GB2097943A

GB2097943A - Marking-out tool

Info

Publication number: GB2097943A
Application number: GB8113570A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1981-05-01
Filing date: 1981-05-01
Publication date: 1982-11-10
Also published as: GB2097943B

Abstract

A marking-out tool providing the functions, inter alia, of a combination square and protractor together with those of a marking gauge, comprises a stock (1) and a projecting blade (2) having an edge (4) adapted, as by serration, to locate a marker at various positions regularly spaced from the stock. In preferred embodiments, the blade also has a drawing edge (3) perpendicular to the stock and a mitre edge (5), the drawing edge (3) being associated with a graduated scale (8) and the marker-locating edge (4) being associated with a scale (9) corresponding in projection with the scale (8) associated with the drawing edge. The blade may carry protractor scaling (10) and have circular templates (15) of various sizes. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Marking-out tool This invention concerns markingsut tools such as may be used by a D.I.Y. home handyman. It is useful to be able to maflc-out lines which are parallel to, perpendicular to, or at an angle to a straight edge of a workpiece, or a straight line on a workpiece and to be able to construct circles or arcs on the workpiece using the same tool. There is an increasing demand for a simple and inexpensive multifunction tool.

Marking-out tools have already been proposed which combine the facilities for carrying out some of the commonly used marking-out operations.

The combination square comprises a metal rule and a sliding metal headstock which has faces at 450 and 900 to the rule edge. This tool can be used for marking-out lines either perpendicular to a straight edge of the workpiece using the 900 face of the stock aligned with said straight edge, or lines at an angle of 450 to a straight edge using the 450 face of the stock. A variety of additional headstocks are available which can extend the function of such combination squares to include the marking-out of lines at a range of angles to a straight edge, such additional headstocks are however complicated and expensive, and do not facilitate easy and accurate marking-out of lines parallel to an edge of a workpiece.

The aim of the present invention is to provide a versatile tool which can facilitate the marking-out of lines perpendicular or parallel to any edge of or line on a workpiece and which in its preferred embodiments can also facilitate the marking out of lines at any desired angle to an edge or line and may also be adapted for use as a straight edge, ruler, radius marker and rightangle gauge.

Accordingly the present invention provides a marking-out tool comprising a stock and a blade projecting laterally of the stock, characterised in that said blade has an edge adapted for locating a marker in any one of a series of spaced-apart positions regularly spaced from the stock.

Conveniently the stock is double-sided to facilitate use of the tool.

Preferably the blade has an edge perpendicular to the stock. This edge perpendicular to the stock may constitute at least part of the said edge adapted for locating a marker, but preferably the blade has a single edge perpendicular to the stock, such edge being smooth and, desirably, adapted as a drawing edge. This perpendicular edge preferably has a graduated scale associated therewith, with a zero graduation aligned with the blade-adjacent edge of the stock.

Preferably the graduations of said scale correspond with the intervals between the marker-locating positions along said edge of the blade adapted for locating a marker.

The blade may also carry protractor scale markings centered at the blade-adjacent edge of the stock and preferably at an end of the stock so as to provide a pivot corresponding with the centre of such scale. The protractor scale will be located angularly with respect to the bladeadjacent edge of the stock and/or with respect to a suitable edge of the blade, for instance a blade edge perpendicular to the stock.

The invention in another aspect provides a marking-out tool comprising a stock and a blade projecting laterally of the stock, characterised in that the blade carries protractor scale markings centred on a corner of the stock that may act as a pivot for the tool.

The blade may also have a mitre edge that, for a portion of the length of the blade, is at an angle of 450 to the stock, such an edge being smooth and desirably adapted as a drawing edge. In such a preferred embodiment a slot that is perpendicular to the stock is positioned in the blade, one end of the said slot being aligned with the blade-adjacent edge of the stock, an edge of this slot extending perpendicular to the stock being adapted for locating a marker in any one of a series of spaced-apart positions regularly spaced from the stock. These positions desirably constitute a continuation of the series of markerlocating positions on said adapted edge of the blade, as regards their placing from the stock.

The tool preferably also has at least one hole that may retain a suitable pivot to define an axis about which the tool can be rotated for use as a compass with the aid of a marker retained in any one of the marker-locating positions along the said adapted edge of the blade, or of said slot in the case of a tool having a slot as aforesaid.

Desirably the tool has at least two such pivotretaining holes, conveniently in the stock, one being located substantially in alignment with the edge of the slot that is adapted for marker location, and another suitably positioned in relation to the blade edge adapted for marker location.

In a preferred embodiment a series of circular templates of varying diameters are provided along a suitable portion of the blade.

The blade may also have marked thereon a line parallel with the stock for use of the tool as a drawing setsquare.

So that the invention may be more readily understood, it will be described, by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a plan view oF one preferred embodiment of the invention; Figure 2 is a partial elevation of the markingout tool of Figure 1, viewed in the direction of arrow A; Figure 3 is a partial elevation of the markingout tool of Figure 1, viewed in the direction of arrow B; Figure 4 is a cross-section taken on the line IV--IV of Figure 1: Figure 5 is a decal pian, on an enlarged scale, showing the profile of the marker-locating edges of the tool; and Figures 6 to 12 schematically illustrate some uses of the marking-out tool.

The marking-out tool as shown in Figures 1 to 5 is a single transparent plastics moulding comprising a double-sided stock 1 and a blade generally indicated as 2 that projects laterally of the stock. In the preferred embodiments shown, the blade 2 comprises an upper edge 3 that is perpendicular to the stock 1 and that is adapted as a drawing edge, a lower edge 4 that is adapted for locating a marker, a mitre edge 5, also adapted as a drawing edge, that is at 450 to the stock 1 and that joins the stock 1 to the markerlocating edge 4, a short edge 6 that is parallel to the stock and that joins the upper edge 3 to the edge 4, and a rear edge 7 that is also parallel to the stock 1. A graduated scale 8 is associated with the drawing adapted edge 3, the zero graduation being aligned with the blade-adjacent edge of the stock.

As is best seen in Figures 1 to 4 the doublesided stock 1 comprises two thin ribs, one projecting from the upper surface of the blade and a second projecting from the lower surface of the blade,togetherforming a symmetrical doublesided stock. This stock is positioned a short distance from the rear edge 7, the distance between the blade-adjacent edge of the stock and the rear edge 7 being desirably the unit distance used for scale markings on the graduated edges of the tool, for example 10 mm for a metric instrument.

The lower edge of the blade 4 is adapted for locating a marker, as is best seen in Figure 5, this adaptation in this embodiment being in the form of a series of spaced-apart serrations that are regularly spaced from the stock. These serrations are of a depth suitable for holding a marker, such as a pencil, and are separated at such a pitch as to be regularly spaced from the stock by distances corresponding to the graduated scale markings on the upper edge 3 of the blade 2, for example at 1 mm intervals. A suitable graduated scale 9 is associated with the marker-locating edge 4. This scale corresponds in projection with the graduated scale of the drawing adapted edge 3.

A protractor scale 10 is marked on the blade, centred at a corner at one end 11 of the blade adjacent edge of the stock. The protractor scale is located angularly with respect to the blade adjacent edge of the stock and with respect to the upper edge of the blade 3, and graduated in both dir.ections, so that one zero/90 degrees marking of the protractor scale 10 is aligned with the blade-adjacent edge of the stock.

A slot 12 is provided in the blade perpendicularly to the stock, one end of the slot being aligned with the blade-adjacent edge of the stock. The slot is of such a length that it extends just beyond a plane that is parallel to the stock and that contains the point of intersection of the mitre edge 5 and the marker-locating edge 4. The upper edge 13 of slot 1 2 is adapted for locating a marker as described above. This slot thus provides an effective continuation, with overlap, of the marker-locating edge 4 of the blade, to extend the marker-locating facility over the whole length of the blade when, as in the illustrated embodiment, part of the lower edge of the blade 4 is in the form of a drawing-adapted mitre edge 5.

Two holes 14, best seen in Figure 4, are located in the stock 1, one aligned with the edge 13 of the slot 12 and the other nearer to the lower edge of the blade, each hole 14 being adapted to retain a suitable pivot, for example a small nail or drawing pin, about which the tool may be rotated for use as a beam compass. In such use, the marker is retained in any one of the marker-locating positions along either the edge 4 of the blade or the edge 13 of slot 12, the pivot being retained in the appropriate one of the holes 14.

A series of circular templates, generally indicated at 15, are provided along the blade and are of commonly used diameters, for example 5 mm. 10 mm, 15mm,20 mm, 30 mm and 40 mm. A line 16 is marked on the blade parallel with the stock. This line provides a guide which can be aligned with an existing line on a workpiece when using the tool as a drawing setsquare for constructing rightangles.

Various applications of the tool are illustrated in Figures 6 to 12.

Thus, Figure 6 shows the tool being used to mark out lines perpendicular to an edge. It can be seen that by inversion of the tool the double-sided stock 1 enables the drawing of lines up to both ends of a workpiece from a single edge. The double-sidedstock also enables workpieces that have parallel edges at a distance up to twice the length of the tool to be fully marked out by alternately using one edge of the workpiece and then inverting the marking-out tool and using the opposite edge of the workpiece.

Figure 7 shows the tool being used to draw lines parallel to an edge. This application makes use of the marker-locating positions of the lower edge 4 and the slot edge 13 to hold a marker whilst the marking-out tool is moved along the edge of a workpiece in the direction indicated by arrows 1 7 and 18, thus enabling the marking-out of parallel lines.

Figure 8 shows the use of the protractor scale for drawing a line at a desired angle to an edge. In this application the centre 11 of the protractor scale 10 is positioned on the edge of the workpiece and the marking out tool is rotated about this point until the desired angle is indicated on scale 10, a line then being drawn.

Figure 9 shows the use of the line 1 6 in conjunction with the drawing-adapted upper edge 3 of the blade 2, to form a setsquare enabling the construction of rightangles on a workpiece when the marking-out tool is pressed against the workpiece.

Figure 10 shows the use of the tool as a beamcompass. In this application a suitable securing pivot is used in the hole 14 and a marker is secured in an appropriate marker-locating position of the lower edge 4 or of the edge 1 3 of slot 12; rotating the tool about the pivot causes the marker to describe an arc of the required radius.

Figure 11 shows the use of the mitre edge 5 to construct lines at 450 to an edge with which the stock is aligned.

Figure 12 shows the use of the marking-out tool as a rightangle gauge, in which the markingout tool is stood on the rear edge 7, the blade thus projecting at 900 to the surface of the workpiece.

Using this as an indicator a second workpiece can now be correctiy aligned perpendicularly to the first workpiece.

Claims

1. A marking-out tool comprising a stock and a blade projecting laterally of the stock, characterised in that said blade has an edge adapted for locating a marker in any one of a series of spaced-apart positions regularly spaced from the stock.

2. A marking-out tool according to claim 1, characterised in that the blade has an edge perpendicular to the stock.

3. A marking-out tool according to claim 2, characterised in that said perpendicular edge is adapted as a drawing edge and has a graduated scale associated therewith, with a zero graduation aligned with the blade-adjacent edge of the stock.

4. A marking-out tool according to claim 3, characterised in that the graduations of said scale correspond with the intervals between the marker-locating positions along said blade edge adapted for locating a marker.

5. A marking-out tool according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterised in that the blade carries protractor markings centered at the blade adjacent edge of the stock.

6. A marking-out tool according to claim 5, characterised in that said protractor scale markings are centered at an end of the stock so as to provide a pivot corresponding with the centre of such scale.

7. A marking-out tool comprising a stock and a blade projecting laterally of the stock, characterised in that the blade carries protractor scale markings centred on a corner of the stock that may act as a pivot for the tool.

8. A marking-out tool according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterised in that the blade has a mitre edge that, for a portion of the length of the blade, is at an angle of 450 to the stock.

9. A marking-out tool according to claim 8, characterised by a slot in the blade, one end of the said slot being aligned with the blade-adjacent edge of the stock, an edge of said slot extending perpendicular to the stock being adapted for locating a marker in any one of a series of spacedapart positions regularly spaced from the stock.

1 0. A marking-out tool according to claim 9, characterised in that the said marker-locating positions in said slot edge constitute a continuation of the series of marker-locating positions on the marker-locating edge of the blade, as regards their spacing from the stock.

11. A marking-out tool according to any one of claims 1 to 10, characterised by a hole in the stock for retaining a pivot defining an axis about which the tool can be rotated for use as a beam compass.

12. A marking-out tool according to claim 9 or 10, and claim 11 characterised by at least two said pivot-retaining holes in the said stock, one such hole being substantially aligned with the marker-locating edge of said slot.

13. A marking-out tool according to any one of the preceding claims, characterised by a series of circular templates of varying diameters in the blade.

14. A marking-out tool according to any one of the preceding'claims, characterised in that the stock is double-sided.

1 5. A marking-out tool substantially as described with reference to and as shown in the accompanying drawings.

1 6. Every novel feature or novel combination of features disclosed herein.