Title of Invention

DEVICE FOR CUTTING FLAT, TWO-DIMENSIONAL MATERIALS MADE MOSTLY OF MINERALS, PARTICULARLY GLASS SUCH AS COMPOSITE SAFETY GLASS

Abstract

1. Apparatus for csutting sheet materials con¬sisting of predominantly mineral substances, sucli as laminated safety glass, to dimensions adjustable rela¬tive to a reference edge of the material, comprising, a frame mounting oppositely disposed cutting tools acting simultaneously on both major planes of the material, as well as elements both for guiding said apparatus along the reference edge of the material while cutting the same and for the universal handling of said apparatus regardless of the local and/or geometric position of the material, characterized by the combination of the following features: a) Frame (2) has a cutting head (3) and arms (2.1) in a bifurcated configuration of which the mutual distance at the free ends is variable under tension; b) The free ends of arms (2.1) have attached thereto cutting tools (3.1) forming the cutting head (3) and acting onto the material planes (5.1) to be cut by virtue of the bias exerted by arms (2.1); c) Cutting tools (3.1) have associated therewith first guide rolls (3.1.1) of which the positions are variable relative to material"" planes (5.1); d) one of said arms (2.1) has integrated there¬with a guide rail (2.3) on which is mounted a transverse element (4) adjustable and fixable in the longitudinal direction for setting the cutting distance from the reference edge; and 12 e) transverse element (4) has thereon a guide head (4.1) which straddles the reference edge of the material (5) to be cut, is guided by and along said reference edge and is biased against material (5) to adjust to the thickness thereof, said transverse ele¬ment (4) also including a handle (4.2) for the manipur lation and the direct control of apparatus (1) by the user handling it.

Full Text

ORIGINAL 445/MUMNP/04 FORM 2 THE PATENTS ACT, 1970 (39 of 1970) COMPLETE SPECIFICATION (See Section 10, rule 13) DEVICE FOR CUTTING FLAT, TWO- DIMENSIONAL MATERIALS MADE MOSTLY OF MINERALS, PARTICULARLY GLASS SUCH AS COMPOSITE SAFETYxGLASS REICHEL, FRANK of SONNENALLEE 164, 12059 BERLIN, GERMANY, GERMAN National The following specification particularly describes the nature of the invention and the manner in which it is to be performed : - Apparatus for Cutting Sheet Materials Consisting Mainly of Mineral Substances, Particularly Glass Such as Laminated Safety Glass Description Field of the Art The present application relates to apparatus for cut¬ting sheet materials consisting mainly of mineral sub¬stances, particularly glass such as laminated safety glass, which apparatus is flexible to handle and to use. In a broader sense, these materials include mate¬rials such as ceramic tiles and/or natural stone plates, of which the characteristics do not adversely influence the cutting process and of which the cross-sectional structure comprises; several layers including different materials, such as laminated safety glass. Prior Art As regards procedure, it has been known byvDE 43 30 473 Al, DE 44 44 184 C2 and DE 42 28 907 Al to start out by scoring glass sheets such as laminated or multilayer glass on both sides, to then break them apart and to 2 finally sever the plastic film disposed between the glass layers by means of a plasma beam, a knife or o-ther means, with the two sides of the sheet structure being scored simultaneously. It has been known likewise by US 1 495 523 A and US 2 265 955 A to use apparatus for cutting glass sheets comprising a guide arm having attached thereto two par¬allel longer arms each supporting a cutting tool, this apparatus allowing laminated glass sheets to be cut. Finally, US 4 222 300 proposes apparatus including a cutting wheel placed opposite a roll. If this state of the art is viewed jointly and applied to the cutting of the materials initially stated, such as sheets of glass and particularly of laminated safety glass, the following drawbacks will be found - in the order of the cited prior art - which apparatus so con¬ceived would exhibit: The cutting of narrow stripes is not possible and the sheet materials must be re-positioned in the cutter for each new cut to be started; The cutting device is predisposed for stationary operation, i.e. the severing of the plastic film of la¬minated safety glass would present problems; The device is required to have a stationary table and exhibits the aforesaid shortcomings; If constructed as a manual device having a resil es ient frame, the cutter allows one-sided cutting only; even if designed for two-sided cutting, the device would not ensure positive guidance of the tools on the material. 3 Without fixed guide means, it is not be possible to use the cutting device in the field. The invention starts out from the problem that the re¬latively large materials supplied by industry for further processing - such as laminated glass sheets -must be cut to the desired dimensions on both sides si¬multaneously. Thereafter the sheet, which is large and heavy, is removed from the table or - in the field -must be held by two persons and turned over. Finally, the sheet is drawn over an edge and broken apart by be¬ing moved up and down, whereafter the plastic film be¬tween the layers is severed. This procedure gives rise to the aforesaid drawbacks. It is not possible to cut the said materials in a ra¬tional and high-quality manner. Neither can the problem be overcome by the teaching of US 4,739.555. A. .This reference teaches apparatus for cutting glass sheets which comprises a frame having arms in a bifurcated arrangement mounting a cutting tool on each free end thereof and an adjustable trans¬verse member for adjusting the spacing between the cut¬ting tools. The required bias is produced by biasing elements provided at each one of the two cutting tools, which presents a disadvantage, and the single guide roll arrangement the prior teaching proposes does not allow precise guidance to be obtained. The Invention The object underlying the invention is to provide appa¬ratus for cutting planar materials of the kind de¬scribed hereinabove, especially glass such as laminated safety glass, which apparatus 4 is suited for stationary use in the shop and in any orientation in the field, i.e. also if the sheet material is vertically oriented, and is easily handled by a single person; facilitates and rationalizes the severing of por¬tions from materials such as„ glass sheets while main¬taining a high quality - such as dimensional accuracy and avoidance of breakage - and at the same time en¬sures safety from accidents; and is designed to have a frame with arms, guide ele¬ments and cutting tools disposed on both sides to act simultaneously, with the novel design elements con¬ceived to eliminate the aforesaid drawbacks of the prior art devices. In accordance with the invention, this object is achie¬ved with the features in claims 1 to 15. The invention is described below by way of an embodi¬ment example. Brief Description of the Drawings Fig. 1 shows a simplified view in perspective of ap¬paratus 1 in an operational orientation; Fig. 2 shows frame 2 of apparatus 1 with cutting head 3 and transverse member 4 in plan; Fig. 3 shows a lateral longitudinal section of frame 2 of Fig. 2; Fig. 4 shows a front view of transverse member 4 with guide head 4.1; 5 Fig. 5 shows a top plan view of transverse member 4 of Fig. 4; Fig. 6 shows traASverse member 4 of Fig. 4 in eleva¬tion. Best Mode of Implementing the^Invention A material 5 can generally consist of predominantly mineral substances and constitute a planar or sheet element. In particular, material 5 can be glass and preferably a sheet of laminated safety glass, which is most suited to demonstrate the embodiment example. Sheets of laminated safety glass 5 are cut to size not only in a workshop, but frequently in the field as well. The advantages accruing from* the use of the inventive apparatus 1 will be evident from a consideration of the dimensions to be set relative to a reference edge of said material 5, the guiding of apparatus 1 having the generic features along the reference edge of material 5 (such as laminated safety glass) while placing the cut, and the universal Handling of the apparatus regardles of the orientation and/or geometric position of the ma¬terial 5 (such as a sheet of laminated safety glass), including vertical positions or orientations that make handling it difficult, as on construction sites. Thus the design of a frame 2, as well as its universal left- or right-handed application, gain particular sig¬nificance and importance in , connection with its main objective, namely, the cutting of the aforesaid mate¬rial 5, which may be irv the mature of tiles. 6 In accordance with the overall representation in Fig. 1, the inventive apparatus 1 consists of a frame 2 hav¬ing arms 2.1 in a fork-like or bifurcated arrangement. The distance between the free ends of arms 2.1 is adap¬ted to be varied under bias. These free ends mount cutting tools 3.1 forming a cutting head 3 and acting under the bias exerted by arms 2.1 on the two material planes 5.1 of the material 5 to be cut. As evident from Fig. 2 and 3, cutting tools 3.1 have associated therewith first guide rolls 3.1.1, of which the positions relative to material planes 5.1 are ad¬justable. One arm 2.1 (in this case the top one in Fig. 1) has integrally attached thereto as guide rail 2.3 (see Fig. 2) having graduations or a scale 2.3.1 thereon (Fig. 5). Guide rail 2.3 has thereon a transverse member 4 which is mounted for adjustment in the longitudinal di¬rection of arm 2.1 and adapted to be secured in place in order to allow the cutting distance from the desired reference edge of material 5 to be adjusted in a dimen-sionally accurate manner. As shown in Fig. 3, transverse member 4 has a guide head 4.1 which straddles the reference edge of the ma¬terial 5 to be cut, is guided-thereby and is adapted to be biased against material 5 to adjusted to the thick¬ness thereof. A handle 4.2 (shown in this case to be secured to guide had 4.1) serves to manipulate the de-vice and to enable the user to directly control its movements. In the light of the complexity of the underlying prob¬lem to be solved, as detailed above, the novel combina¬tion of these main inventive features and their func- 7 tional interaction exhibit thp advantages over the pri¬or art set forth above, especially if the material to be processed comprises the aforesaid glass sheets. In order to realize a lightweight construction of appa¬ratus 1, forked arms 2.1 consist of a pair of U-shaped planar elements 2.2 held in a mutually spaced relatione ship by connecting elements 2.4. On the one hand, this results in an extremely light¬weight frame 2 which is stable but exhibits at the free ends of its arms 2.1 the desirable resilient proper¬ties. This presents a major advantage for causing cut¬ting tools 3.1 to exert pressure on material planes 5.1 and for adjusting - or for providing for the adjust¬ability of - cutting tools 3:1 to the thickness of ma¬terial 5. On the other hand, this lightweight frame 2 optimizes the universal handling characteristics of the inventive apparatus. As shown in Fig. 3, cutting tools 3.1 mounted on the free ends of arms 2.1 of frame 2 (Fig. 1 and 2) may comprise cutting wheels 3.1.2. On the one hand, the first guide rolls 3.1.1 shown in greater detail in Figs. 2 and 3 ensure an optimum posi¬tion of cutting tools 3.1 regarding a guiding pressure acting towards cutting planes 5.1 (Fig.l); on the other hand, they minimize the resistance required for cutting material 5. This effect is obtained mainly by the re¬silient bias exerted by the free ends of arms 2.1 of frame 2. The overall functionality of the inventive apparatus is assisted by cutting tools 3.1 (Fig. 3) forming identi- 8 cally constructed components and enhancing the afore¬said effect by having - A supporting body 3.1.3 each, with at least one of said bodies mounted on the free end of one of arms 2.1 to obtain a variabille vertical position reV-lative to cutting plane J5.1; - Travellers 3.1.4 secured to supporting body 3.1.3 to carry first guide rolls 3.1.1 and cutting tools 3.1 positioned between^said guide rolls 3.1.1, with the mutual distance between supporting bodies 3.1.3 being variable at least by virtue of the bi'f as of arms 2.1; - A distance between first guide rolls 3.1.1 and cutting tool 3.1, seen in a direction vertical to material plane 5.1, which ensures a guiding pres¬sure and minimizes the resistance required for cutting material 5. In functional cooperation with the material 5 to be cut, guide head 4.1 has - see Figs. 3, 5 and 6 - guide elements 4.1.2 corresponding to both material planes 5.1 (Fig. 1) and to the reference edge of material 5 (Fig. 3), which guide elements are adjustable for raove^ ment towards each other and have second and third guide rolls 4.1.2 and 4.1.3, respectively. Accordingly, guide head 4.1 performs complex functions such as the guiding of apparatus 1, dimensional accuracy of the cut by vir¬tue of guide rail 2.3 with graduations 2.3.1 thereon (Fig. 5) and the handling of apparatus 1 by means of a handle 4.2 secured to one of guide elements 4.1.1 (Fig. 3) to reach around one arm 2.1 of frame 2. Conveniently, first guide rolls 3.1.1, second guide rolls 4.1.2 and third guid& rolls 4.1.3 have wear- 9 resistant and/or low-friction coatings on at least the rolling surfaces thereof. In order to allow varying sizes of inventive apparatus 1 to be manufactured in a technologically convenient manner, at least one of the aforesaid modules or compo¬nent parts is designed to be replaceable. Also to this end, frame 2 should be variable in size by using sec¬tions thereof which vary in size. Conveniently, and as shown schematically in Fig. 6, the distance between guide elements 4.1.1 of guide head 4.1 should be made to be articulatedly adjustable against the bias of at least one resilient or spring element (not shown). Finally, apparatus 1 is expandable in the following re¬spect: - At least one guide element 4.1.1 having handles is movably mounted on guide rail 2.3 as a component part of transverse element 2.3 (Figs. 3, 4 and 5); - Transverse element 4 is adapted to be secured in place in one reference position only and apparatus 1 can perform arcuate cuts, with block-like in¬serts allowing any kind of cut 5.2 to be realized. . - Most conveniently, frame 2 should have a cross-sectional shape tapering from its closed rear end to its front end forming the free ends of arms 2.1 which receive cutting head 3. Further, the rear end of frame 2 is configured to form a second handle (not shown), as indicated in Fig. 1. 10 Industrial Applicabllity The present invept'ion provides apparatus 1 for trade and industrial practice which has turned out to be a valuable tool in in-house testing. The device substan¬tially eliminates the drawbacks initially set forth of prior art designs. When apparatus 1 is used for cutting laminated safety glass 5, the usual severing of the plastics film pro¬vided between the glass layers can be performed as -in the past. In accordance with the basic -principles of the inverr-tive design, it is" possible to provide ergonomically adapted variants -for left- and right-handed individu¬als, for example - and -to implement these in a cost-effective manner. On the whole, and on the basis of the underlying prob¬lems and objectives, the use of apparatus 1 allows all operations required in practical work to be performed in a comprehensive and efficient manner without having to.tolerate the drawbacks of prior art devices. List of Reference Numerals 1 Apparatus 2 Frame 2.1 Arm 2.2 Sheetelement 2.3 Guide rail 2.3.1 Graduation, scale 2.4 Connecting element 3 cutting head 3.1 Cutting tool 3.1.1 First guide roll 3.1.2 Cutting wheel 3.1.3 Supporting body 3.1.4 Traveller 4 Transverse element 4.1 Guide head 4.1.1 Guide element 4.1.2 Second guide roll 4.1.3 Third guide roll 4.2 Handle 5 Material, such as laminated safety glass 5.1 Material plane 5.2 Cut, cutting line 1k 11 We Claims 1. 1. Apparatus for csutting sheet materials con¬sisting of predominantly mineral substances, sucli as laminated safety glass, to dimensions adjustable rela¬tive to a reference edge of the material, comprising, a frame mounting oppositely disposed cutting tools acting simultaneously on both major planes of the material, as well as elements both for guiding said apparatus along the reference edge of the material while cutting the same and for the universal handling of said apparatus regardless of the local and/or geometric position of the material, characterized by the combination of the following features: a) Frame (2) has a cutting head (3) and arms (2.1) in a bifurcated configuration of which the mutual distance at the free ends is variable under tension; b) The free ends of arms (2.1) have attached thereto cutting tools (3.1) forming the cutting head (3) and acting onto the material planes (5.1) to be cut by virtue of the bias exerted by arms (2.1); c) Cutting tools (3.1) have associated therewith first guide rolls (3.1.1) of which the positions are variable relative to material"" planes (5.1); d) one of said arms (2.1) has integrated there¬with a guide rail (2.3) on which is mounted a transverse element (4) adjustable and fixable in the longitudinal direction for setting the cutting distance from the reference edge; and 12 e) transverse element (4) has thereon a guide head (4.1) which straddles the reference edge of the material (5) to be cut, is guided by and along said reference edge and is biased against material (5) to adjust to the thickness thereof, said transverse ele¬ment (4) also including a handle (4.2) for the manipur lation and the direct control of apparatus (1) by the user handling it. 2. Apparatus as in claim 1, characterized in that bir furcated arms (2.1) comprise a pair of U-shaped planar elements (2.2) held at a mutual distance by connecting elements (2.4) to form a lightweight frame (2). 3. Apparatus as in claim 1 or 2, characterized in that cutting tools (3.1) at the free ends of arms (2. If comprise cutting wheels (3.1.2). 4. Apparatus as in any one of claims 1 to 3, charac¬terized in that first guide rolls (3.1.1) maintain cut 7 ting tools (3.1) in positions suited, on the one hand, to provide an optimum guiding pressure relative to the cutting planes and, on the ot*her hand, to ensure a mi¬nimum required resistance for cutting. 5. Apparatus as in any one of claims 1 to 4, charac¬terized in that cutting tools (3.1) secured at the free ends of arms (2.1) form constructionally similar parts each comprising: a) Supporting bodies (3.1.3) at least one of which is adjustable at the free end of an arm (2.1) in vertical position relative to the cutting plane; b) Travelling bodies (3.1.4) secured to support¬ing body (3.1.3) and mounting first guide rolls (3.1.1) and cutting tools (3.1) positioned between said first 13 14 b) at least frame (2) being variable in construc¬tional size by comprising sections not designated and shown. 11. Apparatus as in claim 7, characterized by the dis tance between guide elements (4.1.1) of guide head (4.1) being variable articulatedly against a force ex¬erted by at least one spring element (not shown). 12. Apparatus as in claims , 7 and 11, characterized by at least one guide element (4.1.1) being provided for movement on guide rail (2.3) as a component part of transverse element (4.1), said guide element also havf-ing the aforesaid handle (4.2). 13. Apparatus as in any one of claims 1 to 13, charac¬terized in that, for setting the cutting distance from the reference edge of material (5) to be cut, trans¬verse element 4, which is mqpnted on guide rail (2.3) in a manner to be adjustable and fixed in place, a) is adapted to be fixed in position at a ref¬erence point by means not illustrated, b) with cutting tools (3.1) adapted to perform arcuate cuts on material (5) by correspondingly manipu¬lating and moving apparatus (1), 14. Apparatus as in any one of claims 1 to 13, charac¬ terized by a) transverse element (4) and the reference edge of material () having therebetween guide-block-like in¬serts (not illustrated herein) of any curved shape and b) apparatus (1) being manipulated and guided to cause cutting tools (3.1) to perform curved cuts on ma terial (3) as guided by said blocks. 15 15. Apparatus as in any one of claims 1 to 14, charac¬terized in that frame (2) has a cross-sectional shape tapering from its closed end to its front end forming the free ends of arms (2.1) accepting cutting head (3) with the rear end of frame (2) being configured to form a second handle (not illustrated) for left- or rights-handed manipulation. Dated this 16th day of August, 2004. HIRAL CHANDRAKANT JOSHI AGENT FOR REICHEL FRANK

Documents:

445-mumnp-2004-claims(granted)-(16-08-2004).doc

445-mumnp-2004-claims(granted)-(16-08-2004).pdf

445-mumnp-2004-correspondence(28-09-2005).pdf

445-mumnp-2004-correspondence(ipo)-(08-01-2008).pdf

445-mumnp-2004-drawing(16-08-2004).pdf

445-mumnp-2004-form 19(16-08-2004).pdf

445-mumnp-2004-form 1a(16-08-2004).pdf

445-mumnp-2004-form 2(granted)-(16-08-2004).doc

445-mumnp-2004-form 2(granted)-(16-08-2004).pdf

445-mumnp-2004-form 3(16-08-2004).pdf

445-mumnp-2004-form 3(28-09-2004).pdf

445-mumnp-2004-form 5(16-08-2004).pdf

445-mumnp-2004-form-pct-ipea-409(16-08-2004).pdf

445-mumnp-2004-general power of attorney(06-01-2005).pdf

445-mumnp-2004-other document(28-09-2005).pdf

445-mumnp-2004-petition under rule 137(28-09-2005).pdf

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