Anti-Kickback Device With Flexible Living Hinge Members
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional anti-kickback devices for workpieces are limited in the sideward pressure they can apply, restricting the resistance they can exert on the workpiece, which can lead to kickback and chatter during cutting operations.
Innovation Solution
The anti-kickback device employs a plurality of flexible members with living hinges, angled to contact the workpiece and provide a biasing force, self-locking against rearward motion, and made of deformable materials to absorb vibrations and maintain alignment with the cutting tool, enhancing resistance and reducing chatter.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Force
If conventional featherboards are used to apply sideward pressure to the workpiece, then the workpiece can be guided along the table, but the amount of resistance that can be exerted is severely limited
Solution Approach 1:
The featherboard incorporates flexible fingers that can dynamically adjust their deflection based on the workpiece dimensions and cutting forces. The fingers bend elastically to accommodate different workpiece widths while maintaining optimal contact pressure, allowing the device to exert greater resistance forces without compromising ease of operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the physical parameters of the featherboard by using flexible materials with specific elastic properties and configuring multiple fingers with varying lengths and stiffness. This allows the device to exert increased resistance force while still permitting smooth workpiece feeding through elastic deformation of the fingers.
2Reliability
If greater opposing force is applied to resist kickback, then safety is improved, but the infeed pressure becomes unmanageable
Solution Approach 1:
The flexible fingers provide dynamic resistance that adapts to the cutting forces encountered. During normal feeding, the fingers deflect easily to allow smooth infeed. When kickback forces occur, the fingers elastically store and release energy to provide greater opposing force, thereby improving reliability without making infeed pressure unmanageable.
Solution Approach 2:
The elastic flexibility of the fingers acts as a cushioning mechanism that prepares the system to absorb sudden kickback forces. The fingers are pre-configured with elastic properties that allow them to deflect and store energy during normal operation, then release this energy to resist kickback forces before they can cause harm.
3Force
If the flexible members are made rigid to increase resistance, then opposing force is improved, but vibration absorption and chatter reduction are worsened
Solution Approach 1:
The invention optimizes the elastic parameters of the flexible fingers by selecting materials and geometries that provide the right balance between stiffness and flexibility. The fingers are designed with specific modulus of elasticity values and cross-sectional dimensions that enable them to exert sufficient opposing force while simultaneously absorbing vibrations and reducing chatter through controlled elastic deformation.
Solution Approach 2:
The featherboard may incorporate composite material structures in the flexible fingers that combine materials with different mechanical properties. This allows the fingers to exhibit both the stiffness needed for resistance and the damping characteristics needed for vibration absorption, resolving the contradiction between opposing force and chatter reduction.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The device effectively opposes kickback forces, maintains workpiece alignment, and reduces chatter, providing a significant increase in resistance compared to conventional featherboards while ensuring safe operation by absorbing vibrations and maintaining parallel alignment with the saw blade.
Implementation Method 1
each of the plurality of flexible members connected to the body by a living hinge
Implementation Method 2
The tip of the flexible member is formed of a friction increasing material
Implementation Method 3
the compliant material that the base and flexible members are made of creates a living hinge and the flexible members and base further absorb vibrations thereby also decreasing or eliminating chatter of the workpiece
Data Source
AI summary
An anti-kickback device is disclosed where the device includes a plurality of flexible members, and at least a compliant contact surface in contact with a moving workpiece, where the flexible members provide a biasing force against the workpiece and also resist or prevent kickback of the workpiece as it engages a tool such as a shaper, saw blade, etc. The configuration of the flexible members assures an opposing force to resist kickback.