Hole cutter with multiple fulcrums
AssigneeBlack & Decker Inc.
InventorsJoseph Thomas Novak, Matthew Christopher Green
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A hole cutter has a cylindrical blade body including a cutting edge and one or more axially-elongated apertures formed within a side wall of the blade body. The axially-elongated aperture is configured to receive a lever, such as a screwdriver, therethrough. Each axially-elongated aperture includes a first fulcrum axially spaced adjacent to the cutting edge, a second fulcrum axially spaced further away from the cutting edge than the first fulcrum, and optionally a third fulcrum axially spaced between the first and second fulcrums. A lever, such as a screwdriver, can be inserted into the aperture and placed against each of the fulcrums to lever slugs out of the interior of the blade body.
Claims20
A method of levering a slug out of an interior of a hole cutter that includes a substantially cylindrical blade body extending along a longitudinal axis and including a cutting edge at one end of the blade body, the method comprising:
- inserting a lever into an elongated aperture formed through the blade body and spaced from the cutting edge such that a portion of the blade body extends between the cutting edge and the elongated aperture, the elongated aperture including a first portion with a first fulcrum surface axially spaced from the cutting edge by a first distance, a second portion with a second fulcrum surface axially spaced from the cutting edge by a second distance greater than the first distance, and an intermediate portion connecting the first portion and the second portion and oriented at an acute angle to the longitudinal axis of the blade body;
- levering the lever against the second fulcrum surface to push the slug at least partially out of the interior of the hole cutter by pushing a bottom of the slug toward the first fulcrum portion;
- and
- levering the lever against the first fulcrum surface to push the slug further out of the interior of the hole cutter by pushing the bottom of the slug further toward the cutting edge.
A method of levering a slug out of an interior of a hole cutter that includes a substantially cylindrical blade body extending along a longitudinal axis and including a cutting edge at one end of the blade body, the method comprising:
- inserting a lever into a fully enclosed first aperture portion formed through the blade body and spaced from the cutting edge such that a portion of the blade body extends between the cutting edge and the first aperture portion, the first aperture portion at least partially defined by a first bottom edge substantially parallel to the cutting edge and a first side edge at an angle to the cutting edge and including a first fulcrum surface spaced from the cutting edge by a first distance;
- levering the lever against the first fulcrum surface to push the slug partially out of the interior of the blade body by pushing the bottom of the slug toward the cutting edge;
- inserting the lever into a fully enclosed second aperture portion formed through the blade body and spaced from the cutting edge such that a portion of the blade body extends between the cutting edge and the second aperture portion, the second aperture portion at least partially defined by a second bottom edge substantially parallel to the cutting edge and a second side edge at an angle to the cutting edge and including a second fulcrum surface spaced from the cutting edge by a second distance that is less than the first distance;
- and
- levering the lever against the second fulcrum surface to push the slug partially out of the interior of the blade body by pushing the bottom of the slug toward the cutting edge.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.