Rotary cutting tool for tubing, conduit and the like

A tool for cutting tubular members, comprising;

• a tool body portion having a first end;
• a cutting assembly mounted within said tool body portion first end, the cutting assembly defining an opening of said tool, the cutting assembly being adapted for rotation around said tool opening, said cutting assembly including two centrifugal force inducing coponents rotatably mounted on said cutting assembly radially outwardly of said tool opening, one of said two centrifugal force inducing components being rotatable around a first axis of said tool and the other of said two centrifugal force inducing components being rotatable around a second axis of said tool;
• said cutting assembly further including two cutting heads, each of the two cutting heads engaging a single centrifugal force inducing component at a location in said cutting assembly which is radially inwardly of said tool first and second axes, each of said two cutting heads comprising a cutting head carriage, each cutting head carriage having a cutting roller with a cutting disc and a pressure roller, said cutting and pressure rollers being rotatably mounted within said cutting head carriages adjacent each other and radially inwardly with respect to the point of engagement between said cutting heads and said force-inducing components;
• a motor disposed in said tool body portion for supplying rotational drive to said cutting assembly, whereby, when rotational drive is supplied to said cutting assembly and said cutting assembly rotates around said tool opening, said centrifugal force inducing components swing radially outwardly around said tool first and second axes, thereby causing said two cutting heads to swing radially inwardly into said tool opening and into contact with an exterior surface of a wall of a tubular member inserted into said tool opening.

In a tool for cutting tubular members wherein the tool includes a working end portion and a drive motor, the improvement comprising:

• a cutting assembly adapted for mounting on said tool and receiving drive from said tool motor;
• the cutting assembly having an opening defined therein adapted to receive a tubular member therein, said cutting assembly including at least two cutting means disposed on said cutting assembly on opposite sides of a reference line drawn through a center of said tool opening, each of said cutting means including a cutting carriage having a cutting roller and an idler roller mounted generally adjacent each other on said carriage, said cutting assembly further including at least two support arm members, each of said support arm members pivotally engaging a base member and each of said support arm members engaging an associated cutting carriage, each of said support arm members further including at least one weight disposed radially outwardly on said support arm member with respect to said associated cutting carriage, whereby when said cutting assembly is rotated around said tool opening center, centrifugal force developed by said support arm member weights causes each of said support arm members to rotate about their pivot points to force said cutting carriages radially inwardly toward said tool opening center and into contact with a tubular member inserted into said opening, each of said cutting carriages having an outer curved engagement surface which slidingly engages an inner curved engagement surface of said support arm members, each of said support arm members further including means retaining an associated cutting carriage in contact with said support arm member.