Patent Publication Number: US-2010126327-A1

Title: Concrete joint cutting and routing blade

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     References Cited [Referenced By] 
       
     
       
         
           
               
             
               
                   
               
               
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     Current U.S. Class: 
     125/13.01; 125/15; 451/547 
     Current International Class:  
     B28D1/02 (20060101); B24D 5/12 (20060101); B24D 5/00 (20060101); B28D 1/12 (20060101); B24B 27/06 (20060101); B28D 001/04 (20060101); B23D 61/00 (20060101); B24D 005/06 (20060101) 
     Field of Search: 
     125/15, 125/13.01, 451/548 
     STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT 
     “Not Applicable” 
     REFERENCE TO SEQUENCE LISTING, A TABLE, OR A COMPUTER PROGRAM LISTING COMPACT DISC APPENDIX 
     “Not Applicable” 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1) The present invention relates to circular saw blade used to cut and clean concrete expansion and construction joints. More particularly, is concerned with removal of joint material and preparation of surfaces for reconstruction of the concrete slab joint sealing system. 
     2) For many years concrete pavement has been design with expansion and construction joints for highways, airport aprons, airport hangar floors, fuel depot slabs, bridge slabs and parking garages pavements to handle to movement between the concrete slabs. Engineers design joints to deal with shifting from soil settlement and movement cause by seasonal temperature change. These joints are normally sealed to control water tightness, environmental protection, coating preparation and general appearance. 
     3) Current technology in use to remove/cut existing material joints involves thin concrete saw blades to cut the bond between the sealant and the concrete joint walls. On the first pass the sealant is separated from the joint wall then, second pass to cut bond of the sealant and the joint wall on the opposite side of the joint first cut. The filler materials that remain in the joint are then removed as a separate operation in preparation for the new sealant. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     This blade has three components. The outer sections are designed to control the boundaries of the removal process. Each outer section of the blade is design with a diamond abrasive grain tip portion along an outer peripheral part of the base metal plate. The inner center section has routing teeth that will remove the material between the two boundary blades. The center section will cut and remove waste material as well as control the travel speed of the joint cutting. As the outer plates cut ahead of the center section, the amount of inner material removal is controlled as the blade advance. When the outer plates reach 1¼ inch depth, the inner section will be at 1 inch depth (this depth is based on a ½ inch wide joint). Normal joint design, the depth of the cavity will need to be two times the width. The lower half of the cavity will be filled with a backing rod. The upper section of the cavity is then filled with new sealant material. The most important part of the joint is the bond between the new sealant and the concrete wall surfaces. Also, the cross section of the joint at the center is another point of interest, at this location is where the elastic movement will take place when the concrete move. The new joint profile is developed by the backing rod shape. The quality of the finish joint is directly related to the quality of the removal operation. My invention can provide a unique ability of controlling both the depth of the cut and maintain the overall level of quality of the wall cleaning over the full length of the joint being cut. Because this invention will make it much easier to remove the concrete material, the efficiency and speed of the joint preparation will be improved over the current method being employed. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of the present invention illustrating the three components of the cutting blade. 
         FIG. 2  is a plan views of one (of two) outer cutting component or outer section. This element of the present invention provides the cutting function between the concrete wall and the existing sealant material as well as performing the concrete cleaning operation. This section also, provides control limit to the depth material being removed and width of the joint preparation. 
         FIG. 3  is a side view of the outer component or cutting sections. 
         FIG. 4  is a plan view of the router component which will cut and remove the existing material in the center of the expansion joint. This section of the present invention also will establish the foundation profile for the new sealant material. 
         FIG. 5  is a side view of the router component showing the convex shape of the cutting edge which set up the existing material profile to receive the new round backing rod. This component also establishes the depth of material removal which is critical to the successful reconstruction of the expansion joint sealant system. 
         FIG. 6  is plans view of one (of two) outer cutting component or outer section. This element of the present invention provides the cutting function between the concrete wall and the existing sealant as well as performing the concrete cleaning operation. This section also provide control limit to the depth material being removed. 
         FIG. 7  is a side view of the outer component or cutting edge. 
         FIG. 8  is a cutaway view thru a expansion joint showing the routing component in position removing the existing center material and the cutting components cutting the joint walls as well as cleaning the surface by removal of a thin layer of concrete surface. 
         FIG. 9  is a side view of the present invention in operation showing the relationship of each component in the removal operation. Note the depth of cut of the outer components and the depth of removal of the center material. Successful reconstruction of the expansion joint relies on the positioning of the new backing rod to maximums the working elements functions when placed into service. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention (referring to  FIG. 1 ) is comprised of three components ( 01 ). Each outer section (referring to  FIGS. 1 ,  2 ,  3 ,  6 ,  7 ) ( 10 ,  30 ) consists of a flat round metal plate ( 16 ,  34 ) with a mounting hole ( 05 ) in the center which is sized and shaped for a arbor (referring to  FIG. 1 ) ( 07 ). At the outer edge (referring to  FIGS. 2 ,  6 ) ( 10 ,  30 ) on both side there is ½″ to ¾″ diamond abrasive band (referring to  FIGS. 1 ,  2 ,  3 ,  6 ,  7 ) ( 12 ,  12 ′,  32 ,  32 ′) for cutting the bond between the existing sealant and concrete surface. The center component (referring  FIGS. 4 ,  5 ,  8 ) ( 20 ) is design with harden steel teeth and coated over with a diamond abrasive material to route out the existing sealant material (referring  FIGS. 8 ,  9 ) ( 60 ) while the outer components (referring  FIG. 8 ) ( 10 ,  30 ) control amount of existing backing material being removed. This center section of the blade cuts and controls the depth of the cut to ensure the joint profile. All three components are plug welded to each other (referring to  FIG. 1 ) ( 14 ) for uniformed motion during the cutting/routing operation. As the invention travels down the existing joint this blade clean the concrete wall (referring  FIGS. 8 &amp; 9 ) ( 40 ) to improve the bond between the new sealant and the concrete wall. The saw (referring  FIG. 9 ) ( 50 ) provide depth control (referring  FIG. 9 ) ( 40 ,  60 ) by holding the blade in the joint cavity at the same level for the length of cut. This blade will deposit the waste materials outside the joint cavity. Thus a three pass operation is reduced to a single pass operation.