Circular saw guard and linkage

Claim 2

A portable circular saw including a housing, a motor supported upon said housing and adapted to transmit rotation to a shaft, a circular saw blade fixed to said shaft for rotation therewith, a shoe plate carried by said housing and adjustable relative thereto about first and second axes substantially normal to one another, an upper guard normally fixed to said housing and encompassing the cutting edge along substantially the upper half of said blade, a lower guard movably supported upon said housing and positionable to encompass the cutting edge along substantially the lower half of said blade, means normally biasing said lower guard to said blade encompassing position, actuating means independent of said lower guard and engageable with said workpiece for all adjusted positions of said shoe plate when said saw is moved into position to cut said workpiece, linkage means interconnecting said actuating means and said lower guard and operable to move said lower guard away from said blade encompassing position when said actuating means engages said workpiece.

Claim 3

A circular saw assembly comprising a housing, a motor supported upon said housing, a shaft rotated by said motor and supported upon said housing for rotation about an axis, a normally stationary guard encompassing a portion of the periphery of said blade located to one side of said axis, a movable guard pivotally supported upon said housing for movement from a first position where it encompasses substantially all the periphery of said blade on the other side of said axis, to a second position exposing said last mentioned portion of said blade, means normally biasing said movable guard toward the first position, a shoe plate carried by said housing and adapted to rest upon the surface of a workpiece to be cut by said saw blade, said shoe plate having a work surface engaging portIon located to the other side of said axis, an actuating lever pivoted on said housing and extending into position to engage a workpiece upon which said shoe plate is resting and about to be cut by said blade, a link pivoted at one end to said lever and pivoted at its other end with respect to said movable guard, whereby to initially retract said movable guard away from said first position and thereby expose a relatively small portion of the periphery of said blade to said workpiece when said lever engages and is pivoted by engagement with said workpiece, said movable guard thereafter being directly engageable with said workpiece as said saw progresses through said workpiece, whereby to further move said movable guard away from said first position, and lost motion means between said link and said movable guard allowing said further retraction of said movable without corresponding additional movement of said lever or link.

Claim 4

A circular saw assembly comprising a housing, a motor supported upon said housing, a shaft rotated by said motor and supported upon said housing for rotation about an axis, a normally stationary guard encompassing a portion of the periphery of said blade located to one side of said axis, a movable guard pivotally supported upon said housing for movement from a first position where it encompasses substantially all the periphery of said blade on the other side of said axis, to a second position exposing said last mentioned portion of said blade, means normally biasing said movable guard toward the first position, a shoe plate carried by said housing and adapted to rest upon the surface of a workpiece to be cut by said saw blade, said shoe plate having a work surface engaging portIon located to the other side of said axis, an actuating lever pivoted on said housing and extending into position to engage a workpiece upon which said shoe plate is resting and about to be cut by said blade, a link pivoted at one end to said lever and pivoted at its other end with respect to said movable guard, whereby to initially retract said movable guard away from said first position and thereby expose a relatively small portion of the periphery of said blade to said workpiece when said lever engages and is pivoted by engagement with said workpiece, said movable guard thereafter being directly engageable with said workpiece as said saw progresses through said workpiece, whereby to further move said movable guard away from said first position, and lost motion means between said link and said movable guard allowing said further retraction of said movable without corresponding additional movement of said lever or link.

Claim 5

A circular saw assembly comprising a housing, a motor supported upon said housing, a shaft rotated by said motor and supported upon said housing for rotation about an axis, a normally stationary guard encompassing a portion of the periphery of said blade located to one side of said axis, a movable guard pivotally supported on said housing for movement from a first position where it encompasses substantially all the periphery of said blade on the other side of said axis, to a second position exposing said last mentioned portion of said blade, means normally biasing said movable guard toward said first position, a shoe plate carried by said housing and adjustable relative thereto about first and second axes substantially normal to one another, said shoe plate having a work surface engaging portion located to the other side of said axis, an actuating lever pivoted on said housing and extending into position to engage a workpiece upon which said shoe plate is resting and about to be cut by said blade for all adjusted positions of said shoe plate, means interconnecting said actuating lever with said movable guard whereby to retract said movable guard away from said first position and thereby expose the periphery of said blade to said workpiece when said lever engages and is pivoted by engagement with said workpiece.

Claim 6

A circular saw assembly comprising a housing, a motor supported upon said housing, a shaft rotated by said motor and supported upon said housing for rotation about an axis, a normally stationary guard encompassing a portion of the periphery of said blade located to one side of said axis, a movable guard pivotally supported on said housing for movement from a first position where it encompasses substantially all the periphery of said blade on the other side of said axis, to a second position exposing said last mentioned portion of said blade, means normally biasing said movable guard toward said first position, a shoe plate carried by said housing and adjustable relative thereto about first and second axes substantially normal to one another, said shoe plate having a work surface engaging portion located to the other side of said axis, an actuating lever pivoted on said housing and extending into position to engage a workpiece upon which said shoe plate is resting and about to be cut by said blade for all adjusted positions of said shoe plate, means interconnecting said actuating lever with said movable guard whereby to retract said movable guard away from said first position and thereby expose the periphery of said blade to said workpiece when said lever engages and is pivoted by engagement with said workpiece.

Claim 7

A saw as defined in claim 2 wherein said movable guard includes an elongated slot pivotally and slidably receiving the other end of said link, whereby to form said lost motion means.