Gear driven tube cutter
AssigneeTri Tool Inc.
InventorsJerald Vanderpol, Neil Pfafman, Cory J. Silber
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A tube cutting tool is described in which a cutting head is rotatably mounted within a cutting body wherein both define "C" shaped slots to enable the cutting tool to be inserted laterally over a tube. A cutting wheel is attached to the cutting head such that rotation of the cutting head causes the wheel to pass around the periphery of the tube. A feed device is incorporated which biases the cutting wheel into contact with the tube until the tubing wall has been completely severed. A gear drive mechanism interconnects a power source with the cutting head to rotate it about the tube. A clamping system is also disclosed to clamp the device onto the tube during the cutting process.
Claims25
A gear driven cutting tool for cutting through a wall of tube comprising:
- (a) a cutting body defining a first slot opening outwardly through a first end to accommodate a tube therein;
- (b) a cutting head rotatably mounted within the cutting body so as to rotate about a first axis, the cutting head defining a second slot;
- (c) a generally "C" shaped driven gear attached to the cutting head such that an opening defined by the generally "C" shape coincides with the second slot, the opening having a width w measured at the mouth of the "C";
- (d) at least first and second spur gears rotatably mounted in the cutting body so as to rotate about second and third axes, the spur gears operatively engaging the generally "C" shaped gear, the second and third axes being spaced apart by a distance d such that d>w;
- (e) cutting means mounted on the cutting head and adapted to extend into the second slot so as to bear against a tube therein;
- (f) feed means operatively associated with the cutting means to urge the cutting means against the tube;
- and
- (g) gear drive means operatively engaging the first and second spur gears so as to cause rotation of the cutting head about the first axis to draw the cutting means about the periphery of the tube to thereby sever the tubing wall.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.