The present invention relates to tools for removing glass which is sealed in place with a peripheral bead of sealant, particularly auto glass. The invention encompasses a tool which may be used to place a cutting wire through the bead of sealant in the glass installation. The cutting wire may then be used to cut the sealant bead around the periphery of the glass to facilitate removing the glass.
Cutting wire systems have been used in numerous applications to cut through a material which may be difficult to reach with other types of cutting implements. For example, wire saws include a length of cutting wire which may be held at either end by a suitable handle. The handles may be used to move the cutting wire in a sawing motion across the material to be cut. U.S. Pat. No. 4,995,153 shows an example of a wire saw. More recent cutting wire systems use a winching arrangement to simply pull a cutting wire through the material to be cut. The Equalizer® Python™ automotive glass removal system is an example of a system which uses a winching arrangement to pull a cutting wire through a sealant material.
Regardless of how a cutting wire is manipulated to cut through a material, it may be necessary to first place the cutting wire through the material to be cut and then attach the ends to the wire manipulating tool. An auto glass installation is an example of this situation. In an auto glass installation, the glass is placed in a frame of the vehicle and sealed in place with a bead of tough sealant material extending around the entire periphery of the glass. The sealant material seals a space between an inside surface of the glass and a frame in which the glass is set. A particular difficulty in the auto glass situation is that the sealant material is commonly only accessible from inside the vehicle through a thin space between the inside of the glass and the dashboard or other structure inside the vehicle. Furthermore, the sealant in the auto glass installation may be several inches in to the thin opening between the inside surface of the glass and the dashboard or other structure inside the vehicle.
Although there are wire starting tools available for starting a cutting wire through a material to be cut, some of these tools are not useful or not efficient for all situations in which it is desirable for placing a cutting wire through a material to be cut with the wire. Thus there remains a need for devices and techniques for placing a cutting wire through a material to be cut, particularly a material in hard to reach locations such as those found in auto glass installations.
A cutting wire placement tool according to one form of the present invention includes an elongated tool body, a pulling element carrier structure, and an elongated pulling element. The elongated tool body has a handle end and a sealant piercing end opposite the handle end, and the pulling element carrier structure is located at the sealant piercing end of the elongated tool body. The pulling element carrier structure includes a recess and at least one piercing element having a configuration to pierce a sealant material as a sealant piercing force is applied axially along the elongated tool body in the direction from the handle end to the sealant piercing end. The elongated pulling element is connected to the elongated tool body at a location spaced apart from the sealant piercing end of the elongated tool body and has a pulling loop which is adapted to be movable between in an insertion position and a pulling position relative to the recess of the pulling element carrier structure. When the pulling loop is in the insertion position a portion of the pulling loop is received in the recess. However, when the pulling loop is in the pulling position, it is adapted to extend beyond the recess at least an operational distance in the direction from the handle end of the elongated tool body to the sealant piercing end.
In operation of this form of the present invention, the elongated tool body is first positioned in a starting position with the sealant piercing end facing a sealant to be cut, and with the pulling loop in the insertion position. From this starting position the tool operator may apply the sealant piercing force to the tool to force the sealant piercing end of the elongated tool body, and particularly the piercing elements at the piercing end of the elongated tool body transversely through the sealant to be cut. As the pulling element carrier structure at the piercing end of the elongated tool body is inserted through the sealant material, the recess supports the pulling loop in the insertion position so that the pulling loop is carried with the pulling element carrier structure through the sealant material. Ultimately, the sealant piercing end of the tool body is pushed completely through the sealant material to a point at which the recess and the pulling loop carried in the recess extends a suitable distance on the opposite side of the sealant material from where the tool was inserted, and the handle end of the elongated tool body remains on the side of the sealant material from which the tool was inserted. From this fully inserted position, the operator may pull the elongated tool body in the opposite direction (opposite to the sealant piercing force) to withdraw the pulling element carrier structure at the sealant piercing end of the tool body to a partially withdrawn position. As the tool is moved to this partially withdrawn position, the pulling loop is free to remain at its position at the point at which the tool was in the fully inserted position. Thus the pulling loop moves to the pulling position relative to the recess of the pulling element carrier structure and is thus exposed on the side of the sealant material opposite to the side from which the tool was inserted. At this point the operator may insert a length of cutting wire through the pulling loop, and then pull the tool completely back through the pierced sealant material to the side from which the tool had been inserted. As the tool is withdrawn, the pulling loop pulls the cutting wire through the sealant material and ultimately places the cutting wire in a position traversing the sealant material. The cutting wire may then be connected to handles or some other suitable manipulating system and may be used to cut the sealant material.
These and other advantages and features of the invention will be apparent from the following description of illustrative embodiments, considered along with the accompanying drawings.
The claims at the end of this application set out novel features which the Applicants believe are characteristic of the invention. The various advantages and features of the invention together with preferred modes of use of the invention will best be understood by reference to the following description of illustrative embodiments read in conjunction with the drawings introduced above.
In the following description,
Referring to
Tool 101 includes a pulling element carrier structure 108 located at sealant piercing end 105 of elongated tool body 102. Pulling element carrier structure 108 includes a recess 109 and piercing elements 110 (which although shown in
Tool 101 also includes an elongated pulling element 112. Elongated pulling element 112 includes a pulling loop 114 at one end, and the opposite end is connected to elongated tool body 102. In this particular embodiment, elongated pulling element 112 comprises a loop of suitable wire material and pulling loop 114 comprises simply one end of the loop of wire material. The connection between elongated tool body 102 and elongated pulling element 112 in this particular embodiment is made through a slot 115 formed in the elongated tool body at a position between sealant piercing end 105 and handle end 104. The loop of wire comprising elongated pulling element 112 in this embodiment simply extends through elongated slot 115 to form the connection between the elongated pulling element and elongated tool body 102.
In the particular embodiment shown in the figures, elongated tool body 102 may comprise a length of flat spring steel approximately ½ mm thick and approximately 1 foot long between handle end 104 and sealant piercing end 105. It will be appreciated that the side view of
From the position of tool 101 relative to sealant material 118 shown in
From the position shown in
Although tool 101 shown in the figures represents one preferred embodiment of a cutting wire placement tool according to the present invention, numerous variations on this exemplary structure are possible within the scope of the invention. For example, although elongated tool body 102 comprises a flat material, other cross-sectional shapes may be used. Alternative tools within the scope of the following claims may have a tool body with a circular cross-sectional shape. Of course, the invention is also not limited to any particular type of handle for the tool. Although a T-shaped handle is shown for purposes of example, other handles may have a pistol grip configuration with all or the majority of finger gripping positions on one side of the elongated tool body.
The present invention also includes many variations in the configuration of the pulling element carrier structure. It should be appreciated that also the bottom surface of recess 109 is shown as a cylindrical surface which meets the intersecting faces of the elongated tool body 102 at abrupt angles, forms of the invention may included a rounded transition from the surface forming the bottom of recess 109 to the intersecting planar faces of the elongated tool body. Also, the transitioning surfaces may include a groove generally aligned with the longitudinal axis L to receive the pulling loop material. It is preferable that the bottom surface of recess 109 not comprise a sharp edge which could crimp or sever the pulling loop material as the tool is inserted through the sealant to be cut.
Other variations are associated with the elongated pulling element. Although the example tool 101 includes pulling element 112 comprising a loop of suitable high tensile strength wire or cable, an alternative elongated pulling element may include a rigid rod of material which is connected at one end so as to be slidable in slot 115. Alternatively, the elongated pulling element may include a flexible material having an upper end (in the orientation of the figures) which is not received in a slot, but rather received at a fixed location. In these embodiments, the flexibility of the elongated pulling element allows the pulling loop part to move relative to the recess (such as recess 109 in the figures) between the insertion position and pulling position.
As used herein, whether in the above description or the following claims, the terms “comprising,” “including,” “carrying,” “having,” “containing,” “involving,” and the like are to be understood to be open-ended, that is, to mean including but not limited to. Any use of ordinal terms such as “first,” “second,” “third,” etc., in the claims to modify a claim element does not by itself connote any priority, precedence, or order of one claim element over another, or the temporal order in which acts of a method are performed. Rather, unless specifically stated otherwise, such ordinal terms are used merely as labels to distinguish one claim element having a certain name from another element having a same name (but for use of the ordinal term).
The above described preferred embodiments are intended to illustrate the principles of the invention, but not to limit the scope of the invention. Various other embodiments and modifications to these preferred embodiments may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the present invention.