Patent Publication Number: US-7712492-B2

Title: Planing blade axle

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED U.S. APPLICATIONS 
   Not applicable. 
   STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT 
   Not applicable. 
   NAMES OF PARTIES TO A JOINT RESEARCH AGREEMENT 
   Not applicable. 
   REFERENCE TO AN APPENDIX SUBMITTED ON COMPACT DISC 
   Not applicable. 
   BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   1. Field of the Invention 
   The present invention relates generally to a blade, and more particularly to an improved planing blade having a planing blade axle with combined blades. 
   2. Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 37 CFR 1.98 
   A planing blade axle structure generally comprises an axle body and some blades assembled externally onto the axle body in a predefined pattern. Currently, a lot of combined blade patterns are available. The typical structures are shown in  FIGS. 1 ,  2  and  3 , wherein the blades  20  of axle body  10  are provided with pyramidal through-holes  21 , and tapped holes  12  are arranged onto the blade assembly surface  11  of the axle body  10  for assembly of blades  20 . Moreover, the blades  20  are screwed securely onto the axle body  10  via bolts  30  with the pyramidal end  31 . 
   However, the typical structure is found to have the following shortcomings during application. First, the blades  20  are screwed onto the axle body  10  through the oblique compression between the pyramidal end  31  of bolt  30  and pyramidal through-hole  21  of the blade  20 , as shown by the hollow arrow in  FIG. 3 . The extremely large application of force will possibly lead to cracking the blades  20  due to the lack of a positioning point at the oblique surface and the smaller gap between the pyramidal through-hole  21  and the surrounding surface. Thus, a possible slight crack may have an adverse impact on the operation of axle body  10 , shortening the service life of the blades  20  in the cutting activities. 
   On the other hand, the other shortcoming of a typical axle body  10  is shown in  FIG. 1  is that concave portions  13  are arranged tangentially onto the blade assembly surface  11  with tapped holes  12 . These concave portions  13  make the axle body  10  generate turbulence during high-speed rotation, so the wood scraps in the planing process will shift radially towards the axle body  10  along the concave portions  13 , thus affecting the next planing process, leading to defective workpieces or poorer processing quality. 
   Thus, to overcome the aforementioned problems of the prior art, it would be an advancement in the art to provide an improved structure that can significantly improve efficacy. 
   To this end, the inventor has provided the present invention of practicability after deliberate design and evaluation based on years of experience in the production, development and design of related products. 
   BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   There is enhanced efficacy of the present invention. Referring to  FIG. 6 , an expanded shoulder  53  is additionally placed at top of pyramidal through-hole  52  of the combined blade  50  of the planing blade axle, so that an expanded flange  62  is placed opposite to the pyramidal end  61  of the bolt  60 . When the blade  50  is to be screwed by the bolt  60 , a definite and solid positioning effect will be achieved if the flange  62  contacts the expanded shoulder  53 . No tight compression will occur between pyramidal end  61  and pyramidal through-hole  52 , since a gap  80  will be formed between pyramidal end  61  of the bolt  60  and pyramidal through-hole  52  of the blade  50 . As compared with the prior art, the present invention efficiently prevents the excessive compression and subsequent crack of blades. On the other hand, the contact between the flange  62  and expanded shoulder  53  will increase the positioning area of blade  50 , leading to prolonged service life and a more stable locking state with improved applicability. 
   Referring also to  FIG. 9 , based upon another technical feature of the present invention, some blocking flanges  44  are shaped at one side of the recessed portion  43  between blade assembly surfaces  41  of the axle body  40 . The blocking flange  44  prevents the wood scraps from entering into the next planing process or spraying onto the finished workpieces, thus resolving another shortcoming of the prior art with improved planning quality and applicability. 
   There are improvements brought about by this invention. 
   Referring to  FIGS. 7 ,  8 , the expandable metal gasket  70  is assembled between the expanded shoulder  53  at top of pyramidal through-hole  52  of the blade  50  and the flange  62  of pyramidal end  61  of the bolt  60 . Thus, it shall be possible to avoid loosening of bolt  60 ; and it shall also be possible to improve the structural strength of combined blades  50 , if the circumference  71  of the gasket  70  could be flexibly filled into the gap between the flange  62  and the side wall  54  of expanded shoulder  53  when the flange  62  of the bolt is compressed downwards. 
   Although the invention has been explained in relation to its preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that many other possible modifications and variations can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS 
       FIG. 1  shows a perspective view of a typical prior art structure of a planing blade. 
       FIG. 2  shows a partially enlarged perspective view of the structure of  FIG. 1 . 
       FIG. 3  shows a partially assembled sectional view of a typical prior art structure. 
       FIG. 4  shows a perspective view of the present invention. 
       FIG. 5  shows a partially enlarged perspective view of the present invention in  FIG. 4 . 
       FIG. 6  shows a partially assembled sectional view of the present invention. 
       FIG. 7  shows a perspective view of the application of another structural pattern of the present invention. 
       FIG. 8  shows a partially enlarged perspective view of  FIG. 7 . 
       FIG. 9  shows a partially enlarged perspective view of the concave portion of the present invention, one end of which is fitted with a blocking flange. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
   The features and the advantages of the present invention will be more readily understood upon a thoughtful deliberation of the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment of the present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings. 
     FIGS. 4 ,  5  and  6  depict preferred embodiments of the improved structure of the planing blade axle of the present invention. The embodiments are provided only for explanatory objectives. 
   The planing blade axle A comprises an axle body  40 , and some blades  50  are assembled externally onto the axle body  40  with a predefined pattern. Tapped holes  42  are arranged onto the blade assembly surface  41  of the axle body  40  for assembly of blades  50 . The blades  50  are fitted with cutting edges  51 , specifically four cutting edges for a blade of the preferred embodiment. A pyramidal through-hole  52  is placed centrally onto the blade  50 , so that the blades  50  could be screwed securely into the tapped hole  42  of blade assembly surface  41  via the bolts  60  with pyramidal end  61 . Moreover, recessed portions  43  (e.g. hollow cabochon with convex top and flat bottom, shown in  FIG. 9 ) are formed between the blade assembly surfaces  41 . At one side of various blade assembly surfaces  41 , compressing points C 1 , C 2  are provided to generate orientation of assembled blades  50  (referring to  FIGS. 5 ,  6 ) to avoid the rotation of blades  50 . 
   There are improvements of the present invention. 
   An expanded shoulder  53  is additionally placed at a top of the pyramidal through-hole  52  of the blade  50 , so that an expanded flange  62  is placed opposite to the pyramidal end  61  of the bolt  60 . 
   Based upon above-specified structures, as shown in  FIG. 6 , when the blade  50  is positioned by the bolt  60 , the blade  50  will be forced to shift rightwards to generate a gap  80  between pyramidal end  61  and pyramidal through-hole  52  through their oblique guidance as well as the compression of compressional point C 1  of the blade assembly surface  41 . So, no tight compression will occur between pyramidal end  61  of the bolt  60  and pyramidal through-hole  52  of the blade  50 . When the blade  50  is to be further screwed by the bolt  60 , a definite and solid positioning effect will be achieved if the flange  62  contacts the expanded shoulder  53  at atop of pyramidal through-hole  52  of the blade  50  (namely, the bolt is screwed tightly), meanwhile the flange  62  and the blade  50  are compressed and positioned more stably. 
   The expanded shoulder  53  of the pyramidal through-hole  52  of the blade  50  and the flange  62  of pyramidal end  61  of the bolt  60  can be configured in a ring pattern. 
   Some blocking flanges  44  are shaped at one side of the recessed portion  43  between blade assembly surfaces  41  of the axle body  40 . 
   Referring to  FIG. 7 , an expandable metal gasket  70  may be assembled between the expanded shoulder  53  at a top of the pyramidal through-hole  52  of the blade  50  and the flange  62  of pyramidal end  61  of the bolt  60 . One purpose for assembly of the gasket  70  is to prevent any possible loosening of the bolt  60 . The second purpose is to reinforce the structure and improve the structural strength of blades  50 , if the circumference  71  of the gasket  70  (shown in  FIG. 8 ) could be flexibly filled into the gap between the flange  62  and the side wall  54  of expanded shoulder  53  when the flange  62  of the bolt is compressed downwards. 
   Additionally, the planing blade axle of the present invention is designed in a manner that the axle body  40  is fully combined with the blade  50 . The combined blades  50  allow the blades  50  to separate from the axle body  40 , and the blades  50  and the axle body  40  are not required to be procured from the same manufacturer. So, the blades  50  can be independently purchased. For this reason, it is stated hereto that, a combined blade  50  structure of planing blade axle with expanded shoulder  53  can be assembled at the top of pyramidal through-hole  52 , and also can be operated independently from the axle body  40 .