Claims
- 1. A brush cutting blade for a motor driven brush cutting machine, said blade comprising,
- a circular disc having opposite planar parallel side surfaces and a smooth continuous periphery,
- and a plurality of cutter teeth individually attached to the peripheral margin of said disc,
- said teeth being of alternating left and right configuration and being mounted in peripherally spaced relation alternately on opposite sides of said disc
- each of said teeth comprising a flat plate portion abutting a side surface of said disc,
- fastener means extending through each of said tooth plate portions and said disc rigidly to secure said teeth to said disc,
- each of said teeth having a single cutter element consisting of a side wall portion integral with said plate portion and an outer flange portion,
- said side wall portion being laterally offset from said plate portion, the amount of offset progressively decreasing from the forward end to the rearward end thereof,
- said flange portion extending from said side wall portion substantially at right angles to disc side surfaces across the median plane of said disc,
- said flange portion being inclined downwardly at an angle of between seven and ten degrees with respect to a perpendicular to a radius of said disc intersecting the forward edge of said flange portion,
- the forward edge of said side wall portion and said flange portion of each cutter element being formed with a beveled surface defining a cutting edge,
- and a depth gauge integral with the forward end portion of each tooth plate portion positioned forwardly of said cutter element, said depth gauge defining an upwardly facing flat surface sloping upwardly from its forward to its rearward edge at an angle of between twenty-five and thirty-five degrees with respect to a plane parallel to the axis of said disc and normal to a radius of the disc intersecting the trailing edge of said depth gauge,
- said depth gauge surface having a width of between 0.075 to 0.275 inch,
- the top trailing edge of said depth gauge being spaced between 0.025 and 0.030 inch below the cutting edge of said flange portion.
- 2. A cutting blade as set forth in claim 1 wherein said depth gauge has a width of 0.175 inch.
- 3. A cutting blade as set forth in claim 1 wherein said depth gauge slopes at an angle of thirty degrees.
- 4. A cutting blade as set forth in claim 1 wherein said flange portion slopes at an angle of seven degrees.
- 5. A cutting blade as set forth in claim 1 wherein said cutter teeth are secured to said disc by rivets extending through said blade and teeth.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present application is a continuation-in-part of my prior application Ser. No. 929,636 filed Nov. 12, 1986, now abandoned which was a continuation-in-part application of my copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 06/754,761 filed July 15, 1985, now abandoned.
The present invention pertains generally to powered cutter blades for use with portable brush cutting machines in the clearing of land.
In wide use today are lightweight machines carried by the individual operators which include a small gasoline engine which drives a circular blade via a lengthy drive shaft. Such machines are used to clear land of small trees, undergrowth, brush, etc., usually in remote areas where servicing of the equipment is inconvenient. Currently in use are brush cutter blades that have teeth formed integral with the blade periphery which blades are best serviced at a saw repair facility. Accordingly it is necessary that a quantity of costly blades must be on hand in the field to prevent lost time in the event a blade is severely damaged or worn. Further, the continuous taking of blades into a facility and returning same to a remote operational site is a substantial inconvenience and costly.
In the prior art are cutter disks having saw chain teeth in place thereabout as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,958,348 and 3,425,467. The former patent discloses a circular disk having a radially disposed groove in its outer edge within which is carried the anchor portion of certain chain links of a continuous cutter chain. The last mentioned patent discloses a router tool having a peripheral portion of channel configuration in section to receive cutter teeth and spacer rings held in place by pins 24 terminating flush with the disk sides. French patent No. 1,194,641 discloses a circular saw blade with cutter teeth fixed to opposite sides of a circular plate, the teeth having depth gauges of the same width as the metal body of the cutter teeth. Huther, U.S. Pat. No. 869,574, and Hafner, U.S. Pat. No. 1,988,898 disclose circular discs having teeth inset into apertures formed in the blade periphery. U.S. Pat. No. 646,281 discloses a metal cutting saw having apertures about its outer margin to receive pins and setscrews to retain arcurate saw segments in place within a radially disposed groove.
Of interest is Swedish patent No. 80528 which discloses a saw blade with an outer marginal area recessed on opposite sides for the mounting of cutter elements shaped to fit within the recesses. The blade is of very costly manufacture and requires the use of cutter elements corresponding in shape to the blade recesses.
The present invention is embodied in a disk shaped cutter blade having saw chain teeth affixed exteriorly at intervals to the blade peripheral margin.
The teeth of the present blade are of the type similar to those used on powered chain saws but presently separated from one another and secured in place, in alternating fashion, on opposite sides of the cutter disk. The teeth may be rearwardly inclined to enhance their cutting action. Blade apertures are formed in pairs to mount each tooth with the apertures of each pair being in a plane inclined to a blade radius intersecting the leading aperture of the pair of apertures. The cutting width of left-hand and right-hand teeth cutting edges are greater than disk thickness.
The teeth may be secured in place in the field with common hand tools and within a few minutes. Refurbishing in the field of a cutter disk with factory sharpened teeth greatly contributes to increased efficiency of a crew of land clearers and enables the operation to be conducted without a costly inventory of cutter blades.
Important objectives of the present cutter blade include the provision of a disk shaped cutter blade for brush clearing use which may be readily sharpened or refurbished with new teeth in the field by the machine operator; the provision of a brush cutter blade having right and left-hand kerfs; the provision of a brush cutter blade wherein teeth on the blade sides are rearwardly tipped for efficient cutting; the provision of a cutter blade particularly suited for the cutting of brush and undergrowth wherein the blade may accidentally come into contact with rocks which would severely damage conventional blades; the provision of a cutter blade of low cost manufacture using high quality and easily manufactured saw chain teeth affixed to the blade sides; the provision of a cutter blade with teeth having a guide or raker portion formed with a wide ramp surface inclined to the path of tooth travel; the provision of a cutter blade with teeth for use on portable brush cutting equipment which permits use of lighter, lower power engine on such equipment; the provision of a cutter blade with teeth which have a wide chip removing raker portion and a cutter portion providing less tooth drag.
US Referenced Citations (15)
Foreign Referenced Citations (2)
| Number |
Date |
Country |
| 1194641 |
May 1959 |
FRX |
| 80528 |
May 1934 |
SEX |
Continuation in Parts (2)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
| Parent |
929636 |
Nov 1985 |
|
| Parent |
754761 |
Jul 1985 |
|
Patent Grant
4881438
