Patent ID: 8261456

Claim:
A hand saw comprising: a saw blade including a top edge, a bottom edge having a plurality of cutting teeth, a first sidewall that extends between the top edge and the bottom edge, a second sidewall that extends between the top edge and the bottom edge opposite and generally parallel to the first sidewall, a longitudinal axis between the first sidewall and the second sidewall of the saw blade parallel to the first sidewall and the second sidewall, and a tang located at an end of the saw blade, the tang at least partially formed by a portion of the first sidewall and a portion of the second sidewall; and a handle assembly including, a slot that receives the tang to couple the saw blade to the handle assembly, the slot at least partially defined by a first interior wall of the handle assembly that is parallel to and faces the portion of the first sidewall of the saw blade when the tang is received in the slot and a second interior wall of the handle assembly that is parallel to and faces the portion of the second sidewall of the saw blade when the tang is received in the slot, the slot including an open end through which the tang is received and a closed end opposite the open end, a handle portion configured to be grasped by a user to reciprocate the saw blade to cut a work piece, a clamp member including an angled surface at an acute angle with respect to the top edge of the saw blade when the tang is received in the slot, the clamp member movable between a clamped position and a released position, a clamp actuator adapted to contact the angled surface of the clamp member to apply a portion of a clamping force along the longitudinal axis of the saw blade in a direction toward the closed end of the slot, wherein in the clamped position the clamp member exerts the clamping force on the top edge of the saw blade within the slot to couple the saw blade to the handle assembly and to retain the tang within the slot, wherein in the released position the tang is removable from the slot, and wherein the first interior wall and the second interior wall of the handle assembly are flat such that the tang of the saw blade can be removed from the slot without moving the saw blade in a direction normal to the longitudinal axis of the saw blade when the clamp member is in the released position.