Abstract:
A reversible jaw for a table vise including plurality of rows of apertures and cut-outs, all of predetermined size and location to allow manual and computerized machine operations to follow easily and precisely with reduced set-up procedure.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     NONE 
     STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT 
     Research and development of this invention and Application have not been federally sponsored, and no rights are given under any Federal program. 
     REFERENCE TO A MICROFICHE APPENDIX 
     NOT APPLICABLE 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     This invention relates to manual and computerized machine operations utilizing vises in cutting, planing and drilling, for example, and to an improvement in construction to allow their jaws to be removed, modified, replaced, and reversed in alignment, in enhancing the various machine operations required. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     As is well known and understood, one requirement of a vise—especially when secured to a table or workbench—is that it be strong, firmly mounted, and accurate in the meeting of the jaws. For multiple duty needs, moreover, vises affording a variety of holding surfaces and positions lend themselves best for use. When employed in manufacturing operations, furthermore, the vise must be very accurate, regardless of the size of the piece being machined and regardless of its shape. Experience has shown that those vises presently available leave much to be desired as far as ease and reliability of set up operations are concerned. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     As will become clear from the following description, the present invention proceeds from the development of a reversible jaw for a vise employing various plates, stop bars, location pins, parallels, depth gauges, pressure blocks and other accessories which can be easily coupled with the reversible jaw through the use of quick release screws. Rather than employing the commonly found flat machine jaws of these types of vises, a removable, reversible jaw is utilized which provides versatility of positioning for a variety of uses. 
     In accordance with the invention, such removable, reversible jaw includes a plurality of horizontally aligned rows of apertures through the jaw vertically displaced one row from another by predetermined amounts, and with the apertures of each row predeterminedly spaced one aperture from another and from the opposing side edges of the jaw. A first plurality of cut-outs of predetermined width with predetermined spacing between adjacent cut-outs is used, measured with respect to the side edges. With the first plurality of cut-outs extending downwardly a predetermined amount from the top edge of the jaw and extending rearwardly a predetermined amount from a front edge thereof, the basic construction of the removable jaw is completed. Such construction can be enhanced, however, by the inclusion of a second plurality of cut-outs of predetermined width and predetermined spacing between adjacent cut-outs, measured with respect to the side edges as well, with the second plurality of cut-outs extending downwardly a predetermined amount from the top edge of the jaw and extending forwardly a predetermined amount from a rear edge thereof. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the cut-outs of each plurality are of equal side-to-side width, and are equally spaced one from another, as well as being of equal depth front-to-back. To further extend the usefulness of the removable, reversible jaw, the cut-outs of the first plurality are offset with respect to the cut-outs of the second plurality by one half the width of the cut-outs. To provide a series of steps upon which a. workpiece may rest, the front-to-back depth of the bottom surface of the reversible jaw is greater than the front-to-back depth of its top surface. 
     As will also become clear from the following description, the apertures of the plurality of rows are sized to accept various pins used to hold the parts to be machined at precise locations, and to facilitate the location of the jaws with respect to the movable bed of the vise itself. The number of apertures, their horizontal spacings, their vertical spacings, and their positionings will be seen to allow various numbers of accessories to be secured to the jaws in setting up a variety of machine operations, all with a very high degree of precision. By selecting predetermined dimensions for the apertures and their locations, for the cut-outs and their locations, and for the supports for the pieces being worked upon, a machinist just has to count-positions in order to set up the precise point where the operation is to start. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     These and other features of the present invention will be more clearly understood from a consideration of the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which: 
     FIGS. 1 and 2 are front and rear perspective view, respectively, of a removable, reversible table or workbench vise jaw according to the present invention; and 
     FIGS. 3-5 are pictorial views helpful in an understanding of the benefits available with the jaws of the invention. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Referring to the Drawings, the removable, reversible jaw of the invention is shown at  10  as having a plurality of horizontally aligned rows of apertures  12  ( 6 , in FIGS.  1  and  2 ), vertically displaced one from another by predetermined distances. The jaw  10 , in use, is fitted onto the locator pins  16  of the table vise  18  of FIG.  3  through the apertures of a further horizontally aligned, parallel row  14 , and then secured in position by means of bolts  18  inserted through the row  14  apertures as well. The jaws so secured are then adjusted towards, and away from, one another through movement of the bed  22  in conventional fashion. 
     As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the apertures of each row are predeterminedly spaced from one another, and from the opposing side edges  24  of the jaw  10 , and with the apertures of each row being of identical size. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the apertures of the row  14  are of larger diameter than the apertures of the rows  12 , to receive the locator pins  16  and larger securing bolts  20 . In such embodiment, the smaller apertures of rows  12   a ,  12   b  and  12   c  are spaced ½ inches apart, while those of rows  12   d  and  12   e , and of row  12   f  are spaced apart 1 and 2 inches, respectively; the larger apertures of row  14 , on the other hand, are spaced 1 inch apart. The vertical spacing in such embodiment between the rows  12   a ,  12   b , and  12   c , and between the rows  12   d ,  12   e  and  12   f  is ¼ inch, while the vertical spacing between the apertures of the rows  12   d  and  12   e  is ½ inch. In this embodiment, the apertures of the rows  12  are of a diameter to receive various pins (as described below), and may be of ¼ inch diameter; the larger apertures of the row  14  may be of ½ inch diameter. 
     The removable, reversible jaws also include a first plurality of cut-outs  26  of predetermined side-to-side width with predetermined spacing between adjacent cut-outs, measured with respect to the side edges  24 . As shown, the cut-outs  26  extend downwardly a predetermined amount from a top edge  28  of the jaw  10 , and extend rearwardly a predetermined amount from a front edge  30 . In this preferred embodiment, the width of the cut-outs  26  is selected as 1 inch, and the spacing between adjacent cut-outs is of 1 inch as well. Each of the cut-outs  26   a  are spaced 1 inch from the side edges  24 . The side edges  24  and the bottom surface of the removable, reversible jaw  10  are machined flat. 
     The top surface  32  of the jaw  10  extends to a point short of the front edge  30  by a predetermined amount—for example ⅛ inch—to form a step upon which a workpiece to be machined will be set to rest, according to the invention. 
     In a second embodiment of the invention, the removable, reversible jaw  10  also includes a second plurality of cut-outs  34  of predetermined width and predetermined spacing between adjacent cut-outs, also measured with respect to the side edges  24 . As with the cut-outs  26 , the second plurality of cut-outs  34  extend downwardly a predetermined amount from the top edge  28 . In a manner similar to the cut-outs  26 , the cut-outs  34  extend downwardly to a point which falls short of the rearedge  36  by a predetermined amount in forming a second step for clearance for machining purposes. In this second embodiment, as well as with the first embodiment, a step of {fraction (5/16)} inch may be provided, along with cut-out width and spacing the same as with the cut-outs  26 —namely, 1 inch. The cut-outs  34   a  in this embodiment, however, are spaced ½ inch from the side edges  24  so that the cut-outs  26  are offset with respect to the cut-outs  34  by ½ the width of the cut-outs shown. The top surface  32  of the jaw  10  thus extends to points short of the front and rear edges  30 ,  36 , respectively. 
     As will be appreciated, the jaws  10  of FIG. 1 and 2 can be placed on the two sets of locator pins  16  of the vise  18  with either the front surfaces of the two jaws facing one another, or with the rear surfaces facing one another, allowing the bed  22  to be linearly moved to support the piece to be worked upon and to clamp it in position. Once the jaws are so locked, appositive “zero” is established, and a workpiece can be positioned to be machined at the desired location, simply by counting the number of spacings between the various apertures and cut-outs. 
     Many different manners of set-up can be had by establishing this positive “zero” location and the predetermined spacing between the various apertures of the pluralities of rows set out. For example, rather than having a pair of jaws in alignment opposite to one another, one of the two jaws employed can be offset with respect to the other simply by releasing the bolts  20  and moving them to different pairs of apertures in the row  14 , going left-to-right, or right-to-left. Workpieces to be machined can be placed against pins, or between pins, placed within the various apertures of the rows  12 , at different vertical elevations. For support of a workpiece beyond that afforded by the ⅛ step, parallels of differing thickness can be provided with apertures to receive such pins passing through the parallels and into the apertures of the rows  12  in bearing the weight of the workpiece. 
     One such combination is shown in FIG. 4 wherein a top plate  40  is secured to the rear of the reversible jaw  10  by means of a first quick release screw  42 , a side plate  44  is secured to the top plate  40  by a second quick release screw  46 , and a stop rod  48  of predetermined length can be slid back and forth within a slot  50  until tightened by a third quick release screw  52 . Using the stop rod  48 , a workpiece to be machined can be accurately positioned against the end of the rod  48 , and all locked in place by means of the quick release screw  52 . In one such usage, a series of stop rods  48  were utilized, of increasing length in ½ inch increments for use as needed for the workpiece in question. 
     FIG. 5 shows yet another set-up with the removable, reversible jaws of the invention, in which a second top plate  60  is slid over the top plate  40  of FIG. 4 to bear up against the rear cut-outs  34 , and receiving a pair of facial top stops  62  of 2 and 1 inch front widths,  63  and  65 , respectively. The facial top stops  62  may be first placed in position by pairs of pins as at  70  for coupling with the apertures of the plurality row  12 , then being aligned by a quick centering screw  72  before tightening in place by a screw  74  allowing subsequent removal of the centering screw  72 . A pair of workpieces  80  supported by the steps of the jaw can then be slid to bear against the edge surfaces  82 ,  84  for being held in place. In this usage, it will be seen, that the stop rod  48  is not employed, although the side plate  44  need not be removed. 
     Other accessories can also be secured with the reversible jaws—such a depth stop gauge  85  consisting of a plurality of plates of preset thickness to be rotated in and out of a housing in determining how far down a workpiece may sit, being of a type to screw into the side edge  24  of the reversible jaw. Where the jaw pressure on a part located at one end of the jaw might produce an undesired stress rotation at an opposite end, an adjustable packing of different thickness plates can be inserted at that opposite end to equalize the stress. 
     As will be understood, because of the symmetry between the two jaws, they, not only can be reversed, but can be interchanged. Because of the further symmetry in the locations of the various apertures and cut-outs, the individual accessories could be reversed from right side to left side, or from left side to right side, so as to be employable both by right-handed machinists, and by left-handed machinists. Single machine parts can be worked on at the left side of the jaws, or at the right side—either between the jaws, or extended therefrom merely by offsetting one jaw compared to the other. To further ease set up, the top plate  60  and the facial top stop  62  could be color coded together, as could the top plate  40  and the side plate  44 —but, preferably of a different color code; the result will be seen as allowing the associated pieces in any operation to be employed together. Whether the part to be worked upon is machined manually, or in a computerized machine center—and whether it be one, two, or four parts being worked upon at one set-up—, the machining involved works from a single precise locating hole established by the securement of the jaws and by the additional securement of any top plate or other accessory when so used. Testing has shown that the set up times in these various machining operations can be cut by as much as two-thirds, yet providing very high accuracy. 
     While there have been described what are considered to be preferred embodiments of the present invention, it will be readily appreciated by those skilled in the art that modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the teachings herein. For at least such reason, therefore, resort should be had to the claims appended hereto for a true understanding of the scope of the invention.