Information
-
Patent Grant
-
6398469
-
Patent Number
6,398,469
-
Date Filed
Tuesday, January 30, 200123 years ago
-
Date Issued
Tuesday, June 4, 200222 years ago
-
CPC
-
US Classifications
Field of Search
US
- 409 218
- 409 235
- 144 2532
- 144 1352
- 144 2531
- 269 304
- 269 310
- 269 315
- 269 316
- 269 320
-
International Classifications
-
Abstract
A router table has a flat top having a horizontal surface, and a router fence assembly on the horizontal surface. A router is mounted below the flat top table and has a vertically upstanding rotatably powered bit extending through a router bit opening in the flat top. A flat top has a pivotal section pivotally mounted on the flat top to close an access opening therein. A router is rigidly secured to a lower surface of the pivotal section and has an elongated router bit extending upwardly therefrom through a router bit opening. The router fence is pivotally secured to the flat top for horizontal pivotal motion to eliminate any interference with upwardly pivotal movement of the pivotal section. The router fence has infeed and outfeed portions having a connecting mechanism slidably joining the portions to permit one portion to be slidably diagonally moved with respect to the other.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Varying the operating positions of infeed and outfeed fences for use on a router table is often a difficult, time-consuming and sometimes inaccurate task for conventional router tables. The fences may need to be perfectly aligned to create a precisely straight edge on a work piece. The fences also may need to be slightly offset with respect to the router bit and with each other when the router bit is to make a special cut of material from the edge of a work piece. This is normally conducted in conjunction with a horizontal table top wherein the upstanding router is mounted on the underneath side of the table top with the router bit protruding through an opening and projecting above the level of the table top to perform its task. Changing bits on the router is also often difficult and inefficient, and sometimes requires disassembly of certain components.
It is therefore a principal object of this invention to provide a method and apparatus for varying router fences which is easily set up and which is extremely precise.
A further object of the invention is to provide a method and apparatus for varying router fences wherein the router fence assembly can be easily moved to an inoperative position to permit router bits to be changed.
It is a still further object of this invention to provide a method and apparatus for varying router fences wherein the router does not need to be disassembled in any respect and can be pivoted to a service position above the level of the router table with a minimum of effort.
These and other objects will be apparent to those skilled in the art.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A router table has a flat top having a horizontal surface, and a router fence assembly pivotally mounted on the horizontal surface. A router is mounted below the flat top table and has a vertically upstanding rotatably powered bit extending through a router bit opening in the flat top.
The flat top has a pivotal section pivotally mounted thereon to close an access opening therein. A router is rigidly secured to a lower surface of the pivotal section and is adapted to have an elongated router bit extending upwardly therefrom through a router bit opening.
The router fence assembly is comprised of infeed and outfeed portions having a connecting mechanism slidably joining the portions to permit one portion to be slidably diagonally moved with respect to the other portion thus assuring parallelism.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1
is a plan view of the instant invention;
FIG. 1A
is a perspective view of the structure of
FIG. 1
as seen from the upper side of
FIG. 1
;
FIG. 2
is a view similar to that of
FIG. 1A
but is viewed from the bottom side of
FIG. 1
;
FIG. 3
is an enlarged scale sectional view taken along the axis
3
—
3
of
FIG. 1A
but shows the fence assembly and the router in a position for changing the bit on the router;
FIG. 4
is an enlarged scale plan view of the router fence assembly with the fence portions being aligned;
FIG. 5
is a plan view similar to that of
FIG. 4
wherein the fence portions are in a state of disalignment;
FIG. 6
is a partial top exploded perspective view of the infeed and outfeed plates;
FIG. 7
is a partial plan view taken on line
7
—
7
of
FIG. 5
;
FIG. 8
is a sectional view taken on line
8
—
8
of
FIG. 4
;
FIG. 9
is an exploded partial perspective view of the outfeed plate;
FIG. 10
is a partial perspective view of the infeed plate;
FIG. 11
is a plan view of the top or upper bar that is secured to the diagonal edge of the outfeed plate;
FIG. 12
is a top view of the bottom bar which is secured to the diagonal portion of the infeed plate;
FIG. 13
is an enlarged scale exploded sectional view of the connecting mechanism between the infeed and outfeed plates;
FIG. 13A
is a sectional view of the assembled components of
FIG. 13
as taken on line
12
—
12
of
FIG. 4
;
FIG. 14
is a partial perspective view of the micro-cam stop or releasable gauge element;
FIG. 14A
is a sectional view taken on line
14
A—
14
A of
FIG. 14
after the components of
FIG. 14
are assembled on a router table;
FIG. 15
is a partial sectional view taken on line
15
—
15
of
FIG. 4
; and
FIG. 16
is a partial sectional view taken on line
16
—
16
of FIG.
4
.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
A router table
10
has a flat top
12
with four conventional legs
14
(
FIG. 1
a
). A rectangular access opening
16
(
FIG. 3
) has a beveled edge
18
on one end, and receives a pivotal section
20
of complimentary shape which is hinged within opening
16
by hinge
22
(FIG.
3
). Pivot section
20
has a beveled edge
24
which registers with beveled edge
18
of the access opening to support the section
20
in a horizontal position when the access opening is closed by the section
20
as shown in
FIGS. 1
,
1
A and
2
. Mounting plates
26
are mounted on opposite surfaces of the pivotal section
20
. The upper plate
26
is recessed and is flush with the top of section
20
. A router
28
is bolted by an convenient means to the mounting plates
26
as best shown in
FIG. 3. A
router bit
30
protrudes from one end of conventional router
28
. Bit
30
extends through router bit hole
32
in the section
20
.
A router fence assembly
34
includes horizontal infeed plate
36
(
FIG. 10
) having a straight edge
38
and a diagonally disposed edge
40
. Outfeed horizontal plate
42
(
FIG. 9
) has a straight edge
42
and a diagonal edge
46
which registers with the diagonal edge
40
on plate
36
, as will be discussed hereafter. The edge
46
has a horizontal tongue
48
(
FIG. 9
) of uniform width and thickness. Tongue
48
is bordered on its inboard side by lips
50
. One end of the tongue
48
has an arcuate horizontal notch
52
(FIG.
9
).
The diagonal edge
40
of the infeed plate
36
has a horizontal T-shaped tongue
54
(
FIG. 10
) which terminates in vertical tab
56
. (FIG.
10
). An arcuate notch
58
is located at one end of tongue
54
and is bordered by lips
60
to create channel
62
defined by lips
60
and tab
56
. As seen in
FIG. 10
, opposed channels
62
appear in both the upper and lower surfaces of tongue
54
.
A horizontal top bar
64
(
FIG. 11
) has a guide bar
66
rigidly fixed thereto in any convenient manner. The guide bar
66
is of a smaller lateral width than is the top bar
64
. An arcuate notch
68
is formed at one end of bar
64
and is complimentary in shape to the notch
58
in plate
36
. Each of the ends of bar
64
terminate in diagonal edge portions
70
and
72
. Registering elongated slots
74
appear in both bars
64
and
66
. (FIG.
11
). Slots
74
register with threaded bearing
75
in plate
36
which is directly below. (FIG.
15
). Mounting holes
76
are provided in bar
64
to permit mounting screws to attach bar
64
to tongue
48
on diagonal edge
46
of outfeed plate
42
.
Horizontal bottom bar
78
is essentially a mirror image of top bar
64
(FIG.
12
). Bar
78
has a guide bar
80
which is similar to guide bar
66
on bar
64
. Arcuate notch
82
is located in one end of bar
78
and is complementary in shape to the notch
68
in bar
64
. Bar
78
has opposite diagonal ends
84
and
86
which are opposite the diagonal ends
70
and
72
, respectively, of bar
64
.
Mounting holes
88
and
90
are located in bar
78
to receive screws for attaching the bar to the lower portion of tongue
48
of plate
42
.
A curved slot
92
is located in infeed plate
36
and a releasable lock
94
is mounted in slot
92
(FIG.
16
). Lock
94
includes shank
96
extending from shoulder
96
A with a handle
97
on its upper end. The lower end of shank
96
extends through internally threaded bearing
98
mounted in table top
12
after extending through slot
92
. The fence assembly
34
is locked to the table top
12
when the handle
97
on the shank
96
is rotated to screw the shank into the bearing
98
. Pivotal motion of the fence assembly
34
with respect to the table
12
is accomplished by loosening lock
94
and pivoting the assembly
34
about pivot point
101
. (
FIGS. 2
,
3
and
9
). The releasable lock
94
can be completely removed from the assembly by completely disengaging shank
96
from the bearing
98
.
A bar lock
100
is used to incrementally fix the slidable diagonal positions of infeed plate
36
and outfeed plate
42
. This structure is shown in
FIG. 15
wherein a large diameter shoulder
102
has a threaded shank
104
of smaller diameter extending therefrom. The shank
104
extends downwardly through slots
74
in bar
64
and in guide bar
66
. When handle
106
is rotated to screw shank
104
downwardly into bearing
75
, the shoulder
102
bears against the top of the bar
64
to bind bar
64
firmly together with bearing
75
in plate
36
. This locks plates
36
and
42
together and fixes the relative sliding position therebetween. By reversing the rotation of handle
106
, the two plates
36
and
42
are free for sliding motion with respect to each other.
As shown in
FIG. 14
, a cam gauge element
110
is located on plate
42
and is comprised of a cam wheel
112
which has a circular peripheral cam surface
114
. The wheel
112
is eccentrically mounted in threaded bearings
116
and
117
in wheel
112
and table top
12
, respectively. A handle
118
is mounted on cam wheel
112
by threaded stub
120
which is threadably mounted in bearings
116
and
117
. By completely screwing stub
120
through bearing
116
and into threaded bearing
117
, the lower end of the shoulder
121
will bind the wheel against the top of plate
42
to rigidly hold the cam wheel
112
in an eccentric position. The eccentric position of wheel
112
can be changed by loosening stub
120
, moving the wheel, and relocking the stub
120
in bearings
116
and
117
.
Infeed and outfeed fences
124
and
126
(
FIGS. 1-6
) are connected by bolt assemblies
128
(
FIG. 1A
) to each of the infeed and outfeed plates
36
and
42
, respectively. The inner ends of fences
124
and
126
terminate in opposite sides of router bit hole
32
in arcuate slots
127
(FIG.
8
). A conventional dust catcher (not shown) is typically mounted adjacent hole
32
.
In operation, the router fence assembly is pivotally mounted on table top
12
by means of pivot pin
101
which extends through one end of outfeed plate
52
(see FIGS.
1
and
2
). The fence assembly
34
is thereupon positioned generally in the location of
FIGS. 1
,
1
a
and
2
. If a straight cut is needed, the input and output fences (
126
and
128
) are aligned as shown in
FIG. 4
, and the fence assembly is pivoted about pivot
101
to displace the fences from the router bit
30
a distance equal to the cut to be made. The eccentric positions of gauge
110
is set to fix the maximum depth of cut. If it is desired to have the router blade remove a special layer of material from the work piece
130
, the fences can be slidably offset from each other as shown in
FIGS. 5 and 7
by loosening bar lock
100
. Lock
94
(
FIGS. 10 and 16
) finally secure the assembly
34
in fixed relation to the table
12
and router bit
30
The micro-stop cam or gauge element
110
is moved to an eccentric position, as described above, which will provide the maximum depth of cut position of the infeed fence
124
and the outfeed fence
126
. This depth of cut needs to be taken by a plurality of passes of the work piece past the router bit
30
. After the cam gauge element
110
is locked so as to provide the maximum offset of the two fences
126
and
128
, the releasable lock
94
(
FIG. 16
) is moved to its tightened position to lock the fence assembly
34
securely to the table. If the fences
124
and
126
are to be offset for a special cut, the lock
94
is tightened after the offset has been arranged. This is done by first loosening bar lock
100
as described above, sliding the plate
36
to its first incremental operating cutting position, and then retightening the lock
100
. It is then that the lock
94
is tightened as described above (
FIG. 16
) so that the first pass of the work piece past the router blade can be made.
After the first pass is made, the bar lock
100
and the releasable lock
94
are loosened so that the plate
36
can be offset another increment of distance. The locks
94
and
102
are tightened again to permit a second pass of the work piece
128
to be made. This process is continued by incremental passes until the edge of plate
42
engages the cam wheel
112
which indicates that the maximum depth of cut on the work piece
130
(
FIG. 7
) has been achieved. When plates
124
and
126
are offset, cam gauge element
110
serves primarily to stabilize outfeed plate
42
. When the fences
124
and
126
are aligned, cam gauge element
110
defines the maximum depth of cut position of the assembly
34
.
When it is necessary to change router bits, the releasable lock
94
is removed as described above, as is the cam gauge element
110
. The router fence assembly
34
is then rotated around pivot pin
101
to assume the position shown in FIG.
3
. The router
28
is then pivoted to its upward position on section
20
as shown in
FIG. 3
whereby the bit
30
can be easily removed and replaced with a bit of a different size.
This invention allows the user to make precise infinite cuts through a range of 0.003 to 0.125 thousandths of an inch. Parallelism is assured by the infeed fence
124
moving on an angled set of plates that are attached to the outfeed fence
126
as described. The two plates have zero tolerance internal slots that guarantee smooth operation.
The plates
36
and
42
and fences
124
and
126
are preferably made with a highly smooth material sold under the trademarks STARBOARD and SEATEAK to minimize frictional forces. The micro-stop cam
110
will allow the user to preset a final fence stop prior to the first cut. If a moulding cut required four pass cuts will be needed to complete the job, micro-stop cam
110
is preset to the last cut and locked with the knob
118
. The fence is moved off the stop to the first pass after the lock
94
is locked. To continue, the lock knob
97
is loosened, and the above steps are repeated until the outfeed plate
42
makes contact with the cam wheel
112
for the final cut.
It is therefore seen that the device and method of use of his invention will achieve at least all of their stated objectives.
Claims
- 1. A router fence assembly, comprising,infeed and outfeed flat plates for positioning on a flat top router table adjacent a router bit opening, each of the plates having a straight elongated operating edge and adjacent parallel diagonal edges extending away from the operating edges at an angle thereto, a connecting mechanism slidably joining the plates at their diagonal edges to permit one plate to be slidably diagonally moved with respect to the other plate, and having a notch positioned adjacent to the router opening, a vertically disposed infeed fence secured to the straight edge of the infeed plate, a vertically disposed outlet fence secured to the straight edge of the outfeed plate, the fences having adjacent spaced inner ends and slots adapted to be located adjacent the router bit opening on a flat top router table, the connecting mechanism being operative to permit the movement of the fences and their inner ends from position of longitudinal alignment to a diagonally and laterally offset parallel position to permit an elongated workpiece slidably moved towards the router bit opening to engage a vertical rotating router bit extending upwardly therethrough to remove a portion of the workpiece equal to the lateral distance that the fences are separated, and a releasable lock element on one of said plates to permit the plates to be releasably locked in position with respect to each other.
- 2. The assembly of claim 1 wherein the connecting mechanism includes a pair of spaced parallel bars on the diagonal edge of one of the plates, with the bars having guide portions to slidably engage guide portions of complementary shape on the diagonal edge of the other plate to insure that the sliding of one plate with respect to the other is confined to a horizontal plane.
- 3. The assembly of claim 1 wherein a releasable gauge element is associated with one of plates to define the maximum desired slidable diagonal movement of one plate with respect to the other while permitting the releasable lock element to be functional to allow incremental movement of the plates with respect to each other up to the maximum desired laterally offset parallel position of the infeed and outfeed fences.
- 4. The assembly of claim 1 wherein a pivot element is located at one outer end of one of the plates to allow the router fence assembly to be horizontally pivotally connected to a flat top router assembly to effect movement of the assembly away from a router bit opening in the table.
- 5. The assembly of claim 4 wherein the releasable lock element is adapted to be fixedly received to a flat top router table and to extend through a slot in the table for selective locking engagement therewith for permitting incremental pivotal movement of the router fence assembly with respect to a router table to which the assembly is mounted.
US Referenced Citations (12)