Untitled record

Application filed April 29/1895. Serial Ho. 547,510. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Francis M. Hoover, a citizen of the ITnited States, residing at Brookville, in the county of Franklin and State of 5 Indiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Saw-Guards; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, reference being had to the annexed drawings, io which form a part of this specification..

Aly invention comprises a guard which is so constructed as to inclose the segmental portion of acircularsawprojectingabove a work ‘ bench or table within which it is journaled, 15 the device being capable of performing the fourfold duties of a fender that prevents the operator’s fingers being caught by the. saw, of a screen that prevents him being injured by flying splinters, of a damn that holds the 20 stuff down on the table with a yielding pressure, and of a protector that prevents the saw being injured by anything falling upon it, as hereinafter more fully described.

In the annexed drawings, Figure 1 is a front 25 side elevation of my improved guard attached to a table or bench, the latter being sectioned, and the segmental portion of a circular saw indicated with dotted lines. Fig. 2 is an elevation of the rear side of the guard, the table 30 and its saw being omitted. Fig. 3 is a plan of said guard. Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the kerf-plate and its accessories. Fig. 5 is a vertical section of said plate, taken at the line z z of Fig. 2. Fig. 6 is a plan of a dove35 tail clamp, wherewith this kerf-plate is coupled to a bed-plate of the guard. Fig..7 is a section through a spring that assists in im parting a yielding pressure to a pair of side plates of the guard. Fig. 8 is a vertical sec40 tion of a portion of 'the kerf-plate, taken in the plane of a pair of integral guides of said presser-plates.

Of the above illustrations, Figs. 5, 6, and 7 are drawn on an enlarged scale.

₄₅ The attaching member of my guard is a flat bed-plate A, having transverse slots a a near its ends to. admit countersunk heads of screws or bolts, wherewith said plate is adjustably secured upon a bench or table B. In addi50 tion to these slots the bed-plate has a pair of circular pits a' a', that receive thumb-nuts C

O', engaged with the upper ends of screws c c', connecting a parallel clamp-plate D to said bed-plate A. This clamp-plate is located below the bed-plate, the two members A D serv- 55 ing to hold a flange e, projecting horizontaily from one side of a vertical dovetail plate E, and near the top of the same. Plate E is wider at bottom than at top, as seen in Fig.

2, and its edges are flared, as represented in 60 Fig. 6, to fit snugly within a pair of undercut guides//' of the kerf-plate F. This plate is a thin rigid piece of metal of the same width as an ordinary circular saw, one edge of said plate being notched at G and its opposite 65 edge being notched at Η. Furthermore, the upper edge of said plate has a vertical slot I, thatcommunicates at bottom with a.rearward extension i, as more clearly seen in .Fig. 4. Adapted for ready attachment to this kerf- 70 plate is a spring-bar J, the straight upper portion of which has a longitudinal slot j just wide enough to clear said plate and terminating at rear with a cross-piece/ of such a size as to be passed down through the slot. I, 75 and then engage with its extension i. Again, said spring-bar has a notch J on one side to admit a hook or other keeper K, attached to the kerf-plate, one end of said spring being bent or inclined upwardly at J'to facilitate 80 the insertion of stuff under said guard.

L L' are parallel presser-plates pivoted to the spring-bar at IV and united at the opposite end by a cross-piece L, these three members L L' L being usually made of a single piece 85 of sheet metal.

M is a loop or shackle applied to the presserplates and adapted to engage with either one of the notches Η of the kerf-plate, as seen in Fig. 4. The presser-plates are slotted verti- 90 eally at N N' and then bent inwardly, thus forming horizontal guides, n n’, that bear against the opposite sides of the kerf-plate F and confine said plates L L' to a vertical path when they are moved up and down. (See Fig. 95 8.) Fitted within these presser-plates is a bent spring 0, the central portion of which constantly bears against the under side of the spring-bar J, as more clearly seen in Fig. 7, the opposite ends of said spring being bent 100 outwardly at o o^r and thou passed through, said plates.

545,504

PP are pins inserted in these plates in such a manner as . to cause the spring O to force them down with considerable pressure.

The dotted lines S S S, in Fig. 1, represent 5 the upper portion of a circular saw that occupies a slot & in the bench or table B, to which latter my guard is applied, as follows:

The bed-plate A is first let into a mortise, so as to be flush with the upper surface of the io table, as seen in Fig. 1, in order that there may be no obstruction offered to the stuff to bo sawed, the plate being properly adjusted by fasteners that traverse the slots a a and the fitting being rendered still more accurate by 15 shifting the flange e between the two clampingdevices AD. The object of these various adjustments is to locate the kerf-plate F accurately in line with the saw, so as to prevent any possible binding, and after this precaution 20 has been attended to the nuts c o' are tightened, thereby.holding the flange e and dovetail plate E immovably in place. Now as the kerf-plate F is coupled to this dovetail piece E by the guides / /', it is evident said 25 plate is retained against lateral play, but is free to slide up in the event of an accident, and then to drop down as far as these connections. E//' will permit, the normal position of said connections being seen in Fig. 2.

In coupling the spring-bar J to the kerfplate the hook or other fastening K is first thrown back and the longitudinal slot j of said bar is passed down over said plate F in such a manner as to cause the cross-piece j' 35 of the bar to traverse the vertical slot I of said plate. The spring-bar is next shifted rearwardly, thereby causing this cross-piece j to enter the rear extension i of said slot, while at the same time the front end of slot 40 j engages with either one of the notches G, according to the tension to be imparted to said spring J. Hook K is now engaged with the notch/', so as to prevent longitudinal shifting of said, bar in either direction and 45 thereby preserving it at the desired stiffness or tension. This tension is sufficient to hold the bar down on the table B with some degree of force, and the parallel presser-plates L L' are also forced down, by the other spring O.

Such being the normal positions of all the operative parts of the guard, it is evident an entrance T is afforded between the table B and inclined end J' of the spring-bar, and when the stuff is fed in at this entrance said spring is gradually raised. As the stuff is advanced, the presser-plates L1/ are also raised, and by the time the board or other piece has reached the saw said piece is held in place by the combined action of the two springs J and

5o 0. As soon, however, as the stuff is severed, the spring J is the first to swing down on the table, and when the piece has passed completely through the machine the presser-plates L L' again resume their normal positions, and >5 these automatic actions will take place, no matter how thick or thin the lumber maybe. Again, owing to the peculiar arrangement of the springs J and 0, their combined pressure will be uniform on any thickness of stuff.

From the above description, in connection 70 with the annexed drawings, it is evident the curved portion of spring J acts as a guard over the saw, while the presser-plates L L' serve as fenders at the sides thereof. Consequently it is impossible for a person’s flu- 75 ger to accidentally come' in contact with the segment of the saw projecting above the table B; but when it is desired to inspect any of the saw-teeth it can be done after swinging up the free end of the presser-plates L L' 80 and engaging their shackle M with one of the notches II, as seen in Fig. 4.