Patent ID: 8511211

Claim:
A power miter saw comprising: a saw base having a fence for positioning a work piece; a table rotatably connected to said saw base; a miter arm assembly for angularly positioning said table relative to said saw base; a saw blade and motor assembly having a blade arbor on which a blade can be installed and a motor operatively connected to drive said arbor and installed blade; and a frame support on said table for supporting said assembly, including a horizontal shaft about which said assembly is pivotable to move a saw blade vertically between an upper rest position and a lower operational position; said assembly having an upper fixed blade guard for encasing upper areas of an installed saw blade without encasing said blade arbor, and a lower swinging blade guard pivotally mounted to said assembly around a pivot connection generally concentric with said blade arbor for fully covering an installed blade when said assembly is in its rest position and for exposing the saw blade when moved to its operational position; said assembly comprising an elongated linkage mechanism interconnecting said frame support and said lower blade guard for moving the lower blade guard in response to movement of said assembly between said rest and operational positions, such that the lower blade guard covers said exposed lower reach of the blade when said assembly is in its rest position and is moved to uncover the lower reach of the blade when the assembly is moved to its operational position; said linkage mechanism including a first elongated link having an elongated alignment slot at a forward end portion, a second elongated link having an elongated travel slot in a rearward end portion generally parallel to said alignment slot, and a locking pin mechanism configured to be received in said alignment slot and said travel slot for slidably interconnecting said first and second links; wherein said first and second elongated links are slidable relative to one another in the longitudinal direction, so that said linkage mechanism has an adjustable length and is configurable to be placed in at least first and second positions wherein said first position enables normal movement of said assembly between its rest and operational positions, and said second position wherein said lower blade guard is raised to expose said blade arbor to facilitate changing of the blade.