Patent Document

FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    The present invention relates to improvements in the field of quick setup work holding and support devices for sawing work. More specifically, the present invention relates to a device and method used to support heavy sheet and slab type materials of various thicknesses for dimensional cutting with circular sawing attachments such as the type employed by computer numerically controlled milling machines using typically unevenly spaced conventional vacuum hold down support devices, as well as on bridge saws and other types of saws which might be configurable for non-sawing purposes, both of which may be provided with an expendable replaceable sawing cup which includes a sacrificial material supported by a laterally registered support of a known height. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    Computer numerically controlled milling machines are used to process (such as edge finishing) sheet type materials of various material composition, shape, and dimensions and are known to also enable sawing operations. In a sawing operation, materials are held in place for processing by some weight bearing supports. The material to be cut cannot be supported directly from an unprotected table surface as the saw blade needs to cut to a depth slightly below the bottom depth of the slab of material in order to produce a clean cut. This “through material” requirement means that the material must either be supported over a table with a known, cleared path for the blade to pass, or it must be supported on a table having dressed and re-dressable sacrificial material overlying a metal table. 
         [0003]    Both of these typical provisions for cutting material are burdensome. In the case where cutting over a known free path is required, the supports must be precisely pre-arranged to avoid cutting through the support structures. One miscalculation can cause the saw blade to strike a support and damage it or the saw blade. In the case of a re-dressable table, operations must stop once the table is scarred to the extent that it is no longer able to evenly support the material to be cut. In addition a dressed table committed to a sawing operation is limited in its other uses. 
         [0004]    For tables which are not wholly dedicated to sawing of material, vacuum hold down supports are often used. Vacuum hold down supports using single or double sided vacuum supports positioned on the working surface of the machine are placed strategically beneath the part being processed. The bottom of the vacuum hold down support is independently held by a vacuum to the working table, and an upper vacuum member typically vacuum engages the material to be worked. In the case of vacuum supports, operators who wish to perform sawing operations have been limited to using the known free path method. Further, the placement of the vacuum hold downs to avoid sawing of the vacuum supports will normally not be in the same layout placement of the vacuum supports needed in properly supporting the slabs of material to be edge shaped. 
         [0005]    The location and placement of the vacuum hold down supports for general shaping operations is usually dependent upon the size and weight of the material to be processed, and the type of processing which is to occur. General processing can occur with a computer numerical controlled (CNC) machine which has a spindle on which is mounted various grinding tools. CNC machines used in the stone, glass and wood industry have attachments that permit sawing of material by transferring rotational power from the vertical axis to the horizontal axis to then enable computer controlled precision guided sawing at any height and axis of rotation. The material to be sawed is typically a large thick slab of material, 2 cm, 3 cm, 4 cm, thickness and has significant weight (with the 2 cm material weighing approximately fourteen pounds per square foot and other thicknesses weighing proportionately more. This material can be granite, marble or other hard material which must be well supported and sawn completely through while maintaining adequately support until the cut is completed. When vacuum supports are used, the cutting pattern must be exactly known in advance in order to configure the cups to avoid being cut by the saw blade. Even one vacuum hold down which is improperly placed, or even one cutting error can cause severe and costly damage. Further, since most vacuum hold down devices are placed in a pattern manually, the additional requirement that the vacuum hold down devices be precisely placed will at minimum cause the setting of the vacuum supports in two configurations, a first one for the sawing operation and a second one for the edge processing operation. 
         [0006]    Another alternative to the use of a table with a dressed surface specifically configured for sawing, has been use of a large, flat intermediate cutting material supported by vacuum supports. A large size sacrificial board assembly includes a backing made of aluminum having an aluminum thickness of about ¼ inch, and having an overall size corresponding to the size of slab material to be cut. This type of sacrificial board assembly is heavy and requires two or more workers to handle it effectively. The aluminum backed material is put into place over suction cups and then vacuumed to hold it in place. This enables less concern on where the vacuum cups are located, but has a number of disadvantages. This large piece can be very expensive, difficult to handle, and is easily damaged. Once damaged this large piece of material must be replaced at a significant cost. 
         [0007]    What is needed is a system which enables an existing CNC machine to be used for sawing so that CNC users do not have to invest in a separate sawing machine. Conversely, a dedicated sawing machine needs to have freedom from requiring a dressable support surface so that it can utilize vacuum hold down supports. The needed system enables slab material on a CNC working table to be adequately supported, while maintaining the minimum necessary friction between the slab of material being cut and its support structure to insure that it will not shift. The needed system should both insure a good, stable, non-shifting support, while completely eliminating any damage to a permanent support structure, such as a vacuum hold down. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0008]    The invention is a combination which includes a sacrificial board and its stabilizing support which form an assembly which may be referred to as a saw cup. The support has a bottom structure which includes a vacuumable surface and a lower skirt which enables it to become registered and used in conjunction with a vacuum support. The saw cup assembly is a much quicker approach to achieving the desired results of providing a surface which is scorable by a small degree and is easily repairable and replaceable. Damage to any one small piece can be much more easily and inexpensively repaired or replaced. The suctions cups are normally provided and place for other, non-sawing operations. The cement board at the top of the saw cup can be scorably cut multiple times before replacement is required. In short, the saw cup prevents cutting into the top of the vacuum hold down support which is normally used for other operation with intentional sacrificial scoring of the saw cup. This enables double use of the vacuum hold down support which is normally used for non-sawing operations. 
         [0009]    The non-shifting support is due to the saw cup being held in place by a vacuum (vertically located) while properly being laterally located due to a lower skirt of the saw cup containment assembly lateral engagement with respect to a vacuum hold down support. The vacuum hold down support is in turn vacuumably held down to a support table. The work piece slab is held in place by its weight and friction against the saw cup cement board. Different sizes of saw cups would be used for correspondingly different size and shape vacuum hold down supports, and it is preferable to have a saw cup which has a lower skirt which is able to laterally register with the shape of the vacuum hold down support. The range of shapes include square, rectangular, round, triangular and any other shape of support whether or not it is a vacuum support, however the use of rectangular shapes may be more efficient than round shapes because they create more vacuum force and experience a better, more efficient use of materials. 
         [0010]    The saw cup of the invention enables CNC machine users to go back and forth between the two operations of cutting and of edge shaping with minimum time. To switch from sawing to edge and finishing operations, the saw cups are simply picked up off of the vacuum hold down supports and temporarily stored. Likewise, to switch from edge and finishing operations to sawing of the next piece of material, the saw cups are quickly and simply replaced upon the vacuum hold down supports without having to re-arrange the vacuum hold down supports. The location of the vacuum hold down supports can be pre-set and geared to a configuration associated with the shapes that will be set up for edge finishing. 
         [0011]    The use of a conventional vacuum hold down for stable vacuum support with respect to a working table combines with a cement board which is laterally contained within and attached to a containment lid. The dimensions of the cement board and containment lid are such that any sawing will result in only slight scarring of the cement board as well as only possibly slight notching of the upper containment edges of the vertical containment walls of the containment lid, if at all. 
         [0012]    The result is the ability to use a vacuum hold down and containment lid assembly as a support for a slab of material to be cut. Further, the cement board supported by the containment lid can be scarred many dozens or hundreds times before needing to be replaced. When a heavy slab is being processed, the weight of the slab onto the cement board supported by the containment lid is enough to prevent lateral shifting of the slab. Further, because the support areas for the material to be cut are distributed and isolated, in many cases the saw will cut material lying over a raised space over the table. A second embodiment of a containment lid provides a disposable support which can laterally register a sacrificial board and is of such inexpensive construction that it can be discarded once it has undergone a high number of sacrificial cuts in the cutting operation. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0013]    The invention, its configuration, construction, and operation will be best further described in the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which: 
           [0014]      FIG. 1  is a perspective of a vertical exploded view of the containment lid of the invention overlying a vacuum hold down; 
           [0015]      FIG. 2  is a plan view of the exploded relationship in  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0016]      FIG. 3  is a side view of the assembled the vacuum hold down and containment lid assembly is shown in working position on a working table along with a slab of material being cut and saw blade in a cutting position; 
           [0017]      FIG. 4  is a perspective view of a slab of material to be cut shown in transparent format to illustrate a working table supporting an array of vacuum hold downs supporting the containment lid assembly which in turn supports the slab of material to be cut; 
           [0018]      FIG. 5  is a perspective view of a one piece containment lid similar to the containment lid shown in  FIG. 1  having assembled elements; 
           [0019]      FIG. 6  is a plan view of the containment lid of  FIG. 5  and taken along line  6 - 6  of  FIG. 5 ; and 
           [0020]      FIG. 7  is a sectional view of the containment lid of  FIGS. 5 and 6  and taken along line  7 - 7  of  FIG. 5 . 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
       [0021]    Referring to  FIG. 1 , a perspective of a vertical exploded view of the containment lid assembly of the invention overlying a vacuum hold down is shown. Beginning at the bottom of the Figure, a perspective view of a vacuum hold down support  21  is shown. Vacuum hold down support  21  can be of any height, area or shape including round, rectangular, irregular or square, but the embodiment shown has an overall square shape to maximize the area of support and to illustrate a simple construction. 
         [0022]    The vacuum hold down support  21  has a base  23  at its lowermost extent and a top  25 . The vacuum hold down support  21  has a set of four support columns  27  of which only three are seen, and one of which is a vacuum transmission column  29 . Columns  27  and  29  support the top  25  with respect to the base  23 . Vacuum transmission column  29  which supports a first vacuum input port  33  in communication with the area underneath the base  23  (to provide vacuum hold down of the vacuum hold down support  21 ) and a second vacuum input port  35  which is in fluid communication through a vacuum transmission bolt known as a vacuum head screw  37 , having a vacuum transmission bore, the vacuum head screw  37  only partially seen in  FIG. 1 . The top  25  is attached to the other columns  27  using standard screws  39  of which a small area is only partially seen. 
         [0023]    The top  25  is seen supporting an elastomeric seal  41  just inside and slightly above the periphery of the top  25 . Just inside the elastomeric seal  41  is a generally planar hard elastomeric pad  45  held in by the vacuum head screw  37  and screws  39  which are countersunk to assume a reduced height profile with respect to the hard elastomeric pad  45  to insure that they will not contact the structure which will be supported by the vacuum hold down support  21 . The hard elastomeric pad  45  has a series of grooves  47  to help transmit vacuum from the vacuum head screw  37  completely around the hard elastomeric pad  45 . 
         [0024]    Above the vacuum hold down support  21 , a containment lid assembly or saw cup  51  is seen. The bottom member of the saw cup  51  is seen as including a containment lid  55  having a main plate  61  which non-porous and vacuumable, and is seen as having a general rectangular or square shape with rounded corners. Main plate  61  has a first surface  63  an opposite second surface  65 , and a side surface  67 . Side surface  67  can be seen at the corner of the main plate  61  as it is uncovered to prevent any water entrapment which might otherwise collect at the first surface  63 . To the side surface  67 , a series of from two to five or more screws  69  attach what is shown as a simple vertical containment plate  71 . The combination of the main plate  61 , and vertical containment plates  71  held in place by its associated series of screws  69  form containment lid  55 . 
         [0025]    A series of four vertical containment plates  71  are seen which are appropriate to provide translational stability in a four sided structure. The portions of the vertical containment plates  71  which extend below the main plate  61  are dimensioned to fit over the side surfaces of the top  25  so that the containment lid  55  will be appropriately registered over the top  25  before an upper vacuum is applied to hold the containment lid  55  fully onto the surface of the vacuum hold down support  21 . The portion of vertical containment plates  71  which extend below plate  61  also prevents slide or lateral movement with respect to the vacuum hold down support  21  when no vacuum is being applied. 
         [0026]    The vertical containment plates  71  are shown as simplistic members, but need not be so in actual realization. Vertical containment plates  71  can be thicker, can include a formed shape which can fit other shapes of vacuum hold down supports  21  which are other than rectangular shaped. Further, containment lid  55  may be made of a plastic material which would not resist limited cutting, but would otherwise remain in tact if the upwardly extending portions of it were cut or scored. The lateral registration ability of the containment plates  71  which extend downwardly of the main plate  61  insure that it will be vacuum held every time without having to worry about insuring that the plate  61  is sufficiently located atop the vacuum hold down support  21  to be vacuum engaged. 
         [0027]    Although the containment lid  55  is shown as a main plate  61  with a vertical containment plate  71  held in place with a series of screws  69 , the containment lid  55  could be made of one piece of material, or in the alternative a multi component structure formed integrally (to be shown). Other structures are possible. Other structures can be used to attach the vertical containment plates  71  to the main plate  61 . However, a one piece structure offers the simplest construction with potentially the strongest lateral holding ability. 
         [0028]    Above the containment lid  55  is an expanse of a sacrificial, scorable, cementitious material board, and which may preferably be a cement board  81 , also known as tile backer, and which is sometimes sold commercially under the trade name HARDIBACKER™. The sacrificial nature of such a sacrificial board is that it accepts a limited penetration of a saw blade in order to protect more substantial structures supporting it, but it also has the capability of solid non-compressible support. The type of cement board  81  used is preferably a rigid non warping board having the ability to support high load between its main surfaces, but which is easily cuttable with a circular saw. Cement board  81  has an upper surface  83  and a lower surface  85  and a side face  87  whose height is the thickness of the board. 
         [0029]    As can be seen the cement board  81  fits inside and is laterally registered by the portion of the vertical containment plate  71  which extends above the main plate  61 . It may be preferable if the fit of the cement board  81  within the confines of portion of the vertical containment plate  71  which extends above the main plate  61  to be closely toleranced, and the cement board  81  can be laid in if desired. However, even any potential slippage between the main plate  61  and the cement board  81  can be reduced by adding a volume of bonding material  89 , such as silicone, or contact cement, or any material which is compatible to secure the cement board  81  material to the main plate  61  material, if desired. Further, the tolerance between the cement board  81  and the vertical containment plates can be close enough for an interference fit if desired, depending upon the materials and tolerances of the containment lid  55  upwardly projecting skirts of the vertical containment plates  71 . The area of the first surface  63  of the main plate  61  and the area of the lower surface  85  of the cement board  81  provides a significant bonding area if cement is desired and which will easily resist lateral displacement of the bonded pair. The containment assembly  55  can have rounded corners even though it can be utilized with an expanse of cement board  81  which is square or rectangular. 
         [0030]    In terms of dimensioning, the thickness of the cement board  81  should be set to a thickness greater than the expected depth to which a saw blade (not yet shown) is expected to penetrate a slab to be cut (also not yet shown). One example of a set of dimensions which has been shown to work well involves the thickness of the cement board  81  and thus the height of the side face  87  as being about a half of an inch, or 12.7 millimeters. The height of the vertical containment plate  71  above the main plate  61  is about one quarter of an inch and thus a saw need not cut into the vertical containment plate  71  at all. Thus the saw settings may preferably be set such that no more than one eighth of an inch of depth of the expanse of cement board  81  is cut so that the vertical containment plate  71  is not typically cut. This would enable a saw blade to be set and expected to penetrate below the slab of material to be cut by no more than one eighth to one quarter of an inch. Since the upper surface  83  of cement board  81  will make direct and bearing contact with the underside of a slab of material to be sawed, the extent to which a saw blade will extend beyond the bottom surface of the slab to be cut, will be extent to which a saw blade will penetrate the into the cement board  81  beyond the upper surface  83 . The thickness of the side face  87  of cement board  81  should be sufficiently great that the saw blade will not penetrate beyond the cement board  81  and into the main plate  61 . 
         [0031]    Other dimensions which have been found to work well include a main plate  61  thickness of about one quarter of an inch. The vertical containment plate  71  may have a top to bottom height of about an inch or about 25 millimeters. In one embodiment the amount of the vertical containment plate  71  which extends about the main plate  61  may be about five to six millimeters while the amount of the vertical containment plate  71  which extends below the main plate  61  may be about thirteen millimeters with about five to six millimeters covering the side face  87  of the main plate  61 . Further, the vertical containment plates  71  may be molded. It is expected that the saw cup  51  will be manufactured to a size slightly larger and of the same shape as the vacuum hold down such as vacuum hold down support  21  upon which it is placed so that it can be properly and easily located. 
         [0032]    Referring to  FIG. 2 , a plan view of the still exploded relationship in  FIG. 1  is shown to give a better idea of the plan profile of the structures seen in  FIG. 1 . The vacuum hold down is shown supported by a working table  95  schematically shown by a line. As is shown Schematically by dashed line arrow indication, first vacuum input port  33  is seen withdrawing air to create a vacuum between the working table  95  and the hold down  21 . Likewise, second vacuum input port  35  is seen withdrawing air from above the top  24  to vacuum attach the containment lid  55  of the saw cup  51  onto the vacuum hold down support  21 . The first vacuum input port  33  and second vacuum input port  35  will be connected to controlled lines (not shown) which will transmit vacuum to the vacuum hold down support  21 . In practice the expanse of cement board  81  will be affixed to the containment lid  55  by the bonding material  89  and the containment lid assemblies  51  will be stored and deployed as a number of units which can be retrieved and simply placed atop the correspondingly sized vacuum hold downs which would otherwise be used for other purposes. 
         [0033]    Referring to  FIG. 3 , a side view of the assembled the vacuum hold down support  21  and saw cup  51  is shown in working position on the working table  95  along with a slab of material hereafter as slab  97  and a saw blade  99 . As a result, the cement board is scored by the formation of a small slot of very narrow width corresponding to the width of the saw blade  99  making the cut. New cuts are random and in some cases over the same groove, and many cuts can be made before the contact surface is sufficiently denigrated so as to cause replacement. As a result, the cement board  81  would have to be scored many times before it would be impaired. 
         [0034]    Note that for a given slab  97 , support may be had from only a few saw cups  51  and these saw cups  51  do not have to be configured into any sort of pattern in an attempt to avoid the saw blade  99 . Where a sawing operation is to be performed repeatedly, it may be expected that in some cases a cut which is established into the expanse of cement board  81  is repeated, thus reducing the number of cuts that the expanse of cement board  81  may suffer. Vacuum does not hold the bottom of the slab  97  for sawing; it is the weight and friction of the slab  97  onto the expanse of cement board  81  that provides stabilization for sawing. In actual use, the saw cup  51  can be sawably scored many times before the user has to replace the expanse of cement board  81 . If any part of the saw cup  51  becomes inadvertently damaged it may be discarded and replaced at low cost. 
         [0035]    In terms of operation, and where perhaps ten vacuum hold downs  21  were present upon a support table, a user would simply gather ten saw cups  51 , place each one over an associated vacuum hold down support  21  and then apply a vacuum to a top  25  of the vacuum hold down supports  21  and then slide in a slab  97 . Without a vacuum hold down support  21 , an abbreviated area expanse of cement board  81 , even with a holder would tend to be relatively easily slidably displaced. Because the effective loading surface represented by the held down saw cups  51  is both vertically and laterally stable, the slab  97  can even be frictionally slid across the saw cups  51  without disturbing them since it is the vacuum force which holds the saw cups  51  down. The sawing operation is not expected to exert any significant sliding force unless the blade  99  is unduly dull. 
         [0036]    Referring to  FIG. 4 , a perspective view of slab  97  of material to be cut shown in transparent format to illustrate a working table supporting a number of variously arranged vacuum hold down supports  21  supporting the saw cup  51  which in turn supports the slab  97 . A motor unit  111  typically has a spindle which turns about a vertical axis and is shown as having been converted to movement of the saw blade  99  about a horizontal axis. 
         [0037]    Also seen in a series of unevenly spaced vacuum supports  21  which support a corresponding set of containment lid assemblies  51  which have expanses of cement board  81  which bear against the underside of the slab  97 . For clarity, the vacuum lines which would normally extend onto the working table  95  have been omitted. A cut line  117  as one possible path for the saw blade  99  to follow and it is shown cutting directly over two of the saw cups  51 . Note that the vacuum hold down supports  21  are configured to support the material to be cut. The arrangement of vacuum hold down supports  21  supporting the saw cups  51  may be positioned in an arrangement consistent with later edge processing of the material. Note also that the example shown is a cut in a straight line as cut line  117 , but that such a cut line  117  can be any angle through the supported plane. 
         [0038]    As was mentioned earlier, the containment lid  55  can be made from any number of materials and individual components. Referring to  FIG. 5 , a perspective view of a one piece containment lid  125  is shown. One-piece containment lid  125  may preferably be formed from one piece of material such as injection molding and has a main plate  127  portion having an upper surface  129 . Upper surface  129  is bound by an upper wall  131 . Upper wall  131  is about the same dimension of the vertical containment plate  71  above the main plate  61  as was the case for the containment lid  55 . Because the one piece containment lid  125  is made of a plastic sacrificial material of similar type to the vertical containment plate  71  seen in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , it is the upper wall  131  which may be sacrificial. 
         [0039]    Rather than changing out the vertical containment plates  71 , as was the case for containment lid  55 , the single piece, preferably plastic containment lid  125  can be discarded or re-cycled when the upper wall  131 , and/or the expanse of cement board  81  has suffered enough sacrificial scoring cuts such that the saw cup  51  which includes the one piece containment lid  55  needs replacing. This is not to say that the one piece containment lid  125  cannot have its expanse of cement board  81  replaced. 
         [0040]    Referring to  FIG. 6 , a plan view taken along line  6 - 6  of  FIG. 5  and looking into outer surface  135  of the containment lid  125  is shown. A lower surface  139  of main plate  127  is seen in phantom. Seen for the first time is a wall  141  at a bottom edge of the outer surface  135 . As was the case for the containment lid  55 , the wall  131  is not as high with respect to main plate  127  as is wall  141 . 
         [0041]    Referring to  FIG. 7 , a sectional view taken along line  7 - 7  of  FIG. 5  illustrates the relative height profiles of the oppositely oriented walls  131  and  141  with respect to the plate  127 . Further the expanse of cement board  81  may have rounded or square corners. Any combination of shapes is permitted so long as good support and good fit can give stability to the expanse of cement board  81 . 
         [0042]    While the present invention has been described in terms of a device and system used in conjunction with a working table utilizable with a cutting saw, and in particular a system which elevates the slab while guarding the vacuum hold downs with a sacrificial material and holder which will protect the vacuum hold down, one skilled in the art will realize that the structure and techniques of the present invention can be applied to many appliances. 
         [0043]    Although the invention has been derived with reference to particular illustrative embodiments thereof, many changes and modifications of the invention may become apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Therefore, included within the patent warranted herein are all such changes and modifications as may reasonably and properly be included within the scope of this contribution to the art.

Technology Category: 7