Tool for cutting rectilinear openings for electrical outlet boxes in sheet material

• US 5,797,189 A
• Filed: 03/24/1997
• Issued: 08/25/1998
• Est. Priority Date: 03/24/1997
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Carl L. Blalack
• Original Assignee: Carl L. Blalack
• Inventors: Gilbert, Dale A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Watts, Douglas D.
• Application Number:
  US08/826,104
• Time in Patent Office: 519 Days
• Field of Search: 30/500, 30/502, 30/503, 30/166.3, 30/369, 30/393, 30/503.5, 30/371, 30/372, 144/363, 83/745, 83/751, 83/618, 408/24-26
• US Class Current: 30/500
• CPC Class Codes: B23D 49/003 having a plurality of saw blades or saw blades having plural cutting zones
• CPC Class Codes: B23D 49/11 for special purposes, e.g. offset-blade hand; Hand saws having spaced blades; Hand saws for sawing grooves or square holes
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 83/68 Entirely work supported
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 83/8828 Plural tools with same drive means

Abstract

A cutting tool and associated positioning templates locate and cut rectangular junction box holes in dry wall or similar sheet material forming structural surfaces. Templates defining a medial positioning slot and providing a spaced pair of positioning pins are carried by pre-established junction boxes and surface sheeting material is established thereover with the positioning pins projecting through the sheet material to indicate positioning slot location. The tool provides a body articulately carrying two perpendicular pairs of spaced parallel saw blades that are moved reciprocably by spring biased driving linkage to cut rectilinear holes in the sheet material over the junction boxes. The saw blades have arcuate edges defining cutting teeth of opposite pitch on each side of the arcuate edge of the tool to aid positional maintenance and prevent chatter during cutting. A positioning blade carried by the body and extending beyond the saw blades passes through sheet material between the positioning pins and into the positioning orifice of the positioning template for tool positioning. The tool is partially covered by a peripheral casement carried by the body and is powered by an independent powering source positionally maintained by the casement.

Claims

1. A tool for cutting rectangular holes in sheet material for access to the orifices of electrical junction boxes underlying the sheet material, comprising in combination:

a body rotatably carrying a drive shaft having first and second ends extending spacedly from the body, the first end of the drive shaft having means for interconnection with a powering source to provide rotary motion to the drive shaft;

first and second saw blade plates each articulatedly carried by the body in spaced overlying relationship about the second end portion of the drive shaft, each saw blade plate carrying a pair of similar parallel spaced saw blades extending away from the body, with the pair of saw blades carried by the first saw blade plate perpendicular to the pair of saw blades carried by the second saw blade plate and each pair of saw blades having a length less than the distance between the perpendicular pair of saw blades;

mechanical linkage communicating between the second end of the drive shaft and the first and second saw blade plates having means for translating rotary motion of the drive shaft into linear component motions to move each saw blade plate in lineally reciprocating motion parallel to the pair of saw blades carried thereby.

2. The tool of claim 1 having saw blades with cutting edges of convexly arcuate shape.

3. The tool of claim 2 wherein the convexly arcuate cutting edges have teeth pitched in opposite directions on opposed sides of the arcuate cutting edge to cut in opposite directions on each side of each blade.

4. The tool of claim 1 in which the mechanical linkage communicating between the second end of the drive shaft and the first and second saw blade plates comprises:

an eccentric shaft carried by the drive shaft to extend through slots defined in each saw blade plate, each of said slots having a width to allow sliding motion of the eccentric shaft therein, a length greater than the eccentricity of the eccentric shaft, extension perpendicular to the saw blades carried by the saw blade plate defining the slot and orientation symmetrical about the axis of the drive shaft.

5. The tool of claim 1 having at least one plate spring supporting each saw blade plate on the body to allow elastically resilient motion of each saw blade plate only in a plane parallel to the saw blades carried by that saw blade plate.

6. The tool of claim 1 having

an elongate positioning blade carried by the body to extend outwardly of the saw blades and into an associated positioning template carried in a junction box beneath sheet material in which a hole is to be cut, said positioning template defining at least one medial positioning slot to receive the positioning blade to position the tool over the junction box to cut a hole in the sheet material, and having paired spaced positioning pins extending into sheet material thereover to indicate location of the positioning slot defined in the positioning template.

7. The tool of claim 1 with a peripherally defined casement carried by the body to partially cover the tool, said casement having:

an orifice for projection of the saw blades and and positioning blade therethrough,

an upper orifice for projection of the first end of the drive shaft therethrough, and

a neck about the upper orifice having means for releasably and irrotatably attaching a powering device thereto.

8. The tool of claim 7 having a powering device comprising an electric drill attached by the casement neck for positional maintenance to rotate the drive shaft.

9. A tool for cutting rectangular holes for electrical junction boxes in sheet material established thereover to provide access to orifices of the junction boxes, comprising in combination:

a rigid body;

cutting structure articulatingly carried by the body to extend therefrom including spaced, parallel, overlying saw blade plates, each said saw blade plate carrying a pair of similar spaced parallel saw blades extending spacedly away from the body with one pair of saw blades arrayed perpendicularly to the other pair of saw blades to cut the periphery of a rectangular hole;

driving linkage carried by the body including a drive shaft journaled in the body to extend spacedly adjacent the saw blade plates and mechanical means communicating between the drive shaft and the saw blade plates for moving each saw blade plate in limited reciprocal motion parallel to the saw blades carried thereby responsive to rotary motion of the drive shaft.

10. The tool of claim 9 having a peripherally defined casement, releasably carried by the body, with a medial portion extending away from the body distally from the saw blade plates to define a neck to irrotatably attach a powering tool to rotate the drive shaft.

11. The tool of claim 9 having positioning structure including an elongate positioning blade carried by the body to extend spacedly beyond the saw blades in a symmetrical position about the axis of the drive shaft.

12. The tool of claim 11 with the positioning blade carried in a positioning template carried by a junction box, said positioning template having

a periphery similar to and incrementally smaller than an opening to be cut in sheet material for a junction box,

a medial positioning slot to receive the positioning blade of the tool to position the tool to cut a hole about the periphery of the positioning template and

two positioning pins extending through the positioning template to support it on an electrical junction box and project through sheet material established over the junction box to indicate position of the medial positioning slot.

13. The invention of claim 9 wherein each saw blade has a convexly arcuate cutting edge defining teeth that cut in opposite directions on opposite sides of the cutting edge.

14. The tool of claim 9 wherein

the drive shaft carries an eccentric shaft that communicates through elongate slots defined in each saw blade plate symmetrically about the axis of the drive shaft and with their longer dimension perpendicular to the saw blades carried by the saw blade plates defining the slot and

each saw blade plate is interconnected to the body by similar spaced plate springs having elastic resilience only in a plane parallel to the saw blades carried by the saw blade plate.