Abstract:
A brick cutter includes a base, a swing arm that has a handle portion, wherein the handle portion has one end pivotally connected to the base and an opposite end formed with a head so that the swing arm is capable of swinging relative to the base, and a chisel that has a cutting portion and a rod portion, wherein the rod portion is coupled with the head of the swing arm. Thereby, when a user holds the swing arm with one hand, and hammers the chisel with a hamper held in the other hand, the hammered chisel impacts a brick so as to cut the brick.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    1. Technical Field 
         [0002]    The present invention relates to brick cutters, and more particularly, to a brick cutter that allows convenient and effort-saving operation. 
         [0003]    2. Description of Related Art 
         [0004]    Diverse modern buildings require bricks in various shapes other than the plain cuboids. Especially, bricks may need to be cut and chamfered for forming a quoin of a house. Thus, it is common to see at a construction site that a building worker has his one hand holding a hammer and the other hand holding a chisel to cut bricks into desired sizes or shapes. 
         [0005]    However, the conventional approach to cutting bricks is nevertheless defective because uniformizing the angles the hammer hits on the chisel and the chisel cuts the bricks is impossible. Besides, when operating with the traditional chisel and hammer, the building worker&#39;s hand holding the chisel tends to be accidentally hurt by the dropping hammer. Furthermore, for different needs in construction, brinks diverse in material, hardness and size may be used and the traditional chisel and hammer are obviously not a universal solution for all these bricks. Though marble cutters are therefore conventionally used for cutting bricks of large hardness and size, such marble cutters are usually bulky and inconvenient to transport and operate. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0006]    The primary objective of the present invention is to provide a brick cutter that is advantaged by providing operational safety and adaptability to a wide range of bricks. 
         [0007]    The disclosed brick cutter comprises a base, a swing arm that has a handle portion, wherein the handle portion has one end pivotally connected to the base and an opposite end formed with a head, and a chisel that has a cutting portion and a rod portion, wherein the rod potion pierces through the head of the swing arm. Thereby, when a user holds the swing arm with one hand, and hammers the chisel with a hamper held in the other hand, the hammered chisel rams and in turn break the brick safely. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0008]    The invention as well as a preferred mode of use, further objectives and advantages thereof will be best understood by reference to the following detailed description of an illustrative embodiment when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein: 
           [0009]      FIG. 1  is an oblique front elevation of a brick cutter according to the present invention; 
           [0010]      FIG. 2  is an oblique back elevation of the brick cutter; 
           [0011]      FIG. 3  is an exploded view of the brick cutter; 
           [0012]      FIG. 4  is a side sectional view of the brick cutter; 
           [0013]      FIG. 5  is a cross-sectional view of the brick cutter taken along Line  5 - 5  of  FIG. 4 ; 
           [0014]      FIG. 6  is a schematic drawing showing movement of a sliding fixer of the brick cutter; 
           [0015]      FIG. 7  is another cross-sectional view of the brick cutter taken along Line  7 - 7  of  FIG. 2 ; 
           [0016]      FIG. 8  is another cross-sectional view of the brick cutter taken along Line  8 - 8  of  FIG. 4 ; 
           [0017]      FIG. 9  is a schematic drawing showing a chisel of the brick cutter rotated; 
           [0018]      FIG. 10  is an applied view of the brick cutter; 
           [0019]      FIG. 11  is another applied view of the brick cutter; 
           [0020]      FIG. 12  is still another applied view of the brick cutter; and 
           [0021]      FIG. 13  is yet another applied view of the brick cutter. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
       [0022]    Referring to  FIGS. 1 and 2 , a brick cutter  1  comprises a base  10 , a sliding fixer  20 , a swing arm  30  and a chisel  40 . The sliding fixer  20  is slidably mounted on the base  10 . The swing arm  30  has one end pivotally connected to the base  10 . The chisel  40  is coupled with an opposite end of the swing arm  30 . 
         [0023]    Referring to  FIG. 3 , the base  10  being a plank made of an impact-resistant material has one end provided with a bulge  11  and an opposite end formed with a joint portion  12  that has a pivot hole  121 . A scaled portion  13  is deposited between the two ends of the base. A pair of rails lengthwise extends on the base  10 . Each said rail has one open end and one closed end. A spring recess  17  also lengthwise extends on the base  10 . 
         [0024]    The sliding fixer  20  is U-shaped and has a pair of guiding portions  21  at two sides for positioning the sliding fixer  20  on the rails  14  of the base  10 . The sliding fixer  20  has a downward extending retaining plate  22  for abutting against a lateral of a workpiece to be cut. Each said guiding portion  21  is accompanied by a pivot trunnion  23  and a positioning protrusion  24 . 
         [0025]    The swing arm  30  also made of an impact-resistant material has a head  31  and a pivot hole  32  positioned opposite to the head  31 . An arched handle portion  33  is provided between the head  31  and the pivot hole  32 . the swing arm  30  and the joint portion  12  of the base  10  are pivotally combined at pivot hole  32  through a rivet  34  and a torsion spring  35 . A receiving portion  36  downward extends from the head  31  of the swing arm  30 . An opening  312  vertically passes through the head  31  of the swing arm  30  and is partially enclosed by a parapet  311 . A slot  313 , a column  314 , and a pivot trunnion  315  are formed at one side of the parapet  311 . 
         [0026]    The chisel  40  has a cutting portion  41  and a rod portion  42 . A pair of positioning recesses  43  is formed at opposite sides of the rod portion  42 . The opening  312  allows the rod portion  42  of the chisel  40  to pass therethrough. 
         [0027]    An angle adjuster  50  made of an impact-resistant material is rotatably set inside the parapet  311  of the head  31 . The angle adjuster  50  is composed of a pair of semicircular members  51 . Each said semicircular member  51  has a toothed portion  52  formed at an outer periphery thereof and a combining pin  53  transversely extended from an inner periphery thereof. Thereby, the angle adjuster  50  and the chisel  40  can be combined by inserting the combining pins  53  of the semicircular members  51  into the positioning recesses  43  of the chisel  40 . 
         [0028]    A cap  60  has a through hole  61  and an angle indicator  62  settled beside the through hole  61 . A plurality of fastening holes  63  deposited around the through hole  61  for allowing a plurality of screws to pass therethrough and then get coupled with threaded holes  361  provided on the parapet  311  so that the cap  60  can be fastened to the head  31  of the swing arm  31  and the angle adjuster  50  is rotatably positioned under the cap  60 . Therein, the through hole  61  partially exposes the rod portion  42  of the chisel  40 . 
         [0029]    A first positioning member  70  is disposed at the head  31  of the swing arm  30  for retaining the angle adjuster  50  from rotating relative to the head  31 . The first positioning member  70  comprises a pressing portion  71 , a retaining tongue  702 , and a through hole  73  provided therebetween. The through hole  73  receives a pivot pin  74  that pivotally connects the first positioning member  70  and the pivot trunnion  315  of the head  31 . Besides, a spring  75  is arranged between the pressing portion  71  and the column  314 . 
         [0030]    A pair of second positioning members  25  flank the sliding fixer  20  and each said second positioning member  25  is structurally identical to the first positioning member  70 . The second positioning member  25  has one end formed as a pressing portion  251  and an opposite end formed with a retaining tongue  252 . A through hole  253  is provided at a middle part of the second positioning member  25  so as to allow a pivot pin  26  to pivotally connect the second positioning member  25  and the pivot trunnion  23  of the sliding fixer  20 . Besides, a positioning protrusion  254  is formed at a rear side of the pressing portion  251  and a spring  27  is positioned between the positioning protrusions  24  and  254 . 
         [0031]    In  FIGS. 2 and 4 , a dent  361  is formed at a bottom of the receiving portion  36  for positionally corresponding to the bulge  11  of the base  10 . Normally, the bulge  11  is partially received in the dent  361  so that when the chisel  40  rams downward under an external force, the swing arm  30  pivotally swings toward the base  10 . At this time, the entire bulge  11  is accommodated in the dent  361  and the swing arm  30  is retained from moving transversely. 
         [0032]    Referring to  FIG. 5 , teeth  15  are provided in each said rail  14 . When the sliding fixer  20  is in its fixing position, the pressing portions  251  of the second positioning members  14  are pushed away from the sliding fixer  20  by resilience of the springs  27  so that the retaining tongues  252  get engaged with the corresponding teeth  15  of the rails  14 . A fastening pin  16  is provided at the base  10  adjacent to the open ends of the rails  14  for retaining the sliding fixer  20  from leaving the base  10 . 
         [0033]    As can be seen in  FIG. 6 , when the pressing portions  251  of the second positioning members  25  are pressed inward, the second positioning members  25  pivot against the pivot pins  26  relative to the sliding fixer  20 . Consequently, the retaining tongues  252  depart from the teeth  15  and thus the sliding fixer  20  is allowed to freely slide along the base  10 . When the pressing portions  251  of the second positioning members  25  are released, the second positioning members  25  get coupled with different said teeth  15  so as to fix the sliding fixer  20  at a different position on the base  10 . 
         [0034]    Referring to  FIG. 7 , a spring recess  37  is formed at the pivot end of the swing arm  30  for accommodating one end of the torsion spring  35  while an opposite end of the torsion spring  35  is received in the spring recess  17  of the base  10 . Thereby, normally, the swing arm  30  and the base  10  are pushed apart by the strain of the torsion spring  35  while an end  321  of the swing arm  30  abuts against the base  10  to limit an angle where the swing arm  30  and the base  10  are pushed apart. When the torsion spring  35  is compressed, the swing arm  30  is drawn and swings toward the base  10 . 
         [0035]    According to  FIG. 8 , the first positioning member  70  is pivotally connected to the head  31 . Normally, the retaining tongue  75  of the first positioning member  70  passes through the slot  313  and gets engaged with the teeth  52  of the semicircular members  51  so that the angle adjuster  50  is retained from rotating relative to the head  31 . 
         [0036]    In  FIG. 9 , when the pressing portion  71  of the first positioning member  70  is pressed, the retaining tongue  72  departs from the teeth  52  so that the chisel  40  is allowed to rotate with respective to the head  3   1 , thereby changing angle between the cutting portion  41  and the swing arm  30 . When the pressing portion  71  is released from being pressed, the first positioning member  70  can engage with different said teeth  52  and thus retain the chisel  40  from rotating again. 
         [0037]    In  FIG. 10 , the brick cutter  1  is such placed on a brick  2  that the retaining plate  22  of the sliding fixer  20  abuts on a lateral of the brick  2 . At this time, a user can hole the handle portion  33  of the swing arm  30  with one hand and hold a hammer  3  to hammer the chisel  40  so that the chisel  40  receives a ramming force from the hammer  3  and in turn ram the brick  2  to break the brick  2 . Since the handle portion  33  allows the user&#39;s hand to keep away from the chisel  40  where the hamper hits, the risk of accidentally hurting the hand can be eliminated. Consequently, the brick  2  can be cut into desired size conveniently and safely. On the other hand, when the chisel  40  receives and passes the ramming force downward, the swing arm  30  also swings toward the base  10  under the ramming force. Thus, the downward swinging movement of the swing arm  30  reinforces the ramming force of the chisel  40  so as to allow a laborsaving operation of brick cutting. 
         [0038]    In  FIG. 11 , by using the first positioning member  70 , the angle between the chisel  40  and the swing arm  30  is changed from a vertical as shown in  FIG. 10  so that the brick cutter  1  can cut a brick into non-square shaped pieces, thereby improving the practicability of the brick cutter  1 . 
         [0039]    As can be seen in  FIGS. 12 and 13 , the brick cutter  1  may be implemented to cut solid or hollow bricks with the sliding fixer  20  properly settled by using the second positioning members  25  to fit the brick cutter  1  to bricks with different lengths. 
         [0040]    The present invention has been described with reference to the preferred embodiment and it is understood that the embodiment is not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. Moreover, as the contents disclosed herein should be readily understood and can be implemented by a person skilled in the art, all equivalent changes or modifications which do not depart from the concept of the present invention should be encompassed by the appended claims.