SAW BLADE AND SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING A SAW BLADE
A saw blade includes a body having a thickness, an attachment portion formed on the body, and a plurality of cutting teeth formed on the body. The attachment portion is configured to connect the saw blade to a power tool. Each cutting tooth of the plurality of cutting teeth includes a tip defining a plane that extends along the thickness of the body, a rake face extending from the tip, and a relief face extending from the tip opposite the rake face. A first cutting tooth of the plurality of cutting teeth is set in a first direction relative to the body. A second cutting tooth of the plurality of cutting teeth is set in a second direction opposite the first direction relative to the body. The planes defined by the tips of the first and second cutting teeth are generally parallel.
This application is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/497,426, filed Apr. 26, 2017, now U.S. Pat. No. 11,219,959, which is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/215,179, filed Mar. 17, 2014, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,662,725, which claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/787,755, filed Mar. 15, 2013, the entire contents of all of which are incorporated by reference herein.
BACKGROUNDThe present invention relates to saw blades and to systems and methods for manufacturing saw blades.
Traditionally, saw blades, such as reciprocating saw blades, jigsaw blades, and hole saws, are produced by first forming cutting teeth on coil stock and then setting the cutting teeth in a desired pattern. Setting is the process of bending the cutting teeth in opposing directions to provide kerf or clearance for a body of the saw blade during cutting. Setting typically involves striking each cutting tooth with an insert that is made from a harder material than the cutting tooth itself.
During setting, the hard insert initially comes into contact with a tip of the cutting tooth where a surface area of the cutting tooth is smallest. The insert presses against the cutting tooth until enough surface area is contacted to generate a force higher than the yield strength of the saw blade body at a bend point near a root of the cutting tooth. This process, however, may create undesirable deformations along a side face of the saw blade body and at the tip of the cutting tooth.
SUMMARYIn one embodiment, the invention provides a method of manufacturing a saw blade. The method includes providing a coil stock, setting a first portion of the coil stock in a first direction, setting a second portion of the coil stock in a second direction opposite the first direction, and forming a plurality of cutting teeth in the first portion and the second portion of the coil stock after the first and second portions are set.
In another embodiment, the invention provides a saw blade including a body having a thickness and an attachment portion formed on the body. The attachment portion is configured to connect the saw blade to a power tool. The saw blade also includes a plurality of cutting teeth formed on the body. Each cutting tooth includes a tip defining a plane that extends along the thickness of the body, a rake face extending from the tip, and a relief face extending from the tip opposite the rake face. A first cutting tooth of the plurality of cutting teeth is set in a first direction relative to the body, and a second cutting tooth of the plurality of cutting teeth is set in a second direction opposite the first direction relative to the body. The planes defined by the tips of the first and second cutting teeth are generally parallel.
In yet another embodiment, the invention provides a saw blade blank including a body having an edge and an attachment portion formed on the body. The attachment portion is configured to connect to a power tool. A first portion of the edge is set in a first direction relative to the body, and a second portion of the edge is set in a second direction opposite the first direction relative to the body. No cutting teeth are formed on the edge of the body.
Other aspects of the invention will become apparent by consideration of the detailed description and accompanying drawings.
Before any embodiments of the invention are explained in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and the arrangement of components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the following drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced or of being carried out in various ways.
DETAILED DESCRIPTIONSimilar to the method of
At step 14, the coil stock is blanked into a desired shape. For example, the coil stock may be stamped or cut to form one or more reciprocating saw blade blanks 30 (
The saw blade blank 30 is also set at step 14. During setting, portions of the saw blade blank 30 are set (e.g., bent) out of alignment with the remainder of the blank 30. As shown in
In some embodiments, the order of the blanking and setting operations may be reversed. For example, in alternative embodiments, portions of the coil stock may be set before the coil stock is machined into individual saw blade blanks.
In the illustrated embodiment, each die set 74, 78 includes three different groups of inserts 82A-C. The first group of inserts 82A is configured to set portions of the blank 30 in the first direction. The second set of inserts 82B is configured to set portions of the blank 30 in the second direction. The third set of inserts 82C is configured to maintain portions of the blank 30 as unset. In the illustrated embodiment, the inserts 82A-C are arranged to create a repeating set pattern of second direction, first direction, second direction, first direction, unset. In other embodiments, the inserts 82A-C may be rearranged to create other desired set patterns on the saw blade blank 30.
Referring back to
Referring back to
After washing, a pick and place unit loads the saw blade 110 into a heat treat tray at step 26. The saw blade 110 is then heat treated, tempered, or otherwise hardened, as desired for a particular application. In some embodiments, the saw blade 110 may also be coated and/or painted before or after heat treating.
In addition, as shown in
Furthermore, as shown in
Forming the cutting teeth 86 with parallel tips 90 helps evenly distribute a cutting load over the cutting teeth 86, thereby producing a smoother cut surface in a work piece. The configuration may also improve cutting speed of the saw blade 110, material removal from the work piece being cut, and/or cutting tooth durability (e.g., resistance to fracture, blade life, etc.).
The manufacturing process depicted in
Although the invention has been described with reference to certain preferred embodiments, variations and modifications exist within the scope and spirit of one or more independent aspects of the invention.
Various features and advantages of the invention are set forth in the following claims.
Claims
1. A saw blade comprising:
- a body having a thickness;
- an attachment portion formed on the body, the attachment portion configured to connect the saw blade to a power tool; and
- a plurality of cutting teeth formed on the body, each cutting tooth including a tip defining a plane that extends along the thickness of the body, a rake face extending from the tip, and a relief face extending from the tip opposite the rake face;
- wherein a first cutting tooth of the plurality of cutting teeth is set in a first direction relative to the body, wherein a second cutting tooth of the plurality of cutting teeth is set in a second direction opposite the first direction relative to the body, and wherein the planes defined by the tips of the first and second cutting teeth are generally parallel.
2. The saw blade of claim 1, wherein the first cutting tooth and the second cutting tooth are generally the same height so that the planes defined by the tips of the first and second cutting teeth are generally coplanar.
3. The saw blade of claim 1, wherein a third cutting tooth of the plurality of cutting teeth is unset relative to the body, and wherein the plane defined by the tip of the third cutting tooth is generally parallel to the planes defined by the tips of the first and second cutting teeth.
4. The saw blade of claim 3, wherein the first cutting tooth, the second cutting tooth, and the third cutting tooth are generally the same height so that the planes defined by the tips of the first, second, and third cutting teeth are generally coplanar.
5. The saw blade of claim 1, wherein the first cutting tooth has a first set magnitude, wherein the second cutting tooth has a second set magnitude, and wherein the first and second set magnitudes are generally equal.
6. The saw blade of claim 1, wherein the first cutting tooth and the second cutting tooth are generally the same shape and size.
7. The saw blade of claim 1, wherein the attachment portion includes a tang and an aperture.
8. The saw blade of claim 1, wherein the planes defined by the tips of the first cutting tool and the second cutting tool are angled relative to the thickness of the body.
9. The saw blade of claim 1, wherein the planes defined by the tips of the first cutting tool and the second cutting tool are generally parallel with the thickness of the body.
10. The saw blade of claim 1, wherein the first cutting tooth and the second cutting tooth are different heights.
11. A saw blade comprising:
- a body having a thickness;
- a first cutting tooth formed on the body and including a tip defining a plane that extends parallel to the thickness of the body, the first cutting tooth set in a first direction relative to the body; and
- a second cutting tooth formed on the body and including a tip defining a plane that extends parallel to the thickness of the body, the second cutting tooth set in a second direction relative to the body that is opposite the first direction;
- wherein the planes defined by the tips of the first and second cutting teeth are generally coplanar.
12. The saw blade of claim 11, further comprising a third cutting tooth formed on the body and including a tip defining a plane that extends along the thickness of the body, wherein the third cutting tooth is unset relative to the body, and wherein the plane defined by the tip of the third cutting tooth is generally parallel to the planes defined by the tips of the first and second cutting teeth.
13. The saw blade of claim 12, wherein the first cutting tooth, the second cutting tooth, and the third cutting tooth are generally the same height so that the planes defined by the tips of the first, second, and third cutting teeth are generally coplanar.
14. The saw blade of claim 11, wherein the first cutting tooth has a first set magnitude, wherein the second cutting tooth has a second set magnitude, and wherein the first and second set magnitudes are generally equal.
15. The saw blade of claim 11, wherein the first cutting tooth and the second cutting tooth are generally the same shape and size.
16. The saw blade of claim 11, wherein the first cutting tooth and the second cutting tooth each include a rake face extending from the tip, and a relief face extending from the tip opposite the rake face.
17. A saw blade comprising:
- a body having a thickness;
- an attachment portion formed on the body, the attachment portion configured to connect the saw blade to a power tool; and
- a plurality of cutting teeth formed on the body, the plurality of cutting teeth including a first cutting tooth having a first tip defining a first plane that extends along the thickness of the body, a first rake face extending from the first tip, and a first relief face extending from the first tip opposite the first rake face, the first cutting tooth being set in a first direction relative to the body, a second cutting tooth including a second tip defining a second plane that extends along the thickness of the body, a second rake face extending from the second tip, and a second relief face extending from the second tip opposite the second rake face, the second cutting tooth being set in a second direction opposite the first direction relative to the body, and a third cutting tooth including a third tip defining a third plane that extends along the thickness of the body, a third rake face extending from the third tip, and a third relief face extending from the third tip opposite the third rake face, the third cutting tooth being unset relative to the body, wherein the first cutting tooth, the second cutting tooth, and the third cutting tooth are generally the same shape and size, and wherein the first plane, the second plane, and the third plane are parallel.
18. The saw blade of claim 17, wherein the first plane, the second plane, and the third plane are coplanar.
19. The saw blade of claim 17, wherein the first cutting tooth has a first set magnitude, wherein the second cutting tooth has a second set magnitude, and wherein the first and second set magnitudes are generally equal.
20. The saw blade of claim 17, further comprising a cutting tip formed on the body opposite from the attachment portion.
Type: Application
Filed: Jan 10, 2022
Publication Date: Apr 28, 2022
Inventor: James P. Horne, JR. (Greenwood, MS)
Application Number: 17/571,927