Hydraulic masonry cutting machine

Claim 2

An automatically adjustable stone cutting head comprising a plurality of independently movable cutting knives, pressure responsive adjusting means for automatically adjusting said knives to the surface of a stone to be cut through a pressure engagement of the knives with the stone, and pressure responsive locking means for automatically locking said knives in an adjusted position through a continued application of pressure on the knives subsequent to the adjustment of the knives.

Claim 3

The construction of claim 1 wherein said pressure responsive adjusting means comprises a piston operatively associated with each knife for the selective adjustment thereof, and a closed fluid system communicating all of the pistons with each other whereby a movement of one piston will effect a resultant movement in one or more of the remaining pistons until a stabilization of the pistons is achieved.

Claim 4

The construction of claim 2 wherein said locking means comprises a valve associated with each piston, each of the valves being selectively movable so as to lock the associated piston out of communication with the remaining pistons.

Claim 5

The construction of claim 3 wherein said valves are spring-loaded to an open position and simultaneously movable to the piston locking position.

Claim 6

The construction of claim 4 including an elongated fluid reservoir lying along and outward of said valves, fluid passage means communicating said reservoir with each of said pistons, said passage means extending through said valves for the control of fluid therethrough by said valves, said reservoir, aside from said passage means communicating with the pistons, being sealed.

Claim 7

The construction of claim 5 including a cylinder block slidably mounting each piston and defining a fluid receiving cylinder chamber therefor, each cylinder block being an independent unit incorporating a portion of said reservoir therein and independently mounting a valve, piston and knife, said cylinder blocks being selectively lockable to adjacent cylinder blocks in a sealed manner providing for the provision of a continuous reservoir through the adjacent reservoir sections and an operative engagement between the valves.

Claim 8

The construction of claim 6 including a continuous cap overlying said cylinder blocks and being rigidly affixed thereto, and means on said cap slidably engaging said knives for retaining said knives and providing for limited guiding movement thereof.

Claim 9

An automatically adjustable stone cutting head comprising a plurality of releasably interlocked sections, each of said sections including a cylinder block defining a piston receiving cylinder chamber and a piston selectively extensible and retractable relative thereto, a cutting knife engaged with the outer end of said piston for control thereby, a fluid reservoir portion, fluid passage means extending between said reservoir portion and said pistoN receiving chamber, and a valve interposed in said passage means for the selective closing thereof, and means for fixing said sections together with the reservoir portions in direct fluid passing communication with each other and with the valves in operative engagement with each other for a simultaneous operation thereof.

Claim 10

An automatically adjustable stone cutting head comprising a plurality of releasably interlocked sections, each of said sections including a cylinder block defining a piston receiving cylinder chamber and a piston selectively extensible and retractable relative thereto, a cutting knife engaged with the outer end of said piston for control thereby, a fluid reservoir portion, fluid passage means extending between said reservoir portion and said pistoN receiving chamber, and a valve interposed in said passage means for the selective closing thereof, and means for fixing said sections together with the reservoir portions in direct fluid passing communication with each other and with the valves in operative engagement with each other for a simultaneous operation thereof.

Claim 11

The construction of claim 8 including an elongated continuous cap and means for locking said cap to said sections in limited guiding relation to said knives.