Machine tool circular cutting supplementary apparatus

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6705191
  • Patent Number
    6,705,191
  • Date Filed
    Thursday, November 15, 2001
    23 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, March 16, 2004
    20 years ago
  • Inventors
  • Examiners
    • Shoap; Allan N.
    • Windmuller; John
    Agents
    • Browdy and Neimark, P.L.L.C.
Abstract
A machine tool circular cutting supplementary apparatus comprises an upright support vertically slidably and horizontally rotatably mounted in the worktable of a machine tool, a locating block fastened to the top of the upright support, a horizontal rod slidably inserted through a transverse through hole in the locating block and locked with a lock apparatus, and a positioning member mounted on one end of the horizontal rod member and provided with a tip being engaged with the center of the circle drawn on the workpiece to be cut by the machine tool.
Description




FIELD OF THE INVENTION




The present invention relates generally to a machine tool and, more specifically, to a circular cutting supplementary apparatus for use in a machine tool.




BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION




When operating a machine tool (belt saw or band saw) to cut the workpiece into a circular shape, the operator must draw a circle on the workpiece, and then move the workpiece relative to the saw blade for enabling the workpiece to be cut along the circle. Since the workpiece is usually held by operator's hand, it is difficult to obtain a perfect circular workpiece such that, a secondary processing procedure is needed to trim the circular periphery of the finished product.




SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION




It is the primary object of the present invention to provide a machine tool circular cutting supplementary apparatus, which helps the machine tool operator to cut the workpiece accurately and efficiently along the circle drawn on the workpiece.




According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the machine tool circular cutting supplementary apparatus comprises an upright support vertically slidably and horizontally rotatably mounted in the worktable of a machine tool, a locating block fastened to the top of the upright support and having a transverse through hole, a horizontal rod slidably inserted through said through hole of the locating block and locked with lock means, and a positioning member mounted on one end of the horizontal rod and provided with a tip being engaged with the center of the circle drawn on the workpiece to be cut by the machine tool.











BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS





FIG. 1

is an exploded view of a circular cutting supplementary apparatus according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.





FIG. 2

shows the circular cutting supplementary apparatus installed in the machine tool according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention.





FIG. 3

shows an application example of the present invention.











DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION




Referring to

FIG. 1

, a circular cutting supplementary apparatus of a preferred embodiment of the present invention is installed in the worktable of a machine tool such as a belt saw or band saw. The apparatus comprises an adjustment unit


10


, a locating block


20


, a horizontal rod


30


, an adjustment rod


40


, a fine-adjustment member


50


, and a positioning member


60


.




The adjustment unit


10


provides an elevation adjustment function as well as a 360° horizontal position adjustment function, comprising an upright support


11


pivoted to the worktable of the machine tool and a locking member


12


adapted to lock the upright support


11


in position. According to the present preferred embodiment, the upright support


11


is inserted through a vertical through hole


13


in the worktable of the machine tool, and can be moved vertically in the vertical through hole


13


to the desired elevation and rotated horizontally to the desired angle. According to the present preferred embodiment, the locking member


12


is a tightening up screw threaded into a side screw hole (not shown in the FIGS.) in the worktable of the machine tool and perpendicularly stopped against the periphery of the upright support


11


in the vertical through hole


13


to tighten up the upright support


11


.




The locating block


20


comprises a vertically extended bottom plug hole


21


, which receives the top end of the upright support


11


, a first side screw hole


22


perpendicularly extended from the bottom plug hole


21


to the front sidewall thereof, a first tightening up screw


23


threaded into the first side screw hole


22


and stopped against the periphery of the upright support


11


to fixedly secure the locating block


20


to the upright support


11


, a first transverse through hole


24


and a second transverse through hole


25


horizontally extended through the front and rear sidewalls thereof and arranged in parallel, a second side screw hole


26


perpendicularly extended from the first transverse through hole


24


to one lateral sidewall thereof, a second side screw hole


27


perpendicularly extended from the second transverse through hole


25


to the other lateral sidewall thereof, a second tightening up screw


28


threaded into the second side screw hole


26


and adapted to fix the horizontal rod


30


in the first transverse through hole


24


in position, and a third tightening up screw


29


threaded into the third side screw hole


27


and adapted to fix the adjustment rod


40


in the second transverse through hole


25


in position.




The horizontal rod


30


is axially slidably inserted through the first transverse through hole


24


of the locating block


20


, and fixedly secured in position by the second tightening up screw


28


.




The adjustment rod


40


is axially slidably inserted through the second transverse through hole


25


of the locating block


20


and fixedly secured in position by the third tightening up screw


29


. The adjustment rod


40


provides at one end thereof with a threaded portion


41


.




The fine adjustment device


50


is provided with a receiving hole


51


, which receives one end of the horizontal rod member


30


, an adjustment hole


52


, which receives the screw rod


41


of the adjustment rod member


40


, and an adjustment nut


53


threaded onto the screw rod


41


of the adjustment rod member


30


for rotation by hand.




The positioning member


60


is fixedly fastened to one end of the horizontal rod


30


remote from the fine adjustment member


50


. The positioning member


60


provides with a vertical screw hole


61


extended through the top and bottom sidewalls thereof. An anchoring member


62


is threaded into the vertical screw hole


61


, having a pointed bottom tip


63


for contacting firmly to the center of the circle been drawn on the workpiece to be cut.




The operation of the present invention is outlined hereinafter with reference to

FIGS. 2 and 3

. The workpiece


90


is put on the worktable of the machine tool, and the belt saw or band saw is moved to the tangent line position at the periphery of the circle (see the imaginary line shown in

FIG. 3

) along which the belt saw or band saw is to be moved to cut the workpiece


90


, and then the locking member


12


is loosened for enabling the upright support


11


to be moved up and down in the vertical through hole


13


and rotated horizontally to adjust the locating block


20


to the desired elevation and angle, and then the locking member


12


is fastened tight to fix the upright support


11


in position. Thereafter, the second tightening up screw


28


and the third tightening up screw


29


are loosened for enabling the horizontal rod


30


and the adjustment rod


40


to be moved with the fine adjustment member


50


forwards/backwards in the transverse through holes


24


,


25


of the locating block


20


, and then shifting the positioning member


60


to the position where the pointed bottom tip


63


of the anchoring member


62


is aimed at the center of the circle been drawn on the workpiece


90


to be cut, and then the second tightening up screw


28


and the third tightening up screw


29


are fastened tight to fix the horizontal rod


30


and the adjustment rod


40


in position, and then the anchoring member


62


is rotated inwards in the positioning member


60


to pierce the pointed bottom tip


63


of the anchoring member


62


into the center of the been drawn on the workpiece


70


to be cut. When rotating the workpiece


90


about the pointed bottom tip


63


of the anchoring member


62


during reciprocating motion of the belt saw or band saw, the workpiece


90


is well cut along the circle drawn on it.




For fine adjustment, the second tightening up screw


28


is loosened, and then the adjustment nut


53


is rotated counterclockwise or clockwise, thereby causing the movement of the fine adjustment member


50


along the threaded portion


41


of the adjustment rod


40


forwards or backwards as well as the movement of the horizontal rod


30


forwards or backwards. After adjustment, the second tightening up screw


28


is fastened tight again.



Claims
  • 1. A machine tool circular cutting supplementary apparatus adapted to hold a workpiece in the worktable of a machine tool for enabling said workpiece to be cut along a circle that has been drawn on said workpiece when the user rotates said workpiece relative to the machine tool circular cutting supplementary apparatus, the supplementary apparatus comprising:an adjustment unit vertically slidably and horizontally rotatably mounted on the worktable of the machine tool and being held in position by a first locking means; a locating block mounted on a top side of said adjustment unit, said locating block provided with a first transverse through hole and a second transverse through hole; a horizontal rod axially slidably inserted through the first transverse through hole of said locating block and being held in position by a second locking means; a positioning member mounted on one end of said horizontal rod, said positioning member providing with a tip adapted to engage the center of the circle drawn on said workpiece after said workpiece has been put on the worktable of the machine tool for cutting; and an adjustment rod slidably inserted through the second transverse through hole of said locating block and being held in position by a third locking means, said adjustment rod provided at one end thereof with a threaded portion.
  • 2. The machine tool circular cutting supplementary apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said positioning member is provided with a vertical screw hole extended through top and bottom sidewalls thereof, and an anchoring screw member threaded into said vertical screw hole, said anchoring screw member having said tip.
  • 3. The machine tool circular cutting supplementary apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein said adjustment unit comprises an upright support pivoted in the worktable of the machine tool, said upright support having a top end fastened to said locating block.
  • 4. A machine tool circular cutting supplementary apparatus adapted to hold a workpiece in the worktable of a machine tool for enabling said workpiece to be cut along a circle that has been drawn on said workpiece when the user rotates said workpiece relative to the machine tool circular cutting supplementary apparatus, the supplementary apparatus comprising:an adjustment unit vertically slidably and horizontally rotatably mounted on the worktable of the machine tool and being held in position by a first locking means; a locating block mounted on a top side of said adjustment unit, said locating block provided with a first transverse through hole and a second transverse through hole; a horizontal rod axially slidably inserted through the first transverse through hole of said locating block and being held in position by a second locking means; a positioning member mounted on one end of said horizontal rod, said positioning member providing with a tip adapted to engage the center of the circle drawn on said workpiece after said workpiece has been put on the worktable of the machine tool for cutting; an adjustment rod slidably inserted through the second transverse through hole of said locating block and being held in position by a third locking means, said adjustment rod provided at one end thereof with a threaded portion; and a fine adjustment member provided with a receiving hole, which receives one end of the horizontal rod, an adjustment hole, which receives the threaded portion of the adjustment rod and an adjustment nut threaded onto the threaded portion of the adjustment rod.
  • 5. The machine tool circular cutting supplementary apparatus as claimed in claim 4 wherein the second transverse through hole is disposed in parallel to said first transverse through hole for the positioning of said adjustment rod;wherein said second locking means comprises a side screw hole perpendicularly extended from the first transverse through hole to one lateral sidewall of the location block and a tightening up screw threaded into the side screw hole and adapted to fix the horizontal rod in the first transverse through hole in position, and said third locking means comprises a side screw hole perpendicularly extended from the second transverse through hole to one lateral sidewall of the location block and a tightening up screw threaded into the side screw hole of said third locking means and adapted to fix the adjustment rod in the second transverse through hole in position.
  • 6. The machine tool circular cutting supplementary apparatus as claimed in claim 4 wherein said positioning member is provided with a vertical screw hole extended through top and bottom sidewalls thereof, and an anchoring screw member threaded into said vertical screw hole, said anchoring screw member having said tip.
  • 7. The machine tool circular cutting supplementary apparatus as claimed in claim 4 wherein said adjustment unit comprises an upright support pivoted in the worktable of the machine tool, said upright support having a top end fastened to said locating block.
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