Cutting workstation blade and chuck system

Abstract

Various embodiments herein relate to a workstation including a cutting tray and one or more tracks. The workstation may include a peripheral cutting element configured to travel along a track, and the peripheral cutting element may include a peripheral blade mounted at least partially within a peripheral chuck. The workstation may also include a profile cutting element configured to travel along the track, where the profile cutting element includes a profile blade mounted at least partially within the profile chuck. Other embodiments may be described and / or claimed.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to the technical field of cutting devices, and more particularly, to a sound-absorbing sheet blade and a chuck system for a cutting workstation. Background Art

[0002] The background description provided herein is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Within the scope of the description in this background art section, the work of the currently named inventors and aspects that may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing are neither expressly nor implicitly admitted as prior art against the disclosure. Unless otherwise indicated herein, the methods described in this section are not prior art to the claims in the disclosure and are not to be considered prior art by virtue of inclusion in this section.

[0003] Sound-absorbing ceiling sheets, such as ceiling sheets that can be formed from materials such as mineral fiber, glass fiber, wood, metal, melamine sound-absorbing foam, etc., can be manufactured in various shapes and sizes. Therefore, it may be common to trim such ceiling sheets before use. Brief Description of the Drawings

[0004] Embodiments will be readily understood by the following detailed description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. For ease of description, the same reference numerals denote the same structural elements. In the figures of the drawings, the embodiments are illustrated by way of example and not by way of limitation.

[0005] Figure 1 A cutting workstation for sound-absorbing sheets according to various embodiments is depicted.

[0006] Figure 2 Depicted are alternative views of a workstation according to various embodiments Figure 1 thereof.

[0007] Figure 3 Depicted are alternative views of a workstation according to various embodiments Figure 1 thereof.

[0008] Figure 4 Depicted are different example schematic views of a peripheral blade for use with a workstation according to various embodiments Figure 1 thereof.

[0009] Figure 5 Depicted are examples of a peripheral blade and a peripheral chuck for use with a workstation according to various embodiments Figure 1 thereof.

[0010] Figure 6 Examples of a peripheral cutting element according to various embodiments are depicted.

[0011] Figure 7 Illustrates examples of different profile cutting portions according to various embodiments.

[0012] Figure 8 Illustrates according to various embodiments for use with Figure 1 a workstation of a profile blade.

[0013] Figure 9 Illustrates examples of different components that may be included in a profile cutting element according to various embodiments.

[0014] Figure 10 Illustrates examples of profile chucks mounted to a profile tray according to various embodiments.

[0015] Figure 11 Illustrates examples of mounting a profile blade to a profile chuck according to various embodiments.

[0016] Figure 12 Illustrates examples of mounting a profile chuck to a profile carriage according to various embodiments. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0017] As previously mentioned, acoustic ceiling panels can be manufactured in a variety of shapes and sizes. Thus, it may be common to trim such ceiling panels prior to use. However, trimming ceiling panels can be time-consuming and difficult. For example, it may be difficult to accurately cut a ceiling panel to a given size. Similarly, it may be difficult to accurately cut the edges of such ceiling panels to have different profiles. It may also be difficult to accurately cut a ceiling panel based on thickness-related variations in the ceiling panel caused by the manufacturing process of the panel. Finally, it may be difficult to perform such cutting in an efficient manner.

[0018] It will be noted that although embodiments may be described herein with respect to acoustic ceiling panels, the embodiments may equally be used to cut, shape, or otherwise alter different types of materials, such as insulation materials, paper, cork (e.g., balsa wood), or some other relatively soft and cuttable material.

[0019] Embodiments herein may relate to a cutting workstation for cutting acoustic ceiling panels. The workstation may size the panel and provide various profiles to the edges of the panel, such as providing a neat square, beveled, or chamfered edge to the cut ends of the panel. The workstation may perform the cutting using one or both of two cutting carriage mechanisms - a peripheral cutting element and a profile cutting element.

[0020] Figure 1An example workstation is depicted. Specifically, the workstation 100 may include a cutting tray 110 on which a sound-absorbing sheet may be placed. The sound-absorbing sheet may travel between the cutting tray 110 and the track 115. Cutting elements 105, such as a peripheral cutting element and a contour cutting element, may travel along the track 115 to cut the sound-absorbing sheet.

[0021] Figure 2 and Figure 3 An alternative view of such a workstation 100 is depicted, which shows an example of how the cutting element 105 may be aligned at the track. Specifically, as Figure 3 can be seen, the cutting element 105 may include a peripheral cutting element 310 having a peripheral blade 315 and a contour cutting element 305. The peripheral cutting element 310 and the contour cutting element 305 are described in more detail below.

[0022] It will be noted that various embodiments of the various elements may be shown in the figures below. For example, Figure 4 the peripheral blade 315 of Figure 5 may not have the same configuration of mounting holes 405 as the peripheral blade 315 of

[0023] Peripheral cutting element ——The peripheral cutting element 310 may be configured to be coupled to one or more blade holder chucks and / or peripheral cutting blades, and the peripheral cutting blades may be designed to cut a range of common ceiling sheet thicknesses and materials. For example, the thickness of the ceiling sheet may be, for example, 5 / 8", 3 / 4", 7 / 8", 1", 1 1 / 4 ", and 1 1 / 2 ". As described above, in some cases, the thickness may vary based on imprecise manufacturing techniques. In some cases, such variation may be up to 1 / 16".

[0024] Generally, the peripheral blade 315 may be used for the purpose of trimming the length or width of the sound-absorbing sheet. Specifically, the sound-absorbing sheet may be placed on the cutting tray 110, and then the peripheral cutting element 310 may be moved along one or more of the tracks 115 while the peripheral blade 315 is lowered (e.g., as Figure 3 shown). The peripheral blade 315 may then at least partially cut through the sound-absorbing ceiling sheet in a safe and controlled manner.

[0025] Figure 4 depicts various example schematic diagrams of a peripheral blade 315 for use with a Figure 1 workstation 100. It will be noted that Figure 4 the embodiments depicted in Figure 4 are intended as an example of such a peripheral blade, and in other embodiments, one or more of the depicted measurements may vary.

[0026] As Figure 4 can be seen, the peripheral blade 315 may have a plurality of mounting holes 405. The mounting holes 405 may be configured to couple with mounting bolts of a peripheral blade chuck, as will be described in more detail below. It will be noted that the mounting holes 405 may be sized and shaped such that the mounting holes 405 have one dimension (e.g., length as shown in Figure 4 ) different from another dimension (e.g., width) of the mounting holes 405. Thus, once the blade is installed with the mounting bolts positioned within the mounting holes 405, rotation of the blade can be restricted. Additionally, as Figure 4 can be seen, various mounting holes 405 may be located at an inner portion of the peripheral blade 315, while other mounting holes 405 may be located at an outer portion of the peripheral blade 315.

[0027] As Figure 4 shown, the peripheral blade 315 may also have a cutting edge 410. The cutting edge 410 may be at least partially coated with a tetrahedral amorphous carbon diamond coating (TaC technology), which may help provide significant hardness and significantly increase the service life of the cutting edge when cutting through various ceiling sheet materials. The cutting edge 410 and the peripheral blade 315 may generally also have a minimum performance requirement of 200 cuts per blade. Such performance may greatly exceed that of a standard uncoated multi-purpose knife blade. Finally, the blade design may have a rounded edge as Figure 4 shown at the tip of the peripheral blade 315.

[0028] Figure 5 depicts an example of a peripheral blade 315 and a peripheral chuck 505 for use with a Figure 1 workstation 100 according to various embodiments. Specifically, as Figure 5As shown, the peripheral blade 315 can be installed within the peripheral chuck 505. As can be seen at 500A, the peripheral chuck 505 can have a peripheral chuck body 515 and a peripheral chuck cover 520, and the peripheral chuck cover 520 can be configured to open to allow the peripheral blade 315 to be inserted into the peripheral chuck 505. As can be seen at 500A, the peripheral chuck 505 can have one or more mounting bolts 510. At 500A, two mounting bolts are attached to the peripheral chuck body 515, and one mounting bolt can be positioned on the peripheral chuck cover 520.

[0029] At 500B, the peripheral blade 315, and more specifically the mounting hole 405 of the peripheral blade 315, can be configured to mate with the mounting bolts 510 of the peripheral chuck 505, or more specifically with the mounting bolts 510 of the peripheral chuck body 515. Then, when the peripheral chuck cover 520 is closed at 500C, the mounting bolts 510 on the peripheral chuck cover 520 can be coupled with the remaining mounting holes 405 of the peripheral blade 315. It will be understood that such a mounting mechanism can securely hold the peripheral blade 315 by various fixing elements. For example, the use of multiple mounting bolts 510 and the non-circular shape of the mounting bolts 510 can both hold the peripheral blade 315 in place and prevent the peripheral blade from rotating during use.

[0030] Figure 6 Examples of peripheral cutting elements 310 according to various embodiments are depicted. As can be seen, the peripheral cutting element 310 can include a peripheral chuck 505 having a peripheral blade 315 therein. The peripheral chuck 505 can be placed within a peripheral carriage 605. Generally, the peripheral carriage can be an element designed to travel back and forth along a track 115.

[0031] As can be seen at 600A and 600B, the handle 610 of the peripheral carriage 605 can be rotated. By rotating the handle 610, the peripheral blade 315 can be raised (as in 600A) or lowered (as in 600B). When the blade 315 is lowered, the blade can then cut the sound-absorbing sheet material placed on the cutting tray 110 as the peripheral cutting element 310 moves along the track 115. When the blade 315 is raised, the blade can then not cut the sound-absorbing sheet material.

[0032] It can also be seen that the peripheral carriage 605 can include grooves 615 located on two sides of the peripheral carriage 605. The grooves 615 can be mounted to the rails 115 such that the peripheral carriage 605 can be seated between the rails 115. It will be understood that in other embodiments, different types of mechanisms can be used to assist the peripheral carriage 605 in sliding along the rails 115. For example, in another embodiment, the peripheral carriage 605 can be seated on top of one or more of the rails 115, and one or more of the rails 115 can pass through the peripheral carriage 605, etc.

[0033] Contour cutting vehicle - The profile cutting element 305 can be configured to incorporate multiple blade chucks, color-coded trays, and / or profile blades. The profile cutting element can be configured to cut square, beveled, or chamfered edges on the ceiling sheet, which can produce edges on the sheet similar to the edges produced by the equipment that manufactures the sheet. Figure 7 Examples of different edges including a square tile sheet cutting portion, a beveled (SLT) sheet cutting portion, and a chamfered square tile sheet cutting portion are depicted. In Figure 7 Examples of dimensions related to the inclination, depth, or width of the cutting portion are depicted. It will be understood that these descriptions are intended as examples of various embodiments and are not intended to limit the possible cutting portions to these descriptions. In other words, in other embodiments, different combinations of beveled edges and straight edges, depth, width, or angle can be used.

[0034] Figure 8 Examples of different schematic diagrams of the profile blade 805 for use with the Figure 1 workstation 100 according to various embodiments are depicted. It will be noted that Figure 8 the embodiments depicted in Figure 4 are intended as an example of such a profile blade, and in other embodiments, one or more of the depicted measurements can vary. Similar to Figure 8 the measurements depicted in

[0035] As Figure 8 can be seen, the profile blade 805 can have multiple mounting holes 810. The mounting holes 810 can be configured to couple with the mounting bolts of the profile blade chuck, as will be described in more detail below. Similar to the mounting holes 405, it will be noted that the mounting holes 810 can be sized and shaped such that the mounting holes 810 have one dimension that is different from another dimension of the mounting holes 810. Thus, once the profile blade 805 is mounted with the mounting bolts positioned within the mounting holes 810, the rotation of the blade can be restricted. Additionally, as Figure 8As can be seen, various mounting holes 810 can be located at the inner portion of the profile blade 805, while other mounting holes 810 can be located at the outer portion of the profile blade 805. It will be noted with respect to mounting holes 810 and 405 that the specific number and configuration of the mounting holes are depicted herein as an example, and other dimensions / shapes / configurations / locations may exist in other embodiments.

[0036] As Figure 8 shown, the profile blade 805 can also have a cutting edge 815. Similar to the cutting edge 410 of the peripheral blade 315, the cutting edge 815 can be at least partially coated with TaC technology, which can provide the profile blade 805 with benefits similar to those described above with respect to the peripheral blade 315. To avoid redundancy, these benefits are not repeated here.

[0037] Figure 9 Examples of different components that can be included in the profile cutting element 305 are depicted in accordance with various embodiments.

[0038] The profile cutting element 305 can include a profile carriage 905, which can be similar to the peripheral carriage 605. Specifically, the profile carriage 905 can include a groove 615, which can allow the profile carriage 905 (and generally the profile cutting element 305) to travel along the track 115. However, it will be noted that in other embodiments, the profile carriage 905 can interact with or couple to the track 115 in another configuration as described above with respect to the peripheral carriage 605 (e.g., sitting on top of the track, having one of the tracks "pass through" the peripheral carriage 605, etc.).

[0039] The profile cutting element 305 can also include one or more profile chucks 915, which can be placed within a cavity 930 of the profile carriage 905. Similar to the peripheral chuck 505, the profile chuck 915 can be configured to couple to the profile blade 805, as will be described in further detail below.

[0040] Before being placed in the cavity 915, the profile chuck 915 can be placed within a profile tray 910. As can be seen, different profile trays 910 can have two different measurements. The measurements can provide height adjustment for the chuck 915, thereby allowing the true factory exposed edge to be made in a range from 5 / 8", 3 / 4", 7 / 8", 1", 1 1 / 4 ", and 1 1 / 2The thickness of the sheet. Depending on the orientation of the profile tray 910, each tray 910 can have two different thicknesses. For example, it can be seen that the tray indicated by the arrow can allow thicknesses of 3 / 4" and 5 / 8", depending on how the tray is oriented.

[0041] In addition, as previously mentioned, due to inaccuracies in the manufacturing process, the sheet may have a certain degree of thickness variation. The thickness variation can be up to 1 / 16". To accommodate this variation, the profile chuck 915 can include a height adjustment knob 925. By turning the knob 925, a screw-like mechanism within the profile chuck 915 can raise or lower the profile chuck 915 within the profile tray 910 and ultimately raise or lower the profile lathe 905. In this way, the height of the profile cutting section (such as, for example Figure 7 the cutting sections shown in) can be precisely controlled.

[0042] Furthermore, the profile handle 920 can be configured to couple to the profile lathe 905. As can be seen, the profile handle 920 can have a screw 935 that can interact with the cover closure 945 and the body closure 940 to secure the cover 950 to the body 955 of the profile lathe 905 when the profile chuck 915 is placed in the cavity 930. Conveniently, the profile handle 920 can also serve as a handle that allows the user to manipulate the profile cutting element 305 along the track 115.

[0043] However, it will be noted that this type of screw-based mechanism for the height adjustment knob 925 and / or the screw 935 is described herein as an example implementation, and other implementations can use some other mechanism that performs a similar function (e.g., a snap-based enclosure, a locking-type enclosure, a ratchet-type mechanism, etc.).

[0044] Figure 10 An example of a profile chuck 915 mounted to a profile tray 910 according to various embodiments is depicted. As Figure 10 can be seen in the example, the profile chuck 915 in this example can include a plurality of profile blades 805 attached to the profile chuck 915. This arrangement can be configured to produce square tile-shaped cutting sections.

[0045] As can be seen at 1000A and 1000B, the profile chuck 915 can be lowered into the profile tray 910. In this embodiment, the profile tray 910 can be oriented to provide a cutting portion at a depth of 3 / 4" (which can be further varied based on the manipulation of the height adjustment knob 925). One or more fasteners 1005 can then be inserted into the profile tray 910 to hold the profile chuck 915 in place, as seen at 1000C. As previously described, it will be understood that this type of screw-based fastener 1005 can be an example, and other embodiments can include different types / numbers of fasteners.

[0046] Figure 11 Examples of mounting a profile blade to a profile chuck according to various embodiments are depicted. Specifically, as Figure 11 can be seen and as previously described, the profile blade 805 can include one or more profile blade mounting holes 810.

[0047] As seen at 1100A, the profile chuck 915 can include a plurality of mounting bolts 1105. Some of the mounting bolts 1105 can be located on the profile chuck body 1115, while one or more mounting bolts can additionally or alternatively be located on the profile chuck latch 1110.

[0048] At 1100B, the profile blade 805 can be located on the profile chuck body 1115 such that the various bolts 1105 are aligned with the mounting holes 810. As can be seen at 1100C, the latch 1110 can then be closed, thereby at least partially securing the blade 805 within the profile chuck 915. Similar to the Figure 5 peripheral blade chuck described, it will be noted that the various mounting bolts 1105 can secure both the position and rotation of the profile blade 805. It will also be noted that, as seen at 1100C, the profile chuck 915 can include a plurality of latches 1110 and is configured to couple with a plurality of profile blades 805.

[0049] Figure 12 Examples of mounting the profile chuck 915 to the profile lathe 905 to form a profile cutting element 305 according to various embodiments are depicted. As can be seen, the profile cutting element can include a plurality of profile blades 805.

[0050] At 1200A, the profile tray 910 and the profile chuck 915 can be aligned with the cavity 930 of the profile lathe 905. At 1200B, the chuck 915 and the tray 910 can be placed in the cavity 930. At 1200C, the cover 950 can be closed, and the profile handle 920 can be used to secure the cover 950 to the body 955, as previously described.

[0051] Although, for purposes of description, certain embodiments have been shown and described herein, the present application is intended to cover any modification or variation of the embodiments discussed herein.

[0052] In the foregoing detailed description, reference has been made to the accompanying drawings that form a part hereof, in which like numerals always refer to like parts, and in which embodiments that may be practiced are shown by way of illustration. It will be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and structural or logical changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. Accordingly, the foregoing detailed description should be regarded as illustrative of various embodiments and not as having a limiting sense.

[0053] The various operations may be described in turn as a number of discrete actions or operations in a manner that is most helpful in understanding the disclosed subject matter. However, the order of description should not be construed as implying that these operations are necessarily order-dependent. In particular, these operations may not be performed in the order presented. The described operations may be performed in an order different from the described embodiments. In additional embodiments, various additional operations may be performed and / or the described operations may be omitted.

[0054] The terms “substantially,” “close,” “about,” “near,” and “approximate” generally refer to within + / - 10% of a target value. Unless otherwise stated, ordinal adjectives such as “first,” “second,” and “third” are used to describe a common object, merely indicating different instances of similar objects are being referred to, and are not intended to imply that the objects so described must be in a given order, whether in time, space, ranking, or in any other manner. Specifically, if the present disclosure recites “a” or “first” element or its equivalent, such disclosure includes one or more such elements, neither requiring nor precluding two or more such elements. Further, unless otherwise specifically stated, order indicators (e.g., first, second, or third) used for identified elements are used to distinguish between the elements and do not indicate or imply a required or limited number of such elements, nor a particular position or order of such elements.

[0055] For purposes of the present disclosure, the phrases “A and / or B” and “A or B” mean (A), (B), or (A and B). For purposes of the present disclosure, the phrase “A, B, and / or C” means (A), (B), (C), (A and B), (A and C), (B and C), or (A, B, and C).

[0056] The description may use the phrases “in one embodiment” or “in embodiments” that may each refer to one or more of the same or different embodiments. Further, terms such as “comprising,” “including,” “having,” etc., as used with respect to embodiments of the present disclosure, are synonymous.

Claims

1. A workstation, comprising: a cutting tray; one or more tracks; a peripheral cutting element configured to travel along the track, wherein the peripheral cutting element includes a peripheral blade at least partially mounted within a peripheral chuck; and a profile cutting element configured to travel along the track, wherein the profile cutting element includes a profile blade at least partially mounted within a profile chuck.

2. The workstation according to claim 1, wherein the workstation is configured to trim the length or width of a sound-absorbing ceiling sheet while the peripheral cutting element travels along the track.

3. The workstation according to claim 1, wherein the workstation is configured to cut a profile along the edge of a sound-absorbing ceiling sheet while the profile cutting element travels along the track.

4. The workstation according to claim 3, wherein the profile is a square tile-shaped sheet cutting portion, an inclined sheet cutting portion, or a square tile-shaped sheet cutting portion with a bevel.

5. The workstation according to claim 1, wherein the profile cutting element further includes a profile tray that at least partially surrounds the profile chuck within the vehicle of the profile cutting element.

6. The workstation according to claim 5, wherein the tray is configured to adjust the height of the profile chuck within the profile cutting element.

7. The workstation according to claim 6, wherein the profile chuck further includes a height adjustment mechanism for further adjusting the height of the profile chuck by at least 1 / 16”.

8. The workstation according to claim 5, wherein The tray is configured to adjust the height of the profile chuck to a height of 5 / 8”, 3 / 4”, 7 / 8”, 1”, 1 1 / 4 ” or 1 1 / 2 ”.

9. The workstation according to claim 1, wherein the peripheral blade has a non-circular mounting hole.

10. The workstation according to claim 9, wherein the non-circular mounting hole is located at an inner portion of the peripheral blade.

11. The workstation according to claim 9, wherein the non-circular mounting hole is configured to couple with a non-circular mounting bolt of the peripheral chuck.

12. The workstation according to claim 1, wherein the profile blade has a non-circular mounting hole.

13. The workstation according to claim 12, wherein the non-circular mounting hole is located at an inner portion of the profile blade.

14. The workstation according to claim 12, wherein the non-circular mounting hole is configured to couple with a non-circular mounting bolt of the profile chuck.

15. The workstation according to claim 1, wherein the cutting edge of the peripheral blade and / or the profile blade is at least partially covered with a tetrahedral amorphous carbon diamond coating.

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