Stacked disc finger joint cutter assembly

Abstract

A stacked disc cutter assembly for producing finger joints including a plurality of discs, each of which has a plurality of cutter teeth secured to and projecting radially outwardly therefrom. The discs are of substantially similar outer diameter and when assembled and secured together in side-by-side, contiguous, concentric relationship they form a solid cylindrical core for the assembly. The cutter teeth projecting radially outwardly from the discs and so arranged on the discs that they are spaced apart both axially and circumferentially of the cutter assembly. SUBACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThis invention relates to a stacked disc cutter assembly for producing finger joint cuts in material, and more particularly to such a stacked disc finger joint cutter assembly wherein cutter teeth thereon are spaced apart both axially and circumferentially about the assembly.In the past, various types of cutter devices have been designed for producing finger joints in material such as wood. For the most part, such devices have had cutter teeth thereon which are closely spaced both circumferentially and axially of the device. Because of this, considerable problems have arisen due to portions of the material being cut (such as splinters) jamming between the cutter elements, this has resulted in problems such as having to shut down the machine to remove the jammed material.In some previous devices, there is a considerable amount of space extending radially inwardly from the cutter elements toward the center of rotation of the device, into which spaces material being cut may be drawn. The possibility of the workpiece being drawn into the space radially inwardly of the cutting device beyond a preselected point also can produce problems in production and maintenance of the equipment.A general object of the present invention is to provide a novel finger joint cutter assembly which overcomes the above set out disadvantages of previous devices in a simple and efficient manner.More specifically, an object of the invention is to provide a novel finger joint cutter assembly which includes a plurality of cutters, each of which includes a disc from which a plurality of circumferentially spaced cutter teeth project. When the cutters are assembled in face-to-face concentric relationship, the cutter teeth are so arranged that they are spaced apart both axially and circumferentially about the assembly. With the cutter teeth thus being spaced apart both axially and circumferentially about the assembly, there is substantially no chance for material being cut to catch in the spaces between the cutter teeth and jam the equipment. Further, the disc portions of the cutters when assembled provide a substantially solid core at the base of the cutter teeth which prevents the workpiece from being drawn radially inwardly of the assembly thus allowing the assembly to consistently produce desired joints without jamming of the equipment occurring.A further object of the invention is to provide a novel finger joint cutter assembly which comprises a plurality of stacked discs which are easily disassembled for maintenance and which can be simply replaced and interchanged to produce a variety of finger joint configurations.Yet another object of the present invention is to provide such a novel finger joint cutter assembly in which the cutter teeth are integrally joined to the disc portions of the cutters whereby there is no chance that they will spring away from the material to produce an inaccurate cut when a harder than usual portion of the material is encountered, as has occurred with cutter assemblies of some previous designs.

Description

Claims

1. A finger joint cutter assembly comprising

a plurality of cutters, each cutter including a disc of preselected thickness and a plurality of cutter teeth secured to and projecting radially outwardly from said disc, said cutter teeth on a disc being thinner than said disc, having preselected lengths measured circumferentially of said discs and being spaced apart circumferentially about said disc a distance greater than said preselected length, each of said discs being of substantially similar diameter, and

connecting means for securing said cutters in face-to-face contiguous, concentric relationship with said cutter teeth on adjacent cutters spaced apart axially and circumferentially of said assembly.

2. The assembly of claim 1, wherein said cutter teeth on alternate discs are substantially aligned in a direction extending axially of the assembly.

3. The assembly of claim 1, wherein opposed sides of a cutter tooth converge on progressing radially outwardly from said disc.

4. The assembly of claim 1, wherein said discs have bores extending therethrough, said bores in contiguous discs being so arranged relative to the cutters on said discs that when the bores are aligned in a direction extending axially of the assembly, the cutter teeth on one disc are spaced circumferentially of the assembly from the cutter teeth on a contiguous disc, and said connector means comprises an elongate fastener which extends through aligned bores in said discs.

5. The assembly of claim 1, wherein a cutter tooth on a cutter is formed integrally with said disc and has a cutting side facing in the direction which said assembly is rotated during operation, and which further comprises a hardened, wear-resistant cutter face secured to and covering a portion of said cutting side of said tooth.

6. The assembly of claim 5, wherein said cutter face comprises an element having a face configuration conforming substantially to the configuration of the cut said cutter tooth is to produce in operation of said assembly.

7. The assembly of claim 6, wherein said element projects laterally to opposite sides of said cutter tooth and radially outwardly beyond the outer edge of said cutter tooth.

8. The assembly of claim 1, which further comprises an elongate, cylindrical hub, and each disc has a bore extending axially therethrough adapted to receive said hub.

9. The assembly of claim 1, wherein said cutter teeth on a disc are aligned with each other along a line extending circumferentially of said disc.

10. The assembly of claim 1, wherein said cutter teeth on said discs are of substantially equal length measured circumferentially of said discs.

11. A stacked disc finger joint cutter assembly comprising

a plurality of cutters, each cutter including a disc of preselected thickness and a plurality of cutter teeth secured to and projecting radially outwardly from said disc, said cutter teeth on a disc being thinner than said disc, having preselected lengths measured circumferentially of said disc and being spaced apart circumferentially about said disc a distance greater than said preselected length, said discs being of substantially similar diameter and having bores extending therethrough, said bores in contiguous discs being so arranged relative to the cutter teeth on said discs that when said cutters are arranged in face-to-face contiguous, concentric relationship with said bores aligned, the cutter teeth on adjacent cutters are spaced apart axially and circumferentially of said assembly and the cutter teeth on alternate discs are substantially aligned in a direction extending axially of the assembly, and

connecting means for securing said cutters in said face-to-face contiguous, concentric relationship including a fastener which extends through said aligned bores in said discs.

12. The assembly of claim 11, wherein a cutter tooth on a cutter is formed integrally with said disc and has a cutting side facing in the direction in which said assembly is rotated during operation, and which further comprises a hardened, wear-resistant cutter face secured to and covering a portion of said cutting side of said tooth.

13. The assembly of claim 11, wherein said cutter teeth on a disc are aligned with each other in a line extending circumferentially about said disc.

14. The assembly of claim 11, wherein said cutter teeth on said discs are of substantially equal length measured circumferentially of said discs.