Patent ID: 8607464

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 the first sidewall and the second sidewall; and a handle assembly including a slot that receives the tang to couple the saw blade to the handle assembly, the handle assembly further including a handle portion configured to be grasped by a user to reciprocate the saw blade to cut a work piece, a clamp member that pivots between a clamped position and a released position, and an actuator that is manually operable between a first position and a second position to move the clamp member from the clamped position to the released position, wherein in the clamped position the clamp member exerts a clamping force on the tang to inhibit removal of the tang from the slot, wherein in the released position the tang can be removed from the slot by pulling the saw blade out of the slot, wherein insertion of the saw blade into the slot causes the saw blade to contact the clamp member to pivot the clamp member toward the released position allowing a user to insert the saw blade into the slot without the user directly operating the actuator, and wherein when the actuator is in the first position, the tang is positioned within the slot, and the clamp member is in the clamped position, a force along the longitudinal axis of the saw blade in a direction to remove the tang from the slot causes the clamp member to pivot toward the clamped position to increase the clamping force.