Bearing structure for a reciprocating shaft in a reciprocating saw

Abstract

A reciprocating shaft assembly in a reciprocating saw moves in a reciprocal motion and drives a saw blade via a blade holder. At least one bore is formed in an end of the reciprocating shaft assembly opposite the blade holder. A pin fixed to the saw passes through the bore and acts as a bearing to support the reciprocating shaft assembly in its reciprocating motion.

Description

CROSS-RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] This application is a divisional of, claims priority to, and incorporates by reference in its entirety, the following U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10 / 871,592, entitled “RECIPROCATING COUNTERWEIGHT STRUCTURE FOR A RECIPROCATING SAW,” filed Jun. 21, 2004, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10 / 364,472, entitled “BEARING STRUCTURE FOR A RECIPROCATING SHAFT IN A RECIPROCATING SAW,” filed Feb. 12, 2003 (issued as U.S. Pat. No. 6,810,589), which is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09 / 627,780, entitled “RECIPROCATING SAW HAVING COMPACT CONFIGURATION AND INDEPENDENT STABILITY,” filed Jul. 28, 2000 (issued as U.S. Pat. No. 6,568,089), which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 29 / 123,137, entitled “BATTERY POWERED RECIPROCATING SAW,” filed May 10, 2000 (abandoned), which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 29 / 105,953, entitled “BATTERY POWERED RECIPROCATING SAW,” f...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

Manually sawing these materials would be a difficult and time consuming undertaking.

Further, many applications require a saw to be used in a confined area where it would be even more difficult to move a saw blade manually back and forth.

This configuration causes the saw to be longer than necessary, which can render impossible, or at best complicate, some cuts to be performed in a limited space.

A long saw is also generally awkward to use and unwieldy, and is difficult to store when not in use.

Furthermore, in some known reciprocating saws, the housing for the saw assembly is unnecessarily complicated and expensive.

First, the exterior surface of the gear box can be expensive to manufacture.

Manufacturing a smooth gear box can increase the cost of the saw.

Also, since the gear box can become very hot during prolonged use of the saw, an insulating covering is sometimes necessary to insulate a user's hands from the heat of the gear box.

Applying an insulating covering to the gearbox, while potentially eliminating the cost of producing a smooth gear box, is nonetheless still an added expense.

This can add to the cost of manufacturing the saw.

Furthermore, reciprocating saws create vibration.

While such a configuration may diminish undesirable vibration, it does not provide a configuration as compact and convenient as possible.

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