1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to woodworking equipment. More particularly, this invention relates to a profiled cutter or coping apparatus and method of operation.
2. Description of Related Art
Molding used in the construction of residential and commercial properties provides a decorative finish to ceiling/wall interfaces, floor/wall interfaces and along walls at table or chair height in rooms. Molding may have a plain finish with a straight profile or it may be decoratively shaped with an elaborate profile using a machine for forming the profile, e.g., a shaper, a router or a molder.
Where two strips of molding join at an internal 90° angle, e.g., where two walls intersect, there are a couple of methods of joining the intersecting strips of molding. The first method is by forming a miter joint, i.e., at 45° angles, so that the respective patterns match together when joined at the 90° wall intersection. Miter joints work well for picture frames and also for external 90° wall intersections because when nailed or screwed together the miter joint is driven together. However, miter joints are not preferred for joining molding at internal 90° wall intersections. This is because when both sections of molding are nailed or screwed to the wall the miter joint tends to separate with each piece of molding moving toward the wall rather than toward the adjoining section of molding as the sections are affixed to the wall by nails or screws, leaving an unsightly gap.
The other conventional method of joining molding at an internal corner is to form a coped butt joint. Where the molding has a plain or straight profile, the sections of molding to be joined are merely cut on a 90° angle, with the first section affixed to its associated wall having its end resting against the adjoining wall. The second section is affixed to its associated wall and its end resting against the other section of molding. However, when the molding is profiled, it has been traditionally necessary to use a coping saw to properly hand cut the selected profile along the end of the second section of molding so that it will buff against the oppositely profiled first section of molding.
Those skilled in the art know that the formation of a coped butt joint using a coping saw for an ornate molding profile is a tedious and imprecise process of hand-cutting the end of the second section of molding. Even a skilled craftsman may find it difficult to precisely follow a template or profiled line with a coping saw to form the perfectly coped butt joint.
Various approaches to automating the coping process have been suggested in art. Some of the automated coping saws of the prior art are of the reciprocating blade variety. For example, see, U.S. Pat. No. 6,550,365 to Zhang et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 5,027,518 to Adomatis. In contrast, several of the automated coping saws of the prior art are of the endless blade variety. For example, see, U.S. Pat. No. 5,388,334 to Halsey, U.S. Pat. No. 6,736,037 and U.S. patent Publication No. 2004/0211304, both to Dean. While these conventional coping saws all employ various means for powering the blade, thus, easing the effort required by the user to cope a piece of molding, they all still appear to require significant user skill in following a given pattern necessary to make an accurately coped butt joint. An additional drawback with the conventional automated coping saws is that coping many pieces of wood with a given pattern requires the user to follow a pattern for each cut. Thus, the lack of repeatability is a significant drawback of the conventional automated coping saws.
One type of device used to repeatedly cut thick objects, such as a stack of paper, is the hydraulic paper cutter. Examples of conventional hydraulic paper cutters may be found in U.S. Pat. No. 3,452,630 to Malm and U.S. Pat. No. 4,019,416 to Krause. Such hydraulic paper cutters employ shearing blades that cut stacks of paper along straight lines. However, such devices are unsuitable for coping a piece of wood because the required molding pattern is never a straight line. Hydraulic paper cutters are only capable of cutting a straight line and not a curved pattern. Hydraulic paper cutters are also not capable of cutting arbitrary coping patterns. Furthermore, the characteristics of a stack of paper are very different from a strip of molded wood under shearing conditions. For example, a strip of wood molding may have at least one surface that is not flat and thus could not be efficiently held down by hydraulic paper cutter shoes. Additionally, a strip of wood molding may inelastically compress and/or splinter when sheared, unlike a stack of paper.
For all of the above reasons, it would be desirable to have a more efficient automated method of forming coped butt joints that is repeatable and less subject to human error. Accordingly, there exists a need in the art for a coping apparatus and method of operation that automates the process of forming coped butt joints in strips of molding for internal wall angles typically about a 90° angle that alleviates the problems associated with the use of miter joints or the time consuming use of a coping saw.
Embodiments of the apparatus and method of the present invention automate the process of forming coped butt joints for moldings placed on internal wall angles. The embodiments of the present invention alleviate at least some of the known problems associated with conventional approaches including the use of miter joints, the time consuming use of a hand coping saw and various automated coping saws of the prior art.
An embodiment of a coping apparatus for coping a strip of molding having a profile is disclosed. Coping apparatus may include a die configured with a negative profile forming a mirror-image of the profile of the strip of molding. Coping apparatus may further include a blade configured to match the profile of the strip of molding and to mate with the die. Coping apparatus may further include a shearing mechanism configured for selectively causing the blade to approach the die and thereby shear an end of the strip of molding to be cut between the die and blade, thereby forming a coped strip of molding.
An embodiment of a method of automatically coping a strip of molding with a profile is disclosed. The method may include providing a coping apparatus as described herein. The method may further include optionally precutting the strip of molding prior to shearing and optionally back undercutting the strip of molding prior to shearing. The method may further include inserting the strip of molding into the base form, securing the strip of molding to the die and shearing the strip of molding.
Additional features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the detailed description which follows, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, which together illustrate, by way of example, features of embodiments of the present invention.
The following drawings illustrate exemplary embodiments for carrying out the invention. Like reference numerals refer to like parts in different views or embodiments of the present invention in the drawings.
Embodiments of the present invention include a coping apparatus and method of operation that automates the process of forming coped butt joints for molding placed on internal wall angles that alleviates at least some of the problems associated with the use of miter joints or the time consuming use of conventional coping saws. Molding used with the embodiments of the present invention may be formed of any suitable wood or other suitable composite or decorative architectural material according to embodiments of the present invention. Exemplary woods of which moldings may be formed and from which coped butt joints may be cut include, for example and not by way of limitation, softwoods such as cedar and pine, and hardwoods such as alder, poplar, oak, cherry, walnut, maple and mahogany according to embodiments of the present invention. Other suitable materials that may be cut using the apparatus and methods of the present invention include medium density fiberboard (MDF) and high density fiberboard (HDF) and other types of particle or fiberboard and veneered woods, plywood or fiberboard. The embodiments of the apparatus and methods of the present invention are particularly suited for a molding production environment where the molding is pre-cut and pre-coped to order at the molding manufacturer. However, it may be used anywhere that a coped butt joint needs to be formed including at a construction site.
Base form 102 may further include a base plate 132 to which two steel side housings 118 are affixed, according to the embodiment of the coping apparatus 100 illustrated in
Referring again to
Cutter assembly 106 may further include a shearing mechanism for causing the cutter assembly 106 to collapse on the die. As shown in
According to another embodiment of a coping apparatus 100, the relative positions of the guide rail 108, base form 102, die 200 and cutter assembly 106 may be reversed to make a cut in the left end of the strip of molding.
Referring to
According to an embodiment of the coping apparatus 100, the cutter assembly 106 may include a top plate 116 that mounts on top of two parallel steel side housings 118. Mounting holes and bolts 117 in top plate 116 are set at a proper width apart so that the cutter assembly 106 will not bind from misalignment. The embodiment of a coping apparatus 100 illustrated in
The embodiment of a coping apparatus 100 illustrated in
Guide rail 108 may be formed of a piece of metal approximately ½× 3/4 with 2 holes drilled at each end so that a screw can be put through the holes to secure it to a fixed side rail which is mounted onto the base form 102. According to another embodiment of coping apparatus 100, guide rail 108 may be precisely adjusted using adjustment screws or other means (as shown in
Guide rail 108 may be mounted to a steel side housing 118 which may in turn be mounted to the base plate 132. Die 200 is configured for adjustable mounting on the base plate 132, thus, allowing alignment with the cutter assembly 106 blade 104. The base plate 132 supports die 200. Die 200 is configured with an exact negative profile or shape of blade 104. Blade 104 and die 200 may be electrical discharge machined (EDM) according to an embodiment of the present invention. Alternatively, the blade 104 and the die 200 may be ground to an exact profile shape as desired according to another embodiment.
Proper alignment of the blade 104 relative to die 200 is necessary for an accurate coping cut. According to an embodiment of coping apparatus 100, blade 104 and die 200 may be manually aligned, for example, by one or more mounting bolts 107 (as shown in
Other embodiment of the present invention may include drilled and tapped holes placed in the steel side housings 118 and the base plate 132 configured with slotted holes according to various embodiments. Such embodiments allow the base plate 132 to be adjusted toward or away from the cutter assembly 106 to accommodate a perfect fit alignment. In yet another embodiment of the coping apparatus 100, “jack” screws may be set on top of the steel side steel housings 118 in a position such that they can be screwed in or out to make a positive adjustment with the use of a wrench. This will allow easy micro adjustments to be made to the base plate 132, thus, assuring that the base plate 132 holds the die in perfect alignment without moving unless needed.
Another embodiment of a coping apparatus 100 for coping a strip of molding having a profile is disclosed. The embodiment of coping apparatus 100 may include a die 200 configured with a negative profile forming a mirror-image of the profile of the strip of molding. Coping apparatus 100 may further include a blade 104 configured to match the profile of the strip of molding and to mate with the die 200. Coping apparatus 100 may further include a shearing mechanism configured for selectively causing the blade 104 to approach the die 200 and thereby shear an end of the strip of molding to be cut between the die 200 and blade 104, thereby forming a coped strip of molding. According to yet another embodiment of coping apparatus 100, the die 200 may be adjustably mounted to a base form 102. According to another embodiment of coping apparatus 100, the blade 104 may be adjustably mounted to the cutter assembly 106.
According one embodiment of coping apparatus 100, the shearing mechanism may include a hydraulic press. According to another embodiment of coping apparatus 100, the shearing mechanism may include a motor driving a screw actuator 202 which drives a rotating screw 204. According to yet another embodiment of coping apparatus 100, the shearing mechanism may be configured for linear movement.
According to still another embodiment, the coping apparatus 100 may further include a hold down shoe 110 configured to secure the strip of molding against the die 200. According to still a further embodiment of the coping apparatus 100, the hold down shoe may be configured with a bottom surface having a contoured bottom surface configured to mate with and push the strip of molding against the die 200. According to another embodiment, the coping apparatus 100 may further include a guide rail 108 configured for aligning the strip of molding relative to the die 200.
According to still another embodiment, the coping apparatus 100 may further include a precut mechanism, such as a saw blade 114. According to yet another embodiment, the coping apparatus 100 may further include a back undercutting mechanism, such as a saw blade 114. According to another embodiment of coping apparatus 100, the die and/or the blade may be formed of A2 tool steel.
As the blade 104 must cut through the entire thickness of the strip of molding, it is advantageous to back undercut 506 the strip of molding to be cut 504 before cutting it to butt against the opposite strip of molding.
Yet another embodiment of the coping apparatus 100 of the present invention may include angling the cut of the blade so that the outer profile of the coped butt joint has a sharper edge (less than 90° angle) for mating against the opposite strip. This embodiment provides a tighter coped butt joint than one which is been cut at a 90° angle. This embodiment may be accomplished by lowering from about 2° to about 5° the end of the strip of molding that is being cut. Yet another advantage may be obtained by cutting the length of the strip of molding approximately 1/16″ longer than required. This will insure a tighter fit to the adjacent strip of molding and provide a more aesthetic appearing coped butt joint.
The blade 104 and die 200 may be formed of A2 tool steel, that has been annealed to allow the metal to be machined. The blade 104 and die 200 may then be rough shaped, hardened and then electrical discharge machined (EDM) according to a preselected computer aided design (CAD) profile for the selected molding profile. Of course, other suitable means of forming or obtaining the blade 104 and die 200 for coping apparatus 100 are also considered within the scope of the present invention as well as other types of tool steel.
While the foregoing advantages of the present invention are manifested in the illustrated embodiments of the invention, a variety of changes can be made to the configuration, design and construction of the invention to achieve those advantages. For example, certain features have been described individually and may all be combined in a single machine that automatically pre-trims, back undercuts and shears the selected profile for the coped butt joint. Hence, reference herein to specific details of the structure and function of the present invention is by way of example only and not by way of limitation.
Pursuant to 35 U.S.C. § 119(e), this nonprovisional application claims benefit of priority to provisional patent application Ser. No. 60/631,739, filed Nov. 30, 2004, titled COPING APPARATUS AND METHOD OF OPERATION, the contents of which are herein incorporated by reference for all purposes as if fully set forth herein.
Number | Date | Country | |
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60631739 | Nov 2004 | US |