Abstract:
A lathe or other rotating machine includes a tool rest on a carriage that is movable along the work piece. The carriage includes a post that is movable with the tool rest. The post supports a guard that is disposed between the user and the work piece. The guard may include a frame surrounding a transparent portion. The frame may support a plurality of light emitting elements directed onto the work piece. An extendable/retractable transparent portion may be extended from the guard between the user and the work piece. The extendable/retractable portion and/or the transparent portion may be a magnifier.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     The present application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/088,851, filed Dec. 8, 2014, which is incorporated herein by reference. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND 
     Field 
     The present invention relates generally to a lathe or other rotating machine, and more particularly to a guard for a lathe or other rotating machine. 
     Description of the Related Art 
     A lathe holds a work piece from one or both ends as the work piece is rotated at relatively high speed. Tools such as cutting and shaping tools are moved into contact with the rotating work piece to shape the work piece. A lathe is commonly used to form spindles, table legs, chair legs, crank shafts, and other rotationally formed portions, which are held from both ends. A lathe may also be used to form bowls or the like by mounting the work piece so that it is held at a single end. 
     Lathes may be used to shape wood, metal, or other materials. The work piece materials are supported by a chuck that is connected to a motor which operates to rotate the chuck and the work piece, typically at high speed. The work piece is engaged in the chuck by adjusting the chuck to engage the work piece so that the work piece may be shaped, and the work piece is released from the chuck by adjusting the chuck so that the shaped work piece may be removed from the lathe. The lathe typically includes a tool rest on which tools such as cutting, abrading or other shaping tools are positioned for contact with the rotating work piece. 
     In addition to lathes, grinders and other tools may include tool rests on which to position a tool or work piece during use of the device. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Certain embodiments of the present invention provide a guard selectively disposed between a user and the work piece at or near the tool rest. The guard is preferably transparent so that the user may view the work piece as it is worked by the tool. The guard of certain embodiments includes lights directed onto the work piece to provide illumination of the work piece and tool during the shaping operation. In certain embodiments, the lights are disposed at one or more locations on an underside of the transparent guard. The guard may have an extendable transparent member that may be moved to an extended position so as to be disposed between the user and the work piece or may be moved to a retracted position to ready access to the work piece by the user. In certain embodiments, a magnifier is provided on the guard that is disposed in position to provide a magnified view of the work piece to the user. 
     The guard, which may have the lights and magnifier, is provided on a post that extends from the carriage of the lathe that moves along the work piece with the tool rest. The post is adjustable in position in the carriage to move the guard closer to or further from the work piece. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a lathe of one type that may be provided with the lighted tool post guard, although other types of lathes may be provided with the post guard as well; 
         FIG. 2  is a perspective view of the lathe of  FIG. 1  on which has been mounted a lighted tool post guard; 
         FIG. 3  is a top, side perspective view of the tool post guard on the lathe; 
         FIG. 4  is a bottom, side perspective view of a guard portion of the lighted tool post guard. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     In  FIG. 1 , a lathe  10  includes a housing  12  within which is mounted a motor (not shown) that drives a chuck or headstock  14  that holds a work piece. The lathe  10  includes a bed  16  on which is mounted a carriage  18  and at the end of which is mounted a tailstock  20 . Controls  22  for the operation of the lathe  10  are provided on the housing  12 . A tool rest  24  is provided on the carriage  18  for holding tools that are used for shaping work pieces mounted to extend along the bed  16  between the chuck  14  and the tailstock  20 . Controls  26  on the carriage  18  provide for controlled movement of the tool rest  24  along the work piece. 
     Turning to  FIG. 2 , the lathe  10  includes a guard  28  mounted on the carriage  18 . The guard  28  moves with the carriage  18  so that it remains in place over the portion of the work piece being worked or shaped. The guard  28  includes a flex arm  30  one end of which is mounted on the carriage  18  and the other end of which supports a guard head  32 . The flex arm  30  permits the guard head  32  to be moved closer to or further away from the work piece and to be moved into various positions as desired by the user. 
     In  FIG. 3 , the flex arm  30  has a pivot end  34  with an extension mounted in an opening in the carriage  18 . The pivot end  34  flexes to permit the pivot arm  30  to move to different angular and rotational positions. The pivot arm  30  has a first segment  36  connected to the pivot end  34  and a second segment  38  connected to the first segment  36  at an elbow  40 . The elbow  40  in combination with the pivot end  34  permits the guard  32  to be raised and lowered, or moved to a plurality of possible positions. A wrist joint  42  connects the second segment  38  to the guard head  32 , the wrist joint  42  being pivotable about a horizontal axis and in certain embodiments about additional flex axes. 
     The guard head  32  of the illustrated embodiment includes a frame  44  connected to the wrist joint  42 . The frame  44  includes a central opening within which is mounted a transparent window  46 . The flex arm  30  and frame  44  may be of steel or other metal, plastic, carbon fiber, or other materials. The transparent window  46  permits the user to examine the work piece through the window  46 , such as while the work piece is being shaped by tools as the lathe  10  is running. The transparent window  46  may be of glass, such as safety glass, or may be of a plastic or other material. The transparent window  46  may have no magnification or may be configured to provide a magnified view of the work piece. The magnification may be provided by a convex lens or by a Fresnel lens, for example. The transparent window  46  is shown as a rectangle window, although other shapes are of course possible. Similarly, the frame  44  is a rectangle in the illustration, but other shapes are possible. 
     The frame  44  of certain embodiments may have a handle  48  mounted in a position so that a user may grasp the handle  48  and move the guard head  32  about. The handle  48  of the illustrated embodiment extends from the side of the frame  44 . Once moved to a desired position, the flex arm  30  may have sufficient tension on the joints, for example, that the guard head  32  stays in the desired position. It is also foreseen that a tightening mechanism may be provided to permit the user to tighten any flexure points to retain the guard head  32  in position. Any known means for forming the flex arm  30  and its flexure points are within the scope of the invention. 
     The guard head  32  includes an extendable shield  50 . The extendable shield  50  of the illustrated embodiment includes a transparent member  52  enclosed within a thin frame  54  and disposed at an angle to the frame  44  of the guard head  32 . The extendable shield  50  is mounted in a slot  56  in the frame  44 . The slot  56  connects to channels  58  within the frame  44  along which the extendable shield  50  may slide when provided with a retracting force by a user. For example, the user may lift the extendable shield  50  so that it is generally parallel with the frame  44  and push inward to slide the extendable shield  50  into the channels  58 . The channels  58  are of a size and shape to fully receive the extendable shield  50 , in certain embodiments. Cushioning pads  60  may be provided on the extendable shield  50  to cushion vibration from being transmitted between the frame  44  and extendable shield  50 . In certain embodiments, the extendable shield  50  includes one or more grasping portions that may be grasped by a user to extract the shield  50  from the retracted position. The extendable shield  50  may include a transparent window of non-magnifying material or may be formed of magnifying material to provide a magnified view of the work piece to the user. 
     If both the window  46  of the frame  44  and the window  52  of the extendable shield  50  are formed of magnifying material, the two windows may be configured so that the magnifying effect is increased by moving the extendable window  50  into the retracted position and viewing the work piece through both windows while they are in the frame  44 . Multiple magnifications may thus be provided. 
     The window  52  of the extendable shield  50  may be of glass, shatterproof glass, plastic, or other materials. In certain embodiments, the windows  46  and  52  are of scratch resistant material and/or may have coatings, layers, or structures as desired. Markings such as engravings or printings may be provided on one or both windows for alignment, measurement, proportion, tool identification, or other uses. 
     With reference now to  FIG. 4 , the frame  44  has the handle  48  on one side. A similar handle may be provided on the other side in some embodiments. The extendable shield  50  extends from the slot  56  at an angle so that it may be positioned between the work piece and the user. The channel  58  into which the extendable shield  50  may be slid is apparent within the frame  44 . 
     The frame  44  of the certain embodiments includes at least one light  60  mounted to direct light onto the work piece. The light  60  may be formed as an integral part of the frame  44  or may be affixed thereto or mounted independently of the frame  44 . The light  60  may be of any type, including light emitting diode (LED), plasma, liquid crystal display (LCD), incandescent, fluorescent, or other lighting type. 
     The illustrate frame  44  includes a plurality of LED lights  60  mounted in the frame  44  along each of the four sides. The substantial number of LED lights  60  provide light to the work area without shadows and with even illumination, all without drawing significant amounts of power. The LED lights  60  may be of the same emission spectrum or may be mix of LEDs of different emission spectrums. A light switch, dimmer, and/or emission spectrum changer may be provided on the guard head  32 , on the flex arm  30 , and/or on the lathe  10 . The lights  60  may be mounted so as to be replaceable by a user, for example to change the light spectrum or the like, or the light may be mounted permanently in the frame  44 . 
     The emission spectrum of the lights  60  may be coordinated with coatings or the like of the windows to provide particular lighting effects when viewed through the windows of the guard head  32 . 
     The user is provided with an adjustable position guard that may be moved to between the user and the work piece and that includes transparent windows so that the work piece can be viewed as it is being worked. The adjustable guard may include one or more extendable portions to increase or decrease the size of the guard. The guard may include a magnifier for improving the view by the user. Lights may be provided on the guard for direct lighting on the work area of the work piece. Some or all of these features may be provided in embodiments according to the present invention. 
     Although other modifications and changes may be suggested by those skilled in the art, it is the intention of the inventors to embody within the patent warranted hereon all changes and modifications as reasonably and properly come within the scope of their contribution to the art.