Patent ID: 6321627
Filing Date: 2001-11-27
Classification: B23D,B27B,Y10T

Abstract:
A sawing apparatus, comprising:an arbor having a central axis and an outer diameter, the arbor possessing an outer peripheral surface, the arbor being rotatably driven about the central axis during operation of the sawing apparatus and being provided with a plurality of outer drive surfaces circumferentially disposed in spaced apart relation along the outer peripheral surface of the arbor;a one-piece sawblade of circular configuration having a central axis, the sawblade being provided with a centrally located mounting hole which receives the arbor so that the sawblade is mounted on the arbor, the centrally located mounting hole being defined by an inner peripheral surface, the centrally located mounting hole in the sawblade being bounded by a plurality of inner driven surfaces circumferentially spaced about the mounting hole and operatively engaging the outer drive surfaces on the arbor when the arbor is rotatably driven so that rotation of the arbor results in rotation of the sawblade in a rotational direction, the inner driven surfaces operatively engaging a respective outer drive surface at an interface during operation of the sawing apparatus so that an interface force results at each respective interface, the mounting hole in the sawblade having an inner diameter that is substantially greater than the outer diameter of the arbor so that the sawblade is radially shiftable relative to said arbor, whereby during a cutting operation the outer peripheral surface of the arbor is spaced from the inner peripheral surface of the mounting hole in the sawblade; andsaid drive surfaces and said driven surfaces together defining means for producing a radially inwardly directed radial component of the interface force at said interfaces during operation of the sawing apparatus and for effecting automatic self-centering of the sawblade on the arbor so that as the sawblade moves from a non-operational state in which the sawblade is at rest in a first position to an operational state in which the sawblade is rotating in a second position for performing cutting, the sawblade shifts radially relative to the arbor from said first position in which the central axis of the sawblade is spaced from the central axis of the arbor to said second position in which the central axis of the sawblade is coincident with the central axis of the arbor.