The present invention generally relates to cutters and, more specifically, to a close quarters cutter and a kit of cutters, accessories and/or parts.
Cutters and, more specifically, close quarters cutters, are employed for cutting thin walled cylindrical work pieces. Typically, the cutters include a housing defining an opening for receiving a work piece. The housing pivotally supports a pair of spaced rollers for supporting a work piece to be cut and a cutting wheel for cutting the work piece by rotating the housing relative to the work piece. The cutting wheel is biased by, for example, a spring member that automatically progressively advances the cutting wheel towards the rollers and into engagement with the work piece as the housing is rotated, creating a score line about the work piece that is incrementally deepened until the work piece is eventually severed into two lengths.
During cutting of the work piece, material is displaced as the score line is created. The displaced material creates an annular ridge adjacent the score line that has a greater diameter than the outer surface of the work piece. This displaced material can urge the rollers away from the outer surface and impede rotation of the cutter around the work piece.
Often the work piece that is cut is a pipe or conduit containing a fluid, such as water. The housing of the cutter is typically made of two halves that, when connected, define a cavity in which the rollers, the cutting wheel, and the spring member are at least partially contained. Once the pipe is cut, the water in the pipe may enter the cavity of the cutter. This water may remain in the cavity and cause corrosion or degradation of the rollers, the cutting wheel, the spring member, etc.
In one independent aspect, a cutter, such as a close quarters cutter, is operable to cut a work piece extending along an axis. The cutter may generally include a cutting wheel selectively engageable with and operable to cut the work piece; and a housing assembly supporting the cutting wheel for movement about the axis in a cutting direction to cut the work piece, the housing assembly having a generally cylindrical outer surface engageable by a user to pivot the cutter about the axis, a grip portion being on the outer surface and including a plurality of grip members, each grip member including, relative to the cutting direction, a trailing surface and a leading surface extending from the outer surface, the leading surface being angled toward the cutting direction.
In another independent aspect, a cutter may generally include a cutting wheel selectively engageable with and operable to cut the work piece; and a housing assembly supporting the cutting wheel for movement about the axis, the housing assembly including a generally cylindrical outer wall and side walls defining an opening receiving the work piece, the outer wall and the side walls cooperating to define a cavity in which the cutting wheel is at least partially supported, the housing assembly defining a plurality of circumferentially-spaced openings communicating between the cavity and an exterior of the cutter.
In yet another independent aspect, a cutter may generally include a housing assembly; a cutting wheel supported by the housing assembly for movement about the axis, the cutting wheel being selectively engageable with and operable to cut the work piece; a roller selectively engageable with the work piece, the roller having a generally cylindrical roller surface and an annular groove having a concave surface extending into the roller surface.
In still yet another independent aspect, a cutter kit may generally include a first cutter including a first cutting wheel selectively engageable with and operable to cut a first work piece, and a first housing assembly supporting the first cutting wheel for movement about an axis, the first housing assembly having a first outer surface and defining a first opening operable to receive the first work piece; a second cutter including a second cutting wheel selectively engageable with and operable to cut a second work piece, and a second housing assembly supporting the second cutting wheel for movement about an axis, the second housing assembly having a second outer surface and defining a second opening operable to receive the second work piece; and a case assembly including a first receptacle having a first wall defining a first recess to receive the first cutter and a first post positionable in the first opening, the first wall and the first post cooperating to releasably retain the first cutter, and a second receptacle having a second wall defining a second recess to receive the second cutter and a second post positionable in the second opening, the second wall and the second post cooperating to releasably retain the second cutter.
Other independent features and independent aspects of the invention will become apparent by consideration of the following detailed description, claims and accompanying drawings.
The application file contains at least one drawing executed in color.
Before any independent embodiments of the invention are explained in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and the arrangement of components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the following drawings. The invention is capable of other independent embodiments and of being practiced or of being carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology used herein is for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting.
Use of “including” and “comprising” and variations thereof as used herein is meant to encompass the items listed thereafter and equivalents thereof as well as additional items. Use of “consisting of” and variations thereof as used herein is meant to encompass only the items listed thereafter and equivalents thereof.
As shown in
The housing assembly 38 is formed by two housing halves 40 (one shown in
The outer wall 42 provides an outer surface 43 engageable by a user to pivot the cutter 14A about the axis A. A grip portion 54 is provided on (e.g., formed on) the outer surface 43 of the cylindrical outer wall 42 and includes a plurality grip members 58 spaced about the circumference of the cylindrical outer wall 42. The illustrated grip portion 54 provides an indication of the cutting direction (the direction to rotate the cutter 14A) to cut the work piece W.
Each grip member 58 includes, relative to the cutting direction D, a trailing surface 62 and a leading surface 66 extending from the outer surface 43 to an outer end (e.g., a point). In the illustrated construction, the leading surface 66 is angled toward the cutting direction D while the trailing surface 62 extends substantially radially. As shown in
In other constructions, such as the cutter 14D of
In other constructions, the grip members 58 may be arranged in another manner to indicate the cutting direction. For example, in some constructions, such as the cutter 14E of
As shown in
When the two housing halves 40 of the housing assembly 38 are connected, the outer wall 42, the side walls 46, and the inner wall 48 cooperate to define a cavity 70 in which the cutting wheel 30 and the roller(s) 34 are at least partially supported. The cutting wheel 30 extends through a cutting wheel opening 76 defined through the inner wall 48, and the rollers 34 extend through corresponding roller openings 80 defined through the inner wall 48. The cutting wheel opening 76 and the roller openings 80 are circumferentially spaced about the cylindrical inner wall 48.
In the illustrated construction, each side wall 46 defines a plurality of circumferentially-spaced drain openings 74 communicating between the cavity 70 and the exterior of the cutter 14A. As shown in
When not in use (see
In other constructions (such as the cutter 14E of
In addition or as an alternative to the direction-indicating grip members 58, the openings 74 are shaped and/or oriented (see
As shown in
The cutting wheel 30 and the roller(s) 34 are components of a cutting mechanism 86 for the cutter 14A. In the illustrated construction (see
To cut the work piece W, the work piece W is positioned in the opening 50 and supported by the roller(s) 34, while the cutting wheel 30 is pushed out of the way to accommodate the work piece W in the opening 50. However, the cutting wheel 30 is biased into engagement with the outer surface of the work piece W by a spring member 92 (see
While not shown, the outer wall 42 may define a slot to receive and accommodate the cutting wheel 30 as it is pressed radially outwardly by the work piece W. This arrangement may, for example, reduce the outer diameter of the housing assembly 38 and/or increase the possible cutting range of the cutter 14A.
If there is fluid (e.g., standing water) in the work piece W (see
As mentioned above, the illustrated kit 10 (see
As shown in
Each of the cutter support projections 104A, 104B, 104C is sized to frictionally receive the opening 50A, 50B, 50C of a corresponding one of the cutters 14A, 14B, 14C to support and retain the cutters 14A, 14B, 14C. In the illustrated construction, the outer wall of each receptacle 103 cooperates with the corresponding projection 104 to releasably retain the associated cutter 14 (e.g., with a friction fit). In other constructions, the outer wall of the receptacle 103 or the corresponding projection 104 may releasably retain the cutter 14 without cooperation from the other structure. In still other constructions (not shown), different retainer structure (e.g., a pivoting bayonet, a latch, etc.) may be provided in addition to or as an alternative to the friction fit.
A projection (e.g., the projection 104A, 104B) may also have a surface (e.g., an arcuate surface 108A, 108B) with a diameter corresponding to the outer diameter of the adjacent cutter (e.g., the cutter 14B, 14C, respectively) such that, as shown in
The illustrated inserts 94, 98 are removably connected to the outer case 90 by inter-engaging connectors 106 (see
One or more independent features and/or independent advantages of the invention may be set forth in the claims.
The present application is a national stage filing under 35 U.S.C. 371 of International Application No. PCT/US2016/051982, filed Sep. 15, 2016, which claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/218,945, filed Sep. 15, 2015, the entire contents of both which is are hereby incorporated by reference.
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
PCT/US2016/051982 | 9/15/2016 | WO | 00 |
Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
WO2017/048986 | 3/23/2017 | WO | A |
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
1393156 | Nonneman | Oct 1921 | A |
2697875 | McIver | Dec 1954 | A |
2796663 | Karnes | Jun 1957 | A |
2956339 | Jonasson | Oct 1960 | A |
3347118 | Gore et al. | Oct 1967 | A |
3757823 | Knutson | Sep 1973 | A |
3783901 | Schneider et al. | Jan 1974 | A |
4201116 | Martin | May 1980 | A |
4485846 | Neff | Dec 1984 | A |
4493150 | Garcia et al. | Jan 1985 | A |
4596271 | Brundage | Jun 1986 | A |
4831732 | Garton | May 1989 | A |
5285576 | Taylor | Feb 1994 | A |
5366202 | Lunzman | Nov 1994 | A |
5520217 | Grawunde | May 1996 | A |
5605289 | Maley et al. | Feb 1997 | A |
5632258 | Tsuzuki et al. | May 1997 | A |
5865156 | Feucht et al. | Feb 1999 | A |
5903980 | Collier | May 1999 | A |
5907906 | Sweeney | Jun 1999 | A |
6024060 | Buehrle, II et al. | Feb 2000 | A |
6026791 | Arnold | Feb 2000 | A |
6032367 | Bonnette et al. | Mar 2000 | A |
6050248 | Arulraja et al. | Apr 2000 | A |
6173684 | Buehrle, II et al. | Jan 2001 | B1 |
6178956 | Steinmann et al. | Jan 2001 | B1 |
6182646 | Silberstein et al. | Feb 2001 | B1 |
6345444 | Gillet | Feb 2002 | B1 |
D459963 | Usbeck | Jul 2002 | S |
D464244 | Lira-Nunez | Oct 2002 | S |
6601821 | Tyler | Aug 2003 | B2 |
7007391 | Stoick | Mar 2006 | B2 |
D556528 | Huang | Dec 2007 | S |
7406769 | Toussaint | Aug 2008 | B1 |
7743510 | Lazarevic | Jun 2010 | B2 |
D640520 | Rampling | Jun 2011 | S |
8573099 | Huang | Nov 2013 | B2 |
8601697 | Whittaker | Dec 2013 | B2 |
8800151 | Lee | Aug 2014 | B2 |
D756185 | Lehoux | May 2016 | S |
D808756 | Hyma et al. | Jan 2018 | S |
10052701 | Zhou | Aug 2018 | B2 |
10059018 | Zhou | Aug 2018 | B2 |
20060085987 | Gordon | Apr 2006 | A1 |
20060090385 | Jurkovic | May 2006 | A1 |
20070180701 | Hutt | Aug 2007 | A1 |
20100088898 | Thorson et al. | Apr 2010 | A1 |
20110179649 | Park | Jul 2011 | A1 |
20120023752 | Rampling | Feb 2012 | A1 |
20120247286 | Huang | Oct 2012 | A1 |
20170173710 | Zhou | Jun 2017 | A1 |
20180194029 | Zhou | Jul 2018 | A1 |
20180290323 | Xie | Oct 2018 | A1 |
20180297227 | Jenkins | Oct 2018 | A1 |
Number | Date | Country |
---|---|---|
102133658 | Jul 2011 | CN |
204183041 | Mar 2015 | CN |
WO2002002264 | Jan 2002 | WO |
Entry |
---|
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/indicate. |
International Search Report and Written Opinion for Application No. PCT/US2016/051982 dated Jan. 9, 2017 (15 pages). |
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
20180250759 A1 | Sep 2018 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
62218945 | Sep 2015 | US |