US2893461A - Conduit bender - Google Patents

Description

July 7, 1959 pAULlNG 2,893,461

CONDUI'I BENDER Filed June 4, i956 IN V EN TOR.

1 Mal-fin H BY 17770 NEY United States atcnt O CONDUIT BENDER Martin .F. Pauling, Sioux Falls, S. Dak. Application June 4,1956, Serial No. 589,313

1 Claim. (Cl. 15348) My invention relates to a conduit bender.

An object of my invention is to provide a conduit or pipe bender which will conveniently and readily provide an offset in a conduit or pipe, and will additionally provide means whereby the amount of the off-set can be adjusted to the extent desired.

A further object of my invention is to provide an arrangement of this type which is readily and easily operated, and is of relatively simple construction.

With these and other objects in view, my invention consists in the construction, arrangement, and combination of the various parts of my device, whereby the objects contemplated are attained, as hereinafter more fully set forth, pointed out in my claim, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure l is a plan view of the conduit bender,

Figure 2 is a side elevation of Figure 1,

Figure 3 is an end view of Figure 2 taken along the lines of 33 thereof, and

Figure 4 is a view of a pipe or conduit after being bent with the device of my invention.

Many times in electrical or other similar work it is necessary to provide an off-set portion from the main portion of the pipe in order to provide entry into junction boxes, et cetera, and in many cases the off-set must be regulated according to circumstances. My invention contemplates the provision of a device which will provide this off-set and which will also maintain the off-set portion in perfect alignment with the principal portion of the pipe and which device will not require bending and rebending of the pipe, but will allow the pipe to be properly off-set in one operation.

In describing my invention I have used the character to designate a vertically positioned plate which is bolted at 11 to suitable spacers 12 and which bolts 11 are secured to a further vertical plate 13, the plate 10 having the cutout portion at 14.

Suitably pivoted by means of a rod 15 between the plates 10 and 13 is a substantially lengthened lever or bar 16 which can be made of circular pipe if desired. Attached to the lower end of this bar is a projecting member 17 which is adapted to hear at 18 against a retaining member 19 which member 19 is substantially channel.

shaped and includes the pipe abutting portion 20, the member 19 being suitably pivoted at 21.

Attached at 22 to the member 19 is a spring 23 which is secured at 24 to a further lever or bar 25 to which is welded at 26 the arm 27, the bar 25 being pivoted at 25a.

Received through the arm 27 is a pin 28 which is secured to rod 29 which is attached to a further pin 30, which pin passes through a substantially wedge shaped member 31. The character 32 designates a lengthened platform upon which the conduit is adapted to rest, one edge of this platform being welded to the vertical wall 13, the other edge extending into the further vertical portion 33 which rests upon the base 34 which is suitably braced at 35. Suitable pins 34a and 35a pass through the links 36 and 37, there being a link 36 at either side of the 2,893,461 Patented July 7, 1959 arrangement as well as the link 37, the links 36 being pivoted to the wedge shape member 31 by means of the pin 38, and with the links 37 being pivoted to the wedge shape member 31 by means .of the pin 39. The character 40 designates a stop member to limit downward movement of the wedge shape member.

Pivoted to the wedge shaped member 31 at 41 is a keeper 42having the slightly downwardly bent portion 43, and attached at 44 to both sides of the wedge shape member 31 is a spring 45 which serves to maintain the keeper 42 in vertical position.

The character 46 indicates a lengthened strap having the slotted portion 47 which freely receives the pin 15, the strap 46 terminating in the substantially horizontally portion 48 which is bentd ownwardly at 49, the portion 48 including a small ear or lug 50 attached thereto which lug is adapted to be received in any of the notches 51 which are provided in the plates 10 and 13, it being specifically understood that these notches can be at any desired spacing such as /8" apart or more, or whatever is desired.

The device is used in the following manner. First the pipe which is shown by the dotted lines character 52 is placed upon the platform 32 and the keeper 42 is moved slightly against the spring so that the forward end of the pipe will lie beneath the portion 43. Next the lever 16 which is normally in a lower position will be swung upwardly in the direction of the arrow 53 to the position shown whereby the portion 17 will bear against the channel member 19 and the pipe will thus be rigidly held at this point. The member 46 has been previously adjusted with the lug 50 being placed in whichever notch 51 is de sired, these notches determining the extent fo the off-set or bend, since the portion 48 will limit movement of the bar 25 upwardly, and these notches can be marked in fractions of an inch or in any way desired. The bar 25 is then swung in the direction of the arrow 54, pulling the member 31 upwardly, and due to the firm retention of the forward end of the pipe by the keeper 42, the pipe will be bent as shown in Figure 4, and it will be especially noted that the pairs of links 36 and 37 provide a parallelogram effect at each side of the arrangement so that the keeper 42 and the portion 43 is thereby maintained in a perfectly horizontally position at all times, so that as a result, the portion 55 of the pipe will be parallel to the portion 52. The pipe also rests within a channel shaped portion 56 which is provided in the wedge shape member 31, this channel thereby preventing any lateral distortion so that as a result the pipe is properly bent to the exact extent of bend desired and without distortion.

.The position that the forward end of the pipe will occupy can also be determined with respect to the keeper 42. After use the spring 23 will retract or pull the channel 19 upwardly ready for the next operation.

I also provide extra openings at 56a at either side of the arrangement if it is desired to make sharper bends in which case the pins 34a and 35a are placed in these openings. It will now be noted that I have provided the various advantages mentioned in the objects of my invention with other advantages being apparent.

Some changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of the parts of my invention without departing from the real spirit and purpose of my invention, and it is my intention to cover by my claim any modified forms of structure or use of mechanical equivalents which may be reasonably included within their scope.

I claim as my invention:

A conduit bender comprising a framework including a horizontally positioned platform, said platform being adapted to receive a conduit thereon, means for firmly retaining said conduit on said platform, a movable member spaced from said framework including a channel portion for receiving an end of said conduit, a lever fulcrumed to said framework and secured to said movable member for raising the same to bend said conduit, a retaining member secured to said movable member for holding the end -of said conduit, two pairs of opposed vertically spaced links pivotally secured to said framework and said movable member to maintain said retaining member and the end of said conduit in constant horizontal position during raising movement of said movable member, means for adjusting the extent of bending of said conduit including 10 notches in the upper end of said framework adjacent to said lever, an adjustable limiting member including a lug received in any of said notches, said means for retaining said conduit on said platform including a further lever References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Brown Aug. 22, 1911 St. Clair May 23, 1944

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