Circle and strip cutting system

• US 4,916,820 A
• Filed: 08/12/1988
• Issued: 04/17/1990
• Est. Priority Date: 08/12/1988
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Fletcher-Terry Company The 65 Spring Lane Farmington
• Original Assignee: Fletcher-Terry Company LLC
• Inventors: Kozyrski, Vincent T., Millett, Claude R.
• Primary Examiner(s): Yost, Frank T.
• Assistant Examiner(s): RADA, RINALDI I
• Application Number:
  US07/231,728
• Time in Patent Office: 613 Days
• Field of Search: 83/879, 83/468, 83/455, 83/456, 83/464, 83/745, 83/490, 83/552, 83/614, 83/483, 83/582, 83/481, 83/829, 83/522, 83/882, 83/884, 83/886, 225/96, 33/27.03, 33/42, 33/41.1, 33/41.5, 33/32.2, 30/164.9, 30/164.95, 30/300, 30/310
• US Class Current: 33/42
• CPC Class Codes: B26F 1/3846 cutting out discs or the like B26F1/384, B26F1/40 and B26F1/44 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B28D 1/225 for scoring or breaking, e.g. tiles
• CPC Class Codes: B28D 1/226 with plural scoring tools
• CPC Class Codes: B28D 1/30 to form contours, i.e. curved surfaces, irrespective of the method of working used for artistic purposes B44B
• CPC Class Codes: C03B 33/04 Cutting or splitting in curves, especially for making spectacle lenses
• CPC Class Codes: C03B 33/12 Hand tools wheel design C03B33/107
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 225/321 Preliminary weakener
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 83/0385 Rotary scoring blade

Abstract

Apparatus for manually cutting both circles and strips from glass utilizes either a center support structure or an edger, in combination with a rule having different scales on opposite surfaces, and with a cutting head adjustably mounted on the rule. Reversal of the position of the cutting head on the supporting rule adapts it for use with either of two different forms of cutting components, and the edger is constructed not only to compensate for offset between the registration and cutting elements of the head, but also to enable use of the edge of either the glass workpiece or a furring strip as the reference surface along which the edger is run to cut strips.

Claims

1. A mechanical system for cutting strips from glass and the like, comprising:

a rigid, elongated, rectilinear rule having a scale with distance-indicating indicia thereon and with a zero reference point adjacent to, but spaced from, one end thereof;

a reversible cutting head, including a body with a laterally extending passageway having opposite ends and configured to receive said rule, inserted longitudinally thereinto, for slidably mounting said head thereon, and means for disengageably securing said head on said rule at selected positions therealong, said body having registry elements thereon lying in lateral planes at said opposite ends of said passageway and adapted for readable registry with said indicia of said rule scale, said body also having first and second cutting component-mounting means, each adapted for disengageably mounting a cutting component thereon, said first mounting means being adapted to mount a cutting component to act in a first plane of said body, said first plane lying nonsymmetrically between said lateral planes and being laterally spaced by a certain distance from one of said registry elements, said second mounting means being adapted to mount a cutting component to act in a second plane of said body, said second plane lying nonsymmetrically between said lateral planes and being laterally spaced by said certain distance from the other of said registry elements; and

a strip guide, including an elongated body with a laterally extending passageway having opposite ends and configured to receive a portion of said rule at said one end of said rule, with said guide body disposed to either side of said zero reference point, and means for securing said guide body on said rule, said guide body having a bottom portion with at least two lateral bearing surfaces extending, respectively, along axes that are perpendicular to the axis of said guide body passageway, and that are parallel to, but spaced to the opposite sides of, a longitudinal centerline of said guide body and adapted for slidable engagement on a cooperating surface, said bearing surface on one side of said guide body being spaced further from said centerline that is said bearing surface on the other side thereof, said guide body also having a top portion with lateral reference elements, at said opposite ends of said guide body passageway, adapted for readable registry with said indicia of said rule scale, said reference element on said one side of said guide body being nearer to said centerline than is said reference element on said other side thereof, the distance differential of said bearing surface axes, relative to said centerline, being the same as the distance differential of said reference elements relative thereto, and being equal to said certain distance, whereby a cutting element mounted to act in either said first plane or said second plane of said cutting head body can be disposed in any selected plane, transverse to the longitudinal axis of said rule, by registry of said one or said other registry element of said cutting head body with a selected indicium of said scale, and whereby the distance between said selected plane and a chosen one of either of said bearing surfaces of said strip guide body can be set by bringing said reference element, disposed on the same side of guide body as said chosen bearing surface, into registry with said zero reference point of said rule scale.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein said cutting head body has an upper portion through which said passageway extends, with lateral surfaces equidistantly spaced to opposite sides of an axis perpendicular to the axis of said passageway and having edges at the ends thereof providing said registry elements, said body also having a lower portion on which said first and second mounting means are provided.

4. The system of claim 1 wherein cutting head has legend means thereon correlating said registry elements to first and second cutting components, for registry with said rule indicia for selective positioning of said head therealong.

3. The system of claim 5 wherein said first cutting component-mounting means comprises a recess formed into an end surface of said lower portion of said body and adapted to receive and engage an insert piece rotatably mounting a cutting wheel on a transverse axis;

and wherein said second mounting means comprises a lateral surface on said lower body portion adapted to seat a turret disc having a plurality of cutting wheels mounted about the circumference thereof, said system including an axle member for affixing such a turret disc upon said lateral surface of said lower body portion for rotation about a central axis thereof.