Patent Abstract:
A cutting stand for sheet goods including supports, each support including a foot, a lower upright joined to the foot and an angled upper support joined to the lower support; a carriage joined to the supports; sheet goods may be removably mounted on the carriage,; and a guide movably joined to sheet goods, the guide adapted to be removable from the sheet goods.

Full Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    The device as disclosed herein is a modular device for holding and cutting sheet goods, and more particularly is an inexpensive support rack that can be taken down for transport between job sites or storage and reassembled at a job site to support a standard sized sheet of sheet goods for accurate cutting to a desired size for use.  
           [0002]    The classification of sheet goods generally includes manufactured wood products that are produced and sold in sheets such as plywood, particle board, chip board, oriented strand board, medium density fiberboard (MDF), and other forms of wood products preformed into sheets. Sheet goods, which may also include drywall, are generally sold in sheets that are four feet by eight feet and or a designated thickness, although the size can vary.  
           [0003]    Regardless of the exact size of the sheet goods being used, problems persist. Full sheets regularly need to be cut for use. Typically, the goods are laid flat, e.g. horizontal, and the worker is required to stretch over the sheet. For instance, the cuts can be as long as the sheet, typically eight feet, requiring the worker to either stretch and have very long arms, make multiple cuts or somehow walk along the length of the goods while cutting. Workers often find it very difficult to cut at the exact place over an extended length of the cut. While electrically powered saws make the cutting relatively easy, they do little to help the accuracy and precision of the cut.  
           [0004]    Various permanent jigs and appliances are available for use in established shops. Frequently, the sheet goods are cut using a table saw. However, the use of a table saw requires that the table saw have a large table to support the sheet, space around the table saw to move the sheet through, and that the operator lift the sheet onto the table and uniformly move the sheet through the saw blade. While this method of cutting sheet goods works quite well in an established shop, it cannot be done in the field or in a private home.  
           [0005]    An alternative method of cutting sheets in a shop is the use of a special holding stand wherein the sheet is mounted on the stand and a track mounted saw is used to cut the sheet goods. Cutting stands of this class have been very good, but, very expensive and as such are ordinarily only used where numerous sheets must be cut on a daily basis, such as a shop manufacturing cabinets. Unless the cutting stand is being fully utilized, it is cost prohibitive to acquire.  
           [0006]    In the prior art, when sheet goods must be cut in the field, they are cut by placing the sheet on some form of horizontal support, such as saw horses, and using a portable circular saw to cut the sheet goods. While this method does work, it is often difficult to accurately mark the cut line and even more difficult to follow the marked line. In some uses, the variance of a fraction of an inch in the cut doesn&#39;t matter or is hidden. Here the problem may not be not as great, although the stretching with power tools in operation raises safety concerns.  
           [0007]    In other uses, it is necessary to have the cut made exactly and the cut to be straight. This creates the problem where the worker cutting the sheet of sheet goods must be very careful and particular when cutting or risk either wasting a sheet or having to spend additional time to correct the inconsistencies in the previously cut edge. This simply is not efficient.  
           [0008]    One attempt to provide for accurate cutting of sheet goods in the field has been to use a straight piece of lumber as a straightedge to guide the cut. While this method does work, it still requires that the user place the sheet of sheet goods onto some sort of cutting stand for support and then secure the straight piece of lumber to the sheet to guide the saw for cutting. A user cannot simply hold the straightedge lumber when making a cut of four or eight feet to cut the sheet of sheet goods. The straightedge must be secured by either an assistant or being clamped. This takes time and is inefficient. Moreover, clamps tend to operate against a surface of the sheet and may cause damage thereto.  
           [0009]    What is needed is a portable cutting stand, which is easy to assemble and disassemble, allowing easy transport. Preferably the design should have a minimum of parts and take advantage of materials already available on the job site. The clamp of the guide should further operate against an edge of the sheet goods to avoid damge to a surface, which may show in the finished product.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0010]    The invention as described herein is a portable stand that can be easily transported to a work site and assembled for use. The cutting stand provides a raised angled support table for holding the sheet of sheet goods and an alignable movable cutting guide for guiding a saw through a cut at a selected location. The cutting stand for sheet goods is provided with supports, a carriage, a guide and is used in conjunction with sheet goods.  
           [0011]    The supports may include a foot, a lower upright and an angled upper upright portion. The lower upright is joined to the foot and the upper upright. Optionally, the upper upright may be rotationally joined to the lower upright. The support preferably includes connectors.  
           [0012]    The carriage is joined to the supports and has horizontal members selectively received within the connectors of the supports. At least one horizontal member, desirably the lowest, can be selectively joined to sheet hooks having platforms. Sheet goods may be removably mounted on the carriage, resting on the platforms of the sheet hooks.  
           [0013]    The guide can be movably removably joined to sheet goods. The guide, in the preferred embodiment includes a foot and a clamp joined to a straight edge. The foot has a bracket with a lip with the lip being adapted to engaged a lower edge of sheet goods. The clamp has a bracket selectively securable to a post such that the post extends through post apertures defined in the bracket. The post preferably has a hook adapted to engage an upper edge of sheet goods.  
           [0014]    Advantageously, the present invention is a cutting stand that is simple in design, allowing lower cost and ease of storage.  
           [0015]    Also advantageously, this cutting stand allows the user to arrange the angle at which the sheet goods are presented.  
           [0016]    Another advantage is that the uprights join to horizontal members, minimizing the number of uprights needed to support even the longest of sheet goods.  
           [0017]    Still another advantage is that the sheet hooks may be moved out of the way of the cutting blade and into the positions where support is most needed.  
           [0018]    Also advantageously the sheet goods can be supported by relatively soft sacrificial wood supports that lessen the opportunity to mar the surface of the sheet of sheet goods.  
           [0019]    Also advantageously the clamp associated with the guide operates against the edge of the sheet goods where it less likely to mar the surface of the sheet of sheet goods.  
           [0020]    Other advantages will become clear from reading the following detailed description. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0021]    [0021]FIG. 1 is a hind prospective view showing the cutting stand with sheet goods mounted thereon;  
         [0022]    [0022]FIG. 2 is a forward prospective view showing the carriage mounted to the uprights and the sheet hooks mounted to the lower horizontal member;  
         [0023]    [0023]FIG. 3 is a partial view showing the guide mounted to the carriage;  
         [0024]    [0024]FIG. 4 is a partial view showing the foot mounted to the straight edge of the guide; and  
         [0025]    [0025]FIG. 5 is a partial view of the guide showing the clamp mounted to the straight edge.  
         [0026]    [0026]FIG. 6 is an end view of a sheet hook shown installed over a carriage horizontal member 
     
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0027]    Cutting stand  10  supports sheet goods  70  for cutting. The stand  10  includes supports  12 , a carriage  30 , a guide  40  and is useable with sheet goods  70 . Each component will be described in serial fashion.  
         [0028]    Each support  12  may include a foot  14 , a lower upright  18  and an upper upright  20 . In the preferred embodiment two supports  12  are present as additional supports  12  get in the way of the user and a single support  12  generally uses a larger than desired foot  14  and may require user interaction for stability, although such a design is plausable. The foot  14  may have any configuration. The shape shown is a cross shape with the longer portion extending rearward for support. The foot  14  may be design to disassemble for reducing package size. The upper upright  20  may be rotationally joined to the lower upright  18  with a connector  24 , allowing the user to orient the sheet goods  70  at the most desired angle for their work. Fasteners  22 , preferably C-shaped portions are joined to the support and are adapted to receive the carriage  30 .  
         [0029]    The carriage  30  includes horizontal members  32  selectively preferably snugly received within the fasteners  22  of the supports. Suitable horizontal members  32  include any material not destructive to cutting blades such as wood or plastic. Most desirably, the horizontal members  32  are 2×4s or other 2×lumber which can be used as a sacrificial support. At least one horizontal member  32 , most desirably the lowest horizontal member  34 , may support the sheet hooks  36 . Sheet hooks  36  are adapted to support the sheet goods  70  when the stand  10  is in use. The sheet hooks  36  optionally include platforms  38  for engagement of a lower edge  74  of the sheet goods  70 .  
         [0030]    Sheet goods  70  are used in conjunction with the stand  10 , via placement onto the carriage  30 , and upon the sheet hooks  36  where the sheet goods may be cut to a selected size. Sheet goods  70  have an upper edge  72 , a lower edge  74  and a front surface  76 . Sheet goods  70  are supported by the sheet hooks  36  and lean against the inclined carriage  30  where the sheet goods  70  are retained by gravity.  
         [0031]    The guide  40  is an aid to cutting straight lines without the need for marking the sheet goods  70 , by resting against the front surface  76  of sheet goods  70 . Guide  40  movably mounts to sheet goods  70  and is removable therefrom. In a preferred embodiment, the guide  40  includes a foot  42  and a clamp  48  joined to a straight edge  60 . The foot  42  has a bracket  43  with a lip  44 , the lip  44  being adapted to engaged the lower edge  74  of the sheet goods  70 . Fasteners  46  such as screws or nails may be used to adhere the bracket  43  to the straight edge  60 . The straight edge  60  is preferably a straight length of 2×4 lumber selected for its straightness and cut to an appropriate length to span the chosen dimension of the sheet of sheet goods  70  to be cut.  
         [0032]    Clamp  48  in the preferred mode has a bracket  50  selectively securable to a post  54 . The post  54  extends through post apertures  56  defined in the bracket  50 . The post  54  has a hook  58  adapted to engage the upper edge  72  of the sheet goods  70 . The post  54  selectively locks relative to the bracket  50  and the bracket  50  secures to the straight edge with fasteners  52 , such as screws or nails. The post  54  may be threaded to movably engage the post apertures  56  and similarly engage the hook  58 . The hook  58  is preferably an oval or egg shaped disk of metal or other suitable material having sufficient rigidity to selectively retain the guide  40  in a selected position. The hook  58  may also threadedly engage the post  54 .  
         [0033]    While the previous description of the clamp  48  has described the mounting of the clamp in a vertical position to cut a sheet of sheet goods  70  to length, it is understood that by merely utilizing a longer straight edge  60  that the clamp may be clamped along the length of a sheet of sheet goods  70  and the sheet goods cut to width.  
         [0034]    In the operation of cutting sheet goods, the user is provided at least one foot  14  joined with an upright  16 . Horizontal members  32  are selectively joined to the uprights  16 . The lower horizontal member  34  may be connected to sheet hooks  36 , which may be provided with a platform  38 . Sheet goods  70  may then be positioned on the sheet hooks  36  for cutting. In one embodiment, a guide  40  may be positioned on the sheet goods  70 , providing a straight edge to cut against, while avoiding the need to mark a cutting line thereon. Such guide can be clamped to the sheet goods  70  if desired. Such arrangement allows for easy access to large sheet goods  70  for cutting.  
         [0035]    Although the present invention has been described with reference to preferred embodiments, workers skilled in the art will recognize changes may be made in form and detail without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention

Technology Classification (CPC): 8