Patent Application
20160101473
Not Applicable
Not Applicable
Not Applicable
1. Field of the invention
This invention relates to improvements in a drill jig for installing puck lights. More particularly, the present drill jig provides a complete solution for drilling a hole for a puck light and drilling a parallel hole in the shelf or wall for routing wiring to the puck light hole.
2. Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98.
Installing lighting under cabinets can take a variety of different types. Puck lights are one typical type of lighting. Installing the lighting requires that the puck light is placed on the surface of the wall or shelf where the wiring is exposed on the outer surface of the wall or shelf. Another method is to place the puck light of one side of the shelf or wall and place a hole through the wall or shelf where the wiring is placed on the back side of the wall or shelf. In both of these cases exposed wiring is on an outer surface of the cabinet. Because each installation is unique for the location of the puck light on the wall or shelf the only way to conceal wiring in a shelf or cabinet requires a hole to be drilled parallel to the thickness of the shelf or wall.
There have been some drilling jigs or guides for placing one or more holes through doors or shelves, but these do not provide adjustments for placing the holes for puck lighting at nearly any location on a wall or shelf. A number of patents and or publications have been made to address these issues. Exemplary examples of patents and or publication that try to address this /these problem(s) are identified and discussed below.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,798,520 issued on Jul. 9, 1957 to J. M. Maskulka et al., discloses a Drill Guide. This drill guide has a plurality of cylindrical passageways for drilling two parallel holes. The parallel holes allow for insertion of dowels for securing corners of a picture frame. While this patent provides a drill guide, there are no adjustments on the drill guide for the dimensions between the drilled holes and further does not allow for drilling the two holes orthogonal to each other.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,910,837 issued on Jun. 28, 2005 to David J. Trettin et al discloses a Lockset Drilling Guide. The drilling guide provides for drilling two orthogonal holes for insertion of a door knob and latch mechanism. There are no adjustments for the dimensions between the two holes, and the two holes are used with circular saws to make the holes. Because door locksets have the same geometry the only adjustment is how for the holes are made from one end of the door. The hole for the door knobs are through holes and do not include a method to drill a finite depth for insertion of a puck light into a recessed hole.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,073,990 issued on Jul. 11, 2006 to Ursula Poeckl discloses a Dowel Gauge. The dowel gauge has a single drill guide hole with indicia for moving the single drill guide for drilling additional holes at the same distance apart. The dowel gauge in re-positioned to drill opposing holes for the dowel holes. While this provides a drill guide it does not include a guide for drilling a recessed hole for insertion of a light puck.
What is needed is a drill jig that allows an installer to drill a recessed hole and an orthogonal hole for wiring. The proposed adjustable LED puck light drill jig provides the solution with an adjustable jig where puck light can be repeatedly placed at a desired location in a wall of shelf.
It is an object of the adjustable LED puck light drill jig to allow for drilling a hole for a LED puck light. The drilling of the hole for the puck light is made to a finite depth into the wall or shelf. The finite depth allows the puck light to be recessed into the wall or shelf without protruding into the other side of the wall or shelf and also reduces the amount of exposure of the puck light. A stop of a forstner or similar hole drilling bit is used to create a round hole with a flat smooth finished bottom surface where the LED puck light is inserted.
It is an object of the adjustable LED puck light drill jig to drill a hole parallel to the surface of a wall or shelf. The drill guide is pre-aligned with the hole for the puck light. The drill guide is further aligned with the centerline of the wall or shelf to provide a maximum amount of material on both sides of the wall or shelf. An installer drills the hole through to the hole created for the puck light. Wiring can then be placed through this parallel hole to provide electricity to an installed puck light.
It is another object of the adjustable LED puck light drill jig to be adjustable to distance from the back of the wall or shelf. Each installation can be located a different distance from a front or back side and can include multiple puck lights spaced along a shelf, wall or ceiling. Often the location is dictated by a customer or lighting requirements. The depth of the shelf or wall can also be a variable. The drill jig has adjustments so the dimensions between multiple pick lights is consistent and repeatable.
It is still another object of the adjustable LED puck light drill jig to have a chip relief area to clear material that has been removed by the drill. Because the length of the drill guide can be long to ensure that the drill passes parallel to the sides of the shelf, wall or side of cabinet, material that is removed from the drill must be transported from the tip of the drill to a location outside of the drill guide. The drill guide has a relief for removed material to be expelled rather than transporting the material to the extreme end of the drill guide.
Various objects, features, aspects, and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments of the invention, along with the accompanying drawings in which like numerals represent like components.
The hole guide 20 is secured to the guide rail 40 with a nut 32 that is retained on one side of the guide rail 40 and a bolt 31 connected to a tightening knob 30 or handle that is turned to pull the nut 32 and clamp or sandwich the hole guide 20 to the guide rail 40. The guide rail 40 is an elongated member with an elongated slot 41 that runs parallel to the sides of the guide rail 40. The elongated slot 41 allows the hole guide 20 to be moved along the guide rail 40 to a desired distance from an edge of a shelf wall or cabinet. The location of the hole 20 can be moved and located to any position between either of two extreme ends 42 and 43 of the guide rail 40. At one end of the guide rail 40 is a fixed guide 50 for drilling an elongated hole for to route wire to a recessed hole for a puck light that is drilled at hole 22.
The fixed guide 50 has a rectangular plate with a step having a surface 51 that is placed on the parallel surface of a shelf or cabinet where the puck light will be installed, and a vertical wall 52, step or stop for locating the edge of the cabinet or shelf. A mark or indicia 53 identifies the centerline for drilling the wiring hole. A plurality of securing hardware members 54 secure the bottom plate 50 to the guide rail 40.
A top plate 70 is secured to the rectangular plate. Two drill guides 73 and 74 are located between the bottom plate 50 and the top plate 70. Securing hardware 71 secures the top plate 70 to the bottom plate 50. The securing hardware 71 allows the bottom plate 50 and the top plate 70 to be separated to replace the drill guides 73 and 74. The top plate 70 has a clearance opening 72 for chips to be expelled from between the two drill guides 73 and 74. The clearance opening 72 create a shorter path for removed (drilled) wood to be ejected before being transferred down the entire length of both drill guides.
The bottom plate 50 is aligned with the centerline 53 where the puck light will be placed. The marking location on the cabinet or shelf 100 can be pre-placed on the cabinet or shelf 100 for placement of the puck light. The handle 33 is loosened to set the location of the hole 22 along the length of the guide rail 40. A mark 18 on the surface of the cabinet or shelf 100 is aligned with the mark or indicia 23 on the hole guide 20. This adjustment sets the dimension 17 between the edge of the cabinet or shelf 100 and where the recessed hole 22 will be placed. The handle 33 (or a knob as previously shown) is tightened to lock the location of the hole guide 20 in the elongated slot 41 in the guide rail 40. Once the dimensions are set, the adjustable LED puck light drill jig 10 is clamped onto the shelf or cabinet with clamps 90 and 91 at opposing sides of the adjustable LED puck light drill jig 10.
The securing mechanism 86 is loosened to move the guide on the forstner drill to achieve the desired recess depth 101. The guide can then be tightened to set the depth of the recess that will be drilled or cut into the shelf or cabinet. The top of the guide has openings 88 for removal of chips or sawdust as the recess is cut. The openings 88 are shown in
Thus, specific embodiments of an adjustable LED puck light drill jig have been disclosed. It should be apparent, however, to those skilled in the art that many more modifications besides those described are possible without departing from the inventive concepts herein. The inventive subject matter, therefore, is not to be restricted except in the spirit of the appended claims.
This application is a continuation-in-part of applicant's co-pending application Ser. No. 62/061,272 filed Oct. 8, 2014 the entire contents of which is hereby expressly incorporated by reference herein.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62061272 | Oct 2014 | US |
