Portable handheld work apparatus

Abstract

A portable handheld work apparatus has a housing (2) having at least two housing parts. At least one spring clamp (6, 26, 36, 46, 56) is provided for the releasable attachment of the one housing part to the other housing part. The spring clamp (6, 26, 36, 46, 56) is provided to clamp the two housing parts. A wear protector (8) is effective between the two housing parts in the clamping direction (9). A simple configuration and few individual parts are achieved when the spring clamps (6, 26, 36, 46, 56) have the wear protector (8).

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority of German patent application no. 10 2007 012 884.5, filed Mar. 17, 2007, the entire content of which is incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

U.S. Pat. No. 5,899,182 discloses a spring clamp for securing a cover of a handheld work apparatus to a housing thereof. In the region of the spring clamp, a wear protector in the form of a plate is provided between the housing parts. The plate is mounted on the housing or on the cover in the region of a guide lug.

The wear protector and the guide lug have to be subsequently fixed to the housing. Additional individual parts are needed for the wear protector. This increases the complexity during manufacture and assembly.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the invention to provide a portable handheld work apparatus of the kind described above which has a simple configuration.

The portable handheld work apparatus of the invention includes: a housing having first and second housing parts; a spring clamp for releasably attaching the second housing part to the first housing part in a predetermined clamping direction; a wear protector arranged so as to be effective between the first and second housing parts in the clamping direction; and, the spring clamp including the wear protector.

No additional components for the wear protector as well as for its attachment to a housing part are necessary because the wear protector is integrated into the spring clamp. Only the spring clamp must be mounted on one of the housing parts. In this way, the wear protector is assembled. With this, the number of individual parts is reduced and the assembly is simplified.

The spring clamp is held on the one housing part so as to be inseparable therefrom and the other housing part is supported on the wear protector of the spring clamp, especially on the region of the spring clamp which functions as a wear protector. The spring clamp especially includes a spring bracket of metal (preferably spring steel sheet metal) on which the wear protector is formed. The metal of the spring bracket has a high resistance to wear so that this material can be advantageously used to form the wear protector. Accordingly, no other or additional materials are needed for the wear protector; rather, only another configuration of the spring clamp is needed. Advantageously, the spring clamp has an attachment region whereat the spring clamp is held so that it is inseparable. The wear protector is especially arranged at the attachment region of the clamp. Forces between the housing parts are introduced via the spring clamp into the other housing part because the other housing part is supported on the wear protector. Because the wear protector is disposed in the area of the attachment region, the forces from the other housing part are diverted directly via the wear protector into the housing part on which the spring clamp is held. This provides a favorable force flow. Additional elasticities between the wear protector and the attachment region are avoided.

Advantageously, the spring bracket of the spring clamp is mounted in the attachment region on a bearing pin of the one housing part. It is especially provided that the other housing part, especially a stub of the other housing part, is supported on the spring bracket in the region of the bearing pin. This provides a simple, compact configuration. The forces, which are introduced at the wear protector, are introduced into the bearing pin directly and via the shortest path.

Advantageously, the spring bracket of the spring clamp engages around the bearing pin by more than 180° of the periphery thereof. In this way, the spring bracket is held on the bearing pin so as to be inseparable therefrom and so as to be movable thereon. The spring bracket can especially be snapped onto the bearing pin. It can be provided that the bearing pin is pressed into the housing part. In advance of the press-in step, the spring clamp can be mounted on the bearing pin. The bearing pin is made of metal and is hardened in order to ensure an adequate strength of the connection.

Preferably, the spring clamp has at least one means which positions the two housing parts to each other transversely to the clamping direction. The two housing parts can, for example, be made of plastic.

However, it can also be provided that one of the housing parts is a light metal cast component and the other component is made of glass-fiber reinforced plastic. In portable handheld work apparatus, vibrations occur during operation because of the drive motor, especially, when the drive motor is an internal combustion engine. These vibrations can lead to a relative movement of the two housing parts with respect to each other and this should be prevented via the attachment of the two housing parts to each other. Very large tension forces are needed to ensure a tight attachment of the two housing parts to each other. When the two housing parts are made of plastic, then the tension forces can, in combination with the vibrations of the operation, lead to a welding of the two housing parts so that a release of one housing part from the other housing part is no longer possible without damage. With a material pairing of light metal casting with glass-fiber reinforced plastic, the glass fibers of the plastic can damage the light metal casting because of the vibrations during operation. In order to avoid damage of the two housing parts and nonetheless achieve an adequate fixation of the two housing parts to each other, the housing parts are fixed via separate means transversely to the clamping direction and not exclusively via the clamping forces. In this way, reduced clamping forces are adequate for a reliable attachment.

Advantageously, at least one guide arm is provided on the spring clamp for positioning the housing parts in at least one direction. This guide arm lies against both housing parts in the clamped state of the two housing parts. Because the guide arm lies against both housing parts, a separate positioning of the spring clamp at one of the housing parts is not needed. The spring clamp is positioned relative to both housing parts via the guide arm. In this way, also the position of the two housing parts to each other is determined. With one guide arm, a holding of the spring clamp in axial direction of the pivot axis of the spring clamp is provided. Advantageously, two guide arms are provided which engage over a guide section of the one housing part and a guide section of the other housing part. In this way, a reliable positioning is achieved.

The two guide sections lie coincident to each other in the clamped state of the housing parts in the clamping direction. In this way, the spring clamp can be pivoted unhindered. There results a simple geometric configuration of the guide arms. In order to ensure the relative position of the two housing parts to each other transversely to the clamping direction also during operation, it is provided that at least one guide arm lies under pretensioning against the housing parts in the clamped state of the housing parts. The pretensioning operates against a relative movement of the housing parts because of the vibrations so that also during operation, a reliable attachment of the two housing parts to each other is ensured. Advantageously, the two guide arms lie under pretensioning against the two housing parts. The guide arms engage around the housing parts and press the housing parts together.

To simplify the positioning by the operator, the spring clamp has a spring nose for clamping the two housing parts to each other and the means for positioning the two housing parts, the spring nose and the attachment region of the spring clamp are so aligned with respect to each other that first the means for positioning and then the spring nose comes into engagement with at least one housing part when pivoting the spring clamp into the clamped state of the housing parts. In this way, the two housing parts mutually align to each other. When the means for positioning comes into engagement with at least one housing part but the spring nose is not yet engaged with the other housing part, the two housing parts are not yet clamped to each other so that a relative movement transversely to the clamping direction is easily possible. In this way, the two housing parts align themselves to each other on the guide arm. The housing parts are then clamped to each other and fixed to each other via the spring nose.

The work apparatus has at least one means for positioning the spring clamp in a plane perpendicular to the clamping direction relative to at least one housing part. For positioning the spring clamp in a plane perpendicular to the clamping direction, first means are provided in a first direction and second means are provided in a second direction. The first and second means are arranged spatially separated from each other. Because of the spatial separation of the means for positioning the spring clamp relative to at least one housing part, a good positioning and a simple configuration are achieved. Advantageously, at least one guide arm is provided on the spring clamp for positioning the latter. Especially two guide arms are provided with the two guide arms also functioning to position the two housing parts to each other. In this way and in a simple manner, the spring clamp can be positioned relative to the two housing parts as well as the two housing parts can be positioned to each other via the two guide arms which, in the clamped state of the spring clamp especially under pretensioning, can lie against the two housing parts and work toward each other.

The wear protector is configured so as to be curved for positioning the spring clamp and coacts, in the clamped state of the housing parts, with a correspondingly curved section of a housing part. The curved portion runs especially in correspondence to the curve of the bearing pin so that, via the curved portions, a positioning of a housing part relative to the spring clamp results perpendicular to the clamping direction and perpendicular to the direction in which the guide arms effect a positioning. The wear protector effects especially a positioning perpendicular to the pivot axis of the spring clamp whereas the guide arms effect a positioning in the direction of the pivot axis of the spring clamp.

Advantageously, the spring clamp is coated at least partially with plastic. Especially the regions of the spring clamp are coated with plastic which are visible in the clamped state of the housing parts. In this way, a pleasing external form of the spring clamp is realized. The spring clamp has an outwardly directed portion which is visible in the clamped state. At this outwardly-directed region, the spring clamp is actuated by the operator by pivoting the spring clamp into the clamped state of the housing parts so that a convenient manipulation for the operation results because of the coating with plastic.

The spring clamp has an actuating section for releasing the same. The actuating section can be so configured that it can be operated manually. However, it can also be provided that the actuating section can be actuated with a tool, for example, with a multifunction tool or a screwdriver. So that the actuating section can only be actuated with a tool, it is advantageously provided that a gap is present between the actuating section and a housing part accessible for a work tool. The gap is advantageously so dimensioned that it is not accessible for the finger of the operator.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will now be described with reference to the drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a work apparatus;

FIG. 2 is a schematic section through two housing parts in the region of a spring clamp;

FIGS. 3 and 4 are perspective views of the spring clamp of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a side elevation view of the spring clamp of FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the spring clamp of FIG. 2 in the open state;

FIG. 7 is a section view through the housing parts of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the spring clamp of FIG. 2 when the guide arms engage with a housing part;

FIG. 9 is a section view through the housing parts of FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 shows the spring clamp of FIG. 2 in a perspective view in the closed state;

FIG. 11 is a section view through the housing parts of FIG. 10;

FIG. 12 is a detail enlarged view of the spring clamp of FIG. 2;

FIG. 13 is a perspective view of an embodiment of a spring clamp;

FIG. 14 is a side elevation view of the spring clamp of FIG. 13;

FIG. 15 is a perspective view of an embodiment of a spring clamp;

FIG. 16 is a side elevation view of the spring clamp of FIG. 15;

FIG. 17 shows a side elevation view of a spring clamp;

FIG. 18 is a perspective view of an embodiment of a spring clamp; and,

FIG. 19 is a schematic section view through two housing parts in the region of the spring clamp of FIG. 18.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

The portable handheld work apparatus shown in FIG. 1 is a motor-driven chain saw 1. The invention can also be utilized in other portable handheld work apparatus such as cutoff machines, brushcutters or the like. The motor-driven chain saw 1 has a housing 2 which comprises several housing parts. A rear handle 3 and a tube handle 4 are fixed to the housing 2. An internal combustion engine (not shown) for driving a saw chain (not shown) is mounted in the housing 2. The internal combustion engine inducts combustion air via an air filter which is mounted in a housing body 7. The housing body 7 is closed by a cover 5. The cover 5 is releasably fixed via four spring clamps 6 on the housing body 7. Only one of the four spring clamps 6 is shown in FIG. 1. A different number of spring clamps 6 can also be provided.

In FIG. 2, the housing body 7 is shown with the cover 5 and the spring clamp 6. A bearing pin 12 is fixed on the housing body 7. The spring clamp 6 has an attachment region 10 with which the spring clamp is held on the bearing pin 12 so as not to be separable therefrom. The bearing pin 12 is especially pressed in on the housing body 7. The bearing pin 12 is mounted in a housing recess 25 of the housing body 7. The bearing pin 12 is of metal and is advantageously hardened. The spring clamp 6 is pivotally journalled on the bearing pin 12 about a pivot axis 16. An abrasion or wear protector 8 is formed on the spring clamp 6 at the end of the attachment region 10 facing toward the cover 5. A stub 13 of the cover 5 is supported on the wear protector 8. The attachment region 10 is configured at the end of the spring clamp 6 facing toward the housing body 7.

A spring nose 11 is disposed on the opposite-lying end of the spring clamp 6. In the clamped state of housing body 7 and cover 5 shown in FIG. 2, the spring nose 11 is disposed in a recess 22 of the cover 5. The attachment region 10 is connected to the spring nose 11 via a clamping segment 24 which extends arcuately between the two regions and which extends over the housing part 7 and the cover 5 in the region of the connection of the two housing parts.

As shown in FIG. 2, the spring clamp 6 is formed from a spring bracket 14. The spring bracket 14 is surrounded by a plastic coating 15 in the region whereat it is visible from the outside of the housing. The spring bracket 14 is coated in this region with a plastic coating 15.

The spring clamp 6 clamps the cover 5 in a clamping direction 9 against the housing body 7. The clamping direction 9 extends approximately parallel to the connection of the spring nose 11 and attachment region 10. For laterally positioning the cover 5 relative to the housing body 7 and for positioning the spring clamp 6 relative to the housing body 7 and the cover 5 in the direction of the pivot axis 16, the spring clamp 6 has guide arms 17 which will be explained in greater detail hereinafter.

To release the spring clamp 6, a manipulation section 19 is arranged on the end of the spring nose 11 facing away from the attachment region 10. To release the spring clamp 6, the operator can, for example, move between the cover 5 and the manipulation section 19 of the spring clamp 6 with a screwdriver or a multifunction tool and release the spring clamp 6. For this purpose, a gap 50 is formed between the manipulation section 19 and the cover 5. This gap is also delimited by the plastic coating 15 of the spring clamp 6. The gap 50 has a width (a) which is so small that the operator cannot move with a finger into the gap 50 and release the spring clamp 6. Accordingly, a tool is needed to release the spring clamp 6.

A manipulation section for releasing the spring clamp 6 with a tool can be provided also at another region of the spring clamp 6. The manipulation section 19 can, however, also be configured to release the spring clamp 6 by hand. For this purpose, the gap 50 can be configured, for example, to be adequately wide so that the manipulation section 19 can be actuated with a finger.

In FIG. 3, a spring bracket 14 of the spring clamp 6 is shown in perspective. The spring bracket 14 is formed as one piece of metal, especially, spring steel. The clamping segment 24 connects the spring nose 11 with the attachment region 10. At the attachment region 10, two guide arms 17 extend which are configured on a clamp-like section of the spring clamp 6. The guide arms 17 run transversely, especially approximately perpendicularly, to the pivot axis 16 of the spring clamp 6. Guide bevels 18 are formed on both guide arms 17 and these guide bevels are configured as sections of the guide arms 17 bent outwardly. The guide arms 17 extend spatially between the spring nose 11 and the attachment region 10. Before the bending of the spring clamp 6, the guide arms 17 are disposed in the material blank for the spring clamp 6 on the end of the attachment region 10 facing away from the spring nose 11.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the spring bracket 14 is bent to have a partially circular shape in the attachment region 10. The part circle-shaped section extends over more than 180°. As shown in FIG. 5, the attachment region is open over an angle a which can, for example, lie in the range of 60° to 120°.

In FIGS. 6 and 7, the spring clamp 6 is shown in the open state. With its attachment region 10, the spring clamp 6 is held on the bearing pin 12 so as to be inseparable therefrom. The stub 13 of the cover 5 is supported on the attachment region 10 of the spring clamp 6. The spring nose 11 is disengaged from the recess 22. The guide arms 17 are disengaged from the stub 13 and from guide sections 20 and 21 on the cover 5 and on the housing body 7. Viewed from the housing outer side, the guide sections 20 and 21 are arranged behind the stub 13. The widths of the guide sections 20 and 21 correspond approximately to the width of the stub 13 which has a rectangular cross section. The guide section 20 on the cover 5 and the guide section 21 on the housing body 7 lie, viewed in the clamping direction 9, coincident one above the other. The side walls of the guide sections 20 and 21 lie approximately perpendicularly to the pivot axis 16 (FIG. 5) of the spring clamp 6.

The spring clamp 6 is pivoted in pivot direction 23 (FIG. 6) to fix the cover 5 on the housing body 7. FIGS. 8 and 9 show the spring clamp 6 after a partial pivoting in the pivot direction 23. In the position of the spring clamp 6 shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, the guide arms 17 first come into engagement with the stub 13 and, thereafter and with further pivoting, the guide arms 17 come into engagement with the guide sections 20 and 21. In this way, the sections 20 and 21 are positioned with respect to each other and therewith also the cover 5 relative to the air filter case. The spring nose 11 is still not in engagement with the recess 22 of the cover 5 so that the cover 5 lies loosely on the air filter case and a positioning of the cover 5 and the housing body 7 transverse to the clamping direction 9 takes place exclusively via the pivoting of the spring clamp 6 and via the guide arms 17. The guide arms 17 are especially so pretensioned that they lie with slight pressure against the guide sections 20 and 21 and engage around these guide sections in a clamp-like manner. In this way, a good fixation of the cover 5 on the housing body 7 is obtained transverse to the clamping direction 9. At the same time, the guide arms 17 position the spring clamp 6 in axial direction of the pivot axis 16 relative to the housing body 7 and the cover 5.

With a further pivoting of the spring clamp 6 in the pivot direction 23, the spring clamp 6 comes into the position shown in FIGS. 10 and 11 wherein the spring nose 11 is disposed in the recess 22 and the cover 5 is clamped against the housing body 7 in clamping direction 9. The clamping segment 24 of the spring clamp 6 engages over the cover 5 on the outer housing side. The guide arms 17 lie against the guide sections 20 and 21 and clasp these so that the housing body 7 and the cover 5 are likewise positioned with respect to each other transversely to the clamping direction 9. The guide arms 17 fix the position of the spring clamp 6 on the bearing pin 12. At the same time, the guide arms 17 fix the position of the spring clamp 6 relative to the housing body 7 and the cover 5 in the direction of the double arrow 32, that is, parallel to the pivot axis 16. The spring clamp 6 is movably journalled on the bearing pin 12 in the direction of the double arrow 32. The positioning of the spring clamp 6 on the bearing pin 12 takes place via the guide arms 17. The stub 13 lies on the wear protector 8. The clamping section 24 clamps the bearing pin 12 against the recess 22 of the cover 5. In this way, the stub 13 is pressed against the wear protector 8 and the wear protector is pressed against the bearing pin 12. When pivoting the spring clamp 6 in the pivot direction 23 or in the counter direction, the stub 13 slides off the wear protector 8. The stub 13 is, as is the cover 5, advantageously made of plastic, especially, from a glass-fiber reinforced plastic.

In FIG. 12, the spring clamp 6 is shown enlarged in the region of the bearing pin 12. As shown in FIG. 12, the spring bracket 14 of the spring clamp 6 lies tightly on the bearing pin 12 in the region of the wear protector 8 and is configured to be outwardly arcuate in correspondence to the periphery of the bearing pin 12. The stub 13 has a seat 33 which lies on the wear protector 8 and is curved in correspondence to the wear protector 8. The curvature of the wear protector 8 and the seat 33 effect a positioning of the cover 5 relative to the spring clamp 6 in the direction of the double arrow 34, that is, perpendicular to the clamping direction 9 and perpendicular to the pivot axis 16. The positioning of the spring clamp relative to the housing body 7 and the cover 5 in the direction of the pivot axis 16 by the guide arms 17 is thereby spatially separate from the positioning of the spring clamp 6 perpendicular to the pivot axis 16 and to the clamping direction 9 by the wear protector 8 and the seat 33. Referred to the clamping direction 9, the guide arms 17 are disposed in another plane than the wear protector 8. The positioning in the direction of the double arrow 32 thereby takes place in another plane perpendicular to the clamping direction 9 than the positioning in the direction of the double arrow 34.

In the embodiment of FIGS. 1 to 12, the spring bracket 14 is bent at the spring nose 11 to have a U-shape outwardly.

In FIGS. 13 and 14, an embodiment of a spring clamp 26 is shown. This spring clamp 26 too can be coated with a plastic coating (not shown in FIGS. 13 and 14). The same components in FIGS. 13 and 14 are identified by the same reference numerals as in FIGS. 1 to 12. The spring clamp 26 has a spring nose 31 on which the spring bracket 14 is rolled inwardly to have an arcuate shape.

In FIGS. 15 and 16, the spring clamp 36 is shown which is likewise coated with a plastic coating at least at the region visible in the clamped state of the cover 5 to the housing body 7. The spring clamp 36 has a clamping section 44 which is configured to have a wave-like shape. The clamping section 44 is curved outwardly in the regions bordering on the spring nose 31 and the attachment region 10. The spring nose 31 and the attachment region 10 are connected to each other via a curved portion running inwardly.

In FIG. 17, an embodiment of a spring clamp 46 is shown wherein the attachment region 10 with the wear protector 8 is arranged on the end of the guide arms 17 facing away from the spring nose 31. In a blank of spring steel for the spring clamp 46, which is not yet bent, a section extends from the clamping section 54 on which the guide arms 17 are arranged. The attachment region 10 with the wear protector 8 extends from the end of the clamping section 54 which faces away from the guide arms 17.

A further embodiment of a spring clamp 56 is shown in FIGS. 18 and 19. The spring clamp 56 likewise has an attachment region 10, which lies against the bearing pin 12; a wear protector 8; a clamping section 24; two guide arms 17; a spring nose 11; and, a manipulation section 19. These sections of the spring clamp 36 are configured on a spring bracket 64. A second clamping section 57 extends between the attachment region 10 and the wear protector 8.

The region of the spring bracket 64, which forms the wear protector 8, is not braced on the bearing pin 12 but is pressed against the seat 33 of the stub 13 because of the clamping force of the clamping section 24. The second clamping section 57 causes the spring bracket 64 to lie tightly about the bearing pin 12 in the clamped state of the spring clamp 56. The configuration of the guide arms 17 and the wear protector 8 corresponds to the configuration on the spring clamps (6, 26, 36, 46). The function of the positioning perpendicular to the clamping direction 9 also corresponds to the positioning for the other spring clamps. As shown in phantom outline in FIG. 19, the spring clamp 56 can also be coated with a plastic jacket 15 which covers the regions of the spring bracket 64 which are visible from the outside of the work apparatus.

It is understood that the foregoing description is that of the preferred embodiments of the invention and that various changes and modifications may be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

Claims

1. A portable handheld work apparatus comprising:

a housing having first and second housing parts;

a spring clamp for releasably attaching said second housing part to said first housing part in a predetermined clamping direction;

a wear protector arranged so as to be effective between said first and second housing parts in said clamping direction; and,

said spring clamp including said wear protector.

2. The portable handheld work apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a clamping assembly including said spring clamp; said clamping assembly further including means for inseparably holding said spring clamp on said first housing part; and, said second housing part being supported on said wear protector.

3. The portable handheld work apparatus of claim 1, wherein said spring clamp includes a spring bracket made of metal whereon said wear protector is formed.

4. The portable handheld work apparatus of claim 3, wherein said metal is spring steel.

5. The portable handheld work apparatus of claim 1, wherein said spring clamp has an attachment region whereat said spring clamp is held so as to be inseparable.

6. The portable handheld work apparatus of claim 5, wherein said wear protector is disposed on said attachment region.

7. The portable handheld work apparatus of claim 5, wherein said spring clamp has a spring bracket; and, said work apparatus further comprises a clamping assembly incorporating said spring clamp and said clamping assembly also includes a bearing pin on said first housing part and said spring bracket is arranged on said bearing pin at said attachment region.

8. The portable handheld work apparatus of claim 7, wherein said second housing part is supported on said spring bracket in the region of said bearing pin.

9. The portable handheld work apparatus of claim 7, wherein said spring bracket engages about the periphery of said bearing pin by more than 180°.

10. The portable handheld work apparatus of claim 7, wherein said bearing pin is pressed into said first housing part and said bearing pin is made of metal and is hardened.

11. The portable handheld work apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a clamping assembly incorporating said spring clamp; and, said clamping assembly further comprising means for positioning said first and second housing parts to each other in a direction transverse to said clamping direction.

12. The portable handheld work apparatus of claim 11, wherein said positioning means comprises a guide arm formed on said spring clamp to lie against said first and second housing parts when said first and second housing parts are in a clamped state thereof to position said first and second housing parts in said direction transverse to said clamping direction.

13. The portable handheld work apparatus of claim 12, wherein said first and second housing parts have respective first and second guide parts; said guide arm is a first guide arm and said positioning means comprises a second guide arm; and, said first and second guide arms clasp said first and second guide parts.

14. The portable handheld work apparatus of claim 13, wherein said first and second guide parts lie coincident to each other in said clamping direction in said clamped state of said first and second housing parts.

15. The portable handheld work apparatus of claim 12, wherein said guide arm lies against said first and second housing parts under a prestress in said clamped state thereof.

16. The portable handheld work apparatus of claim 11, wherein said spring clamp includes a spring nose for clamping said first and second housing parts against each other; said spring clamp further includes an attachment region whereat said spring clamp is held so as to be inseparable; and, said positioning means, said spring nose and said attachment region are so aligned with respect to each other that first said positioning means and then said spring nose come into engagement with one of said housing parts when said spring clamp is pivoted into a clamped state of said housing parts.

17. The portable handheld work apparatus of claim 1, further comprising positioning means for positioning said spring clamp in a plane perpendicular to said clamping direction relative to at least one of said housing parts.

18. The portable handheld work apparatus of claim 17, wherein said positioning means is a first positioning means and said work apparatus further comprises a second positioning means for positioning said spring clamp in a second direction; and, said first positioning means and said second positioning means are arranged spatially separate from each other.

19. The portable handheld work apparatus of claim 17, wherein said positioning means comprises at least one guide arm on said spring clamp.

20. The portable handheld work apparatus of claim 17, wherein said wear protector is configured to have a curved shape to position said spring clamp; one of said housing parts has a curved section in correspondence to said wear protector; and, said wear protector and said curved section of said one housing part coact with each other when said housing parts are in a clamped state.

21. The portable handheld work apparatus of claim 1, wherein said spring clamp is coated with plastic on regions thereof which can be seen in a clamped state of said housing parts.

22. The portable handheld work apparatus of claim 1, wherein said spring clamp includes a manipulation section for releasing said spring clamp; and, said manipulation section and one of said housing parts conjointly define a gap accessible with a work tool for actuating said manipulation section therewith.