Abstract:
A hand power tool has a housing and a cutting tool bit, as well as a guard, which embraces the tool bit and is coupleable to the housing and axially adjustable relative to it, wherein the housing and the guard means, in a first adjusting position, are positionable axially freely and in a second adjusting position, guided by an adjusting element are positionable axially finely and lockably to one another, wherein the adjusting element is configured to prevent free axial displacement of the guard in the second adjusting position.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
   This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d) to German Patent Application Number DE 103 59 420.5, filed 18 Dec. 2003. 
   BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   1. Field of the Invention 
   The present invention is based on a hand power tool I and adjusting means. 
   2. Description of Related Art 
   From German Patent DE 196 37 690 C2, a hand power tool designed as a top spindle molder with cutting depth adjustment is known that permits relatively safe and convenient adjustment of the cutting depth, but a continuously variable rapid adjustment by hand is not possible. 
   BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   The present invention having the characteristics of claim  1  has the advantage that with it, rapid and precise adjustment of the cutting depth can be done in a safely monitorable way, and the means provided for it can be produced and installed simply and economically and are sturdy and easy to operate. 
   Because the adjusting positions between the housing and the guard means can be quickly changed, it is possible to finely adjust the cutting depth position safely and precisely immediately after a rapid coarse adjustment. 
   Because the adjusting positions can be changed between coarse and fine adjustment by means of a relative motion between the housing and the guard means, the cutting depth adjustment can be done especially simply and quickly. 
   Because the guard means is designed as a supporting foot which annularly embraces the housing and can be switched over into two predetermined rotary positions that define one fine adjustment stage and one coarse adjustment stage for varying the axial position of the housing relative to the supporting foot, it is possible to switch over the hand power tool in adjusting the cutting depth safely and simply. 
   Because the two rotary positions are limited in overlooking fashion, directly next to one another, with a minimal rotational course of the housing relative to the supporting foot, the rotational position can be adjusted in a quickly variable way. 
   Because overlooking means between the housing and the supporting foot make any change in the adjustment stage audible and feelable, these means secure the housing and the supporting foot against unintentional change. 
   Because the housing has a steplike collar onto which the supporting foot can be slipped, and the outer contour of the housing merges smoothly with that of the completely slipped-on supporting foot, and the minimal telescoping extension position and hence a maximum cutting depth for the tool bit are set in this position of the housing relative to the supporting foot, it is possible for the mutual rotation of the supporting foot and the housing in the switchover operation to be safely felt and monitored by the user&#39;s hand in the transition region between the supporting foot and the housing. 
   Because a depth stop is located between the housing and the supporting foot and this depth stop in the first adjustment stage does not but in the second adjustment stage does adjustably engage between the housing and the supporting foot, it is possible to make an axial coarse adjustment of the housing relative to the supporting foot in the first adjustment stage, from which, after a switchover to the second adjustment stage, the final cutting depth can be finely adjusted by rotating the depth stop. 
   Because the depth stop is designed as a screw bolt, on one end of which a control wheel is seated in a manner fixed against relative rotation, with which control wheel the depth stop is located rotationally drivably and axially secured in the supporting foot, it can axially finely adjust the housing relative to the supporting foot in the fine adjustment stage by rotation by hand, and in the first adjustment stage it remains disengaged from the inside of the housing, and furthermore, upon release of the housing from the supporting foot, it can remain secured in captive fashion in the supporting foot. 
   Because the control wheel passes through the supporting foot to the outside in a manually operable way, and the screw bolt, over nearly half its length, rests longitudinally parallel in a groove in an inside of the wall of the supporting foot in form-locking fashion and with its protruding longitudinal region on the diametrically opposite side is associated with a parallel outer longitudinal housing groove, the depth stop can be adjusted from outside especially safely - without the risk of injury to the user&#39;s hand by the tool bit. 
   Because next to the one longitudinal housing groove there is a further longitudinal housing groove, particularly with a female thread that fits the thread of the depth stop and into which female thread the screw bolt can be placed longitudinally, a fine adjustment of the housing relative to the supporting foot can be done upon placement of this bolt in the one longitudinal housing groove, and upon its placement in the other longitudinal housing groove, a free axial adjustment of the housing relative to the supporting foot can be done by hand. 
   Because the center spacing of the longitudinal housing grooves is less than the groove diameter, the switchover travel for changing the adjustment stages is especially short. 
   Because overlooking means are located between the longitudinal housing grooves at the transition from one to the other and positionally secure the screw bolt in overlooking fashion in its applicable longitudinal housing groove, an unintentional change of the adjustment stages is precluded. 
   Because one of the longitudinal housing grooves has fitting threaded means that can engage the inside of the screw bolt upon rotation of the screw bolt, via actuation of the control wheel, replicable fine adjustment of the housing relative to the supporting foot is possible. 
   Because the other of the longitudinal housing grooves embraces the screw bolt with radial play without engaging it, the housing can be easily adjusted easily relative to the supporting foot axially between the two end points of the axial position in the second adjustment stage, as it were by free axial displacement. 
   Because a parallel bolt, as the overlooking means between the longitudinal housing grooves, seeks to brace itself in spring prestressed fashion radially movably outward longitudinally, that is, toward the supporting foot, counter to the screw bolt of the depth stop, the result is the creation of a large-area, securely effective overlooking means between the supporting foot and the housing. 
   Because the collar of the housing and/or the upper edge, braceable thereon, of the sleevelike shaft of the supporting foot extends obliquely, the correct reinsertion of the housing into the supporting foot after separate manipulation is safe to operate. Because the adjusting positions, particularly by clamping means, are detachably lockable and thus axially and radially fixable, the cutting depth of the hand power tool is adjustable in a secured way. 
   Because the supporting foot is dimensioned such that with its aid the hand power tool can be set down, in freestanding fashion, on a horizontal, level surface, working with the hand power tool can be done especially precisely and without tilting. 
   Because the housing is limited relative to the supporting foot in its axial end positions upon longitudinal displacement by stops, and in particular by a bayonet mount, unintentional release or loss of the supporting foot from the housing or vice versa is precluded. 
   Because scale means for monitoring the cutting depth are located between the housing and the supporting foot, the cutting depth position can be adjusted in a securely monitorable and replicable way, particularly in the fine adjustment stage. 
   Because it is designed as a top spindle molder, and the adjusting positions can be associated with a respective predetermined cutting depth, it can be adjusted in an especially time-saving way and can be manipulated safely. 
   Because the adjusting means, described above in terms of their advantages, serve to alter or fix two parts, which are arranged in telescoping fashion with respect to one another, relative to one another, they can also be employed especially advantageously—with their own inventive value—not only in hand power tools but also in other areas of use, where both rapid and especially precise adjustment of the relative position is necessary. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The invention is described below in further detail in terms of an exemplary embodiment in conjunction with the drawings. 
     Shown are 
       FIG. 1 , the hand power tool from the front; 
       FIG. 2 , the hand power tool from the left; 
       FIG. 3 , the supporting foot and the hand power tool, shown in an exploded view, taken apart axially; 
       FIG. 4 , the hand power tool without the supporting foot and the depth stop; 
       FIG. 5 , the supporting foot from above with the depth stop; 
       FIG. 6 , an enlarged cross section between the supporting foot and the housing with the depth stop in the fine adjustment stage; 
       FIG. 7 , the view of  FIG. 6  in the coarse adjustment stage; and 
       FIG. 8 , a further side view of the housing. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
   A hand power tool  10  shown from the front in  FIG. 1  is designed as an electrically operable top spindle molder, which comprises a housing  12  that at the front has a toggle switch  14  for switching it on and off, and from whose lower free end  11  a rotating tool bit  15  for metal-cutting machining of workpieces protrudes. 
   The cylindrical housing  12 , in the uppermost quarter of its length, has a waist  17 , which can easily be grasped with one hand and which with its radial protrusion fits, axially bracingly, into the hand holding it. The lower half of the housing  12  has a slightly smaller outer diameter than the upper region and with the smaller diameter forms a collar  20  ( FIG. 3 ), which can be inserted in telescoping fashion into a hollow-cylindrical supporting foot  22 . The transition between the collar  20  and the upper region of the housing  12  forms a protrusion or feelable edge  200 . 
   This edge  200 , located between the collar  20  and the region above it having the larger diameter of the housing  12 , extends obliquely downward toward the rear—like the upper edge of the supporting foot  22 . 
   An electrical connection cord  16  emerges from the upper housing region at the rear, with a slight slant upward. Because of the direction in which it emerges and its inclination, it is reliably kept spaced apart from the engagement point of the tool bit  15  and a workpiece, without being a hindrance to the work as cables that emerge vertically upward are. 
   The hollow-cylindrical supporting foot  22  has a vertical, tubular supporting foot wall  23 , which is longitudinally slotted at the front, and at the slot  27 , two lateral, forward-protruding, perforated clamping tabs  24  are formed. A clamping screw  25  ( FIG. 2 ) can be inserted through these tabs, transversely to the longitudinal axis of the supporting foot  22 . If the clamping screw is tightened, the two clamping tabs  24  move toward one another and in the process seek to close the slot  27 . In so doing, they clamp the collar  20  of the housing  12 , seated in the supporting foot  22 , firmly-securing it against rotation and axial displacement. Thus a cutting depth of the tool bit  15 , once set, is securely fixed against unintentional change. The clamping screw  25  is a fast-clamping screw with a pivot lever  30  with an eccentric region, not identified by reference numeral, of the kind known for instance for adjusting the saddle height of bicycles, and can be released and tightened by means of the pivot lever  30 . The pivot lever  30  of the clamping screw  25  is pivoted against the supporting foot  22  in the clamped state and is largely pulled inside the contour of the supporting foot. As a result, when the top spindle molder  10  is being used, and for instance when it meets edges of a workpiece, an unintentional upward pivoting of the pivot lever  30  is precluded. 
   Below the clamping tabs  24 , the supporting foot wall  23  opens, over its full width, downward as far as the foot plate  26 , to form a windowlike front recess  31 . The foot plate  26  on the lower end of the supporting foot  22  is essentially square and protrudes past the outer contour of the cylindrical supporting foot  22  to the side, the rear, and the front. Its area is dimensioned such that the top spindle molder  10  can be set down with the supporting foot  22 , in freestanding fashion, securely and stably on a level support. 
   The cutting depth for the tool bit  15  is monitorably adjustable by means of a scale  53  on the lower edge of the housing  12 ; the scale position can be read off relative to the adjacent upper edge  310  of the windowlike front recess  31  as a reference edge. 
   The foot plate  26  has a vertical opening  29 , designed as a circular hole, for the passage through it of the tool bit  15  downward into a workpiece to be machined. By axial adjustment of the top spindle molder  10  or housing  12  relative to supporting foot  22 , the depth to which the tool bit  15  plunges into a tool to be machined is adjustable. 
   On the outside, at the back and side, the housing  12  and the supporting foot  22  are provided, in the grip region  18 , with regularly distributed, hemispherical indentations  19 , which have a diameter of approximately 2 to 3 mm and which improve the grip and thus the safety of using the top spindle molder  10 . A grip region with an especially nonslip fluting  260  made up of rectangular impressions is also formed on the top side of the foot plate  26 . 
     FIG. 2  shows the left-hand side of the top spindle molder  10 , in which in particular—going beyond FIG.  1 —the a power cord  16  extending obliquely upward at the rear, can be seen along with the housing  12 , ribbed transversely at the top, and the clamping tabs  24  protruding from the front with the pivot lever  30 . The grip region  18  is furthermore visible, with the hemispherical indentations  19  and the edge  21 , descending obliquely to the rear, of the supporting foot  22  or correspondingly the protruding edge  200  at the collar  20 , as well as the shape of the front recess  31  with the archlike edge and the transition to the relatively far forward-protruding foot plate  26 . 
   Laterally at the back, a control wheel  28  can be seen in the lower region of the supporting foot  22 ; it emerges from a transverse slot  32  in the supporting foot wall  23  and—although not visible here—has a threaded bolt  35  ( FIG. 3 ), which extends in the interior between the housing  12  and the supporting foot wall  23  and serves as a depth stop  34  ( FIG. 3 ). 
     FIG. 3  is an exploded view with the top spindle molder  10  positioned above the supporting foot  22 ; of the top spindle molder, only the lower region with the collar  20 , the lower free end  11 , and the tool bit  15  can be seen. The edge  200  between the upper region of the housing  12  and the collar  20  is clearly visible. At the supporting foot  22 , the clamping screw  25  has been removed, making the design of the perforated clamping tabs  24  visible along with the slot  27  between the two clamping tabs. Also visible is the upper edge  21  of the supporting foot  22  and the transverse slot  32  for the control wheel  28  in the lower region of the supporting foot  22  above the base plate  26 . The depth stop  34  with the control wheel  28  has been removed from its inserted position in the inside face of the supporting foot wall  23 . For removing it, a retaining screw, not shown, that engages the control wheel in the middle must be removed; in the installed position, it secures the depth stop  34  on the supporting foot  22  against unintentional loosening. 
   The depth stop  34  is designed in its upper region as a screw bolt  35  with a thread  50 . The screw bolt  35  is intended for selective entry into a first or second longitudinal housing groove  38 ,  40  in the outer wall of the housing  12  in the region of the collar  20 . The two longitudinal housing grooves  38 ,  40  extend parallel to the screw bolt  35 , or to its longitudinal groove  33  ( FIG. 5 ) in the inside face of the supporting foot wall  23 . Approximately centrally between and parallel to the longitudinal housing grooves  38 ,  40 , an overlooking bolt  36  is placed in a slot  42  in the housing wall  13  in the region of the collar  20  in such a way that it cannot fall out radially outward through the suitably narrowly dimensioned slot  42 ; it is held in prestressed fashion from behind by a leaf spring  37  radially outward in the slot  42 . 
   If the housing  12  has been inserted axially in telescoping fashion as intended into the supporting foot  22 , the screw bolt  35  rests in one of the longitudinal grooves  38 ,  40 . If the housing  12  is rotated slightly relative to the supporting foot  22  such that the screw bolt  35  is supposed to emerge laterally outward from the pair of longitudinal housing grooves  38 ,  40 , this direction of rotation is blocked. Conversely, however, the housing  12  can be rotated counter to the force of the leaf spring  37  and of the overlooking bolt  36 ; after a suitable rotational course, the threaded bolt  35  snaps audibly into whichever is the adjacent longitudinal housing groove  38 ,  40 . Before the housing  12  is rotated relative to the supporting foot  22 , the pivot lever  30  of the clamping screw  25  must be put into its release position, so that the slot  27  between the clamping tabs  24  opens and the force lock between the supporting foot  22  and the housing  12 , or collar  20 , is released. 
   The first longitudinal housing groove  38  has a thread  39 , which fits the thread  50  of the screw bolt  35 . If the longitudinal housing groove  38  is in engagement with the screw bolt  35 , then upon its rotation, or the rotation of the control wheel  28 , the housing  12  is axially adjusted relative to the supporting foot  22 . If the second longitudinal housing groove  40  is in overlooking engagement with the screw bolt  35 , no form or force lock becomes operative between it and the housing  12 . As a result, in this position, the housing  12  can easily be displaced back and forth axially by hand relative to the supporting foot  22  between two defined axial end positions. In this position, a coarse preselection of the cutting depth can be done simply and quickly by axial sliding. Once the cutting depth position has been coarsely adjusted, the housing  12  should be rotated relative to the supporting foot  22  such that the screw bolt  35  enters overlockingly into the first longitudinal housing groove  38 , so that in this position, by rotation of the control wheel  28 , the threads  39 ,  50  engaging one another bring about an axial force transfer with finely meterable longitudinal adjustment. Once the desired cutting depth position has been reached, the housing  12  is locked relative to the supporting foot  22  by pivoting of the pivot lever  30  into its clamping position, so that neither a rotary nor an axial motion between these two parts is possible. Thus the cutting depth position of the housing  12  relative to the supporting foot  22  is set. Depending on the cutting depth selected, the tool bit  15  protrudes outward more or less far past the lower edge of the foot plate  26 , with a corresponding cutting depth into the workpiece to be machined, onto which workpiece the foot plate  26  is to be set. 
   To the right in the viewing direction below the control wheel  28 , a radially inward-protruding cam  57  seated on the inside of the supporting foot wall  23  can be seen, which is intended for secure engagement with a bayonet groove  55  ( FIG. 8 ) of the housing  12 . 
     FIG. 4  shows a side view of the top spindle molder  10  in the region of the collar  20 , with a depth stop  34 —put in place for the sake of demonstration—which had previously been removed from its installed position in the supporting foot  22 . This depth stop  24  is placed in the second longitudinal housing groove without a thread  40  and axially freely displaceably therein and cannot take on any locking or force transfer function between the supporting foot  22  and the housing  12 . This demonstrates the coarse adjustment position, in which the housing  12  is limitedly freely displaceable relative to the supporting foot  22 . 
   In the first longitudinal housing groove  38 , which is parallel to the second longitudinal housing groove  40 , the thread  39  can be seen, which upon engagement of the depth stop  34  prevents an axial displacement between the housing  12  and the supporting foot  22  by means of forces from outside exerted against these two parts and permits such displacement only by means of rotation of the control wheel  28 . 
   The other details mentioned in connection with the preceding drawings will not be repeated here again; it will be mentioned that the reference numerals are the same. 
     FIG. 5  shows the detail of the supporting foot  22 ; going beyond the preceding drawing figures, the depth stop  34  is shown in its inserted position on the inside face of the supporting foot wall  23 , and the screw bolt  35  rests axially nondisplaceably with radial play and freely rotatably in the longitudinal groove  33  of the supporting foot wall  23 . Moreover, the slot  27  between the clamping tabs  24  in the supporting foot  22  is also clearly visible. 
   The other details described in conjunction with the preceding figures will not be repeated again here. 
     FIG. 6  shows an enlarged detail of the cross section between the supporting foot wall  23  and the housing wall  13  in the region of the longitudinal housing grooves  38 ,  40  with the threaded bolt  35  in place, and on the opposite side, the longitudinal groove  33  in the supporting foot wall  23 . This makes the overlooking and action position of the screw bolt  35  clear. 
     FIG. 7  shows the same details as  FIG. 6 , but with the housing  12  rotated relative to the supporting foot  22 ; the threaded bolt  35  rests in the second longitudinal housing groove  40  and makes a free displacement of the housing  12  possible relative to the supporting foot  22 . 
     FIG. 8  shows a further sectional view of the housing  12  with its collar  20 , looking toward an L-shaped bayonet groove  55 . This groove is composed of an upper, wide region  56 , which extends vertically, and merges toward the bottom with a narrow, angled region  58 . The bayonet groove  55  is engaged by a cam  57  as a locking or stop element, which is seated on the inside of the hollow-cylindrical supporting foot wall  23  ( FIG. 9 ) and protrudes radially inward. 
   The cam  57  is put into engagement with the bayonet groove  55  in the following way: First, the housing  12  should be placed axially on the supporting foot  22 . In the process, the region  58 , opening laterally downward, of the bayonet groove  55  is slipped over the cam  57 , until a further axial displacement of the housing  12  relative to the supporting foot  22  is stopped, because the cam  57  strikes the upper groove wall  60  of the region  58 . By corresponding rotation of the housing  12  relative to the supporting foot  22 , the cam  57  is guided along the groove wall  60  until it reaches the upper region  56 . 
   Once this position of the cam  57  is reached, the housing  12  is longitudinally freely displaceable relative to the supporting foot  22 , as long as the threaded bolt  35  is simultaneously resting in the second longitudinal housing groove  40 . So that the cam  57  will not hinder the adjustment of the rotary positions of the housing  12  relative to the supporting foot  22  and is axially freely movable in every rotary position, the upper region  56  of the bayonet groove  55  is designed as suitably wide. 
   For limiting the axial motion between the supporting foot  22  and the housing  12 , an upper groove end  64  and the lower side wall  62  of the region  58  of the bayonet groove  55  are used, which simultaneously determine the outermost axial end positions, and on which the cam  57  rests in its respective end position. This prevents an unintentional release of the supporting foot  22  from the housing  12  when the clamping screw  25  is open. 
   To facilitate the assembly of the supporting foot  22  with the housing  12 , arrow-shaped symbols, not identified by reference numerals, are impressed into the housing  12  and/or the supporting foot  22 ; these symbols mark housing regions that belong to one another or are to be aligned with one another as such, and at the same time they describe a preconditional assembly motion.