Drilling Apparatus

The present invention relates to drilling apparatus.

It is known to provide drilling apparatus to guide a drill bit towards a work piece such as a ceramic wall or floor tile. When drilling into metal or wood, a user will generally mark the location of the hole to be drilled by forming a recess with a bradawl or a punch, in which the tip of the drill bit can be located, to prevent the drill bit skating or wandering away from the desired location of the hole. The hardness of the ceramic tiles means that it is not possible to neatly mark the location of the desired hole with a bradawl or punch since such tools are likely to result in damage to the tile.

One solution to accurately locating and guiding drill bits when drilling into ceramic tiles has been to use a guide which defines a passage in which a drill bit is receivable in use, the guide including attachment means such as an adhesive pad for adhering the guide in the desired location on the ceramic tile. However, a number of problems have arisen with the use of such guides.

It can be difficult to attach such guides to uneven surfaces, in particular for example to the edges of ceramic tiles, and in the vicinity of grout joints. The sticky pads used for attachment by such guides can leave adhesive residues and have a limited life, and are not re-positionable, so that a user must remove the old sticky pad and replace it with a new sticky pad for each use.

Ceramic tiles of porcelain are relatively hard, and require the use of diamond drills, which in turn require the provision of cooling water at the point of contact between the drill bit tip and the tile. When cooling water is provided, the debris forms a slurry with the water, which can stain grouting.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided drilling apparatus, the drilling apparatus including a guide body which defines a guide passage in which a drill bit in use is beatable and fluid supply means for providing fluid to the passage to cool the drill bit in use.

Possibly the fluid supply means include a reservoir for holding a supply of fluid. Possibly, the fluid supply means include a supply passage for providing fluid to the guide passage, and which may extend between the reservoir and the guide passage.

Possibly the fluid supply means include a valve, which may be selectively operable to permit the fluid in use to flow from the reservoir. Possibly the valve includes biasing means to bias the valve to a closed position.

Possibly the apparatus includes mounting means for mounting the reservoir to the guide body. Possibly the reservoir mounting means removably mount the reservoir to the guide body.

Possibly the apparatus includes effluent collection means for collecting fluid and drilling debris. Possibly the effluent collection means include an effluent collection container, and may include an effluent passage, which may extend between the guide passage and the effluent collection container.

Possibly the apparatus includes mounting means for mounting the effluent collection container to the guide body. Possibly the effluent collection container mounting means removably mount the effluent collection container to the guide body.

Possibly the apparatus includes attachment means for attaching the guide body to a work piece. Possibly the attachment means permit repositioning of the guide body. Possibly the attachment means include an attachment member to which the guide body is mounted and may be rotatably mounted. Possibly the attachment means include a plurality of spaced suction cups, each of which may be spaced from the guide passage, and which may

be mounted to the attachment member. Possibly the cups are formed of a resiliently deformable material.

Possibly the attachment means include clamping means for clamping the guide body to the work piece.

Possibly the apparatus includes a seal, which may extend around the guide passage between the attachment member and the work piece to substantially prevent the escape of effluent.

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described, by way of example only, and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: -

Figure 1 is a perspective view from the front and one side of a drilling apparatus;

Figure 2 is a perspective view from the rear, one side and above of the drilling apparatus;

Figure 3 is an exploded perspective view from the front, and one side and above of the drilling apparatus;

Figure 4 is a perspective view from the front, one side and above of the drilling apparatus in use;

Figure 5 is a partially sectioned perspective view of part of the drilling apparatus;

Figure 6 is a front view of the drilling apparatus in use;

Figure 7 is a perspective view from the front and one side of another drilling apparatus.

Figs. 1 to 6 show a drilling apparatus 10, the drilling apparatus 10 including a guide body 12 which defines a guide passage 14. The apparatus 10 includes attachment means including an attachment member 16. The guide body 12 is rotatably mounted to the attachment member 16.

The apparatus 10 includes fluid supply means including a reservoir 30. The reservoir 30 includes mounting means including a mounting formation 48 which is slidably receivable within a correspondingly shaped mounting channel 46 defined by the guide body 12.

As shown in the part-sectional view shown in Figure 5, the fluid supply means include a supply passage 40 defined by the guide body 12 which extends between the reservoir 30 and the guide passage 14. The reservoir 30 defines a port 32 which permits communication of fluid within the reservoir 30 to the supply passage 40. The fluid supply means include a valve 34 which is actuated by a user between an open and closed position in the port 32. The valve 34 is biased to the closed position by a pair of resiliently deformable arms 36 which extend between the valve 34 and the reservoir 30.

The apparatus 10 includes effluent collection means including an effluent collection container 44. The effluent collection container 44 includes a mounting formation 56 which is slideably receivable within a correspondingly shaped mounting channel 58 defined by the guide body 12 located opposite to the reservoir mounting channel 46.

The effluent collection means include an effluent passage 42 which is defined by the guide body 12 and extends between the guide passage 14 and the effluent collection container 44.

Figure 3 shows an exploded perspective view of the drilling apparatus 10. The guide body 12 is formed in two parts, a front part 12A and a rear part

12B which fit or are bonded together, one on either side of the attachment member 16 in such a way that the guide body 12 can rotate relative to the attachment member 16. The attachment member 16 includes a pair of spaced concave formations 62 each of which defines a mounting hole 64, through each of which a stalk 28 extending from a suction cup 20 is located. Each of the stalks 28 defines a pivot hole 38 in the free end thereof, and an operating lever 22 is mounted to each of the stalks 28 by means of a pivot pin 26 which passes through the pivot hole 38.

The suction cups 20 are formed of a resiliently deformable material.

Each of the operating levers 22 includes a cam surface 24 which in use acts upon the attachment member 16 to move the respective suction cup 20 from an initially loose condition to a clamped condition. The operating levers 22, pivot pins 26 and stalks 28 thus form clamping means. In the loose condition, each suction cup 20 has a degree of movement relative to the attachment member 16. In the clamped condition, each suction cup 20 seats against a concave recess (not visible) defined by the respective concave formations 62.

The drilling apparatus 10 includes a seal 18 in the form of a ring which is fixed to the guide body 12 around the guide passage 14.

The effluent collection container 44 is formed in two parts, an upper part 44A and a lower part 44B.

In use, as shown in Figure 4, a user positions the apparatus 10 against a work piece which could, for example, be a ceramic wall tile 50. The tile 50 could be marked to show the desired location of the hole required. The user positions the guide passage 14 over the desired position. At this stage, the suction cups 20 are in the loose condition, and the user can push the apparatus 10 firmly against the tile 50 to adhere the suction cups 20 to the tile

50. As the apparatus 10 is pushed against the tile 50, the suction cups 20 are flattened.

The user then rotates the operating levers 12 about the pivot pins 26. As the operating levers 12 rotate, the cam surfaces 25 cause the stalks 28 to be drawn through the mounting holes 64 of the attachment member 16, moving the attachment member 16 to the clamped condition in which the suction cups 20 are seated within the concave recesses defined by the concave formations 62. The concave formations 62 could be relatively more concave than the flattened suction cups 20 so that the degree of suction force provided by the suction cups 20 is increased.

With the drilling apparatus located in position on the ceramic tile 50, the reservoir 30 is filled with fluid such as water 66. The valve 34 is biased by the resiliency deformable arms 36 to the closed position so that the water 66 is retained within the reservoir 30. To permit a flow of the water 66 from the reservoir 30 to the guide passage 14, the user presses on the valve 34 as shown by arrow A in Figure 5, opening the port 32.

The user locates a drill bit 54 driven by a drill 52 within the guide passage 14, and operates the drill 52 to make a hole in the desired location. The user can actuate the valve 34 during the drilling operation as frequently as is necessary to produce a controlled flow of the water 66 to the guide passage 14 to cool the tip of the drill bit 54, as shown by arrows B in Fig. 5.

The drilling apparatus 10 is arranged so that when the suction cups 20 are in the clamped condition, the seal 18, which is formed of a resiliency deformable material such as rubber, is compressed between the guide body 12 and the ceramic tile 50, providing a seal around the guide passage 14 so that water and drilling debris, which together form an effluent, is contained, and escape of the effluent is prevented. The effluent flows along the effluent

passage 42 to the effluent collection container 44 as shown by arrows C in Figure 5.

If necessary during the drilling operation, the reservoir 30 can be topped up with water.

When the hole has been made, the drill bit 54 is withdrawn from the guide passage 14. The operating levers 22 can be released, and the suction cups 20 unpeeled from the ceramic tile 50, detaching the drilling apparatus from the ceramic tile 50. The effluent collection container 44 can be slideably dismounted from the guide body 12 and emptied. The effluent collection container 44 minimises the amount of effluent which runs down the tile 50, thus reducing the risk of staining grout joints 60.

Figure 6 shows the drilling apparatus 10 in situ, where it is desired to drill a hole close to a vertical grout joint 60. The guide body 12 has been rotated relative to the attachment member 16 to permit a firm attachment of the drilling apparatus 10 to the ceramic tiles 50. The rotation permits the suction cups 20 to be positioned on a relatively smooth, flat surface where adhesion will be best. However, the deformable suction cups 20 have the advantage of tolerating a degree of non-flatness in the work piece surface.

The embodiment shown in Figures 1 to 6 is particularly suitable for guiding the drilling of holes on vertical work pieces such as ceramic wall tiles. Figure 7 shows another embodiment of the invention, for use in guiding the drilling of holes in ceramic floor tiles or similar horizontal surfaces. As shown in Figure 7, drilling apparatus 110 includes many features similar to those previously described, which have been given the same reference numerals as before and will not be described in detail again for the sake of brevity.

In this embodiment, the reservoir 30 is effectively turned through 90 degrees relative to the reservoir 30 of the previous embodiment so that the

plane of the open end of the reservoir 30 is now normal to the axis of the guide passage 14, permitting filling of the reservoir 30 when the drilling apparatus 110 is attached to a horizontal surface as compared to the previous embodiment, in which the said plane is parallel with the axis of the guide passage 14.

. It will be noted that the drilling apparatus 110 of the second embodiment shown in Figure 7 does not include an effluent collection container, as the effluent produced by drilling on the horizontal surface tends to remain localised in the area around the hole being drilled.

Various other modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the invention. The drilling apparatus could be formed of any suitable material, by any suitable process. The various components and features of the drilling apparatus could be of any suitable size or shape. For example, a range of different guide bodies could be produced, each different guide body having a different diameter guide passage to guide differently sized drill bits. The attachment means could be of any suitable design and could include any suitable number of suction cups. For example, the attachment member could be triangular in plan shape, with three suction cups, one at each vertex, or could be rectangular in shape, with four suction cups, one at each comer.

The drilling apparatus could include any suitable combination of the features described. For example, a drilling apparatus could be provided with the attachment means as described, without the reservoir or a fluid collection container. The drilling apparatus could be used with any suitable fluid. For example, a drilling apparatus in accordance with the invention could be used to provide a cutting fluid suitable for cooling or lubricating the drilling of holes into metal.

There is thus provided a drilling apparatus which provides a number of advantages over conventional arrangements. The attachment means of the present invention permits the rapid and re-positionable fixing of the drilling apparatus into position, and does not require the provision of disposable adhesive pads which can leave adhesive residue. The attachment means permits positioning of the apparatus to allow drilling near or on grout joints, and selection of fixing position to maximise the adhesion of the suction cups. The effluent generated by the drilling operation is collected, reducing the cleanup required and reducing the risk of staining of the grout joints.

Whilst endeavouring in the foregoing specification to draw attention to those features of the invention believed to be of particular importance it should be understood that the Applicant claims protection in respect of any patentable feature or combination of features hereinbefore referred to and/or shown in the drawings whether or not particular emphasis has been placed thereon.