Health and safety system for a table saw
First Claim
1. A health and safety device adapted for attachment to a planar sawing table (62) and a rotary saw mounted therein, comprisinga support structure (11;
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71) coupled to the sawing table at a location which permits free passage of a workpiece past a rotating blade of said saw,a blade enclosure (2) open along a plane parallel to said planar sawing table and having walls surrounding said saw blade, for purposes of both separating body parts of a saw operator from said saw blade and keeping sawdust produced during sawing operations away from a saw operator,a contact detector mounted along at least a portion of bottom edges of said blade enclosure which, during saw operation, detects direct electrical contact between a conductor, forming part of said detector, and any portion of a saw operator'"'"'s body, and generates a hazard signal;
a motor braking circuit which responds to said hazard signal by rapidly electromagnetically braking rotation of said saw blade by DC injection braking to avoid or minimize operator harm; and
an adjustable fixation device (34, 38) for fixing said blade enclosure (2) at a desired elevation above said sawing table for at least the duration of a cutting operation, said elevation being selectable within a range and corresponding to a thickness of said workpiece, to thereby prevent workpiece kickback by constraining a face of the workpiece to the sawing table.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An improved health and safety system for a table saw includes one or more of: a blade guard that protects the operator from the saw blade, and contains and collects sawdust; a proximity detector and emergency saw motor braking means for use in connection with such blade guard; an anti-kickback device for use in connection with such blade guard, a rip fence adapter for use in connection with such a blade guard, and hoses and fittings to connect the dust containment and collection system of said blade guard to a shop dust collection blower or vacuum system. The system protects the saw operator from potential traumatic injury to a hand, and from ingesting potentially carcinogenic sawdust.
105 Citations
9 Claims
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1. A health and safety device adapted for attachment to a planar sawing table (62) and a rotary saw mounted therein, comprising
a support structure (11; -
71) coupled to the sawing table at a location which permits free passage of a workpiece past a rotating blade of said saw,
a blade enclosure (2) open along a plane parallel to said planar sawing table and having walls surrounding said saw blade, for purposes of both separating body parts of a saw operator from said saw blade and keeping sawdust produced during sawing operations away from a saw operator, a contact detector mounted along at least a portion of bottom edges of said blade enclosure which, during saw operation, detects direct electrical contact between a conductor, forming part of said detector, and any portion of a saw operator'"'"'s body, and generates a hazard signal; a motor braking circuit which responds to said hazard signal by rapidly electromagnetically braking rotation of said saw blade by DC injection braking to avoid or minimize operator harm; and an adjustable fixation device (34, 38) for fixing said blade enclosure (2) at a desired elevation above said sawing table for at least the duration of a cutting operation, said elevation being selectable within a range and corresponding to a thickness of said workpiece, to thereby prevent workpiece kickback by constraining a face of the workpiece to the sawing table. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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71) coupled to the sawing table at a location which permits free passage of a workpiece past a rotating blade of said saw,
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7. A health and safety device adapted for attachment to a planar sawing table (62) and a rotary saw mounted therein, comprising:
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a support structure (11;
71) coupled to the sawing table at a location which permits free passage of a workpiece past a rotating blade of said saw,a blade enclosure (2), open along a plane parallel to said planar sawing table, and having walls surrounding said saw blade, for purposes of both separating body parts of a saw operator from said saw blade and keeping sawdust produced during sawing operations away from a saw operator, a contact detector (17, 42) mounted along at least a portion of bottom edges of said blade enclosure which, during saw operation, detects direct electrical contact between a portion (42) of said detector and any portion of a saw operator'"'"'s body and generates a hazard signal; and means (76, 77) for electromagnetically braking saw rotation by DC injection, in response to said hazard signal, within a predetermined short shutoff time interval, in order to prevent or minimize injury to said portion of said operator'"'"'s body, and an adjustable fixation device (34, 38) for fixing said blade enclosure (2) at a desired elevation above said sawing table for at least the duration of a cutting operation, said elevation being selectable within a range and corresponding to a thickness of said workpiece, to thereby prevent workpiece kickback by constraining a face of the workpiece to the sawing table. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9)
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Specification