latch post 41 L and in particular a notch 41 LN thereon. A spring 43 LS disposed within top trunnion 43 preferably biases bolt 43 LB towards the latched position. Preferably bolt 43 LB has a ramp 43 LR that can contact a ramp 41 LR disposed on the latch post 41 L so that, as top trunnion 43 is moved towards the closed position of FIG. 5A , bolt 43 LB can moved towards the unlatched position as ramp 43 LR moves along ramp 41 LR, then snap towards the latched position because of the force provided by spring 43 LS.

Referring to FIGS. 6-7 , locking mechanism 43 L may also have an interlock mechanism for locking arm 19 to avoid a downward (i.e., chopping) motion when bolt 43 LB is moved towards the unlatched position. In particular, this means could be an arm lock 43 LA extending from bolt 43 LB. When bolt 43 LB is moved to the unlatched position, arm lock 43 LA slides into a notch 19 N in arm 19 (as shown in FIG. 7B ), preventing the rotation of arm 19 about hinge 40 H

Persons skilled in the art will recognize that when bolt 43 LB is in the latched position, arm 19 is able to rotate about hinge 40 H as arm lock 43 LA is not in notch 19 N (as shown in FIG. 7A ). Preferably, if the user rotates arm 19 downwardly, the user will not be able to unlatch bolt 43 LB as arm lock 43 LA will not be able to enter notch 19 N, as shown in FIG. 70 .

Referring to FIGS. 5-8 , top trunnion 43 may have a side plate 43 SP rotatably attached thereto. An adjustment screw 43 A may be disposed between side plate 43 SP and top trunnion 43 to set the desired rotational end position of side plate 43 SP relative to top trunnion 43 . Preferably adjustment screw 43 A is carried by side plate 43 SP.

Side plate 43 SP preferably carries an inclined pin 43 P which enters a channel 41 C in trunnion body 41 . An adjustment screw 41 A may extend into channel 41 C for contact with pin 43 P. With such arrangement, as the user rotates top trunnion 43 towards trunnion body 41 , pin 43 P can contact adjustment screw 41 A.

As pin 43 P slides along adjustment screw 41 A, it preferably rotates side plate 43 SP about hinge 40 H (and/or axis 40 A) to a desired position, until top trunnion 43 contacts trunnion body 41 and/or adjustment screw 43 A contacts top trunnion 43 . Furthermore, as pin 43 P slides along adjustment screw 41 A, top trunnion 43 may rotate with side plate 43 SP moving towards table 14 . Persons skilled in the art will recognize that the arrangement of pin 43 P and adjustment screws 41 A and/or 43 A assist in ensuring the alignment of and take up the play between the different elements of trunnion 40 .

As discussed above, trunnion 40 allows a user to rotate saw assembly 18 ′ from a position where the plane of blade 22 extends through table 14 for cutting (as shown in FIG. 4 ) to a position where the plane of blade 22 does not extend through table 14 (as shown in FIGS. 9A-C ). The user can minimize the size of chop saw 100 by rotating saw assembly 18 ′ about hinge 40 H towards the position shown in FIGS. 9D-9F . Persons skilled in the art will note that lower guard 24 preferably remains in a position covering a portion of saw blade 22 . This preferably occurs because a spring (not shown) disposed between lower guard 24 and upper guard 23 biases lower guard 24 towards the covering position. Lower guard 24 in turn pulls link 24 L, which in turn causes side plate 43 SP to rotate about hinge 40 H.

Referring to FIGS. 9-10 , it is preferable to lock saw assembly 18 ′ in the position of FIGS. 9D-9F . This can be accomplished by a storage latch assembly 50 , which is carried on saw assembly 18 ′, preferably adjacent to handle 28 . Saw assembly 18 ′ preferably has a housing 50 CH connected to a holder 50 C which carries a latch 50 L. A spring 50 S is preferably disposed between housing 50 CH and latch 50 L for biasing latch 50 L towards a latching position.

A handle 50 H may be disposed adjacent to handle 28 . Handle 50 H is preferably connected to latch 50 L for moving latch 50 L between a latched position and a retracted position.

As saw assembly 18 ′ is rotated from the position shown in FIGS. 9A-9C towards the position of FIGS. 9D-9F , latch 50 L can contact table 14 . Preferably table 14 has a ramp 14 R on which latch 50 L slides thereon. As the user continues to rotate saw assembly 18 ′, latch 50 L will then rotate along the workpiece-supporting portion of table 14 until it enters a hole 14 H disposed thereon. Because spring 50 S provides a biasing force, latch 50 L will enter hole 14 H, locking the position of saw assembly 18 ′.

In order to return chop saw 100 to its operating position (shown in FIG. 4 ), the user would move handle 50 H, retracting latch 50 L from hole 14 H, allowing the user to rotate saw assembly 18 ′ towards the position shown in FIGS. 9A-9C . The user would then rotate saw assembly 18 ′ about hinge 40 H (thus moving top trunnion 43 towards trunnion body 41 ).

Persons skilled in the art will recognize that, in the position shown in FIGS. 9D-9F , a chop saw that carries a 12 inch (304.8 mm) blade would require a 660 mm×500 mm×325 mm (107,250 cubic centimeters) package or larger, compared to the 660 mm×570 mm×385 mm (144,837 cubic centimeters) package 10 P of FIG. 3 . Similarly, a chop saw 100 that carries a 10 inch (254 mm) blade would require a 550 mm×417 mm×271 mm (62,154 cubic centimeters) package or larger, compared to the 550 mm×475 mm×321 mm (83,861 cubic centimeters) package required for a prior art chop saw.

Referring to FIG. 11 , it may be preferable to attach posts 12 P to base assembly 12 . Preferably, the longitudinal axes of posts 12 P are substantially parallel to the mitering axis and/or substantially perpendicular to the workpiece-supporting plane of base assembly 12 and/or table 14 (and to the blade plane, when saw assembly 18 ′ is in the position of FIG. 9 ). With such arrangement, the user can place a chop saw 100 on the floor in the orientation shown in FIG. 11 , i.e., with the workpiece-supporting plane of base assembly 12 and/or table 14 substantially perpendicular to the floor.

It is preferable that carrying handle 26 be configured to be gripped by a palmar surface of the hand 92 of a user 94 when the user 94 is transporting chop saw 100 . Carrying handle 26 may have a grip portion 26 G that is contoured to receive the fingers of the user 94 when the user 94 is transporting chop saw 100 . Grip portion 26 G is preferably formed about a center line that lies in (or is positionable into) a plane 101 that includes the center of gravity CG′ of chop saw 100 .

Persons skilled in the art will recognize that chop saw 100 , when used for cutting a workpiece, will be disposed on a plane 102 . Referring to FIG. 11A , since the center of gravity CG′ is relative close to the plane 102 , the user 94 is able to transport the chop saw 100 such that plane 102 is proximate a lateral side of the user 94 (i.e., within about 10 inches of the lateral side, and preferably about 3 inches to about 7 inches) and the user's wrist 92 W is not in a state of flexion. With the carrying handle 26 so positioned, the user 94 is able to comfortably carry the chop saw 100 . Persons skilled in the art will also recognize that the user can also transport chop saw 100 in the orientation shown in FIG. 11B , where the center of gravity CG′ is disposed between plane 102 and the lateral side of the user.

The description of the invention is merely exemplary in nature and, thus, variations that do not depart from the gist of the invention are intended to be within the scope of the invention. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the scope of the invention.