MX2008005665A - Concrete saw with self-leveling operator handle - Google Patents

Abstract

A concrete cutting tool wherein the pitch of the handles relative to the ground surface is relative to, and interlinked, to the pitch of the connected saw blade, so that as the saw blade is raised and/or lowered into the surface to be cut, the handles remain at a predetermined angle of attack (preferably generally horizontal).

Description

SAW FOR CONCRETE WITH HANDLE FOR THE SELF-LEVELING OPERATOR CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED REQUESTS This application claims the priority date of the provisional application entitled SAW FOR CONCRETE WITH HANDLE FOR THE SELF-LEVELING OPERATOR, presented by Jeffrey K. Amswald, et al., On November 3, 2005, with the serial number of the application 60 / 733,672, the description of which is incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION The invention relates generally to motorized concrete saws, and in particular, to a self-leveling operator's handle for motorized concrete saws.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION A concrete saw that moves behind is a device typically used to cut through concrete slabs and / or cut slits / grooves in concrete surfaces. A typical concrete saw is very heavy, often weighs hundreds of kilograms (pounds), is made of a rigid frame that supports a powerful motor that drives a blade of the rotating saw. In such a prior art device, the frame rests on a set of front and rear wheels, with a pair of operator handles mounted rigidly to the rear of the frame, so that an operator stands behind the saw in operation. The handles are usually bolted, welded or otherwise fixed to the frame and are not Easily adjustable to accommodate different sizes of operators. The saw blade is mounted near the front of the frame, so that the cutting edge of the blade faces in front of, or just below, the front of the frame. The height of the saw blade above the concrete work surface and the depth of the cut are controlled by raising and lowering the front end of the frame. In such a standard device of the prior art, neither the front or rear wheels are steerable. The reason for this is to avoid the lateral movement of the saw blade when cutting. An unacceptable lateral movement of a blade of the rotary saw in the cut would probably result in a shattered saw blade, which would pose a danger to the operator and other nearby people. Instead, in order to move the saw to and from the cutting site, or to rotate the saw, the operator must raise the front of the frame well above the surface of the concrete, high enough to fully disengage the blade. of the cutting saw. The operator can push the handles down to rotatably lift the front wheels of the concrete surface and rotate the machine around its rear wheels to make the turn. In the prior art concrete cutting saws, the handles are fixed rigidly to the frame. Because of that, the elevation of the front of the frame rotates the handles downward (towards the surface of the concrete) behind the back of the frame. If the diameter of the saw blade is large, the operator must often raise the front of the frame very high, thereby turning the handles downward to the extent that the ends of the handles are often approximately at the height of the legs. Operator's knees or lower. Due to the heavy weight of motorized concrete saws, the lowering of the handles just above the concrete work surface makes the saw difficult to maneuver and exposes the operator to fatigue and / or the possibility of injury. To compensate for this, and to protect the blade from the saw, operators will often have an assistant who places the assembly of the Saw blade (once it has been raised from the surface of the concrete), in a wheelbarrow that serves as a makeshift movable platform to assist in turning the machine over. In consecuense, there is a need for a way to keep the handles at a comfortable height above the surface of the concrete, very independent of the height of the saw blade, particularly when the saw operator is rotating or moving the machine with the Saw blade raised above concrete surface. It is an object of the embodiments of the present invention to provide a pair of self-leveling handles for use with a concrete saw or other similar machine. Another object of the embodiment of the present invention is to provide a mechanism wherein the height of the handle can be adjusted easily and quickly for operators of different heights, or even operator preferences.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION One embodiment of the present invention is summarized as follows: The embodiment is a tool for cutting concrete that has a self-leveling handle assembly. This cutting tool comprises a frame, a front wheel assembly, a tribrach and a handle assembly. The frame has a machine or motor to drive the rotation of a blade of the attached saw, as is standard for such devices. The frame further comprises a rear wheel assembly for holding the back of the tool above the surface of the concrete. This assembly of the rear wheel comprises at least one rear wheel, preferably two. In addition, a skate or other support can replace the front wheels without changing the function or operation of the invention. The assembly of the front wheel comprises a first end extending to a second end. The second end comprises at least one front wheel. The second end is preferably connected rotationally to the frame. The front wheel assembly further comprises a distance controller for controlling the distance of the front wheel relative to the frame. The distance controller is connected between the frame and the front wheel assembly. The tribrach is used to interconnect the front wheel assembly with a handle assembly (described above). The tribrach has a first end that extends to a second end. The first end is rotatably connected to the handle assembly. The second end is rotatably connected to the front wheel assembly. The handle assembly is to allow a user to control the tool. The handle assembly preferably comprises at least one handle bar. The handle assembly has a first portion rotatably connected to the frame and a second portion rotatably connected to the leveling link. Therefore, as the distance controller increases and / or decreases the distance, the leveling link generally transmits in a way that provides the change in distance to the handle bar, thereby resulting in the handle bar it remains oriented generally parallel to the surface of the concrete. The purpose of the above Summary is to allow the public, and especially scientists, engineers and practitioners in the art, who are not familiar with patent or legal terms or phraseology, to quickly determine from a cursory inspection, the nature and essence of the technical description of the request. The Summary also does not purport to define the invention, which is measured by the claims, nor does it intend to limit the scope of the invention in any way. Still other features and advantages of the present invention will become readily apparent to those skilled in the art, from the following detailed description, which describes only the preferred embodiment of the invention, simply by way of illustration of the best mode contemplated for carrying out my invention. As will be noticed, the invention is capable of modification in several obvious aspects, all without departing from the invention. Accordingly, the drawings and description of the preferred embodiment are considered to be illustrative in nature, and not as of a restrictive nature.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Figure 1 is a side view of an embodiment of the present invention, showing the "descended" mode. Figure 2 is a second side view of the embodiment of the Figure 1, showing the "high" mode.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Although the invention is susceptible to various modifications and alternate constructions, certain illustrated embodiments thereof have been shown in the drawings and will be described in detail below. It must be understood, however, that there is no intention to limit the invention to the specific form described, but on the contrary, the invention covers all modifications, alternate constructions, and equivalents that fall within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in claims. The present invention is an improvement for concrete cutting tools, as well as the same tool for cutting improved concrete. Although there are several embodiments of the present invention, a particular embodiment is shown in the Figures (Figure 1, Figure 2). Referring initially to Figure 1, a first embodiment of the present invention is shown. This figure shows a tool for cutting standard concrete (concrete saw) 10, partially within its "descended" mode (if it were completely inside its lowered mode, the saw blade would actually be partially submerged within the surface), in where the blade of the saw 24 is capable of coupling and cutting a surface of the concrete 2. The tool for cutting concrete 10 has a frame 20, a front wheel assembly 40 and a handle assembly 60. In such a tool for cutting concrete 10, the frame 20 is supported by at least one rear wheel 22 and at least one front wheel 42. The typical configuration of the wheel is four wheels, however, three-wheel configurations, with two front or rear wheels with a single opposite wheel, can be found in the prior art. Such wheels typically rest directly on the concrete work surface 2. For purposes of illustration in this preferred embodiment, a four-wheel configuration is shown, and it should be understood that the drawings herein show one side of the concrete saw. , with the other side being substantially identical. In the present invention, a handle assembly 60 and the front wheel assembly 40 are interconnected by a tribrach 80. This tribrach 80 is configured to adjust the orientation of the handle assembly 60 relative to the distance of the frame 20 with relation to the assembly of the front wheel 40. The reason for doing this, is to keep the handles at a comfortable height above the surface of the concrete, very independent of the height of the blade of the saw, particularly when the operator of the saw is rotating or moving the machine with the saw blade raised above the surface of the concrete. The tools for cutting concrete that have frameworks are well known within the art. The teachings of the present invention could very easily be applied to many different current business modalities of concrete saws, other concrete equipment and other construction equipment. Therefore, "tool for concrete" and "frame" are only referred to in this description in its generic sense rather than dictating the individual components and others that are attached to this frame. In such a tool for cutting concrete, such a frame typically has attached thereto a rear wheel 22 and the saw blade 24 mentioned above. The saw blade is typically driven by a motor, means hydraulic or other means. In such a unit, the blade of the saw 24 is rotatably connected to a front section of the frame in a fixed relation to a motor (or other way to motorize the blade). For example, the blade could be driven by a motor via a band mount with some kind of clutch assembly used to couple and uncouple the band assembly. In the embodiment shown, a distance controller 24 is interconnected between the frame 20 and the front wheel assembly 40. This front wheel assembly 40 is also rotatably attached to the frame 20 at a different location. As shown more clearly in Figure 2, the distance controller 24 comprises a hydraulic ram that joins between the frame 20 and the front wheel assembly 40, so that the extension of the hydraulic ram 24 causes the mounting of the the front wheel 40 rotates away from the frame 40, thereby raising the front part of the frame (with the saw blade 24 attached), above the surface of the concrete 2. Although this mode utilizes a double cylinder / hydraulic ram In order to make such movement, it is considered that other apparatuses could be used to control the distance of the frame in relation to the assembly of the front wheel, including non-exclusively, semicruzadas rings mechanically operated. The assembly of the front wheel 40 has a distance arm 44 which is rotatably connected to the frame 20 around one end, opposed by a front wheel 42 at, or around a second end. Again, as indicated above, this arm of the distance is to control the distance of the frame above the surface on which the tool is used to cut concrete, as well as the depth of the cut. There is preferably a handle assembly 60 extending from the frame 40. This handle assembly 60 comprises at least one handle bar 62 (preferably two handle bars), and allows a user to manipulate and control the handle. Directional movement of the cutting tool 10 in use, as well as helping the user to manipulate the tool inside or outside a cutting location that is used and / or stored. Although the prior art devices have the handle rigidly attached to the frame, in the embodiment shown, a pivot connection 64 allows the handle assembly 60 to rotatably attach to the frame 20. The present invention utilizes a joint tribrach 80 for interconnecting the handle assembly 60 with the front wheel assembly 40, so that when the distance of the frame relative to the front wheel assembly is changed, the orientation of the handle relative to the ground surface changes also automatically. It is preferred that this change be proportional and configured so that regardless of the orientation of the frame relative to the first mounting of the wheel, the plane of the handle remains generally parallel to the plane of the floor surface or another desirable angle thereof. This leveling link 80 has a first end 82 that extends to a second end 84. The first end 82 is configured to be connected to a pivot 66 with the handle assembly 60. The second end 84 is configured to be connected on a pivot 47 with the assembly of the front wheel 40. Referring again to the drawings, a device in its lowered state is shown in Figure 1. Figure 2 shows the impact of the distance controller 25 causing a change in the distance of the front wheel assembly relative to the frame of the concrete cutting tool. By doing this, the tribrach transmits its change in distance to the handle assembly, so that the distance of the handle assembly from the frame changes in the same way (as shown in Figure 2), to generally remain parallel to the frame. the surface of the concrete 2. As shown in Figures 1 and 2, the leveling joint 80 is preferably a rigid member. Alternatively, the tribrach may be a flexible joint, such as a cable or chain, or a system of connected joints. In this way, the tribulation joint can be routed to avoid interference with other components of the saw for concrete. In addition, the "tribrach" may be any way to interconnect the change in distance of the frame relative to the front wheel assembly to a change in the distance / orientation of the handles relative to the frame. Although the currently preferred embodiment of the invention is shown and described, it will be understood in a distinctive manner that this invention is not limited thereto, but may be incorporated in a variety of ways to be practiced within the scope of the following claims. From the foregoing description, it will be apparent that various changes can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the following claims.

Claims (9)

1. A motorized tool for use on a surface, the motorized tool comprises: a tool body having a first end extending to a second end; at least one handle extending from the first end, the handle is oriented generally parallel to the surface, the handle is rotatably connected to the body of the tool; and a hinge that engages the body of the tool and the handle so that the hinge directs the handle to rotate proportionally to the vertical movement of the second end, thereby maintaining the handle generally parallel to the surface.

2. A tool for cutting a surface, the tool has a self-leveling handle assembly, the tool has a front portion and a rear portion, the tool comprises: a frame portion, the frame portion further comprises a rear support assembly for supporting the back portion of the tool above the surface to be cut; a front support assembly, the front support assembly comprises a first end extending to a second end, the first end is rotatably connected to a tribrach, the second end is rotatably connected to the frame, the mounting The front support further comprises a distance controller for controlling the distance of the front support relative to the frame; a leveling link for pivotally interconnecting the front support assembly with a handle assembly; and a handle assembly to allow a user to control the tool, the handle assembly is rotatably connected to the tribrach and the frame, the handle assembly is oriented generally parallel to the surface to be cut; therefore, as the distance controller changes the relationship of the front support assembly to the rear support assembly, the tribrach proportionally transmits the change in relation to the handle assembly, resulting in the handle assembly remaining oriented generally parallel to the surface to be cut. The tool according to claim 2, characterized in that the rear support assembly comprises at least one wheel. The tool according to claim 2, characterized in that the second end of the front support assembly comprises at least one wheel. The tool according to claim 2, characterized in that the frame portion further comprises a motor for driving the rotation of a blade of the joined saw. The tool according to claim 2, characterized in that the distance controller is connected between the frame portion and the front support assembly. The tool according to claim 2, characterized in that the tribrach has a first end extending to a second end, the first end is rotatably connected to the handle assembly, the second end is rotatably connected with the front support assembly. 8. A tool for cutting concrete that has a self-leveling handle assembly, the tool comprises: a frame, the frame has a motor for driving the rotation of a blade of the attached saw, the frame further comprises a rear wheel assembly for supporting the rear part of the tool for cutting concrete above a concrete surface, the rear wheel assembly comprises at least one rear wheel; a front wheel assembly, the front wheel assembly comprises a first end extending to a second end, the second end comprises at least one front wheel, the second end is rotatably connected to the frame, the front wheel assembly further comprises a distance controller for controlling the distance of the front wheel relative to the frame, the distance controller is connected between the frame and the front wheel assembly; a tribrach for interconnecting the front wheel assembly with the handle assembly, the tribrach has a first end extending to a second end, the first end is rotatably connected to the handle assembly, the second end is connected in a rotating manner with the front wheel assembly; and a handle assembly for allowing a user to control the tool, the handle assembly comprises at least one handle bar, the handle assembly has a first portion rotatably connected to the frame portion and a second portion connected to the frame portion. rotating way to the tribulation joint; therefore, as the distance controller changes the distance, the tribrach proportionally transmits the change of distance to the handle bar, resulting therefore in that the handle bar remains oriented generally parallel to the surface of the handle. concrete. 9. A method to control the distance of the handles of a tool to cut concrete, the tool is to cut a concrete surface; providing a tool for cutting concrete comprising: a frame portion having a back support assembly for supporting the back of the tool above a concrete surface; a front support assembly rotatably attached to the frame portion; a distance controller that connects between the front support assembly and the frame portion, the distance controller is for control the distance of the front support assembly relative to the frame portion; a tribrach to interconnect the front support assembly with a handle assembly, the handle assembly is to allow a user to control the tool; rotatingly connecting the handle assembly to the frame portion; and rotatably connecting a tribrach between the handle assembly and the front support assembly; wherein as the distance controller changes the distance, the tribrach proportionally transmits the change of distance to the handle assembly, whereby the handle assembly remains oriented generally parallel to the concrete surface.