ACCESSORY FOR OSCILLATING POWER TOOL

Abstract

An accessory for an oscillating power tool is provided. The accessory has a functional portion for cutting, sanding, or smoothing an object and an attachment portion that comprises a central opening with longitudinal and/or latitudinal openings extending radially from the central axis and a plurality of secondary openings. The secondary openings are also dispersed around the central axis. The accessory can fit, with no loss of functionality, oscillating power tools' connectors from multiple manufacturers.

Claims

1. An accessory for an oscillating tool comprising: a functional portion for cutting, sanding, or smoothing an object; and an attachment portion comprising: a central opening having a central axis; a first longitudinal opening extending from the central opening along a longitudinal axis of the attachment portion; a second longitudinal opening extending from the central opening along the longitudinal axis of the attachment portion opposite the first longitudinal opening; a first latitudinal opening extending from the central opening along a latitudinal axis of the attachment portion; a second latitudinal opening extending from the central opening along the latitudinal axis of the attachment portion opposite the first latitudinal opening; and a series of secondary openings disjoined from the central opening and extending to a first radial distance from the central axis, wherein the attachment portion of the accessory is adapted to mate with an attachment portion of the oscillating tool.

2. The accessory of claim 1 wherein the longitudinal axis and the latitudinal axis intersect at an angle of 90 degrees at the central axis.

3. The accessory of claim 1 further comprising: two openings along the latitudinal axis extending to the first radial distance.

4. The accessory of claim 1 further comprising: an opening along the longitudinal axis extending to the first radial distance.

5. The accessory of claim 1 wherein the series of secondary openings consists of twelve openings.

6. The accessory of claim 1 wherein the central opening has a diameter of 10 mm.

7. The accessory of claim 1 wherein the first radial distance is 25 mm.

8. The accessory of claim 1 wherein the attachment portion of the accessory is further adapted to mate with the attachment portion of the oscillating tool by receiving at least one drive element through at least one of the longitudinal openings.

9. The accessory of claim 8 wherein the attachment portion of the accessory is further adapted to mate with the attachment portion of the oscillating tool by receiving at least one drive element through at least one of the secondary openings.

10. An accessory for a tool comprising: a functional portion for cutting, sanding, or smoothing an object; and an attachment portion comprising: a central opening having a central axis; a first longitudinal opening extending from the central opening along a longitudinal axis of the attachment portion to a first radial distance from the central axis; a first latitudinal opening extending from the central opening along a latitudinal axis of the attachment portion to the first radial distance; a second latitudinal opening extending from the central opening along the latitudinal axis of the attachment portion opposite the first latitudinal opening to the first radial distance; and a series of secondary openings extending to the first radial distance.

11. The accessory of claim 10 wherein the longitudinal axis and the latitudinal axis intersect at an angle of 90 degrees at the central axis.

12. The accessory of claim 10 wherein the central opening has a diameter of 10 mm.

13. The accessory of claim 10 wherein the first radial distance is 25 mm.

14. The accessory of claim 10 wherein the attachment portion of the accessory is adapted to mate with an attachment portion of the tool by receiving at least one drive element through the first longitudinal opening.

15. The accessory of claim 10 wherein the attachment portion of the accessory is adapted to mate with an attachment portion of the tool by receiving at least one drive element through at least one of the latitudinal openings.

16. The accessory of claim 15 wherein the attachment portion of the accessory is further adapted to mate with the attachment portion of the tool by receiving at least one drive element through at least one of the secondary openings.

17. An accessory for a tool comprising: a functional portion for cutting, sanding, or smoothing an object; and an attachment portion comprising: a primary opening defining a rotational axis about which the accessory is designed to oscillate when attached to the tool, the opening having a first extension along a longitudinal axis of the attachment portion, a second extension along a latitudinal axis of the attachment portion, and a third extension extending along the latitudinal axis of the attachment portion; a set of secondary openings disjoined from the primary opening and extending to a first radial distance from the rotational axis; wherein the longitudinal axis and the latitudinal axis intersect at an angle of 90 degrees at the rotational axis; wherein the accessory comprises two openings along the latitudinal axis extending to the first radial distance.

18. The accessory of claim 17 wherein the first radial distance is 25 mm.

19. The accessory of claim 17 wherein the series of secondary openings extending to the first radial distance consists of six openings.

20. The accessory of claim 17 wherein the attachment portion of the accessory is adapted to mate with an attachment portion of the tool by receiving at least one drive element through at least one of the secondary openings.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0015] FIG. 1A shows a prior art accessory being mounted to a drive flange of an oscillating power tool;

[0016] FIG. 1B shows a pattern of projections defined in the drive flange of the oscillating power tool shown in FIG. 1A;

[0017] FIGS. 2A and 2B show top and bottom perspective views of another example of an oscillating power tool to which is mounted another prior art accessory;

[0018] FIG. 3 is a perspective view of an accessory for an oscillating power tool, in this example a blade accessory, in accordance with a specific embodiment of the invention;

[0019] FIG. 4 is a front view of another example of a blade m accordance with another embodiment of the invention;

[0020] FIG. 5 is a diagrammatic view of an arbor of the blade of FIG. 4 in which the arbor comprises a plurality of cavities, including a primary cavity and a set of secondary cavities;

[0021] FIG. 6A shows a variant of the arbor of FIG. 4 in which the plurality of cavities of the arbor includes a primary cavity but no secondary cavities;

[0022] FIG. 6B shows another variant of the arbor of FIG. 4 in which the set of secondary cavities includes one secondary cavity;

[0023] FIG. 6C shows another variant of the arbor of FIG. 4 in which the set of secondary cavities includes two secondary cavities;

[0024] FIG. 6D shows another variant of the arbor of FIG. 4 in which the set of secondary cavities includes three secondary cavities;

[0025] FIG. 6E shows another variant of the arbor of FIG. 4 in which the set of secondary cavities includes four secondary cavities;

[0026] FIG. 6F shows another variant of the arbor of FIG. 4 in which the set of secondary cavities includes five secondary cavities;

[0027] FIG. 6G shows another variant of the arbor of FIG. 4 in which the set of secondary cavities includes six secondary cavities;

[0028] FIG. 6H shows another variant of the arbor of FIG. 4 in which the set of secondary cavities includes seven secondary cavities;

[0029] FIG. 6I shows another variant of the arbor of FIG. 4 in which the set of secondary cavities includes eight secondary cavities;

[0030] FIG. 6J shows another variant of the arbor of FIG. 4 in which the set of secondary cavities includes nine secondary cavities;

[0031] FIG. 6K shows another variant of the arbor of FIG. 4 in which the set of secondary cavities includes ten secondary cavities;

[0032] FIG. 6L shows another variant of the arbor of FIG. 4 in which the set of secondary cavities includes eleven secondary cavities; and

[0033] FIG. 6M shows another variant of the arbor of FIG. 4 in which the set of secondary cavities includes twelve secondary cavities.

[0034] In the drawings, embodiments of the invention are illustrated by way of examples. It is to be expressly understood that the description and drawings are only for the purpose of illustration and are an aid for understanding. They are not intended to be a definition of the limits of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0035] FIG. 3 shows an example of an accessory 50 for use with an oscillating power tool 100 in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. The oscillating power tool 100, shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, comprises a drive flange 102 for mounting the accessory 50 thereto. In this embodiment, the accessory 50 is a blade accessory used for cutting. The blade 50 comprises a body 52 and an arbor 54 defined in the body 52 for matingly engaging attachment elements (e.g., projections) of the drive flange 102 of the oscillating power tool 100.

[0036] As will be discussed in more detail below, the blade 50 may be mounted onto oscillating power tools produced by a variety of manufacturers despite the fact that these manufacturers design the drive flanges of their oscillating power tools to have different patterns of projection in order to be solely compatible with their own accessories. Notably, as discussed above, replacement blades for manufacturers' oscillating power tools are only provided by those manufacturers for use with their specific oscillating power tool and could not be used with other manufacturers' oscillating power tools.

[0037] As discussed above, this common practice can result in users being required to hold stock of each individual oscillating power tool's requisite replacement blades due to an arbor (i.e., a fitting slot/hole) of the accessory that is unique to each manufacturer's oscillating power tool. This results in higher cost and higher blade inventories than what could be allowed under a “universal” arbor (i.e., an arbor that is compatible with a multitude of manufacturers' oscillating power tools).

[0038] Continuing with FIG. 3, the body 52 of the blade 50 extends in a longitudinal direction from a first end 56 to a second end 58. The first end 56 of the body 52 is a functional end that allows the accessory 50 to perform its function (i.e., cutting). As such, in this embodiment, the first end 56 is a blade end that allows the blade 50 to cut. For instance, in this example, the blade end 56 comprises cutting teeth. The second end 58 is an attachment end for mounting the blade 50 to the drive flange 102 of the oscillating power tool 100. More specifically, the attachment end 58 defines the arbor 54 which is configured to matingly engage attachment elements (e.g., projections) of the drive flange 102 of the oscillating power tool 100.

[0039] The body 52 of the blade 50 is made of a material 62. The material 62 may be, for example, a metallic material, a plastic material or any other suitable material.

[0040] The arbor 54 can be thought of as being “universal” as it is compatible, with no loss of functionality, with the drive flanges (sometimes referred to as “receptacles”) of the oscillating power tools of multiple manufacturers.

[0041] To that end, and as can best be seen in FIG. 4, the arbor 54 comprises a plurality of cavities 64.sub.1-64.sub.c which are configured to receive the attachment elements of the drive flange 102 of the oscillating power tool 100. In this embodiment, the plurality of cavities 64 .sub.1-64.sub.c includes a primary cavity 66 which is centrally located amongst the plurality of cavities 64.sub.1-64.sub.c, and a set of secondary cavities 68.sub.1-68.sub.N positioned radially about the primary cavity 66. In this embodiment, the cavities 64.sub.1-64.sub.c are in the form of openings in that they traverse the body 52 of the blade 50 from one face of the blade 50 to another. However, in other embodiments, the cavities 64.sub.1-64.sub.c may be depressed or raised portions of the body 12 (e.g., debossed or embossed portions).

[0042] The primary opening 66 comprises a central opening 70 which defines a central axis 72 of the arbor 54, and first and second elongated openings 74, 76 each conjoined with the central opening 70 and extending radially from the central axis 72. More particularly, the first elongated opening 74 extends from the central axis 72 along a first radial axis 78 while the second elongated opening 76 extends from the central axis 72 along a second radial axis 80 transversal to the first radial axis 78. In particular, the second radial axis 80 is substantially orthogonal to the first radial axis 78. The primary opening 66 may thus be considered to be generally cross-shaped with a generally circular opening located at the intersection of the two arms of the cross. Moreover, in this embodiment, the second radial axis 80 lies along the longitudinal direction of the body 52 of the blade 50.

[0043] Characteristics of the cavities of the arbour 54 may be better appreciated with reference to FIG. 5. As depicted, the first and second elongated openings 74, 76 are generally rectangular and each has a width W.sub.E of about 2 mm measured in a direction normal to the first and second radial axes 78, 80. Moreover, each of the first and second elongated openings 74, 76 extends from the central opening 70 by a length L.sub.E of about 7.5 mm. For its part, the central opening 70 has a generally circular shape which defines an inner circle 75 of the arbor 54. The inner circle 75 has a diameter D.sub.IC of about 10 mm.

[0044] The secondary openings 68.sub.1-68.sub.N are disjoined from (i.e., not connected to) the primary opening 66 such that the material 62 of the body 52 separates the secondary openings 68.sub.1-68.sub.N from the primary opening 66. More particularly, at least some of the secondary openings 681-68N are separated from the central opening 70 by a radial distance R.sub.0 of about 3.25 mm. Moreover, the secondary openings 68.sub.1-68.sub.N are positioned radially about the central axis 72 along respective radial axes 82.sub.1-82.sub.N distinct from the first and second radial axes 78, 80 of the first and second elongated openings 74, 76.

[0045] While in the embodiments depicted in FIGS. 4 and 5, the set of secondary openings 681-68N includes four secondary openings, the set of secondary openings 68.sub.1-68.sub.N may include more or fewer secondary openings in other embodiments as depicted in FIG. 6A to 6M. For instance, the set of secondary openings 68.sub.1-68.sub.N may include at least one secondary opening, in some cases at least two separate secondary openings, in some cases at least four separate secondary openings, and in some cases even more. For example, the set of secondary openings 68.sub.1-68.sub.N may include twelve separate secondary openings, as shown in FIG. 6M.

[0046] The primary opening 66 and the set of secondary openings 68.sub.1-68.sub.N form a substantially circular shape defining an outer circle 84 of the arbor 54. In specific practical implementations, the outer circle 84 has a diameter Doc of about 25 mm. At least some of the secondary openings 68.sub.1-68.sub.N extend to define part of a periphery of the outer circle 84. As such, at least some of the secondary openings 68.sub.1-68.sub.N have a radial extent R.sub.E of about 4.25 mm.

[0047] The blade accessory 50, via the configuration of its arbor 54, notably its openings 64.sub.1-64.sub.C, is compatible with the major manufacturers' oscillating power tools with no loss of functionality at a price that will allow for replacement of dulling blades when required, as opposed to stretching the use of manufacturers' blades beyond a point of usefulness (i.e., after they've become dull) due to their cost. In connection with the specific design depicted in FIG. 5, the arbor 54 may allow the blade 50 to be placed at angles up to every 30 degrees in a circle when mounted onto the drive flange of may oscillating power tools.

[0048] Looking to FIG. 5, and in a specific implementation, the arbor 54 of the blade accessory has the following dimensions, expressed within a range of greater than or less than 1 mm for all measurements: [0049] A) Outer circle 84 diameter D.sub.OC: 25 mm [0050] B) Inner circle 75 diameter D.sub.IC: 10 mm [0051] C) Radius distance from outer limit of middle circle to outer circle R.sub.E: 4.25 mm [0052] D) Primary opening 66: first (x-axis)-78: 25 mm, second (y-axis) 80: 25 mm, 2 mm width (W.sub.E) [0053] E) Radial distance R.sub.D between central opening 70 and secondary openings 68.sub.1-68.sub.N: 3.25 mm

[0054] It will be understood that while the accessory 50 has been described and shown as a blade accessory in this embodiment, in other embodiments, the accessory 50 may be a rasp, a sander, a scraper, a grout remover or any other accessory for oscillating power tools in any material such as metal, plastic, or other. For example, the functional end 56 of the accessory 50 can serve as either a blade to cut, a sander to sand, a rasp to sand, a scraper to scrape, or a grout remover to remove grout with power assistance from the oscillating power tool. In specific practical implementations, the accessory 50 may be configured to fit tightly onto the flange 102 of the oscillating power tool 100 to provide functionality, maintain torque, and is secured by the arbor 54, and a screw or fastener on the other side of the drive flange 102 of the oscillating power tool 100.

[0055] The above specification, and examples provide a complete description of the use of the invention. Since many embodiments of the invention can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, the invention is defined by the claims.