Methods and apparatus for movable machining tools, including for wall saws

Abstract

A movable machining element, for example a wall saw, can have one or more characteristics including a reversible driving head, a driving head removable from a carriage and having a quick release or quick lock mechanism, a driving head that is removable from a carriage without the use of threaded fasteners or having to unthread a holding element for removing the driving head from the carriage, a driving head with parallel, concentric or coaxial travel elements and tool driving elements, a tool driving assembly including a travel gear accessible from more than one direction, a component in the machining element having an oriented fiber or other composite incorporated in or as part of the component, an eccentric lateral adjustment assembly, or a drive shaft having a non-circular driving surface, for example a hexagonal drive shaft. In a wall saw, a blade and blade flange assembly are easily assembled on the saw or removed from the saw.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an isometric view of one example of a movable machining element in the form of a wall saw on a track.

FIG. 1A is a side elevation view of a track bracket used in mounting the track of FIG. 1.

FIG. 2 is an isometric and exploded view of the wall saw of FIG. 1 showing a driving element removed from a carriage.

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the wall saw of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a side elevation view of the wall saw of FIG. 3 taken along line 4-6 showing the driving element in a position to be pivoted further into engagement with the carriage.

FIG. 5 is a side elevation and partial cutaway view of the wall saw of FIG. 3 taken along line 4-6 showing the driving element in a second position pivoted into engagement with the carriage, having contacted a tab area on a handle to move the handle into a holding position.

FIG. 5A is an enlarged view of a portion of the handle and a portion of the driving head in which the handle keeps the driving head from being removed from the carriage.

FIG. 6 is a side elevation and partial cutaway view of the wall saw of FIG. 3 taken along line 4-6 showing the driving element in the second position with a handle in a third position locking the driving head on the carriage.

FIG. 6A is an enlarged view of a portion of the handle and a portion of the driving head on the carriage in which the handle locks the driving head in place.

FIG. 7 is a side elevation and partial cutaway view of the wall saw of FIG. 3 taken along line 7-7 showing the driving head captured laterally on the carriage and showing a support structure for the handle assembly, with the handle also showing a lateral adjustment assembly for the carriage.

FIG. 7A is a detailed view of the support structure for the handle assembly of FIG. 7.

FIG. 7B is a cross sectional view of the carriage taken along line 7B-7B of FIG. 3.

FIG. 8 is a plan view of a handle assembly used in the wall saw of FIG. 1.

FIG. 9 is a side elevation view of the handle assembly of FIG. 8.

FIG. 10 is a transverse cross-sectional view of the handle assembly taken along line 10-10 of FIG. 9.

FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view and partial schematic of the driving head assembly taken along line 11-11 of FIG. 3 along with a mating travel gear assembly of the carriage shown in phantom.

FIG. 12 is a plan view of a drive gear assembly from the driving head of the wall saw of FIG. 1 and a travel gear assembly from the carriage of the wall saw of FIG. 1.

FIG. 13 is a cross-sectional view of the drive gear assembly taken along line 13-13 of FIG. 12.

FIG. 14 is a cross-sectional view of the drive gear assembly and travel gear assembly taken along line 14-14 of FIG. 12.

FIG. 15 is a cross-sectional view of the drive gear assembly similar to that of FIG. 13 and further showing a blade drive input shaft and a mounting ring.

FIG. 16 is a front elevation view of an eccentric side adjustment assembly for use with the carriage of FIG. 1.

FIG. 17 is a side elevation view of the adjustment assembly of FIG. 16.

FIG. 18 is a top plan view of the adjustment assembly of FIG. 16.

FIG. 19 is a longitudinal cross-section of the adjustment assembly of FIG. 18 taken along line 19-19.

FIG. 20 is a side elevation view of the eccentric shaft and eccentric cup support for the adjustment assembly of FIG. 16.

FIG. 21 is a front elevation view of a gearbox, blade mounting flange and water supply manifold of the wall saw of FIG. 1.

FIG. 22 is a top plan view of the gearbox assembly of FIG. 21.

FIG. 23 is a side elevation view of the gearbox assembly of FIG. 21.

FIG. 24 is an isometric view of the gearbox housing of the gearbox of FIG. 21.

FIG. 24A is an isometric view of the gearbox of FIG. 24 with a composite skin layer removed.

FIG. 24B is an isometric view of the composite skin layer of FIG. 24.

FIG. 25 is a rear isometric view of the gearbox housing of the gearbox of FIG. 21.

FIG. 25A is an isometric view of the gearbox of FIG. 25 with a composite skin layer removed.

FIG. 25B is an isometric view of the composite skin layer of FIG. 25.

FIG. 26 is a cross-sectional view of the gearbox assembly of FIG. 21 taken along line 26-26.

FIG. 27 is a front elevation view of the gearbox assembly of FIG. 21 (without the blade mounting flange and water supply manifold) showing the support for the blade mounting flange.

FIG. 28 is a partial cross-section of the gearbox assembly of FIG. 27 taken along line 28-28 showing a blade drive shaft ready to engage a blade flange.

FIG. 29 is an isometric view of the gearbox assembly of FIG. 27 showing the blade shaft extended.

FIG. 30 is a plan view of a blade shaft stub gear for engaging and driving the blade shaft.

FIG. 31 is an isometric view of a blade drive shaft for use with the gearbox assembly of FIG. 21.

FIG. 32 is an isometric view of an inner blade flange assembly for mounting on the gearbox as shown in FIG. 21.

FIG. 33 is a side elevation view of the inner blade flange assembly of FIG. 32.

FIG. 37 is an exploded view from the left front of an inner blade flange assembly used on the blade arm of FIG. 21.

FIG. 38 is an exploded view from the left rear of the inner blade flange assembly used on the blade arm of FIG. 21.

FIG. 39 is a side elevation view of a collar used with the inner blade flange assembly of FIG. 21.

FIG. 40 is a front elevation view of a pin and spacer used in the collar of FIGS. 38 and 39.

FIG. 41 is a rear elevation view of the inner blade flange assembly of FIG. 21.

Claims

1. A movable machine comprising: a carriage for moving along a surface;a movement element supported by the carriage for moving the carriage along the surface;a drive element removably supported by the carriage at a first position on the carriage with the drive element having an engagement surface adapted to engage a first complementary element on the carriage and wherein the drive element is movable to a second position on the carriage at which the engagement surface on the drive element engages a second surface element on the carriage and wherein the drive element includes at least one surface for supporting a machine tool.

2. The machine of claim 1 wherein the machine tool is a saw and the drive element is a saw motor element removably supported on the carriage.

3. The machine of claim 1 wherein the movement element is a rack drive element for moving the carriage along the track.

4. The machine of claim 3 wherein the rack drive element is a gear in the carriage for engaging the rack for moving the carriage along the rack.

5. The machine of claim 4 wherein the carriage includes a wall defining an opening and the gear is substantially accessible from two sides of the gear.

6. The machine of claim 5 wherein the carriage includes a wall defining in opening and the gear is substantially centered in the opening.

7. The machine of claim 4 wherein the carriage includes a drive device for engaging the gear and driving the gear.

8. The machine of claim 7 wherein the carriage moves along a line and the drive devices a first drive device oriented at an angle relative to the line.

9. The machine of claim 8 wherein the carriage includes a second drive device oriented in the carriage at a second angle relative to the line different from the angle of the first drive device.

10. The machine of claim 1 wherein the drive element is supported on the carriage so that the drive element includes a first portion extending in a first direction and wherein the engagement surface is oriented at a first angle relative to the first direction.

11. The machine of claim 10 wherein the drive element includes a second portion substantially a mirror image of the first portion.

12. The machine of claim 11 wherein the second portion is positioned on a portion of the drive element substantially opposite the first portion.

13. The machine of claim 12 wherein the first and second portions include surfaces slanting in substantially opposite directions.

14. The machine of claim 1 further including a drive portion for engaging the movement element and wherein the engagement surface is a first engagement surface and the carriage further includes a second engagement surface wherein the drive portion is positioned between the first and second engagement surfaces.

15. The machine of claim 14 wherein the drive portion is substantially centered between the first and second engagement surfaces.

16. The machine of claim 14 wherein the drive portion is reversible relative to the carriage.

17. A movable machine comprising: a moving assembly for moving the movable machine in a first direction;a drive assembly for driving the moving assembly in the first direction, wherein the drive assembly is removably supported by the moving assembly and wherein the moving assembly and the drive assembly include respective engagement elements for releasably securing the moving and the drive assemblies together; anda manual engagement release configured for manual actuation for releasing one engagement element from the other.

18. The machine of claim 17 wherein the moving assembly is a carriage having a driven element and wherein the drive assembly includes a motor for driving the driven element and wherein the machine further includes a handle and wherein the handle includes a release element for actuating the manual engagement release.

19. The machine of claim 18 wherein the release element on the handle is biased.

20. The machine of claim 17 wherein the manual engagement release has a lock configuration and an unlocked configuration where the drive assembly can be released from the moving assembly with the manual engagement release is changed from the locked configuration to the unlocked configuration.

21. The machine of claim 20 wherein the manual engagement release has an intermediate configuration wherein the drive assembly is supported by the moving assembly in the intermediate configuration.

22. The machine of claim 21 wherein the drive assembly and the moving assembly are configured such that the drive assembly can not be removed from the moving assembly when the manual engagement release is in the intermediate configuration.

23. The machine of claim 22 wherein the Mandel engagement release includes a handle and the handle includes a spring biased latch release.

24. A saw comprising: a carriage for moving along a surface;a cutting head removably mounted to the carriage, wherein the cutting head includes a support for a saw blade and further includes a first surface; anda movable element supported by the carriage and having a second surface at least partly complementary to the first surface and wherein the second surface engages the first surface with movement of the movable element and wherein the movable element is configured to move the movable element into engagement with the first surface without the use of threads.

25. The saw of claim 24 wherein the movable element includes a handle.

26. The saw of claim 25 wherein the second surface on the movable element has a curved surface for contacting the first surface.

27. The saw of claim 25 wherein the movable element further includes a spring-biased latch element.

28. A concrete saw comprising: a drive assembly that can be moved in a cutting direction, the drive assembly including a support for a cutting blade;a blade drive element for driving a cutting blade, the blade drive element including a drive shaft supported by the drive assembly and having a first axis; anda travel element supported by the drive assembly for moving the saw along a surface and wherein the travel element is parallel with the first axis.

29. The saw of claim 28 wherein the blade drive element includes a blade input shaft and wherein the travel element includes a travel gear coaxial with the blade input shaft.

30. The saw of claim 28 wherein the blade drive element and the travel element have rotating portions that are concentric with each other.

31. The saw of claim 28 further including a carriage supporting the drive assembly and wherein the carriage includes a gear substantially centered widthwise of the carriage and engaging a driving gear in the drive assembly for moving the carriage.

32. A concrete saw comprising a carriage for moving the saw along a surface, a single off-center gear for engaging a rack on a track, wherein the single gear extends from an underside of the carriage.

33-36. (canceled)

37. A saw having a gearbox including an input to the gearbox and an output from the gearbox, wherein the output includes a drive shaft for cutting blade, and the gearbox includes at least one gear within the gearbox turning on an axis and having a gear width in an axial direction, and at least one bearing supporting the gear within the width of the gear and wherein the bearing has a bearing width in the axial direction less than the gear width.

38. The saw of claim 37 wherein the gear includes two bearing assemblies supporting the gear having a combined bearing assembly width in the axial direction no greater than the gear width.

39. A wall saw comprising: a saw motor and a saw arm wherein the saw motor can be used to drive a saw blade and the saw arm is configured to support a saw blade;an engagement assembly for receiving a blade flange assembly, the engagement assembly including a plurality of alignment elements for aligning with at least one alignment element on a blade flange assembly, wherein the plurality of alignment elements are spaced apart from each other.

40. The saw of claim 39 wherein the engagement assembly includes a substantially circular plate having notches substantially uniformly distributed about a circumference of the plate.

41. The saw of claim 39 wherein the engagement assembly includes a blade drive shaft having a non-circular surface for engaging the complementary alignment elements on the blade flange assembly.

42. The saw of claim 41 wherein the blade drive shaft includes a hexagonal surface.

43. The saw of claim 42 wherein the blade flange assembly includes a hexagonal surface.

44. A wall saw comprising: a carriage for moving along a track;a blade drive motor;a blade drive shaft for accepting and supporting a saw blade flange wherein the blade drive shaft has a non-circular portion for receiving a blade flange.

45. The wall saw of claim 44 wherein the blade drive shaft non-circular portion is hexagonal.

46. The wall saw of claim 45 further including a drive gear for the blade drive shaft wherein the drive gear includes a hexagonal portion.

47. A wall saw having a carriage for moving along a track wherein the carriage includes a lateral adjustment assembly and wherein the lateral adjustment assembly includes an eccentric shaft.

48. The wall saw of claim 47 wherein the lateral adjustment assembly includes a roller symmetric about a central axis.

49. A wall saw comprising: a carriage for moving along a track;a blade drive motor;a gear for driving a blade drive shaft wherein the gear has a non-circular portion for driving the blade drive shaft.

50. The wall saw of claim 49 further including a blade drive shaft and wherein the gear includes a hexagonal surface engaging a hexagonal surface on blade drive shaft.