Saw Blade Tooth Geometry for Nail-Resistant Gullet Entry

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Solution Overview

Problem

Saw blades often suffer from durability issues due to nails becoming lodged in the gullets of teeth during operation, leading to breakage or damage, especially when cutting materials like nail-embedded wood or metal.

Innovation Solution

The saw blade design features consecutive cutting teeth with varying pitches and gullets, including protrusions on some teeth that inhibit nails from entering the gullets, thereby reducing the likelihood of damage and enhancing durability.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If conventional saw blade design with uniform teeth and gullets is used, then manufacturing is simple, but nails become lodged in gullets causing tooth breakage and reduced durability

Engineering Contradiction:
ImprovedurabilityVSAvoidtooth form complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The cutting portion is segmented into different tooth forms (first tooth form with protrusions and second tooth form without protrusions) arranged in alternating sequences. This segmentation allows specific regions to handle nail interception while other regions maintain standard cutting functionality, resolving the contradiction between durability improvement and manufacturing simplicity.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

Protrusions are applied locally to specific teeth (first cutting teeth) rather than uniformly to all teeth. This local modification creates nail-intercepting features only where needed in the cutting path, improving durability against nail damage while minimizing the overall complexity increase of the tooth design.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #3Local quality

2Reliability

If protrusions are added to all cutting teeth to prevent nail lodging, then durability increases, but manufacturing complexity and cost increase

Engineering Contradiction:
ImprovedurabilityVSAvoidmanufacturing ease
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSEase of manufacture

Solution Approach 1:

The cutting teeth are divided into two groups: first cutting teeth with protrusions and second cutting teeth without protrusions. By segmenting the application of the protrusion feature to only alternating teeth rather than all teeth, the manufacturing process becomes more manageable while still achieving sufficient nail protection through the alternating pattern.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

Instead of adding protrusions to every cutting tooth (excessive action), protrusions are added to every other tooth (partial action). This partial application is sufficient to intercept nails during the reciprocating cutting motion, achieving the durability goal while significantly reducing manufacturing complexity compared to universal protrusion application.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #16Partial or excessive action

3Reliability

If alternating tooth forms with different pitches are used, then nail interception is improved, but manufacturing precision requirements increase

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvenail interception effectivenessVSAvoidpitch variation precision
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSManufacturing precision

Solution Approach 1:

The cutting portion is divided into alternating segments of first tooth form and second tooth form, each with different pitch characteristics. This segmentation creates a predictable alternating pattern that is easier to manufacture with standard tolerances compared to continuously varying pitch, while still achieving effective nail interception through the alternating geometry.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

Two distinct tooth forms (first with protrusions and different pitch, second without protrusions and different pitch) are merged into a single alternating sequence. This combination creates a composite tooth pattern that achieves nail interception functionality while maintaining manufacturability through the regular alternating structure rather than requiring complex continuous variations.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #5Merging (Combining)

Data Source

PatentEP4101611B1Saw blade
Publication Date: 2024.07.10 MILWAUKEE ELECTRIC TOOL CORP
  • EP4101611B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP4101611B1 patent drawingFigure 2
  • EP4101611B1 patent drawingFigure 3

AI summary

A saw blade includes a cutting portion having consecutive first, second, and third cutting teeth. Each cutting tooth includes a rake surface, a relief surface, and a tip. The first cutting tooth includes a protrusion extending from the relief surface of the first cutting tooth. The cutting portion includes a first gullet positioned between the first cutting tooth and the second cutting tooth and a second gullet sized differently than the first gullet positioned between the second cutting tooth and the third cutting tooth. The cutting portion includes a first pitch extending over the first gullet from the tip of the first cutting tooth to the tip of the second cutting tooth. The cutting portion includes a second pitch different than the first pitch extending over the second gullet from the tip of the second cutting tooth to the tip of the third cutting tooth.