Abstract:
The present invention is to provide a tile cutter in simple configuration having a locking device of dual locking functions. The tile cutter comprises a support frame, a cutting device mounted on the support frame, at least one rail disposed on the support frame, a worktable assembly slidably installed in or on a first rail of the at least one rail and a water tray. The first rail has a longitudinal axis. The worktable assembly comprises a first worktable and a second worktable. One of the support frame and the water tray is mounted or placed on the other one of the support frame and the water tray. A locking device is mounted between the first worktable and the second worktable. The locking device comprises a first locking portion and a second locking portion.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
       [0001]     This application claims priority to Chinese Application No. 200520140151.3 filed Dec. 22, 2005, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. Priority to this application is claimed under 35 U.S.C. §§ 119, 120 and/or  365 .  
       FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT  
       [0002]     Not Applicable.  
       TECHNICAL FIELD  
       [0003]     The present invention relates to a tile cutter, in particular to a tile cutter the cutting range of which is increased.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0004]     In a conventional tile cutter, usually, a tile is directly put on a worktable fixed relative to the cutter to be cut. However, the maximum cutting range of the tile cutter is generally limited by the dimension of the worktable of the cutter.  
         [0005]     To overcome the disadvantage of the conventional tile cutter, in market, a tile cutter which comprises a rail or rails arranged on the base of the tile cutter and a worktable slidably connected to the rail or rails via sliding bearings or rollers is commercially used. But the maximum cutting range of the tile cutter is still limited by the length of the rail. The common method for increasing the cutting range is to increase the length of the rail, which results in deteriorating the portability of the tile cutter. Another method for increasing the cutting range is to increase the size of the portion of the worktable extendable out of the rail. In order to keep the portability of the tile cutter, the worktable may be divided into several portions which can move relative to each other to increase the maximum cutting range. Thus, a locking device is required to be arranged between at least two portions of the worktable to fix the at least two portions together as desired. Additionally, for the tile cutter the worktable of which can slide relative to the rail, in order to fix the worktable on the rail during the transportation to prevent from being damaged or interrupting transportation, a locking device arranged between the worktable and the rail or the base is necessary.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0006]     The object of the present invention is to provide a tile cutter with simple configuration and a locking device having dual locking functions.  
         [0007]     In order to achieve the above mentioned object, a tile cutter according to the present invention comprises a support frame, a cutting device arranged on the support frame, at least one rail disposed on the support frame, a worktable assembly slidably installed in or on a first rail of the at least one rail, and a water tray. The first rail has a longitudinal axis. The worktable assembly comprises a first worktable and a second worktable. One of the support frame and the water tray is arranged or disposed on the other one of the support frame and the water tray. A stopping device is formed or arranged on at least one of the support frame, the worktable assembly and the at least one rail to prevent the worktable assembly from sliding toward a first direction parallel to the longitudinal axis of the first rail. A locking device is mounted between the first worktable and the second worktable. The locking device comprises a first locking portion and a second locking portion.  
         [0008]     In order to achieve the above mentioned object, the locking device of the tile cutter provided in the present invention is mounted on one of the first worktable and the second worktable. The second locking portion is fixedly connected to the first locking portion.  
         [0009]     In order to achieve the above mentioned object, the locking device of the tile cutter provided in the present invention has three orientation positions, i.e., a first position, a second position and a third position, respectively.  
         [0010]     In order to achieve the above mentioned object, the first locking portion of the locking device of the tile cutter provided in the present invention has a contact surface which can be in contact with at least one of the support frame, the water tray and the at least one rail to prevent the worktable assembly from moving toward a second direction opposite to the first direction as the locking device is in the second position and cannot be in contact with the support frame, the water tray and the at least one rail as the locking device is in the first position or the third position.  
         [0011]     In order to achieve the above mentioned object, the second locking portion of the locking device of the tile cutter provided in the present invention has a contact surface which can be in contact with the other one of the first worktable and the second worktable to limit the relative movement between them as the locking device is in the first position and the second position and cannot be in contact with the other one of the first worktable and the second worktable as the locking device is in the third position.  
         [0012]     The operator can easily fix the first worktable and the second worktable of the worktable assembly together and conveniently fix the relative position between the worktable assembly and the support frame while fixing the relative position between the first worktable and the second worktable, so that it is convenient to transport of the tile cutter without destroying the portability of the tile cutter. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0013]     According to the practical application of the principle of the present invention, a preferred embodiment is described with reference to the drawings.  
         [0014]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of the tile cutter according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention with the locking device in the first position.  
         [0015]      FIG. 2  is a perspective view of the tile cutter in  FIG. 1  with the locking device in the second position.  
         [0016]      FIG. 3  is a perspective view of the tile cutter in  FIG. 1  with the locking device in the third position.  
         [0017]      FIGS. 4 and 5  are perspective views of the worktable assembly of the tile cutter in  FIG. 1  with the locking device is in the third position.  
         [0018]      FIG. 6  is a perspective view of the worktable of the tile cutter in  FIG. 1 .  
         [0019]      FIG. 7  is a perspective view of the worktable assembly of the tile cutter in  FIG. 1  with the locking device in the second position.  
         [0020]      FIG. 8  is a perspective view of the worktable assembly of the tile cutter in  FIG. 1  with the locking device in the third position. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0021]      FIGS. 1-8  show a tile cutter of a preferred embodiment according to the present invention. The tile cutter  1  comprises a support frame  2 , a cutting device  3 , a rail  4 , a worktable assembly  5  and a water tray  6 .  
         [0022]     The stabilizing device  100  further comprises an adjusting device  128  acting between the base plate  102  and the second supporting wall  106 , for adjusting the position of the second supporting wall  106  on the base plane  108  so that the second supporting wall  106  is movable and can be fixed on a position between the first supporting wall  104  and the second side edge  112  of the base plate  102 , for stabilizing crown moldings with different width. In the preferred embodiment, the support frame  2  is substantially rectangular. The rail  4  has a cylindrical outer surface and two ends of it are disposed on the support frame  2  (as shown in  FIGS. 1-3 ). The rail  4  has a longitudinal axis  41 . One ordinary skilled in the art will easily recognize that the support frame and the rail may be configured in other shapes and constructions, one or more rails can be provided and the one or more rails can be made integrally with the support frame as desired. In the present preferred embodiment, the size of the water tray  6  is slightly larger than that of the support frame  2  arranged in the water tray  6 . One ordinary skilled in the art will also easily recognize that the water tray can be disposed on the support frame, for example, a tile cutter comprising a water tray arranged on the support frame is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,676,124.  
         [0023]     The cutting device  3  comprises a motor  31  and a cutting element  32  driven by the motor  31 . The cutting device is mounted on the support frame  2  through a C-shaped support arm  33 .  
         [0024]     The worktable  5  comprises a first worktable  51  and a second worktable  52 . One end of each of two slide bars  55  and  56  in parallel with each other is secured to the bottom of the first worktable  51 . The other ends are arranged in the holes of two pairs of protrusions  57 ,  58  which are located at the bottom of the second worktable  52  and can slide in the holes of the protrusions  57 ,  58 . The top surfaces of the first worktable  51  and the second worktable  52  lies in a common plane. A sleeve  53  with a cylindrical inner surface is secured to the bottom of the second worktable  52  by screws (as shown in  FIGS. 7 and 8 ). The sleeve  53  is set on the rail  4  and can slide to and fro on the rail  4  along the longitudinal axis  41  of the rail  4  so as to slidably attach the worktable assembly to the rail  4 . A pair of rollers  59  are arranged on the bottom of the second worktable  52 . The rollers  59  are supported by a side of the support frame  2  which is in parallel with the rail  4 . Once the rail  4 , the support frame  2  and the sleeve  53  have been assembled together with each other, the moving range of the sleeve  53  is limited to be on the portion of the rail  4  within the support frame  2  because the two ends of the rail  4  is fixed to the support frame  2 . A side of the support frame  2  contactable with the end  54  of the sleeve  53  serves as a stopping element to stop the movement of the worktable assembly toward a direction denoted by an arrow A as shown in  FIG. 1 . Obviously, the A direction is in parallel with the longitudinal axis of the rail  41 . One ordinary skilled in the art will easily recognize that rollers can be arranged between the second worktable and the rail to achieve the sliding connection, stopping elements of other structures can also be used to limit the maximum movement position of the worktable assembly and the stopping element can be arranged on the water tray, the rail or the worktable assembly as desired.  
         [0025]     The tile cutter  1  according to the preferred embodiment further comprises a locking device  7 . The locking device  7  comprises a first locking portion  71 , a second locking portion  72  and a connecting portion  73  for connecting the first locking portion  71  and the second locking portion  72 . A protrusion  61  having a hole  62  is arranged at the bottom of the first worktable  51 . A hole  63  corresponding to the hole  62  of the protrusion  61  is provided at an end  64  of the first worktable  51 . The connecting portion  73  is an elongate cylinder and inserted through the holes  62  and  63  of the first worktable  51 . The connecting portion  73  has a longitudinal axis  75 . The first locking portion  71  has a longitudinal axis  76  perpendicular to the longitudinal axis  75  of the connecting portion  73  and is secured to an end of the connection portion  73  adjacent to the end  64  of the first worktable  51 . The second locking portion  72  has a longitudinal axis  77  perpendicular to the longitudinal axis  75  of the connecting portion  73  and lies on the other end of the connection portion  73  to be integrated with the connecting portion  73 . T he longitudinal axis  76  of the first locking portion  71  is perpendicular to the longitudinal axis  77  of the second locking portion  72 . One ordinary skilled in the art will easily recognize that the locking device can be mounted on the second worktable and the first locking portion can also be made integrally with the connecting portion. Of course, the second locking portion and the connection portion can be in the form of two separate elements which are fixedly secured with each other. When the worktable assembly  5  has been mounted to the rail  4 , the longitudinal axis  75  of the connecting portion  73  of the locking device  7  is in parallel with the longitudinal axis  41  of the rail  4 .  
         [0026]     As shown in  FIG. 4 , a recess  66  is formed on an end  65  of the second worktable  52  which is adjacent to the first worktable  51 . A portion of the connecting portion  73  of the locking device  7  of is located in the recess  66 . The locking device  7  of the present preferred embodiment has three orientation positions, i.e. a first position, a second position and a third position, respectively.  
         [0027]     When the locking device  7  is in the third position as shown in  FIGS. 3 and 8 , the first locking position  71 , the longitudinal axis  76  of which is substantially horizontal at this time, can not contact any one of the support frame  2 , the water tray  6  and the rail  4 , meanwhile the second locking portion  72 , the longitudinal axis  77  of which is substantially vertical at this time, can not contact the second worktable  52 . At this time, the locking device is in a free position, that is, the locking device can neither lock the relative position between the first worktable and the second worktable nor lock the relative position between the worktable assembly and the support frame.  
         [0028]     When the locking device  7  is in the second position as shown in  FIGS. 2 and 7 , a surface  81  of the first locking portion  71  may contact an outer edge of the water tray  6  to prevent the first worktable  51  from moving toward a direction opposite to the direction A. The longitudinal axis  76  of the first locking portion  71  is substantially vertical at this time. At the same time, a part of a surface of the second locking portion  72  can contact the inner surface of the end  65  of the second worktable  52  to lock the relative position between the first worktable  51  and the second worktable  52 . The longitudinal axis  77  of the second locking portion  72  is substantially horizontal at this time. In this manner, the locking device can lock both the relative position between the first worktable and the second worktable and the relative position between the worktable assembly and the support frame.  
         [0029]     When the locking device is in the first position as shown in  FIG. 1 , the first locking device  71 , the longitudinal axis  76  of which is substantially horizontal at this time, can not contact any one of the support frame  2 , the water tray  6  and the rail  4 . And meanwhile, the second locking portion  72 , the longitudinal axis  77  of which is substantially vertical at this time, directs upward. A part of the surface of the second locking portion  72  can contact the inner surface of the end  65  of the second worktable  52  so as to lock the relative position between the first worktable  51  and the second worktable  52 . In this manner, the locking device can lock the relative position between the first worktable and the second worktable but cannot lock the relative position between the worktable assembly and the support frame.  
         [0030]     The preferred embodiment described above is only used to set forth the conception and principle of the present invention in detail and not intended to limit the range of the present invention. One ordinary skilled in the art will recognize that there are also various modifications or alternatives without departing the conception and principle of the present invention. The scope of the present invention is defined by the appended claims.