Tile cutting machine

Abstract

 A tool carrier and a relative manual tile-cutting machine is disclosed, wherein the tool carrier body (4, 40, 400'), apt to slide on bar-shaped guiding means (B, C, G) parallel to the support plane of a base (1), is provided with a lever-shaped handle mechanism (7, 8), with an incision tool (9) and a breaking foot (10), said tool-carrying body (4) being longitudinally sledge sliding constrained on said bar-shaped means (B, C, G), and wherein the incision tool (9) and the breaking foot (10) are mounted on said tool carrier body in a way sliding crosswise to said bar-shaped guiding means (B, C, G), substantially orthogonally to said support plane, said lever-shaped handle mechanism (7, 8) being pivoted in a point of articulation (6) on said tool carrier body (4) and acting on said incision tool and breaking foot from opposite sides of said point of articulation (6).

Description

Field of the Invention

[0001] The present invention refers to an improved tool carrier in a manual machine for tile cutting.

Background Art

[0002] As known for some time, manual tile cutters occupy a highly specialised sector, wherein few manufacturers have the necessary expertise to manufacture improved cutting systems which meet market requirements.

[0003] The manual tile cutters traditionally on the market consist of a base whereon a tile-resting area is provided, wherefrom two end posts project which support one or two guiding bars for the sliding of a tool carrier. Said tool carrier is configured in order to be able to slide freely on the bars and generally has a handle portion and, below, an incision tool (usually comprising a wheel of extremely hard material) apt to engrave the tile.

[0004] The incision of the tile or of the stone material occurs by applying pressure to the tool on the tile, imparted by the operator through the handle.

[0005] In order to facilitate the subsequent breaking operation, i.e. separation of the tile along the incision line, the base typically comprises a pair of floating plates on both sides of a central, longitudinal, rigid ribbing, arranged in a position sunk in correspondence of the incision line. Thereby, once the incision has been performed, it is possible to impart a pressure on the tile - with a suitable breaking device or foot integral with the tool carrier - to bring it into abutment with the longitudinal ribbing and cause the opening of the incision.

[0006] Manual tile cutters traditionally stand apart due to the fact that they have a single guiding bar or two guiding bars and in the "pull" or "push" types - depending on the tool carrier shape which is intended to perform the incision - while the user pulls it towards himself or pushes it away, respectively.

[0007] In any case, the tool carrier traditionally consists of a main body, whereto the incision tool, the breaking foot and the handle are fastened. In order to be able to perform the movements necessary for the incision and the break, as well as to adjust the tool position to the different thicknesses of the plate or tile to be cut, the tool carrier body is mounted on the guiding bars with two degrees of freedom. As a matter of fact, in addition to the opportunity of longitudinally translating - guided by the linear bars - the tool carrier body is free to perform a rotation or pivoting. This is traditionally achieved either by mounting the body on a rotation pin integral with a pair of sliding blocks (for example in machines with two cylindrical bars lying side by side horizontally), or by providing a wide sliding pocket in the tool carrier body, so that it may slide longitudinally on the single guiding bar with sufficient slack to allow also a rotation on the plane of the bar. An example of said last solution is described, for example, in FR2723024.

[0008] Both these solution entail drawbacks. Among these there is the fact that the tool position moves also longitudinally following a simple rotation of the tool carrier and of the relative handle, which moves the points of application of working pressure also based on the thickness of the tile to be incised. Moreover, upon the varying of the tile thickness, the attitude in rotation of the handle also varies significantly, up to a measure which - especially for "pull" tool carriers - may be annoying.

[0009] EP-A1-531916 describes a tool carrier slidingly mounted with a fixed attitude on the guiding bar. However, this tool carrier is extremely cumbersome to use, for at least two reasons. As a matter of fact, on one hand it is necessary to act on a manual lever to alternatively operate an incision wheel or a breaking foot. This is due to the fact that both these members are mounted at the lower end of the same slide. Secondly, no adjustment system is provided between the main actuation lever and the breaking foot incision wheel: this prevents adapting the system upon the varying of the thickness of the tiles to be cut.

Summary of the Invention

[0010] The object of the present invention is hence to solve the problems set forth above, in particular to make the use of the tool-carrier more user-friendly for any thickness of the tile to be incised, at the same time preserving good strength and precision of the tile-cutting machine.

[0011] Such object is achieved by providing a tool carrier having the innovative features set forth in their peculiar terms in the attached claims.

[0012] In particular, according to a first aspect of the invention, a tool carrier is provided in a manual tile cutting machine, comprising a tool carrier body, suited to slide on guiding bar means parallel to the support plane of a base, provided with a lever-shaped handle mechanism, with an incision tool and a breaking foot, said tool carrier body being constrained longitudinally sledge sliding on said bar means, wherein said incision tool and breaking foot are mounted on said tool carrier body sliding crosswise to said guiding bar means, substantially orthogonally to said support plane, and the lever-shaped handle mechanism is pivoted in an articulation point on said tool carrier body and acts on said incision tool and breaking foot, to cause them to slide, on opposite sides of said articulation point.

[0013] According to a preferred aspect, the incision tool and the breaking foot are integral with respective, separated sliders sliding with respect to said tool carrier body and arranged on opposite sides with respect to said articulation point.

[0014] According to another aspect of the invention, at least one of said sliders is constrained to a lever of said lever-shaped handle mechanism in an action point through a roto-translation coupling means. Preferably, at least one of said sliders has a small shelf with which the end of an adjusting screw - integral and adjustable on a lever of said lever-shaped handle mechanism - engages.

[0015] According to a further aspect of the invention, the slider integral with the incision tool has a nib apt to arrange a point of action of said lever of the lever-shaped handle mechanism away from said articulation point.

[0016] According to once another aspect, the point of articulation is arranged on said tool carrier body in a position opposite to said base with respect to the bar guiding means.

[0017] According to a preferred aspect, the tool carrier body has at least three bearing means apt to define at least three sliding bearing points on the opposite edges of said guiding bar means.

[0018] According to a different aspect of the invention, a manual tile cutting machine is provided comprising a base wherefrom posts for the fastening of guiding bar means rise, wherein the tool carrier is as described above.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0019] Further features and advantages of the device according to the invention will in any case be more evident from the following detailed description of some preferred embodiments of the same, given by way of example and illustrated in the attached drawings, wherein:

fig. 1 is a perspective view of a tile-cutting machine according to a first embodiment of the invention;

fig. 2 is a top plan view of the machine of fig. 1;

fig. 3 is an elevation side view of the machine of fig. 1;

fig. 4 is an elevation front view of the machine of fig. 1;

fig. 5 is a section view according to line A-A of fig. 4;

fig. 6 is a clear view, with parts removed, of an alternative tool carrier to the one shown in fig. 5;

fig. 7 is a view as shown in fig. 3 in an incision phase with a thick tile;

fig. 8 is a view as shown in fig. 3 in an incision phase with a tile of a small thickness;

fig. 9 is a view as shown in fig. 3 in a breaking phase;

figs. 10A and 10B are elevation front and side views, respectively, of a different embodiment of the tool carrier; and

figs. 11A e 11B are elevation front and side views, respectively, of a further embodiment of the tool carrier according to the invention.

Detailed Description of Preferred Embodiments

[0020] Figs. 1-9 exemplifyingly show a single-bar manual tile-cutter with a rectangular-section bar.

[0021] The machine consists - in a way known per se - of a base 1 whereon a pair of support plates 2 is floatingly installed.

[0022] At the two ends of base 1 two posts 3a and 3b are provided which securely support a longitudinal guiding bar B. Bar B is typically a thin, elongated steel plate, having a rectilinearity and parallelism of the two opposite sides suited to act as precise guide for a tool-carrier P which must slide parallel to base 1.

[0023] According to the invention, tool-carrier P consists of a series of elements, mutually movably connected, which will be described in further detail in the following.

[0024] A main body 4 is configured to slide precisely along bar B. For such purpose, body 4 has a cavity or through-pocket, which runs longitudinally through it, within which bar B is intended to slide. In other words, body 4 has two opposite jaws between which a gap is defined wherein bar B can slide. The through-pocket is run through transversally by bearing means which rest sliding or rolling on the two lower and upper edges of bar B, so as to allow body 4 only a longitudinal sledge movement.

[0025] Such bearing means can be shaped - as illustrated - as simple cylindrical pins, locked on body 4 by means of tightening bolts 5, screwed on threaded ends of the pins coming out externally from body 4.

[0026] The pins can be borne directly on the lower and upper edges of bar B, or are preferably provided with brasses or rolling bearings 5a by which they rest on the bar edges.

[0027] In order to ensure a sledge movement, said bearing means are preferably at least three, so that there are three sliding support points and the structure is statically determinate.

[0028] Sliding body 4 furthermore carries an articulation pin 6 whereon a lever 7 is pivoted, provided with a handle 8 apt to be manoeuvred with one hand by the operator.

[0029] Lever 7 is hence mounted freely pivoting about said articulation point 6 arranged in a fixed position in the upper part of sliding body 4. Advantageously, articulation point 6 lies above bar B, so that lever 7 can be arranged on the same plane as bar B, pivoting within the pocket of body 4, without creating interferences.

[0030] On sliding body 4 two sliders 41 and 42 are furthermore mounted, a forward one and a rearward one respectively, with respect to the progress direction of the tool carrier on bar B, i.e. on opposite sides with respect to an axis orthogonal to the progress direction and passing through articulation point 6.

[0031] The two sliders 41 and 42 are mounted on sliding body 4 so as to be guided along a rectilinear movement substantially transversal to the longitudinal axis of bar B, i.e. perpendicular to the support plane of the base 1 whereon the tile to be incised is placed. This rectilinear movement causes the two sliders to move closer together and apart from the below-lying tile when it rests on the plane of base 1, i.e. on floating plates 2.

[0032] In the embodiment shown in the drawings, concerning a tool carrier of the "pull" type, front slider 41 (i.e. on the left hand side in fig. 3) carries below an incision tool 9. Rear slider 42 carries instead - at the lower end (i.e. the end opposite lever 7 with respect to bar 8) - a breaking foot 10. Neither incision tool 9, nor breaking foot 10 will be described here in further detail, since they are widely known to a person skilled in the field.

[0033] The sliding mounting of sliders 41 and 42 on sliding body 4 can be defined as best preferred. In the embodiment shown in the drawings, the two sliders 41 and 42 have a rectilinear sliding plane coupled with respective planes of the front and rear edges of body 4. On each slider grooves or rectilinear slits 43 are furthermore made, wherein the shaft of an Allen screw 44 is inserted, fastened to body 4, which allows a sliding between slider and body 4, but maintains the transversal coupling. Each slider is fork-shaped, so as to have two prongs, on both sides of bar B, and a root portion whereon incision tool 9 and breaking foot 10 are respectively installed.

[0034] According to the invention, the two sliders 41 and 42 are driven in their vertical sliding travel (or in any case orthogonal to the longitudinal axis of bar B) by lever 7, which acts thereon on the two opposite sides of articulation point 6. Thereby, the rotation of lever 7, obtained by acting on handle 8, is capable of moving the two sliders along opposite directions: a lowering of front slider 41 is synchronised with a raising of rear slider 42 and vice versa.

[0035] The vertical translation movement of breaking foot 10 is useful to keep the foot raised from the tile, in the incision phase, and to then lower it by pressure when the tile is to be broken. The vertical translation movement of the tool serves - in addition to progressively moving the tool closer to the tile - especially to adjust the height position of tool 9 to the thickness of the tile being incised.

[0036] In order to make the work position of the handle little sensitive to the varying of the tile thickness, it is desirable that the entire translation or useful travel of the slider occurs with a rotation of lever 7 as small as possible. For such purpose, the point of action of lever 7 on slider 41 of the incision tool is preferably arranged at a distance as far as possible from articulation point 6, compatibly with the maximum bulk of the tool carrier or with the maximum limit of the bending forces which are loaded on the slider itself. Therefore, as shown in the drawings, slider 41 preferably has a front nib 41a at the front end of which a pin 41b is arranged for engagement with lever 7, by which said lever is apt to impart the necessary lowering or raising force on slider 41. If pin 41b is stationary on nib 41a, lever 7 engages therewith through a slit 7a (fig. 5), to allow the relative roto-translation movement of lever 7 with respect to slider 41.

[0037] From the comparison of figs. 7 and 8 it can be appreciated that the attitude variation of handle 8 is minimal in the two different height conditions of tool 9 for the incision of thick (fig. 7) and thin tiles (fig. 8), which is very important in case of a "pull" operation of the tool carrier.

[0038] Vice versa the travel of rear slider 42, which carries breaking foot 10, can also be achieved with a wide rotation angle of lever 7 (which in the breaking phase is strongly pushed downwards): the point of action between the lever and slider 42 can hence be also near articulation point 6.

[0039] In the embodiment shown in fig. 3, slider 42 carrying breaking foot 10 has a small shelf 42a, whereon the end of an adjustment screw 11 integral with lever 7 acts. When the operator pushes handle 8 downwards, it causes a lowering also of adjustment screw 11 which in turn pushes downwards slider 42 acting on shelf 42a (fig. 9). The upward return (or the moving away from the support plane of the base) of slider 42 can be guaranteed by an elastic element (not shown) which acts between body 4 and slider 42. Adjustment screw 11 has the valuable function of allowing to establish the desired inclination of handle 8 in conditions of equilibrium, which each operator can adjust at will.

[0040] Fig. 6 shows a tool carrier according to the teaching reported above, wherein four guide points 5 are provided, instead of three, between sliding body 4 and bar B.

[0041] Figs. 10A and 10B show another embodiment of a tool carrier according to the invention. In this case, sliding body 400 is conceived to slide on two parallel, cylindrical bars C₁ and C₂, arranged side by side on a horizontal plane, i.e. parallel to the support plane of the base.

[0042] In this embodiment both points of action 141b and 142b of lever 7 on the sliders of the tool and of breaking foot 141 and 142 comprise a roto-translation coupling (bolt inserted in an elongated slit).

[0043] For the rest, the components and the operation are fully equivalent to those illustrated above.

[0044] Figs. 11A and 11B show a further variant of the device according to the invention. In this case the guide bars are shaped as two parallel, cylindrical rods G₁ and G₂, arranged one on top of the other on the plane orthogonal to the plane of base 1 and passing on the incision line. In order not to affect the front and rear edges of body 400', the sliders of tool 9' and of breaking foot 10' are arranged on the two opposite sides of body 400'. The two sliders are still shaped as forks, but the two prongs embrace the entire sliding body 400', rather than the sole guide bar B as in the first described embodiment. The two sliders are furthermore constrained to lever 7' similarly to as described for the second embodiment. For the rest the elements and the operation are fully similar to those described for the embodiment of figs. 10A and 10B.

[0045] As can be evinced from the description reported above, the tool carrier according to the invention allows to fully achieve the desired object, i.e. to obtain good sliding precision, reducing pivoting angles and hence the rotation values of the handle regardless of the thickness of the tile to be incised.

[0046] However, it is understood that the invention is not limited to the particular configurations illustrated above, which represent only non-limiting examples of the scope of the invention, but that a number of variants are possible, all within the reach of a person specialised in the field, without departing from the scope of the invention.

[0047] For example, it is not ruled out that the points of action of the lever on the sliding sliders can be both provided with a support between a shelf and an adjustment screw, or provided with further and diverse means.

Claims

1. Tool carrier in a manual tile cutting machine, comprising a tool carrier body (4, 40, 400'), apt to slide on guiding bar means (B, C, G) parallel to the support plane of a base (1), provided with a lever-shaped handle mechanism (7, 8), with an incision tool (9) and a breaking foot (10), said tool carrier body (4) being longitudinally sledge sliding constrained on said bar means (B, C, G), characterised in that said incision tool (9) and breaking foot (10) are mounted on said tool carrier body in a way sliding crosswise to said bar guiding means (B, C, G), substantially orthogonally to said support plane, said lever-shaped handle mechanism (7, 8) being pivoted in an articulation point (6) on said tool carrier body (4) and acting on said incision tool and breaking foot from opposite sides of said articulation point (6).

2. Tool carrier as claimed in claim 1), wherein said incision tool (9) and breaking foot (10) are integral with respective, separate sliders (41, 42) sliding with respect to said tool carrier body (4) and arranged on opposite sides of said articulation point (6).

3. Tool carrier as claimed in claim 2), wherein at least one of said sliders (41, 42) is constrained to a lever (7) of said lever-shaped handle mechanism in a point of action through roto-translation coupling means (41b, 7a).

4. Tool carrier as claimed in claim 2) or 3), wherein at least one of said sliders (41, 42) has a shelf (42a) with which the end of an adjustment screw (11) engages, which is integral with and adjustable on a lever (7) of said lever-shaped handle mechanism.

5. Tool carrier as claimed in claim 4), wherein said shelf (42a) is kept resting against the end of the adjustment screw (11) through elastic means.

6. Tool carrier as claimed in claim 3), 4) or 5), wherein said slider (41) integral with the incision tool (9) has a nib (41a) apt to arrange a point of action of said lever (7) of the lever-shaped handle mechanism away from said articulation point (6).

7. Tool carrier as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein said articulation point (6) is arranged on said tool carrier body (4) in a position opposite to said base (1) with respect to the bar-shaped guiding means (B, C, G).

8. Tool carrier as claimed in claim 7), wherein said point of articulation (6) is arranged above the position where said bar-shaped guiding means (B, C, G) pass.

9. Tool carrier as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein said tool carrier body (4) has at least three bearing means (5) apt to define at least three sliding bearing points on the opposite edges of said bar-shaped guiding means (B, C, G).

10. Manual tile-cutting machine comprising a base (1) wherefrom posts (3a, 3b) rise fastening bar-shaped guiding means (B, C, G), characterised in that it comprises a tool carrier (P) as claimed in any one of the preceding claims.

Drawing