Abstract:
A device in connection with a hand-operated working machine with a water flow directed to the working tool comprises a first control which is a control ( 15 ) for a drive motor ( 3 ) for the tool, and a second control which is a control ( 17 ) for the water supply to the tool. A water control valve ( 45 ) in a water supply conduit ( 14 ) can be adjusted to adopt chosen opening positions, and is arranged constantly to be kept open in any chosen opening position when the motor is running the tool under influence of the drive motor control. The chosen opening positions are adjustable, i.e. the through opening of the valve can be increased or decreased by using water supply control ( 17 ).

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The invention relates to a device in connection with a hand-operated working machine with water flow directed to the working tool, comprising a first control which is a control for a drive motor for the tool, and a second control which is a control for the water supply to the tool. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Hand-operated working machines of the above type are used for many operating purposes mainly in the building industry, especially in connection with reconstruction and enlargement jobs. Cutting, sawing and drilling work are common for cutting openings for doors and windows, for cutting ventilation ducts, foundations and many other things. In the rescue service there is also used machines of this type, for example in order to saw car roofs, house roofs etc. Concrete—even with reinforcing irons—bricks, sheet steel, etc are common to work on. Cooling of the tool by water flow is therefor a standard procedure. U.S. Pat. No. 5,038,474 discloses a device in connection with a cutting machine (circular saw) with an annular saw blade with a double walled disk on the inside of the annular saw blade with outlet openings near the periphery of the disk and with an inlet opening for the cooling water near the drive machinery for the rotation of the blade. U.S. Pat. No. 5,038,474 also shows other main components of the machine, comprising a machine body with a front handle bow and a rear handle. It is also known for this type of machines to arrange, for security reasons, the control for the drive motor, no matter if it is a hydraulic motor, a combustion motor or an electric motor, so that the motor can not be rushed by mistake, if, for example, the operator would stumble or fall. More precisely, there is a latch which in connection with machines driven by a combustion motor would be referred to as a gas latch, but which more generally can be called an accelerator latch, a term which will be used in this text. This accelerator latch first must be pressed by the operator in order to make it possible at all to affect the drive motor control and thereafter remain activated in its functioning position as long as the machine is being operated. As soon as the motor is allowed to run idle, the accelerator latch returns to its original position and must be activated anew before the drive motor control can be affected again. 
     It is also known to arrange some kind of valve for the water supply, so that the water can be let on and shut off and also be adjusted for different flows. This valve conventionally has been placed in connection with the connection of the water conduit to the machine body. This arrangement makes it impossible, or substantially more difficult, to control the water supply. Either, the water has had to be let on before the cutting work or corresponding is started, which is not convenient, or the work has had to be interrupted in order to start or adjust the water flow, which is not convenient either from a working efficiency or security point of view. 
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     The object of the invention is to address the above problem complex. The main distinguishing feature of the invention is that a water control valve in a water supply conduit can be adjusted to adopt chosen opening positions, that the valve is arranged to be constantly kept open in any chosen opening position when the motor runs the tool under influence of the drive motor control, and that the chosen opening positions are adjustable, i.e. that the through opening of the valve can be increased or decreased by means of said control for the water supply. The water control valve is preferably arranged to be forcedly kept open in a chosen opening position when the motor runs the tool. This can be accomplished by means of a third control, which together with said first and second controls is arranged in connection with a rear handle on the machine, preferably so that all three controls can be reached and manoeuvred by the operator by that hand with which he at the same time is holding a rear handle on the machine. The third control is preferably an accelerator latch, see above, for the drive motor, i.e. a means which must have been activated by the machine operator in order that the first control, the drive motor control, shall be possible to be activated. The alternative that the third control has not any other function than to keep the valve open, i.e. is arranged only for that purpose, is however also plausible, but that is generally to be considered a less beneficial alternative than to give the accelerator latch a two-purpose function. 
     The device of the invention can be designed in many different ways within the scope of the invention. A beneficial model which will be described in greater detail in the following is based on a lever mechanism and is characterised in that the water control valve is arranged to be influenced by a first lever arm -which is an integrated part of or is in its turn possible to affect by said third control. A second lever arm for adjustment of the water control valve is included in the same lever mechanism. More particularly, this can be carried out by the second lever arm being arranged to affect the first lever arm for adjustment of the water control valve in connection with the adjustment of the water supply control. The water supply control in this case may comprise e.g. a cam disc which is rotatable about a shaft in order thereby to be able to affect the second lever arm. 
     Further characteristics and aspects of the invention appear from a number of dependent claims and from the following description of a preferred embodiment. The embodiment relates to the device according to the invention in use on a cutting machine with annular saw blade. It should however be understood that the principles of the invention can be used also on other machines of the kind mentioned in the preamble, as e.g. cutting discs with traditional centre drive of the cutting blade, cutting machines with chain saw and so on. Different types of drive machinery are also conceivable, such as hydraulic motors, combustion motors and even electrical motors. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     In the following detailed description, reference will be made to the accompanying drawings, of which 
     FIG. 1 shows a cutting machine from the left, in which the device according to the invention for controlling the cooling water supply can be employed, 
     FIG. 2 is a view from the right, showing the inside of a manoeuvring arm, comprising controls for drive motor and water supply, 
     FIG. 3 shows said control with a mechanism included therein, at a greater scale, 
     FIG. 4 is an upside view of a first lever arm included in an integrated speed keeper and water control mechanism, 
     FIG. 5 is a side view of a second lever arm in the same mechanism, and 
     FIG. 6 shows a section VI—VI in FIG.  2 . 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     FIG. 1 shows a cutting machine  1  with the following main parts shown in the drawing: a machine chassis  2  with a hydraulic motor  3  and a front handle bow  4 , an annular saw blade  5  which is driven by the hydraulic motor  3  via a not shown transmission means, inside the saw blade  5  a disc  6  which acts as a cutting support and distributor of cooling water to the saw blade  5  via a number of nozzles  7  in the periphery of the blade, and a manoeuvring arm  8  with a rear handle  9 . A couple of conduits for hydraulic oil for the drive of the hydraulic motor  3  have been denoted  12 ,  13  and a conduit for cooling water has been denoted  14 . The said components are not a part of the invention and will therefor not be described in further detail. 
     There is, in the region of the rear handle  9 , a first control  15  which constitutes a control for the hydraulic motor  3 , a second control  17 , which constitutes a control, in the following called a water control, for regulation of the cooling water supply to the centre disc  6  and thus via the nozzles  7  to the saw blade  5 , and a third control  16  which constitutes an accelerator latch  16  which must be activated before the drive motor control  15  can be affected. Concerning the term accelerator latch, see also the above explanation in connection with the description of the background of the invention. 
     The motor control  15  comprises a pivot member  23  which is rotatable when the accelerator latch  16  is activated, see below, about a pivot  19 , which is fixed in relation to the manoeuvring arm  8 , in order to affect a pull rod  21  and a lever arm  22  which in its turn affects a valve in the hydraulic motor  3  and thus the rate of rotation of the hydraulic motor and the saw blade  5 . A torsion spring  20  acts as a return spring in order to return the motor control  15  and the accelerator latch  16  to the original positions shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. 
     The pivot member  23  consists of a part which can be pressed up into the handle  9  and which forms a trigger  18  in the motor control, said part forming an extension on a double armed lever arm, rotatable by means of the trigger  18  about the pivot  19 , whereby the pull rod  21  is attached in one of the lever arms, while an angular shaped slot  26  is arranged in the other lever arm. This slot  26  consists of a circular arc portion  24  and a portion  25  which is radial in relation to the centre of the pivot  19 . 
     The accelerator latch  16 , or more correctly, the control for the accelerator latch, consists of a rear, upwards extending portion, which is usually manoeuvred by the thumb, the thumb grip or the palm of the hand of the operator, on a first lever arm  30  which in its front end  32 ′ is rotatably connected with a second lever arm  31 , approximately in the mid point  32 ″ of the second lever arm  31 , in a first hinge  32 , whose axis of rotation is parallel with the axis of rotation of the pivot  19 . Further, said first lever arm  30  with the hinge  32  can move in relation to the manoeuvring arm  8  of the cutting machine, i.e. the first lever arm  30  with its front hinge  32  is not journalled in bearings in the manoeuvring arm  8  of the cutting machine. That is to the contrary the case for the second lever arm  31  whose front end  33 ′ presents a rotating hinge  33 , which is journalled in bearings in the manoeuvring arm  8 . The second lever arm  31  is further affected by a torsion spring  34 , which with reference to FIG. 3 is striving to rotate the first lever arm  31  clockwise about the hinge  33 . 
     The second, rear end of the second lever arm  31  is bent upwards and has a flat end surface  35 , which is pressed by the torsion spring  34  against an eccentric cam surface  36  on the water control  17 . The water control  17  is rotatable about a pivot  38 , which has a portion that extends out through an opening  39  on the back of the manoeuvring arm  8  and which is easy to reach for the operator, by e.g. the thumb, when the operator holds the machine in the rear handle  9 . 
     The first lever arm  30  along the greater part of its length is equipped with two parallel shanks  30   a  and  30   b,  FIG.  4 . The second lever arm  31  with its rear portion  31   a  extends between said shanks  30   a  and  30   b  and past their upper edge with its end portion having said flat surface  35 . The left shank  30   a  continues upwards, backwards and is via a portion  30   d  connected with the accelerator latch  16 . The right shank  30   b  continues with a portion  30   c,  parallel with the connection portion  30   d  of the left shank  30   a.  A latch rod  41  extends between the portions  30   c  and  30   d  through the angular shaped slot  26  which is formed by the slot portions  24  and  25  in the disc  23 . 
     In order for the operator to be able to operate the motor control  15  and to turn it about the pivot  19  for accelerating the drive motor  3 , the accelerator latch  16  first must be pressed down by the operator, which he normally does with the palm of the hand or with the thumb grip, at the same time as he grasps the motor control  15  with the fingers of the same hand. When the accelerator latch  16  thus is pressed down, the rod  41  is also led down into the radial portion  25  of the angular shaped slot  26 . Not until the rod  41  has reached the corner of the angular shaped slot  26 , the control  15  can be rotated, to lead the rod  41  into the circular arc portion  24  of the groove, whereby the drive motor  3  can be started. 
     The two shanks  30   a  and  30   b  are connected to each other by a cross connection  42 . Further a plate  27  (see FIG. 6) extends from the shank  30   a,  out to the side. A valve  45  is provided under the plate  27  for regulation of the water flow in the cooling water conduit  14 . The valve  45  may be, e.g. a sliding valve, a needle valve or other conventional valve for flow regulation and has a rod  46  contacting the plate  27  and which by action from the plate  27  in order to open the valve to a desired degree,can be pressed into the valve under counter force by a return spring. 
     The thus described control equipment works in the following way. The original position is supposed to be the position shown in FIG.  2  and FIG.  3 . When the operator, with the hand holding the rear handle  9 , presses the accelerator latch  16  and the motor control trigger  18  against each other, the rod  41  is first pressed down into the radial slot  25 , at the same time as the first lever arm  30  is rotated in the hinge  32  in relation to the second lever arm  31 . When the rod  41  has reached the arc portion  24  of the angular shaped slot in the pivot member  23 , it can be rotated clockwise about the pivot  19 . The rod  21  is hereby pulled backwards and affects the valve in the hydraulic motor  3 , to let on the hydraulic oil to drive the hydraulic motor and thus the saw blade  5 , at the same time as the rod  41  enters the circular arc slot portion  24 . In this way, the accelerator latch  16  has adopted a fixed position, which is kept for as long as the motor control trigger  18  is more or less pressed down. For as long as the rod  41  is in the circular arc portion  24  of the slot  26 , the accelerator latch  16  can not return to its original position; not until the motor control  15  has been brought to the idle position. 
     At the same time as the first lever arm  30  is turned counter clockwise in the hinge  32 , the plate  27  presses against the valve rod  46  so that the valve  45  is opened. When the accelerator latch  16  is fixed in its fixed position, when the rod  41  is in the circular arc slot  24 , a certain constant flow of cooling water is flowing through the conduit  14  via the control valve  45 , which is to a certain degree opened, and further out in the disc  6  and through the nozzles  7 . If increased water flow is wanted, the operator rotates the water control  17  forwards, i.e. clockwise about the axis of rotation  38 . The eccentric cam surface  36  hereby will glide towards the rear, flat surface  35  of the second lever arm  31  and press it downwards. This results in that the second lever arm  31  is rotated counter clockwise about the axis of rotation  33  under counteraction by the torsion spring  34 . This rotating movement also results in that the hinge  32  will move along a small circular arc counter clockwise, i.e. downwards. This, in its turn, causes the first lever arm  30  to rotate clockwise about the rod  41  which hereby also moves slightly in the slot  24 . The downwards directed movement of the lever arm  30  in its turn causes the plate  27  to press the rod  46  a bit further into the valve  45 , so that the liquid flow will increase. The water supply control  17  in this way can be adjusted to a new chosen position while the cutting machine continuously is in operation, without the operator having to leave hold of the rear handle  9 . If the operator wants to reduce the water flow, the water control  17  is turned the opposite direction. When the operator leaves hold of the motor control  15 , it rotates back counter clockwise about the pivot  19 , so that rod  41  is released from the slot  24 . If the operator at the same time does not keep the accelerator latch  16  pressed in, the starter lock will spring upwards by action of the return spring  20 , at the same time as the rod  41  enters the slot  25  and the first lever arm  30  rotates clockwise in the hinge  32  and the plate  27  releases the rod  46 , so that the water control valve  45  is closed. 
     From the above description it should be clear that the operator, when the machine is working, holds the rear handle  9  with one hand at the same time as he can adjust the motor accelerator—the motor  3  is normally operating at full speed during work—with the motor control  15 , which usually is done with the index finger of the same hand. The accelerator latch  16  at this time is locked in its fixed position, whereby the water control valve  45  is kept open in a chosen opening position. In other words, the operator does not need to actively press down the accelerator latch  16 , when that once has been done. This in other words means that no tiresome work need to be done in order to keep the water control valve open, and that no additional steps need to be taken in order to open and to shut the valve, since this is automatically done by the double function of the accelerator latch.