Dust Collecting Concrete Saw

Abstract

A concrete saw for cutting a relief slot in a concrete slab surface, the concrete saw incorporating front and rear hand truck components having lower bases and upwardly extending handles, each handle being fixedly attached to one of the hand truck bases; front and rear pluralities of wheels respectively fixedly attached to and extending downwardly from the front and rear hand trucks' bases; a motor and cutting wheel combination supported upon the front hand truck's base; a motor powered vacuum supported upon the rear hand truck; a vacuum housing enshrouding an upper end of the cutting wheel; a vacuum tube operatively interconnecting the motor powered vacuum and the vacuum housing; and a releasable latch interconnecting the front and rear hand trucks so that forward propulsion of the front hand truck forwardly pulls the rearward hand truck.

Claims

1. A concrete saw for cutting a relief slot in a concrete slab surface, said saw comprising: (a) front and rear hand trucks, each hand truck having a lower base and an upwardly extending handle; (b) front and rear pluralities of wheels respectively fixedly attached to and extending downwardly from the front and rear hand trucks' bases; (c) a motor and cutting wheel combination operatively supported upon the front hand truck's base; (d) a motor powered vacuum fixedly attached to a hand truck component selected from the rear hand truck's handle and the rear hand truck's base; (e) a vacuum housing enshrouding an upper end of the cutting wheel; (f) a vacuum tube operatively interconnecting the motor powered vacuum and the vacuum housing; and (g) a trailering latch interconnecting the front and rear hand trucks so that forward propulsion of the front hand truck forwardly pulls the rearward hand truck.

2. The concrete saw of claim 1 wherein the trailering latch comprises right and left releasable latches.

3. The concrete saw of claim 2 wherein the rear hand truck's base has a proximal end and a distal end, wherein the rear plurality of wheels comprises a proximal pair of wheels positioned at said base's proximal end, and wherein the rear plurality of wheels further comprises at least a first distal wheel positioned at said base's distal end.

4. The concrete saw of claim 3 wherein the right and left releasable latches are positioned for, upon latching, suspending the proximal pair of wheels above the concrete slab surface.

5. The concrete saw of claim 4 wherein lower ends of the front and rear hand trucks' handles are respectively positioned at the proximal ends of the front and rear hand trucks' bases.

6. The concrete saw of claim 5 wherein the left and right releasable latches comprise pin and “U” slot fasteners.

7. The concrete saw of claim 5 wherein the motor powered vacuum comprises a cyclonic canister, and wherein the hand truck component to which the motor powered vacuum is fixedly attached comprises the rear hand truck's handle.

8. The concrete saw of claim 7 wherein the rear hand truck's base has a load bearing surface underlying a lower end of the cyclonic canister, and further comprising a dust collection bag overlying said load bearing surface, the dust collection bag being connected operatively to the cyclonic canister.

9. The concrete saw of claim 5 wherein the rear hand truck's at least first distal wheel comprises a swivel caster wheel.

10. The concrete saw of claim 9 further comprising a second swivel caster wheel fixedly attached to the rear hand truck's base, said wheel being positioned laterally from the at least first swivel caster wheel.

11. The concrete saw of claim 5 wherein the motor and cutting wheel combination's cutting wheel is positioned laterally from the front hand truck's base, and wherein, upon latching of the left and right releasable latches, the rear hand truck is positioned oppositely laterally from the front hand truck's handle.

12. The concrete saw of claim 7 wherein the vacuum tube has a canister attachment end and a vacuum housing attachment end, and further comprising a releasable latch attaching the canister attachment end of the vacuum tube to the cyclonic canister.

13. The concrete saw of claim 7 wherein the vacuum housing has a vacuum port overlying a forward and upper end of the cutting wheel, and wherein a suction end of the vacuum communicates with said vacuum port.

14. The concrete saw of claim 7 wherein the motor powered vacuum comprises an electric motor mounted at an upper end of the cyclonic canister.

15. The concrete saw of claim 14 further comprising a rechargeable battery mounted upon the cyclonic canister.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0016] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the instant inventive concrete saw for cutting relief slots in concrete slab surfaces.

[0017] FIG. 2 is a side view of the concrete saw of FIG. 1.

[0018] FIG. 3 presents an alternative perspective view of the concrete saw of FIG. 1, the view of FIG. 3 showing rearward vacuum components with forward saw components unlatched and removed.

[0019] FIG. 4 redepicts the concrete saw of FIG. 1, the view of FIG. 4 further showing a worker operating the concrete saw.

[0020] FIG. 5 is an alternative and partial perspective view of components of the FIG. 1 concrete saw.

[0021] FIG. 6 is a further alternative partial perspective view of components of the FIG. 1 concrete saw.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

[0022] Referring now to the drawings and in particular to Drawing FIGS. 1 and 4, the instant inventive concrete saw is referred to generally by Reference Arrow 1, such saw being intended for use for cutting slots, grooves, or control joints within a concrete slab as exemplified by slot 106 within slab surface 104.

[0023] The instant inventive saw 1 comprises a front hand truck component which is referred to generally by Reference Arrow 3, and a rear hand truck component which is referred to generally by Reference Arrow 22. The front and rear hand truck components 3 and 22 respectively include lower feet or bases 2 and 24, and have attached upwardly extending handles 4 and 29.

[0024] The handle component 4 of the front hand truck 3 is preferably fixedly attached to a proximal end of such hand truck's base 2. Similarly, the handle component 29 of the rearward hand truck 22 is fixedly attached to a proximal end of such hand truck's base 24. Handle 4 preferably comprises lower and upper segments 6 and 8 which are interconnected by a releasable joint 10, the handle having an upper “T” bar 12 for two handed forward propulsion of the saw. The handle component 29 of the rear hand truck 22 is suitably configured as an inverted “U”, such handle having right and left uprights 27 and 28, and having an upper hand grip loop 30 which interconnects upper ends of such uprights.

[0025] Referring to FIGS. 1, 2, and 5, a front plurality of wheels 32 and 34 is fixedly and rotatably mounted to base 2, such wheels extending downwardly therefrom. In a preferred embodiment, laterally paired wheels 32 are fixedly and rotatably mounted to the under surface of the proximal end of the base 2. A rear plurality of wheels 36 and 40 is similarly fixedly and rotatably attached to the rear hand truck's base 24, such wheels similarly extending downwardly. Wheels 40 are preferably caster wheels which are fixedly attached to the distal end of base 24. While laterally paired distal caster wheels 40 are preferred, a single centrally positioned caster wheel (not depicted within views) may be suitably alternatively utilized. Proximal wheels 36 may be fixed wheels or caster wheels.

[0026] A motor and rotatable cutting wheel or blade combination incorporating, referring to FIG. 2, a motor 44 and a blade or cutting wheel 46 is preferably fixedly mounted to and supported upon the front hand truck's base 2. Suitably, the motor component of such combination may comprise an electric motor. However, such motor component preferably comprises a gas powered internal combustion engine. In the preferred motor and cutting wheel combination, a throttle control lever 14 is in fluid communication with the engine 44 to allow an operator to conveniently adjust motor rotation speed. The rotary output of the engine 44 turns a centrifugal clutch 55 which, upon frictional engagement, turns a drive pulley 48. Such pulley 48 cyclically drives belt 50 which rotates a driven pulley (not shown in views). The cutting wheel or blade 46 co-rotates with such driven pulley, the cutting wheel 46 being supported for rotation within a vacuum housing 68. In a preferred embodiment, the vacuum housing 68 enshrouds the upper end of the cutting wheel 46, such wheel having its cutting depth controlled by vertical slide shafts 72. Left and right slide plates 70 mounted to the left and right walls of the housing 68 allow the lower edges of said walls to effective abut the slab surface for a variable range of cutting depths.

[0027] In the preferred embodiment, the cutting wheel enshrouding vacuum housing 68 has a vacuum port 76 which communicates with the interior of the housing 68. As indicated above, said port preferably resides at an upper and forward position in order to open the housing at a point which coincides with the direction dust and cuttings are thrown by the blade 46. Referring to FIG. 4, as teeth at the front aspect of the blade 46 upwardly emerge from slot 106 during cutting of the slot, such teeth tend to throw concrete dust and cuttings directly upwardly within the housing 68. Placement of vacuum port 76 at such forward and overlying position to coincide with the direction of travel of such cuttings improves vacuuming efficiency of the assembly.

[0028] A further structural component of the instant inventive concrete saw comprises a motor powered vacuum which is referred to generally by Reference Arrow 52. As depicted in FIG. 1, the motor powered vacuum 52 is fixedly attached to and is supported by the handle component 29 of the rear hand truck 22, such attachment being effected by upper and lower canister encircling attachment brackets or bands 56 and 57. Suitably, the motor powered vacuum 52 may be alternatively supported by attachment brackets (not depicted in views) which extend upwardly from the hand truck's base 24.

[0029] In a preferred embodiment, the motor powered vacuum 52 comprises an electric motor 60 which drives a centrifugal impeller which rotates within an impeller housing 64. An onboard rechargeable battery 66 is preferably provided for electrically powering the motor 60, and an on/off switch 67 is provided. High air pressure exhaust driven by the motor 60 out of exhaust port 62 induces low vacuum pressure within an underlying cyclonic canister 54, such canister being opened by a vacuum port 77. As indicated in FIGS. 1 and 3, the vacuum port 77 is preferably configured as a tubular sleeve which attaches to and communicates with the cylindrical wall of the cyclonic canister 54. In the preferred embodiment such sleeve port 77 is preferably canted at an angle with respect to such canister wall so dust particles entering the canister are immediately moved in a circumferential direction within the canister. The upper and forward positioning of the vacuum housing's port 76 and the circumferential canting of port 77 work together to improve and enhance vacuuming efficiency. The motor, the impeller housing 64, and the battery 66 are preferably supported upon a canister lid 58 which is releasably latched to and covers the upper opening of the cyclonic canister 54.

[0030] A vacuum tube 74 has a suction end 75 which is fixedly mounted in communication with the vacuum port 76 of the vacuum housing 68. A vacuum dispensing end 78 of such hose 74 attaches to the cyclonic canister's vacuum port 77 by means of a releasable latch 80.

[0031] The cyclonic canister 54 preferably incorporates an internal dust filter (not depicted within views) which assures dust free exhaust at port 62, and a downwardly opening lower end 98 of the cyclonic canister 54 communicates with an upper opening of a flexible dust collection bag 100. A body of concrete dust 102 contained within the dust collection bag 100 may advantageously rest upon and be supported by a load bearing surface 26 of the base component 24 of the rear hand truck 22.

[0032] A trailering latch is preferably provided for interconnecting, and preferably releasably interconnecting the front and rear hand trucks 3 and 22. The invention's trailering latch component preferably arranges the front and rear hand trucks so that forward propulsion of the front hand truck 3 simultaneously forwardly pulls the rear hand truck 22. As indicated in FIG. 4, forward propulsion applied by the hands of an operator 108 to the “T” bar 12 of the front hand truck's handle 4 forwardly drives the front hand truck 3 and all of its attached components. Such forward propulsion, by virtue of the trailering latch, forwardly pulls the rear hand truck 22, along with its attached components.

[0033] In a preferred embodiment of the instant invention's trailering latch component, right and left attachment brackets 82r and 82l are fixedly attached to and forwardly extend from the proximal end of the rear hand truck's base 24. Forward ends of such brackets 82r and 82l suitably present downwardly opening “U” slots 86r and 86l, such slots respectively releasably engaging rightwardly and leftwardly extending pins 94r and 94l as depicted in FIGS. 5 and 6. In such embodiment, the gas powered motor 44 is encased within and protected by a tubular metal frame 96, such frame providing advantageous right and left anchoring points for mounting support of the right and left pins 94r and 94l. The depicted trailering latch 82r,86r,94r,82l,94l,86l is intended as being representative of other commonly known releasable latching fasteners (eg. hook and eye fasteners, “T” slot and “T” bar fasteners, screw attached fasteners, etc. Not depicted within views) which may suitably be alternatively utilized for releasably interconnecting structures such as the front and rear hand trucks 3 and 22.

[0034] As indicated in FIG. 4, the trailering facilitating releasable latch components are preferably vertically upwardly positioned upon the protective frame 96 at an elevation which raises the proximal wheels 36 of the rear hand truck's base 24 slightly above the slab surface 104, such wheel elevation advantageously producing, as indicated in FIG. 2, a clearance gap 37. Upon raising the proximal wheels 36 above the slab surface 104, the preferred caster wheel character of the rear hand truck's distal wheels 40 advantageously rollably supports the distal end of the rear hand truck 22 while avoiding any resistance to horizontal turning of the front hand truck 3.

[0035] The vacuum housing 68 and its interior cutting wheel 46 are supported and operatively extended laterally from the base 2 of the front hand truck, such lateral positioning being depicted, for example, as a rightward cutting assembly extension. The instant inventive concrete saw 1 preferably correspondingly laterally, or, for example, rightwardly positions the handle 4 of the front hand truck component, such corresponding lateral positioning being accomplished by means of an oppositely laterally extending mounting plate 20 whose oppositely lateral end is fixedly attached to a base mount bracket 18. The lateral positioning of the handle 4 allows a forward propulsion force applied to “T” bar 12 to advantageously align with the cutting wheel 46. Such lateral positioning of the handle 4 requires that the rearward hand truck 22 including its attached components reside oppositely laterally from the handle 4.

[0036] Referring to FIGS. 2 and 4, in operation of the instant inventive saw 1, the operator 108 may grasp “T” bar 12. Such operator may manually control motor speed via lever 14. Upon motor driven rotary actuation of the cutting wheel 46, the operator may manually raise the “T” bar 12, causing the forward hand truck's base 2, vacuum housing 68, and cutting wheel 46 to pivot downwardly toward the upper slab surface 104. During such pivoting action, the trailering latch 82r,86r,94r, 82l,86l,94l, advantageously functions as a rotary pivot joint.

[0037] Upon contact of the cutting wheel or blade 46 with the upper slab surface 104, such wheel commences to cut a concrete slab relief slot 106. Simultaneous operation of the motor powered vacuum 52 evacuates air within the interior of the housing 68, drawing silica concrete dust and cuttings upwardly along the vacuum tube 74. Such cuttings enter the cyclonic canister 54 via vacuum port 77, and circulating air flow within the canister 54 directs the dust and cuttings downwardly toward the canister's lower opening 98. Cuttings and dust within the cyclonic canister fall downwardly into collection bag 100. With the trailing latches engaged, the rear hand truck 22 moves forwardly simultaneously with the cutting motion of the front hand truck 3.

[0038] Upon filling of bag 100 with concrete dust 102, the operator 108 may deactivate the vacuum 52 by manipulating on/off switch 67, and by setting the motor 44 to idle. Thereafter, the operator may easily and conveniently disengage the upper opening of the bag 100 from the lower opening 98 of the cyclonic canister 54. Thereafter the operator may close the bag 100 with a tie to contain the silica dust 102, and remove the bag to a disposal location.

[0039] Upon completion of slab cutting and slotting operations, the operator 108 may disconnect the may release latch 80 to disconnect the vacuum tube 74 from the cyclonic canister 54. Thereafter, the operator 108 may manually raise the proximal or handle end of the rear hand truck 22, disengaging the trailing releasable latch. Thereafter, the rear hand truck 22 may rest upon its wheels separate from the front hand truck. Thereafter, the operator may grasp the upper hand grip portion 30 of the rear hand truck's handle 29, and may tilt the rear hand truck 22 rearwardly toward the operator in a manner similar to the operation of conventional hand trucks. Thereafter, the rear hand truck 22 and attached vacuum components may be rollably moved to storage or equipment transport location. Thereafter, the forward hand truck 3 along with its attached components may be similarly rollably moved. Reversals of the steps described above allow the inventive concrete saw to be reconfigured for recommencement of concrete slab cutting.

[0040] While the principles of the invention have been made clear in the above illustrative embodiment, those skilled in the art may make modifications to the structure, arrangement, portions and components of the invention without departing from those principles. Accordingly, it is intended that the description and drawings be interpreted as illustrative, and that the invention be given a scope commensurate with the appended claims.