WO2002049815A2

WO2002049815A2 - Portable cutting tool

Info

Publication number: WO2002049815A2
Application number: PCT/FR2001/004108
Authority: WO
Inventors: Marc Van Wassenhove
Original assignee: Norkappa
Priority date: 2000-12-20
Filing date: 2001-12-20
Publication date: 2002-06-27
Also published as: FR2818183A1; AU2002226469A1; WO2002049815A3

Abstract

The invention concerns a portable tool (1) for cutting halfway through a composite material, in particular consisting of a support covered with a protective film, comprising a hand grip element forming a body (2) and a heating element (3) arranged at one end thereof, for cutting the film without damaging the support.

Description

TITLE: Portable cutting tool.

The present invention relates to a cutting tool for cutting half-flesh a composite material consisting for example of a support coated with a protective film. In fact, certain metal sheets are covered with a plastic film which makes it possible to protect them from scratches or scratches during handling or transport of these or of assembled elements formed by these sheets.

However, the plastic film must be removed in certain places on the sheet in order to allow operations to be carried out, such as the assembly of sheet metal elements, whether by welding, riveting, bolting or any other process.

To do this, it was initially known to cut the plastic film, in the areas concerned, by means of a sharp tool, but this has drawbacks because the adjustments are particularly difficult so as not to incise also the metal surface. In addition, manual cutting is practically impossible due to poor control of said cutting tool.

This is how we turned to cutting by operation by pseudo-fusion, using a heated tool so as not to alter the metal support during cutting.

However, the known devices making it possible to implement this type of cutting are often complex and costly because they are generally machine tools cutting by pseudo-fusion using a heated tool comprising cutting nets brought to a temperature adjustable as a function of the material to be cut, the cutting threads brought to temperature causing the disappearance of the elasticity of the plastic by its softening, the temperature of the cutting threads being obtained by thermal fluid.

Another drawback of this type of device is that it is not used on site.

We understand that it is preferable to leave the protective plastic film as long as possible, that is to say until the time of assembly by welding, bolting, riveting or any other process, this assembly is often carried out on the site, on which it is impossible to bring the type of device mentioned above generally consisting of a machine tool.

The object of the present invention is to remedy all these drawbacks and for this purpose relates to a portable medium-cut cutting tool of a composite material, composed of a support coated with a protective film, comprising a firstly a manual gripping element forming a body and secondly a heating element arranged at one end thereof for cutting the film without altering the support.

This tool, mainly intended for the sheet metal and sheet metal work, ensures the preparation of the surface of the support, in all places, by making different rectilinear circular shapes by means of accessories making cutting easy.

The present invention also relates to the characteristics which will emerge during the description which follows and which should be considered in isolation or according to all their possible technical combinations. This description given by way of nonlimiting example will make it easier to understand how the invention can be implemented with reference to the attached drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a side view of a cutting tool according to a preferred embodiment, FIGS. 2a and 2b illustrate a part of the tool of FIG. 1 according to a diametrical cutting plane, in two different states,

FIG. 3 is a view of a removable head, according to another embodiment, adaptable to the cutting tool according to FIG. 1,

FIG. 4 represents a nonlimiting range of interchangeable metal purlins, constituting the heating element,

- Figure 5 is a perspective view of a cutting tool according to Figure 1 when used for circular cutting.

The portable cutting tool according to the invention, represented in FIG. 1, comprises on the one hand a manual gripping element forming a body 2 and on the other hand a heating element 3 disposed at one end thereof.

In this case, the heating element 3 consists of at least one electrical resistance 4 connected to a power source (not shown) in thermal connection with at least one metal breakdown 5.

The power source may be constituted by an accumulator battery or by the electrical sector to which the portable tool 1 is connected by means of an electrical outlet 6.

The electrical resistance 4 defines a blind housing 7 into which the tail 5a of the purlin 5 can be introduced, to be brought into thermal contact there and to be retained there by means of fixing means 8.

These means for fixing the tail 5a of the purlin 5 in the heated blind housing 7 are provided by a screw passing through a threaded hole

9 produced in the wall of said housing 7 perpendicular to its longitudinal axis. Said screw 8 can be actuated from the outside and opens out inside the housing 7 to cooperate in tightening with the tail 5a of the tip 5.

As shown in FIG. 4, a range of interchangeable purlins 5, 5A, 5B whose end profiles respectively a, b, c are different, but whose tail profiles respectively 5 _a , 5A _a , 5B _a are standard, and likely to be thermally linked with the blind blind housing 7, depending on the type of cut desired.

Advantageously, the heating element 3 is formed by a removable head constituting a sub-assembly, interchangeable with respect to the body 2 by means of adaptation means.

These adaptation means could for example be constituted by a quick quarter-turn locking system, with screws, or with a gag.

According to another characteristic of the invention, means of rotary clutch 10, such as in particular a clutch ring, are interposed between the heating element, in this case the head in particular, and the body 2, so as to allow the free rotation of one relative to the other while cutting. As illustrated in Figures 2a and 2b, said disengaging means comprise, for example, a connecting member 20 between the body 2 and the head 3. It is secured to the latter and mounted in pivot connection in a hinge ring 21 secured at the distal end of said body 2. Said articulation ring 21 is located, in particular, in a housing formed in the distal end of body 2, provided tubular.

Said connecting member 20 is provided with a thread 22 with which said disengaging ring 10 is able to cooperate, said disengaging ring 10 further constituting one of the stops in translation of the pivot connection between said connecting member 20 and said ring hinge 21. When the disengaging ring 10 is, after screwing, in plan contact with said hinge ring 21, the pivot connection is blocked and the head 3 cannot rotate, as illustrated in FIG. 2a.

When the disengaging ring 10 is unscrewed, the pivot link is released and the head 3 can rotate, as illustrated in FIG. 2b. The use of declutching means facilitates the execution of movements, for example circular movements as illustrated in FIG. 5.

So as to make such a circular cut very precisely, the head 3 has at its upper part a diametral hole 11 passing right through and in which is capable of sliding a radial guide arm 12 on which is immobilized in position said head 3. The guide arm 12 is able to pivot from a high center in the manner of a compass for carrying out a circular cut of constant radius "r".

During this cutting, the head 3 is put in the disengaged position so as to make it free to rotate about its own longitudinal axis and allow the purlin 5 to have a profile constantly perpendicular to that of the radial arm 12 on which the head 3. As FIGS. 1 and 5 also clearly show, the immobilization of the head 3 on the radial guide arm 12 is obtained by means of a clamping screw 13 passing through a threaded hole made in the wall of the head 3 at its upper part, perpendicular to its longitudinal axis. This clamping screw 13 can be actuated from the outside and opens into the diametral hole 11 of the head 3 to cooperate in clamping with the radial guide arm 12.

According to the embodiment shown in Figure 3, the interchangeable removable head 3A comprises two electrical resistors 2 defining two blind housings, as defined above, with which are likely to be thermally connected two selected purlins 5, in view cutting a strip of straight or circular shape or of any other shape, of predetermined width.

To this end, the center distance x or x 'of the two purlins 5, defining the bandwidth to be obtained, is adjusted by means of a wheel 14 accessible from the outside of the head 3A, in a central area, simultaneously controlling two worms 15 and 16 extending on either side of said wheel 14 and on which are likely to move, one towards the other or vice versa, two corresponding heating tips 5 parallel to each other.

According to an improvement of the cutting tool 1, a control button 18 is associated directly, or via a regulation circuit, with the electrical resistances so as to allow the adjustment of the heating intensity of the or breakdowns 5. A switch 19 allows the command to switch on the electrical resistance (s) and an indicator light 17 is associated with said switch 19 to indicate that the tool is switched on.

Any ergonomic shape can be given to the portable cutting tool that is the subject of the present invention. By way of example, the body 2 may have an angled shape, a first part 2a defining a handle and a second part 2b, inclined relative to to said first part 2a, being connected to said head 3 so as to obtain an inclination between the axis of the part of the body 2 used for gripping and the axis of the purlin 5. Any other equivalent means may also be used to this end, such as a tilted failure with respect to the head 3 itself. The angle of inclination will be, for example, from 110 ° to 160 °, in particular approximately 130 °.

Claims

1. Portable tool (1) for half-cutting a composite material, in particular composed of a support covered with a protective film comprising on the one hand a manual gripping element forming a body (2) and on the other hand a heating element (3) disposed at one end thereof, for cutting the film without altering the support.

2. Portable tool according to claim 1, in which the heating element (3) consists of at least one electrical resistance (4) connected to a power source and in thermal connection with at least one metal fault (5).

3. portable tool according to claim 2, wherein the electrical resistance (4) defines a blind housing (7) into which is likely to be introduced the tail (5a) of the tip (5) to be brought into thermal contact and be retained there by means of fixing means (8).

4. Portable tool according to claim 3, wherein the fixing means (8) of the tail (5a) of the tip (5) in the heated blind housing (7) are provided by a screw passing through a threaded hole (9) produced in the wall of said housing (7) perpendicular to its longitudinal axis, actuable from the outside and opening out inside to cooperate in tightening with the tail (5a) of the tip (5).

5. Portable tool according to one of claims 2 to 4, in which a range of interchangeable purlins (5, 5A, 5B), whose end profiles (a, b, c), are different but which of the tail _(5A, _5A, _5B) are standard, may be placed in thermal association with the blind housing (7), depending on the type of cut desired.

6. Portable tool according to claim 1, in which rotary disengagement means (10) are interposed between the heating element (3) and the body (2), so as to allow the free rotation of one relative to the other while cutting.

7. Portable tool according to claim 6, wherein the element heater (3) is formed by a removable head constituting a sub-assembly, interchangeable with respect to the body (2), by means of adaptation means.

8. Portable tool according to claim 7, wherein the head (3) has at its upper part a diametrical hole (11) passing right through and in which is capable of sliding a radial guide arm 12 on which it is immobilized in position and which is able to pivot from a center O in the manner of a compass, for the execution of a circular cutout of constant radius "r", during which the head (3) is disengaged position, so as to make it free to rotate about its own longitudinal axis and allow the purlin (5) to have a profile constantly perpendicular to that of the radial arm (12) on which the head (3) is fixed ).

9. portable tool according to claim 8, wherein the immobilization of the head (3) on the radial guide arm (12) is obtained by means of a clamping screw (13) passing through a threaded hole made in the wall of the head (3) at its upper part perpendicular to its longitudinal axis, actuable from the outside, and opening into its diametral hole (11) to cooperate in tightening with the radial guide arm (12).

10. Portable tool according to one of claims 7 to 9, in which the interchangeable removable head (3A) comprises two electrical resistors defining two blind housings with which two chosen purlins are likely to be thermally connected (5), view of the cutting of a strip of straight or circular shape or of any other shape of predetermined width.

11. Portable tool according to claim 10, characterized in that the distance between centers x or x 'of the purlins (5) defining the strip width to be obtained is adjusted by means of a wheel (14) accessible from the outside of the head (3A) in a central zone, simultaneously controlling two worms (15 and 16) extending on either side of said wheel (14) and on which are liable to move linearly, one towards each other, or vice versa, two corresponding heating purlins (5) parallel to each other.