GB2360482A

GB2360482A - Template for use with a router tool

Info

Publication number: GB2360482A
Application number: GB0000470A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Michael Ward
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2000-01-11
Filing date: 2000-01-11
Publication date: 2001-09-26
Also published as: GB0000470D0

Abstract

A template for use with a straight cut router tool to form jointing surfaces between sheet materials which are to be jointed together, the template comprising a substantially rigid sheet 11 having bearing surfaces 12, 12', 13, 13' around its periphery to form the jointing surfaces. The sheet materials to be jointed together may be kitchen worktops.

Description

2360482 1- Templates This invention concerns templates and in particular

templates for cutting and fitting work tops for kitchens and the like, and especially for cutting and fitting post formed work tops.

Work tops for kitchens.and the like are usually manufactured as straight boards of different but standard lengths, and different but standard thicknesses. In addition, such work tops often have rounded front edges which are often of different cross section.

Butt joining square edged boards at any angle, for example to fit the corner of a room, generally presents little if any difficulties because the edge profile of the boards remains unchanged around the join, and this applies whatever the angle of the join between the boards. However, kitchen work tops frequently have curved front edges, and joining these boards other than in a straight line or with an appropriately angled mitre joint can present substantial difficulties in matching the curves of the front edges of the adjoining boards.

Whilst mitred cuts at the ends of adjoining boards can be used to form joints between boards with curved front edges, matching the cut surfaces along the length of the cuts tends to be difficult because of the length of the join. Furthermore, such joints are difficult to keep closed during use due to the positioning of the support from below provided by the kitchen units on which the boards rest.

Butting the curved front edge of one board with the vertical straight profile of the cut end of an adjoining board leaves a gap, and one solution to this problem has been to use an appropriately profiled metal or plastics strips to fill the gap between the square end of one board and the curved front edge of the board to which it is abutted. The disadvantage with this method of jointing such boards is that the jointing strips usually project above the surface of the boards. Furthermore, the join between the front edges of the boards is generally asymmetric and therefore aesthetically unattractive.

A solution to this problem has been to use a template which enables complementary portions of the two boards to be cut away so that the join between the curved front edges of the boards when butted together appears like a mitre cut with the boards abutting at an angle, i.e. are not in line, and such templates enable a variety of configurations of joint to be produced. Such templates consist of a rigid sheet having a slot for guiding a straight cut router tool, the slot being of a shape to guide the router tool to form the desired cut away profile for the front edge of one work top board and a complementary shape for the end of the adjoining board. A template of this type will subsequently be described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Although these hitherto proposed templates function satisfactorily, they are bulky in order to provide them with sufficient rigidity to enable accurately matching profiles to be produced.

According to the present invention there is provided a template for use with a straight cut router tool to form jointing surfaces between sheet materials which are to be jointed together, the template comprising a substantially rigid sheet having bearing surfaces around its periphery to form said profiles.

A template in accordance with the present invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:Fig. 1 shows a hitherto proposed template positioned on the edge of a postformed work top for making a cut out for receiving an end of an adjacent sheet of postformed work top to join the work tops at 9C; Fig. 2 shows the template of Fig. 1 positioned on the end portion of the adjacent sheet of postformed work top to shape the end portion to match the cut out produced in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 shows the two sheets of work top which have been placed together after shaping,using the template of Fig. 1; and Fig. 4 shows a template in accordance with the present invention.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2, the hitherto proposed template lconsists of a substantially rigid sheet of polymer laminate which remains substantially flat during use to form joints between sheets of postformed work top.

The template 1 has a central, substantially straight slot 2 extending down the length of the template 1 which in use acts as a guide for a guide hub of a router (not shown). The respective end portions 3 and 4 of the slot 2 are at different angles to the line of the slot 2 to facilitate matching between the cut away portions of the edges of differently profiled sheets of work top.

In addition to the slot 2, the template 1 includes a plurality of holes 5 for receiving guide pins 6 which in use serve to locate the template 1 accurately with respect to the sheet of work top which is being cut. For reasons of clarity only those of the respective pins 6 required to produce the profiles in Figs 1 and 2 respectively are shown, and as will be appreciated, further holes (not shown) will usually be provided to enable the template 1 to cut a variety of different profiles, for example to enable the sheets of work top to be joined at angles other than 90' which is achieved using the set up as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, and as shown in Fig. 3.

Referring to Fig. 1, the template 1 is positioned relative to the sheet of work top 7 using three pins 6, two of these pins abutting the postformed front of the work top, with the remaining pin abutting the end of the work top 7. The template 1 is then clamped securely to the work top 7, and a straight cut router bit is fed into and through the work top 7 using a guide bush on the router to follow the profile of the slot 2 from the end portion 3.

The template 1 is then removed from the sheet 7 and clamped to one end of a second sheet of work top 8, the three pins 6 shown in Fig. 1 first having been removed and re-positioned in other holes in the template 1. The template 1 is also positioned on the sheet 8 with the two pins 6 abutting its postformed edge so that when the router bit used as described with reference to Fig. 1 is fed along the slot 2, it either follows the end of the sheet 8 and then cuts a profile complementary to that cut in the sheet 7 or it starts by cutting off a portion of the length of the sheet 8 before forming the complementary profile. This enables the sheet 8 to be cut to length at the same time as the correct profile is cut to match that cut in the front edge of the sheet 7.

Fig. 3 shows the two profiled sheets 7 and 8 mated together at an angle of 900. Other mating angles can be produced by using pins 6 in appropriately positioned holes in the template 1. In addition, oppositely handed joints can be formed by turning the template 1 over and performing substantially the same operations as have been previously described.

The template 11 shown in Fig. 4 is in accordance with the present invention, and instead of having a slot 2 for guiding a router guide sleeve when cutting the required profiles, it has substantially straight external surfaces 12 and 12' along its length with angled end portions 13, 13', 14 and 14' which correspond and perform a similar function to the end portions 3 and 4 of the slot 2.

The template 11 has also has a plurality of holes 15 for receiving removable pins 16, the number of pins 16 inserted into the template 11 and their relative positions being determined by the angle of the join between the sheets of work top 7 and 8 to be jointed and also whether the profiling operation is to be effected in the front edge of the sheet in a similar manner to that shown in Fig. 1 or in an end portion of a sheet in a similar manner to that shown in Fig. 2.

Templates in accordance with the present invention have the advantage over templates incorporating a slot to guide a router guide bush in that they can be made considerably narrower, and therefore lighter, without a significant loss of rigidity which would occur if the prior art templates with a guide slot were merely made narrower. As will be appreciated, using the external surface of the template as a guide for a router to cut mating portions in postformed work tops generally leaves insufficient room for the templates to include guides for making other cuts such as those for locking bolts for tightening together the abutting ends of the profiled sheets (see 9 in Figs. 1 and 2) or for merely rounding end portions of sheets of work top which are not being mated with other sheets (see 10 in Figs. 1 and 2).

6

Claims

1. A template for use with a straight cut router tool to form jointing surfaces between sheet materials which are to be jointed together, the template comprising a substantially rigid sheet having bearing surfaces around its periphery to form said profiles.

2. A template according to claim 1, having a plurality of apertures for receiving guide pins for locating the template relative to the sheet material which is to be cut for jointing.

3. A template for use with a straight cut router tool, the template being substantially as herein described with reference to Fig. 4 of the accompanying drawings.