Patent Publication Number: US-6991007-B2

Title: Semi-automatic mortising machine

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
   The present invention is a divisional application of the co-pending U.S. Ser. No. 10/634,185, filed on Jul. 30, 2003 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,929,042. 

   BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   1. Field of the Invention 
   The present invention relates to a mortising machine, and more particularly to a mortising machine that is operated in a semi-automatic manual working manner to form mortises and tenons in a workpiece. 
   2. Description of the Related Art 
   Referring to  FIG. 1 , a wood material  1  is formed with a plurality of mortises  11  or a plurality of tenons  12  in a manual manner or by an automatic working process. The manual working manner of the wood material  1  has a very poor working speed, thereby greatly decreasing the working efficiency and thereby increasing costs of production. The automatic working process of the wood material  1  can increases the working speed largely. However, the conventional automatic mortising machine needs a multi-axial displacement feature so as to match the profiles of the mortises and tenons of the workpiece, so that the automatic mortising machine has a very complicate construction, thereby increasing costs of fabrication and maintenance. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   The primary objective of the present invention is to provide a semi-automatic mortising machine, wherein the displacement direction is controlled in a manual manner during the working process, and the cutting operation is performed in an automatic manner so as to cut the mortises and tenons in the workpiece. 
   Another objective of the present invention is to provide a semi-automatic mortising machine having a largely simplified construction. 
   A further objective of the present invention is to provide a semi-automatic mortising machine that reduces possibility of malfunction. 
   A further objective of the present invention is to provide a semi-automatic mortising machine that facilitates an operator&#39;s maintenance. 
   A further objective of the present invention is to provide a semi-automatic mortising machine that maintains the quality of the products. 
   Further benefits and advantages of the present invention will become apparent after a careful reading of the detailed description with appropriate reference to the accompanying drawings. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       FIG. 1  is a perspective view showing a workpiece being worked by a conventional semi-automatic mortising machine in accordance with the prior art; 
       FIG. 2  is a perspective view of a semi-automatic mortising machine in accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention; 
       FIG. 3  is a partially cut-away bottom plan cross-sectional view of the semi-automatic mortising machine as shown in  FIG. 2 ; 
       FIG. 4  is a partially cut-away side plan view of the semi-automatic mortising machine as shown in  FIG. 2 ; 
       FIG. 5  is a partially cut-away front plan operational view of the semi-automatic mortising machine as shown in  FIG. 2 ; 
       FIG. 6  is a partially cut-away side plan view of the semi-automatic mortising machine in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention; 
       FIG. 7  is a partially cut-away side plan view of the semi-automatic mortising machine in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention; 
       FIG. 8  is a partially cut-away front plan view of the semi-automatic mortising machine in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention; and 
       FIG. 9  is a side plan view of the semi-automatic mortising machine as shown in  FIG. 8 . 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
   Referring to the drawings and initially to  FIGS. 2–5 , a semi-automatic mortising machine in accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention comprises a support base  2 , a support bar  3 , a guide device  4 , a working device  5 , a distance adjusting device  6 , and a dust collection box  7 . 
   The support base  2  includes two side walls  21  arranged in the X-axis direction, two adjacent platforms  22  and  23  each mounted between the two side walls  21  and each extended toward the horizontal face and the vertical face respectively. Thus, two workpieces  8  are placed on the two adjacent platforms  22  and  23  in the horizontal direction and the vertical direction respectively and located adjacent to each other. 
   The support base  2  further includes two positioning members  24  each including two rotation disks  241  rotatably mounted between the two side walls  21  of the support base  2 , a positioning rod  242  eccentrically mounted between the two rotation disks  241 , and a drive handle  243  mounted on one of the two rotation disks  241  for rotating the respective rotation disk  241 , so that the positioning rod  242  can be moved toward or away from the two platforms  22  and  23  during rotation of the two rotation disks  241  so as to press the two workpieces  8  on the two platforms  22  and  23  or to release the two workpieces  8  from the two platforms  22  and  23 . 
   The support bar  3  is mounted between the two side walls  21  of the support base  2  and located above the platform  22 . The support bar  3  has four side faces  31  each formed with a plurality of tenons  32  which are arranged in parallel with the X-axis direction. 
   The guide device  4  includes two axial displacement rods  41  each mounted between the two side walls  21  of the support base  2 , a slide seat  42  slidably mounted on the two axial displacement rods  41  to move in parallel with the X-axis direction, two radial displacement rods  43  each extended through the slide seat  42  to move in parallel with the Y-axis direction, a slide box  44  fixed on the two radial displacement rods  43  to move therewith, and an elastic member  45  mounted between a side  421  of the slide seat  42  and a side  441  of the slide box  44 , so that the slide box  44  is constantly moved toward the support bar  3 . Preferably, the elastic member  45  is a spring. 
   The working device  5  includes a motor  51  mounted on the slide box  44 , and a blade  52  extended downward in the Z-axis direction. The blade  52  is connected to a reduction mechanism (not shown) which is mounted in the slide box  44  and connected to the motor  51 , so that the blade  52  is driven by the motor  51 . 
   The distance adjusting device  6  includes a support rack  61  mounted on a top face of the slide box  44  and directed toward the support bar  3 , a molding bar  62  extended through the support rack  61  and in parallel with the Y-axis direction, and a threaded rod  63  screwed onto the support rack  61  and in parallel with the Y-axis direction. The molding bar  62  has a first end formed with a molding end  621  rested on the support bar  3  and a second end formed with a locking end  623  formed with a locking groove  622 . The threaded rod  63  has a bolt head  631  locked in the locking groove  622  of the molding bar  62 . Thus, the threaded rod  63  is moved relative to the support rack  61  to move the molding bar  62  so as to adjust the distance between the molding end  621  of the molding bar  62  and the support bar  3 . 
   The dust collection box  7  is secured on the slide box  44  and has an inside formed with opening  71  in parallel with the Y-axis direction and directed toward the blade  52  as shown in  FIG. 4 , a top face  72  provided with a transparent window  73 , and a side  74  formed with a chip drain hole  75  which is connected to a dust cleaning device (not shown), so that the powdered chips produced from the workpiece  8  can enter the dust collection box  7  through the opening  71  and can then be drained outward from the chip drain hole  75 . In addition, the operator can inspect the chip drainage condition of the dust collection box  7  through the transparent window  73 . 
   In operation, the motor  51  drives the blade  52  to rotate. At this time, the slide box  44  is pushed or pulled in a manual manner, so that the slide box  44  and the slide seat  42  slide on the axial displacement rods  41  to move in parallel with the X-axis direction, or the slide box  44  and the radial displacement rods  43  slide on the slide seat  42  to move in parallel with the Y-axis direction. Thus, the slide box  44  can be moved in parallel with the X-axis direction and in parallel with the Y-axis direction arbitrarily. 
   Thus, the molding bar  62  is moved with the slide box  44  to displace in parallel with the X-axis direction and in parallel with the Y-axis direction arbitrarily, so that the molding end  621  of the molding bar  62  is moved along the periphery of each of the tenons  32  of the support bar  3 . Thus, the slide box  44  is moved along the moving track of the molding end  621  of the molding bar  62  to drive the blade  52  to move along the moving track of the molding end  621  of the molding bar  62  so as to cut and form mortises  81  and tenons  82  in the workpiece  8  according to the profile and distance of the tenons  32  of the support bar  3 , so that the mortises  81  and tenons  82  of the workpiece  8  can match the relative profile and distance of the respective tenons  32  of the support bar  3 . 
   In addition, the slide box  44  is constantly moved toward the support bar  3  by the elastic force of the elastic member  45  to prevent the molding end  621  of the molding bar  62  from detaching from the support bar  3 , so that the molding end  621  of the molding bar  62  can align with the corresponding working position of the support bar  3  easily and conveniently. 
   Further, the four side faces  31  of the support bar  3  are provided with tenons  32  of different forms and distance, so that the molding end  621  of the molding bar  62  is moved along the tenons  32  of different side faces  31  of the support bar  3  so as to cut mortises  81  and tenons  82  of different forms and distance. 
   Referring to  FIG. 6 , the elastic member  45  includes a bolt  451  screwed into and extended through a rear wall  442  of the slide box  44  along the Y-axis direction, and a compression spring  452  mounted on the bolt  451  and biased between the bolt  451  and the slide seat  42 . Thus, the compression spring  452  pushes the slide box  44  backward toward the support bar  3  along the Y-axis direction, so that the slide box  44  is constantly moved toward the support bar  3 . 
   Referring to  FIG. 7 , the elastic member  45  includes a press cylinder  453  extended through the rear wall  442  of the slide box  44  along the Y-axis direction, and a piston rod  454  secured on the slide seat  42  and retractably mounted on the press cylinder  453 . Thus, the piston rod  454  is retracted to drive the slide box  44  to move backward toward the support bar  3  along the Y-axis direction, so that the slide box  44  is constantly moved toward the support bar  3 . 
   Referring to  FIGS. 8 and 9 , the support base  2  includes a plurality of press cylinders  25  for pressing the workpieces  8 . The support bar  3  is located under the platforms  22  and  23 . The distance adjusting device  6  is mounted on a bottom face of the slide box  44 . Thus, the distance adjusting device  6  can drive the working device  5  to cut the mortises  81  and tenons  82  in the workpiece  8  according to the profile and distance of the tenons  32  of the support bar  3 , so that the mortises  81  and tenons  82  of the workpiece  8  match the relative profile and distance of the respective tenons  32  of the support bar  3 . 
   In addition, the semi-automatic mortising machine further comprises an indication device  9  including an indication bar  91  secured on a front end  211  of the respective side wall  21  of the support base  2 , and a direction bar  92  secured on the slide box  44  and located above the indication bar  91 . The indication bar  91  has a top face  911  and a bottom face  912  each formed with a plurality of recesses  913  wherein a distance between the recesses  913  is equal to that between the tenons  32  of the support bar  3 . Thus, when the slide box  44  is moved along the moving track of the tenons  32  of the support bar  3 , the direction bar  92  is moved with the slide box  44  in the X-axis direction, so that the direction bar  92  aligns the position of each of the mortises  81  and tenons  82  of the workpiece  8  with that of the respective recess  913  of the indication bar  91  so as to indicate the working condition of the workpiece  8  by the indication bar  91 . 
   Accordingly, the displacement direction can be controlled in a manual manner during the working process, and the cutting operation is performed in an automatic manner so as to cut the mortises  81  and tenons  82  in the workpiece  8  so that the construction of the semi-automatic mortising machine is simplified. In addition, the semi-automatic mortising machine reduces possibility of malfunction. Further, the semi-automatic mortising machine facilitates the operator&#39;s maintenance. Further, the semi-automatic mortising machine maintains the quality of the products. 
   Although the invention has been explained in relation to its preferred embodiment(s) as mentioned above, it is to be understood that many other possible modifications and variations can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. It is, therefore, contemplated that the appended claim or claims will cover such modifications and variations that fall within the true scope of the invention.