Abstract:
A cutting machine providing excellent usability and facilitating installation of a battery pack is provided. The cutting machine includes a handle provided on a housing accommodating a motor, and a cutting blade operated by the motor driven by the battery pack which is a drive source. An insert receiving member is formed in the housing at the rear of the handle, and has an open top end allowing the battery pack to be inserted and installed therein from above. The insert receiving member is integrally joined to the handle.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF INVENTION 
       [0001]    This application claims the entire benefit of Japanese Patent Application Number 2010-264038 filed on Nov. 26, 2010, the entirety of which is incorporated by reference. 
       TECHNICAL FIELD 
       [0002]    This invention relates to a cutting machine including a handle provided on top of a housing accommodating a motor, and a cutting blade operated by the motor driven by a battery pack. 
       BACKGROUND ART 
       [0003]    For example, Japanese Laid-open Patent Application Publication No. 2008-173712 discloses a cutting machine which includes a battery pack for supplying power to a motor and/or the like. In the cutting machine, a rear end of a housing accommodating the motor is coupled to a handle, and the battery pack is slid onto the rear end of the handle for installation. 
         [0004]    However, since the above-described cutting machine is required to fit the handle with the battery pack, the dimensions of the handle are increased in accordance with the battery pack, causing reduced usability of the cutting machine. Further, when the battery pack is slid, in particular, from above to bottom for installation, the battery pack may possibly not be easily installed because the battery pack is not readily slid onto the handle with stability. 
       SUMMARY OF INVENTION 
       [0005]    The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances and provides a cutting machine that provides increased usability and is capable of facilitating installation of a battery pack. 
         [0006]    A first aspect of the present invention provides a cutting machine comprising 
         [0007]    a housing, 
         [0008]    a motor that is accommodated in the housing, 
         [0009]    a handle that is provided on top of housing, 
         [0010]    a cutting blade that is operated by the motor driven by a battery pack which is a power source, and 
         [0011]    an insert receiving member that is formed in the housing at the rear of the handle and has an open top end to allow the battery pack to be inserted into the insert receiving member through the open top end from above for installation. 
         [0012]    In a second aspect of the invention, in the first aspect, the insert receiving member is integrally joined to the handle. 
         [0013]    In a third aspect of the invention, in the first or second aspect, the insert receiving member is disposed in a lower position than the handle in a vertical direction of the housing, and an upper surface of the battery pack is located in a lower position than an upper surface of the handle in the vertical direction when the battery pack is inserted and installed in the insert receiving member. 
         [0014]    In a fourth aspect of the invention, in the first aspect, the insert receiving member has an approximately tubular shape with an open top end and a closed bottom end, an inner shape of the insert receiving member is matched to a contour shape of the battery pack inserted and installed in the insert receiving member. In a fifth aspect of the invention, in the fourth aspect, an opening is formed in a lower end of the insert receiving member to make communication between an interior of the insert receiving member and the outside of the housing. 
         [0015]    With the cutting machine according to the first aspect, since the insert receiving member, into which the battery pack is inserted and installed, is provided in the housing at the rear of the handle, this eliminates the necessity to increase the dimensions of the handle in accordance with the battery pack, resulting in the cutting machine with improved usability. In addition, since the battery pack is inserted into the insert receiving member from above, the battery pack can be slid into the insert receiving member with stability, resulting in easy installation of the battery pack to the cutting machine. 
         [0016]    According to the second aspect, the insert receiving member is coupled to the handle to improve the rigidity. In addition, when the battery pack is inserted and installed into the insert receiving member, the rigidity of the insert receiving member is combined with the rigidity of the battery pack to provide further improved rigidity. 
         [0017]    According to the third aspect, even if the cutting machine falls with the handle facing downward, the upper surface of the handle collides with the floor first. Accordingly, at a drop of the cutting machine, the impact on the battery pack can be lessened. 
         [0018]    According to the fifth aspect, dust particles, rainwater and the like entering the interior of the insert receiving member can be removed from the opening to the outside of the housing. As a result, it is possible to prevent the accumulation of dust particles, rainwater and the like in the insert receiving member.] 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS 
         [0019]      FIG. 1  is a side view of a jigsaw according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0020]      FIG. 2  is a sectional view of an important part of the jigsaw. 
           [0021]      FIG. 3  is a top view of the jigsaw with a battery pack inserted into an insert receiving member. 
           [0022]      FIG. 4  is a top view of the jigsaw after the battery pack is removed from the insert receiving member. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0023]    An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to  FIG. 1  to  FIG. 4 . A jigsaw  1  includes a housing  10 , a blade  20 , a base  30 , a handle  40  and an insert receiving member  50 . The jigsaw  1  is an example of a cutting machine according to the embodiment of the present invention. 
         [0024]    As illustrated in  FIG. 2 , a motor M is held as a drive source in a central portion of the housing  10 , while a reciprocating mechanism  11  is held in a front portion of the housing  10 . A fan F for cooling the motor M is mounted on the output shaft M 1  of the motor M. In addition, the output shaft M 1  is engaged with a drive gear  11 A of the reciprocating mechanism  11 . The output shaft M 1  is rotatably supported by a bearing  12  mounted in the housing  10 . The drive gear  11 A is rotatably supported through a bearing by a shaft  13  which is secured in the housing  10 . A working member  14  is fixed in an off-center position at the front of the drive gear  11 A. The working member  14  revolves about the shaft  13  by the rotation of the drive gear  11 A. A rod R is supported by the working member  14  in the front portion of the housing  10 . The rod R moves in the up and down directions with the revolutions of the working member  14 . The rod R is moved upward and downward to make one round trip every time the working member  14  revolves. The rod R has a lower end located outside the housing  10  and a blade mounting  15  is provided at the lower end. The top in  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 2  refers to the upper direction of the upper and lower directions Y of the housing  10 , while the bottom refers to the lower direction of the upper and lower directions Y. 
         [0025]    A blade  20  has a linear shape and is secured to the blade mounting  15 . The blade  20  is an example of the cutting blade according to the embodiment of the present invention. The base  30  is attached to an underside of the housing  10  with a base setbolt B screwed to the underside. The base  30  is used to come into contact with the upper surface of a material to be cut (not shown). 
         [0026]    The handle  40  is formed on the top of the housing  10  when viewed from a side of the jigsaw  1 . The upper surface of the handle  40  is slightly curved to be inclined downward in the rearward direction (in the left direction in  FIG. 2 ). A switch S is held in the handle  40  and has a trigger  41  for supplying or stopping power to the motor M. The left side in  FIG. 1  to  FIG. 4  refers to rearward of the handle  40 , while the right side refers to forward of the handle  40 . 
         [0027]    The insert receiving member  50  has an approximately tubular shape having an opening  51  (see  FIG. 4 ) formed at the upper surface, and is formed by recessing the housing  10 . The inner surface of the insert receiving member  50  has a shape matched to the contour shape of a battery pack  60 , so that the battery pack  60  can be inserted into the interior of the insert receiving member  50  through the opening  51  from above for installation. The insert receiving member  50  is situated at the rear of the handle  40  while being inclined toward the rear of the housing  10 . The insert receiving member  50  is located lower than the handle  40  in the vertical direction Y, and is integrally combined with the rear end face of the handle  40 . 
         [0028]    As illustrated in  FIG. 2  and  FIG. 4 , terminals T electrically connected to the motor M through lead wires (not shown) extend beyond a bottom B 1  of the insert receiving member  50  within the insert receiving member  50 . While the battery pack  60  is inserted and installed to the insert receiving member  50 , the terminals T can make an electric contact with an electrode plate of the battery pack  60 . At this stage, an engaging portion  61  of the battery pack  60  is engaged with the inner surface of the insert receiving member  50 , such that the upper surface of the battery pack  60  is located lower than the upper surface of the handle  40  in the vertical direction Y. 
         [0029]    A discharge port  52  is provided in the lower end of the rear face of the insert receiving member  50  close to the lower end of the slope of the bottom B 1 . The discharge port  52  allows communication between the interior of the insert receiving member  50  and the outside of the housing  10 . In the embodiment, the discharge port  52  is provided in the rear face of the insert receiving member  50  so as to be placed at a distance from a cutting site of the material cut by the blade  20 , so that dust particles produced at the cutting site are prevented from entering the interior of the insert receiving member  50  from the discharge port  52 . Dust particles, rainwater and/or the like entering the interior of the insert receiving member  50  from the opening  51  are guided along the slope of the bottom B 1  to the discharge port  52 . As a result, the discharge port  52  discharges the dust particles, rainwater and/or the like from the housing  10  to the outside. Note that the lower end of the rear face of the insert receiving member  50  is an example of a lower end of an insert receiving member according to the present invention, and the discharge port  52  is an example of an opening according to the present invention. 
         [0030]    In the embodiment, since the interior shape (inner face) of the insert receiving member  50  is matched to the contour shape of the battery pack  60 , the interior of the insert receiving member  50  serves as a guiding face when the batter pack  60  is inserted into/removed from the interior. Accordingly, if the battery pack  60  is slid along the interior from the opening  51 , the battery pack  60  can be smoothly attached to/detached from the insert receiving member  50 . 
         [0031]    When the switch S is turned on by pressing the trigger  41  toward the handle  40 , the battery pack  60  which is a power source supplies power to the motor M to drive the motor M. In step with this, upon the rotation of the drive gear  11 A, the blade  20 , together with the rod R, reciprocates in the vertical direction Y to cut the to-be-cut material. 
         [0032]    Since the jigsaw  1  according to the embodiment has the insert receiving member  50  formed in the housing  10  at the rear of handle  40 , this eliminates the necessity to increase the dimensions of the handle  40  in accordance with the size of the battery pack  60 , resulting in the jigsaw  1  with improved usability. In addition, since the battery pack  60  is inserted into the insert receiving member  50  from above, the battery pack  60  can be slid into the insert receiving member  50  with stability, resulting in easy installation of the battery pack  60  to the jigsaw  1 . 
         [0033]    Further, since the insert receiving member  50  is coupled to the handle  40 , the rigidity is improved. In addition, when the battery pack  60  is inserted and installed into the insert receiving member  50 , the rigidity of the insert receiving member  50  is combined with the rigidity of the battery pack  60  to provide further improved rigidity. 
         [0034]    Even if the jigsaw  1  falls with the handle  40  facing downward, the upper surface of the handle  40  collides with the floor first. Therefore, the impact on the battery pack  60  can be lessened. 
         [0035]    In addition, since the discharge port  52  is provided in the rear face of the insert receiving member  50  close to the lower end of the slope of the bottom B 1 , the dust particles, rainwater and/or the like entering the interior of the insert receiving member  50  can be guided along the slope of the bottom B 1  to the discharge port  52 , and the can be discharged from the discharge port  52  to the outside of the housing  10 . 
         [0036]    The present invention should be not limited to the aforementioned embodiment, and may be carried out by approximately changing partially the structure without departing from the gist of the invention. For example, the aforementioned embodiment has described the insert receiving member  50  formed integrally with the rear end face of the handle  40 . However, the invention is not so limited, and the insert receiving member  50  may be separated from the rear end face and be connected to the housing  10  at the rear of the handle  40 . The insert receiving member  50  described above has the bottom inclined rearward of the housing  10 , but it is not limited this. The insert receiving member may be connected to the housing while the insert receiving member itself may extend at the right angles to the housing  10 . In this case, the dust particles and the like entering the interior of the insert receiving member  50  are pushed out from the discharge port  52  by the movement of air produced when the battery pack  60  is inserted into the insert receiving member, and accordingly will not be accumulated in the insert receiving member  50 . 
         [0037]    Unlike the aforementioned embodiment, the discharge port may be formed in the bottom B 1 , and a discharge passage may be provided to communicate with the discharge port and the outside of the housing  10  holding the motor M, such that the dust particles and the like can be discharged from the discharge port through the discharge passage to the outside of the housing. 
         [0038]    The present invention is applicable to any electrical power tool such as a cutter, a reciprocating saw and the like, as well as the jigsaw. 
         [0039]    It is explicitly stated that all features disclosed in the description and/or the claims are intended to be disclosed separately and independently from each other for the purpose of original disclosure as well as for the purpose of restricting the claimed invention independent of the composition of the features in the embodiments and/or the claims. It is explicitly stated that all value ranges or indications of groups of entities disclose every possible intermediate value or intermediate entity for the purpose of original disclosure as well as for the purpose of restricting the claimed invention, in particular as limits of value ranges.