AU703595B2 - Brick cutting tool - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a brick cutting tool.

The cutting of bricks to a desired length or shape is commonly carried out during building construction and renovation work. The conventional technique of cutting bricks has been for a person to hold a bolster in one hand, with the cutting edge of the bolster pressed against the brick along a line where the cut is intended, while holding a mallet in the other hand and impacting the mallet forcefully against the impact head of the bolster. This manual technique requires the person to hold the bolster firmly and correctly, and at the same time ensure that the impact is 10 made cleanly and forcefully. Inexperienced persons may err in their "technique with the result being that the brick is cut incorrectly, leading to brick wastage, or that the person is injured, commonly through hand injuries.

Furthermore, the line along which the brick is intended to be cut must be measured accurately to ensure the desired length or shape of brick is achieved. The measurement is normally carried out with the aid of a length reference device, such as a ruler, piece of string or pre-cut brick, and is a time consuming step when there are many bricks that require cutting at the same length.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a brick cutting tool that overcomes or at least substantially ameliorates the problems associated with the manual brick cutting technique of the prior art.

According to the invention there is provided a brick cutting tool comprising a non-deformable shaft supporting both a brick engaging means and a bolster member, the distance between the brick engaging means and the bolster member being adjustable by means for movement of the brick engaging means and or the bolster member.

3 Preferably, the brick engaging means is slidably supported on the shaft and the bolster member is fixed adjacent a first end of the shaft.

The brick engaging means preferably comprises a sleeve which receives the shaft therethrough, a locking assembly for firmly securing the sleeve to the shaft at a desired position therealong, and a brick edge abutting member for locating the tool against the brick so that the bolster member is located at the desired cutting site of the brick.

In a preferred form, there is a removable handle connected to a second end of the shaft. The handle is preferably a rod screwably connected to the shaft and sharing the same longitudinal axis as the shaft.

In order that the invention may be readily understood and put into practical effect, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings, in which:- Fig 1. is a perspective view of a brick cutting tool according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, Fig 2. is an exploded view of the brick cutting tool of Fig 1, Fig 3. is a side elevational view of the brick cutting tool of Figs 1 and 2 engaged against a brick, wherein the brick engaging means is locked against the shaft at a desired position therealong so that the bolster member is located at the desired cutting site of the brick, and Fig 4. is a view similar to that of Fig 3 in which the brick cutting tool has been used to cut the brick.

The brick cutting tool 10, shown in Figs 1 to 4, has a nondeformable shaft 12, preferably made of solid mild steel, which has a substantially square cross-sectional shape.

Located on the shaft 12 is a brick engaging means 14 which consists of a substantially square shaped channel or sleeve 16, also preferably made of mild steel, which receives the shaft 12 therethrough, a locking assembly 18 and a brick edge abutting member 20. The sleeve 16 allows the brick engaging means 14, when unlocked, to slide along the shaft 12.

The locking assembly 18, shown in exploded view in Fig 2, is able to firmly secure the sleeve 16 to the shaft 12 at a desired position therealong.

The locking assembly 18 consists of a locking bolt 22 having a first turning arm 24, a locking nut 26 having a second turning arm 28, a split washer 30, a flat washer 32 and an anchor nut 34 welded to the sleeve 16. The threaded shaft of the locking bolt 22 is screwably passed through the locking nut 26, split washer 30, flat washer 32 and anchor nut 34 by *•ooe rotating the first turning arm 24 so that the leading face of locking bolt 22 is able to urge against the shaft 12 passing through the sleeve 16 with sufficient force to lock the sleeve 16 in a desired position along the shaft 12. Normally, force is applied downwardly on the shaft 12 by firstly screwing the locking bolt 22 until it encounters significant resistance to further downward screwing and then by screwing the locking nut 26 down the threaded shaft of the locking bolt 22 by rotating the second turning arm 28 so as to cause a flattening of the split washer 30 and thereby create available room for the locking bolt 22 to be further screwed downwardly until it is engaged tightly to the shaft 12.

The brick edge abutting member 20 is preferably fabricated of mild steel and consists of a connecting limb 36 welded to the underside of sleeve 16 and a right angled corner piece 38 welded to the opposite end of the connecting limb 36. The right angled corner piece 38 is adapted to abut against an upper edge at one end of a brick 40 as shown in Figs 3 and 4. The height of the connecting limb 36 is in a range such that it allows the bolster member 42 to be generally orientated in the manner as also shown in Figs 3 and 4.

The bolster member 42, preferably fabricated of bright steel, is fixed adjacent a first end of the shaft 12, and a rod handle 44 is connected to the other, second, end of the shaft 12. Both the bolster member 42 and rod handle 44 are removable from the shaft 12. The bolster member 42 has a handle part 45 and a blade part 46.

:°oooo 10 As shown in Fig 2, the blade part 46 of the bolster member 42 has a *threaded aperture 48 therethrough that screwably receives a bolt 50 fixed to and projecting longitudinally from the first end of the shaft 12. The bolt also screwably receives a flat washer 52, split washer 54 and an end onut 56, that firmly presses the washers 52, 54 against the outward surface of the blade part 46. There is a square collar 58 welded to the inward surface of the blade part 46 which receives therewithin the correspondingly ooo shaped leading square portion 60 of shaft 12. The square collar 58 is so formed or is welded to the inward surface of the blade part 46 in such a i way that the bolster member 42, when firmly connected to the first end of shaft 12 by end nut 56, is offset acutely from a perpendicular orientation to the shaft 12 (as shown in Fig The offsetting of the bolster member 42 in this manner allows for the slight undercutting of bricks, which is particularly preferred for construction of external walls and for sill bricks.

The bolster member 42 may be adapted to assume a perpendicular orientation to the shaft 12 when a straight cut of bricks is required, such as for double sided facing for internal brick work.

The rod handle 44, preferably made of galvanised steel, is removably connected to the shaft 12 by a bolt (not shown) which is welded to the shaft 12 in a similar manner as shown with respect to the bolt 50 which supports the bolster member 42. The rod handle 44 can therefore be screwed on and off the shaft 12 as required, say, for storage or packaging, as can the bolster member 42. The brick engaging means 14 can then be slidably removed from the shaft 12 to facilitate storage or packaging of all of the components of the brick cutting tool In use, a person grips the rod handle 44 and places the brick cutting tool 10 upon the brick 40 with the cutting edge of the blade part 46 of the bolster member 42 at a desired distance from the right angled corner piece 38 as shown in Fig 3. The distance may be set either by sliding the sleeve 16 along the shaft 12 and fixing it thereto with the aid of the locking assembly 18 prior to placement of the tool 10 upon the brick 40, or by oo a sliding the shaft 12 through the sleeve 16 and suitably fixing it thereto ~after placement of the tool 10 upon the brick 40. Either way, the distance between the brick engaging means 14 and the bolster member 42 must be adjusted so that the brick is cut along a desired line. With the tool resting upon the brick 40, the person then grips the handle part 45 of the bolster member 42 in one hand, and with the other hand, holds a mallet and forcefully impacts it against the impact head 47 of the bolster member 42.

In the event of excessive scoring or damage to the surface of the shaft 12 by pressure exerted by the leading face of locking bolt 22, the shaft 12 may be removed from the sleeve 16 and reinserted but so that it presents one of the other three undamaged surfaces to the bolt 22.

7 The brick cutting tool 10 provides a high degree of precision in the location for cutting a brick, as the sleeve 16 may be slid along and secured against any position of the shaft 12.

Various modifications may be made in details of design and construction without departing from the scope or ambit of the invention.

For instance, the brick engaging means may be fixed immovably to the shaft and the bolster member may be adapted to slide along and be locked at a desired location of the shaft.

a **o 8 THE CLAIMS DEFINING THE INVENTION ARE AS FOLLOWS:- 1. A brick cutting tool comprising a non-deformable shaft supporting both a brick engaging means and a bolster member, the distance between the brick engaging means and the bolster member being adjustable by means for movement of the brick engaging means and or the bolster member.

2. The brick cutting tool of claim 1 wherein the brick engaging means is slidably supported on the shaft.

.°oooo 3. The brick cutting tool of claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the bolster member is fixed adjacent a first end of the shaft.

4. The brick cutting tool of claim 3 wherein there is a removable handle connected to a second end of the shaft.

0005. The brick cutting tool of claim 4 wherein the handle is a rod screwably connected to the shaft and sharing the same longitudinal axis as the shaft.

6. The brick cutting tool of any one of claims 1 to 5 wherein the brick engaging means comprises a sleeve which receives the shaft therethrough, a locking assembly for firmly securing the sleeve to the shaft at a desired position therealong, and a brick edge abutting member for locating the tool against the brick so that the bolster member is located at the desired cutting site of the brick.

Claims (1)

1. 7. A brick cutting tool substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Dated this 10 day of July, 1997 Dennis Kelvin Simmons Matthew Dennis Simmons Patent Attorney for the Applicant PETER MAXWELL ASSOCIATES ABSTRACT A brick cutting tool (10) has a non-deformable shaft (12) which supports both a brick engaging assembly (14) and a bolster (42) which is fixed adjacent a first end of the shaft A rod handle (44) is also connected to the shaft (12) at a second end thereof for gripping purposes. The brick engaging assembly (14) has a sleeve (16) which receives the shaft (12) therethrough and allows the assembly (14) to slide along the shaft (12). The brick engaging assembly (14) also includes a locking sub-assembly O: which is able to firmly secure the sleeve (16) to a desired position along the shaft and a brick edge abutting member (20) connected to •the sleeve (16) and which is able to locate the tool (10) against a brick so that the bolster (42) is located at the desired cutting site of the brick se. 5005•