Claims
- 1. A portable hand-held electric arc saw apparatus comprising: a frame, means for mounting a rotatable shaft on said frame, an electrically conducting blade rigidly secured to said shaft and engagable with a workpiece of opposite polarity for generating an electric arc therebetween, electrically conducting means mounted on said frame for transmitting current to said blade and including a slip ring secured to said shaft, a plurality of brushes mounted on said frame and having inner ends engaging the periphery of said slip ring, a handle mounted on said frame for facilitating handling and guidance of said blade relative to said workpiece, a base member mounted on said frame and having a slot therein for accommodating said blade, means for adjustably mounting said blade for varying the extent of blade projection past said base member, mobile means projecting through said member and engagable with said workpiece for facilitating movement of said apparatus relative to said workpiece, and means for electrically insulating said mobile means from said base member.
- 2. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said blade is of a generally circular configuration formed with circumferentially spaced slots extending from the periphery of said blade toward the axis thereof.
- 3. An apparatus according to claim 1, including means for biasing said brushes into engagement with said slip ring.
- 4. An apparatus according to claim 1, including means for electrically insulating said electrically conducting means from said frame.
- 5. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said mobile means comprises a pair of articulated crawler treads freely movable in orbital paths and projecting below said base member for facilitating movement of said blade relative to said workpiece.
- 6. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the voltage differential applied between said blade and said workpiece is in the range of 18 to 30 volts.
- 7. An apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the magnitude of the current ranges from 50 to 1000 amperes.
Government Interests
The U.S. Government has rights in this invention pursuant to Contract No. DE-AC06-77RL01030 between the U.S. Department of Energy and Rockwell International.
US Referenced Citations (15)
Foreign Referenced Citations (3)
Number |
Date |
Country |
1119260 |
Mar 1982 |
CAX |
43-22835 |
Nov 1968 |
JPX |
852483 |
Aug 1981 |
SUX |