BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to processing machinery, and more particularly, to a foldable miter saw and a foldable miter saw folding method.

2. Description of the Related Art

A conventional miter saw (Prior art of Taiwan Patent 201325776) is known comprising a base unit, a worktable rotatable relative to the base unit, a cutting unit connected to the worktable at one lateral side, and a positioning unit. The base unit comprises a bottom frame, and two foot stands respectively fixedly mounted at two opposite lateral sides of the bottom frame. The positioning unit comprises a screw rod threaded into the worktable. When adjusting the cutting angle of the cutting unit, the operator must loosen the screw rod, and then operate the worktable to rotate the cutting unit relative to the base unit. After moving the cutting unit to the desired angle, the screw rod is again tightened.

Further, in Taiwan Patent 201420239, matching between a sector plate-shaped locking member and a positioning unit allows adjustment of the tilting angle of a saw blade of a cutting unit relative to a top wall of a worktable to achieve the desired cutting angle. The maximum tilting angle of the saw blade relative to the top wall of the worktable is 45°.

The aforesaid prior art miter saws allow adjustment of the cutting angle, however, when these miter saws are not in use, the bulk size of these miter saws require a large storage space. Further, when packaging the miter saws for delivery after fabrication, they require much delivery space, which increases the delivery cost. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention has been accomplished under the circumstances in view. It is the main object of the present invention to provide a foldable miter saw, which can be folded into a folded position to reduce the size of the miter saw for convenient storage and delivery.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a miter saw folding method, which is easy to implement and facilitates collapsing the miter saw.

To achieve these and other objects of the present invention, a foldable miter saw comprises a base unit, a worktable and a cutting unit. The base unit comprises a front edge, a rear edge opposite to the front edge, a bottom wall extended from the front edge to said rear edge, and a top wall opposite to the bottom wall. The worktable is mounted at the base unit, comprising a working surface disposed opposite to the bottom wall corresponding to the top wall and an axle holder facing toward the rear edge and connected to the working surface. Further, the axle holder comprises an axis disposed in parallel to the working surface and extending from the rear edge toward the front edge. The cutting unit comprises a support arm pivotally connected to the axle holder of the worktable and biasable relative to the base unit and the worktable, a saw blade mounted at the support arm, and a driver mounted at the support arm and adapted for driving the saw blade to rotate. The saw blade comprises a first end face, and a second end face opposite to the first end face. The support arm is turnable about said axis relative to the base unit and the worktable to move the cutting unit from a working position where a contained angle within 90°~45° is formed between the saw blade and the worktable to a folded position where the second end face is disposed in proximity to the working surface and faces toward the working surface.

To achieve these and other objects of the present invention, a foldable miter saw comprises a base unit, a worktable and a cutting unit. The base unit comprises a bottom wall and a top wall opposite to the bottom wall. The worktable is mounted at the base unit, comprising an axle holder. The cutting unit comprises a support arm pivotally connected to said axle holder of said worktable and biasable relative to said base unit and said worktable, a saw blade mounted at said support arm and a driver mounted at said support arm and adapted for driving said saw blade to rotate. The cutting unit is convertible between a working position and a folded position. When in the working position, the cutting unit is movable between a lifted condition and a pressed condition. When the cutting unit is in the pressed condition, a working height is defined between the bottom wall of the base unit and the opposing topmost edge of the cutting unit. When the cutting unit is disposed in the folded position, the support arm can be turned about the axis relative to the base unit and the worktable so that a minimum height is defined between the bottom wall of the base unit and the opposing topmost edge of the cutting unit. Further, the working height is larger than the minimum height. The minimum height is about one half of the working height.

To achieve these and other objects of the present invention, a miter saw folding method comprises the steps as follows:

(A) Prepare a miter saw comprising a base unit, a worktable and a cutting unit. The base unit comprises a front edge, a rear edge opposite to the front edge, a bottom wall extended from the front edge to the rear edge, a top wall opposite to the bottom wall, and a fence fixedly mounted at the top wall. The worktable is mounted at the base unit. The worktable comprises a working surface disposed opposite to the bottom wall and corresponding to the top wall, and an axle holder facing toward the rear edge and connected to the working surface. The axle holder comprises an axis disposed in parallel to the working surface and extending from the rear edge toward the front edge. The cutting unit comprises a support arm pivotally connected to the axle holder of the worktable and biasable relative to the base unit and the worktable, a saw blade mounted at the support arm, and a driver mounted at the support arm and adapted for driving the saw blade to rotate. The saw blade comprises a first end face and a second end face opposite to the first end face. The support arm is turnable about the axis relative to the base unit and the worktable.

(B) Enable the cutting unit to be disposed in a working position where a contained angle within 90°~45° is formed between the saw blade and the worktable.

(C) Operate the base unit and the cutting unit for relative rotation therebetween.

(D) Bias the support arm relative to the axle holder to turn the cutting unit about the axis relative to the worktable until the second end face of the saw blade is disposed in proximity to the working surface where the cutting unit is disposed in a folded position.

Accordingly, by means of turning the support arm relative to the base unit and the worktable and converting the cutting unit in the folded position, the size of the foldable miter saw is minimized, thus facilitating storage and delivery and reducing the package volume and delivery cost of the foldable miter saw.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Other advantages and features of the present invention will be fully understood by reference to the following description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference signs denote like components of structure.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a foldable miter saw in accordance with the present invention. FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the foldable miter saw in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic side plane view of the foldable miter saw in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic top view of the cutting unit of the foldable miter saw in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a schematic operating view of the present invention, illustrating the cutting unit turned with the worktable through 45° relative to the base unit.

FIG. 6 is a top view of the present invention, illustrating the foldable miter saw in the folded position and the cutting unit received at the back side relative to the base unit.

FIG. 7 is a bottom perspective view of the present invention, illustrating the foldable miter saw in the folded position.

FIG. 8 is a top plane view of the present invention, illustrating the foldable miter saw in the folded position.

FIG. 9 is a bottom plane view of the present invention, illustrating the foldable miter saw in the folded position.

FIG. 10 is a schematic drawing illustrating the base unit of the foldable miter saw erected for storage.

FIG. 11 is a schematic drawing illustrating a shoulder strap fastened to the base unit of the foldable miter saw for carrying.

It should be noted that the drawing figures are not necessarily drawn to scale, but instead are drawn to provide a better understanding of the components thereof, and are not intended to be limiting in scope, but rather to provide exemplary illustrations. It should further be noted that the figures illustrate exemplary embodiments of the present invention and the components thereof, and in no way limits the structures, configurations and components thereof according to the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring to FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, a foldable miter saw in accordance with the present invention is shown. The foldable miter saw comprises a base unit 10, a worktable 20, and a cutting unit 30.

The base unit 10 comprises a front edge 11, a rear edge 12 disposed opposite to the front edge 11, a bottom wall 13 extended from the front edge 11 to the rear edge

12, a top wall 131 disposed opposite to the bottom wall 13, a left edge 14 connected between the front edge 11 and the rear edge 12, a right edge 15 disposed opposite to the left edge 14, two hanging rings 16 respectively connected to the right edge 15 and spaced from each other at a predetermined distance.

Structurally, the base unit 10 comprises a disk- like bottom frame 17, two foot stands 18 radially connected to two opposite lateral sides of the bottom frame 17, and two support blocks 19 respectively and retractably coupled to the foot stands 18 at an outer side. The front edge 11 and the rear edge 12 are respectively formed along a periphery of the disk-like bottom frame 17 and the foot stands 18. The left edge 14 and the right edge 15 are respectively formed on the foot stands 18 at an outer side. The top wall 131 is formed on the foot stands 18 at a top side. Referring also to FIG. 10, the left edge 14 has a flat surface portion 141 defined therein that extends from the bottom wall 13 toward the top wall 131 and is perpendicularly intersected with the bottom wall

13. A protruding portion 142 is connected to a top side of the flat surface portion 141 and outwardly protruded from flat surface portion 141 in proximity to the top wall 131. The base unit 10 further comprises a fence 100 fixedly mounted at the top wall 131. The fence 100 extends from the tops of the foot stands 18 to a top side above the bottom frame 17.

The worktable 20 is rotatably mounted on a top of the bottom frame 17 of the base unit 10. The worktable 20 has a working surface 21 formed thereon and corresponding to the top wall 131 and opposite to the bottom wall 13, an axle holder 22 connected to the working surface 21 corresponding to the rear edge 12, and an operating handle 23 arranged opposite to the axle holder 22 and extended outwardly relative to the working surface 21. The axle holder 22 comprises an axis LI extending from the rear edge 12 toward the front edge 11 in a parallel manner relative to the working surface 21, and an operable locking pin 221. Further, the fence 100 extends from the top wall 131 to the top side of the working surface 21.

The cutting unit 30 comprises a support arm 31 pivotally coupled to the axle holder 22 of the worktable 20 and biasable relative to the base unit 10 and the worktable 20, a saw blade 32 mounted at the support arm 31, and a driver 33 mounted at the support arm 31 and adapted for driving the saw blade 32 to rotate. The support arm 31 is turnable about the axis LI relative to the base unit 10 and the worktable 20. A rotating member 311 is connected to an outer side of the axle holder 22 and extending along the axis LI, a cantilever member 312 is pivotally connected to the rotating member 311, a locking member 313 is disposed in parallel to the axis LI and adapted for locking the rotating member 311 to the axle holder 22 (see FIG. 6), and a saw blade guard 314 partially shields the saw blade 32. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the rotating member 311 has a plurality of equiangularly spaced locating holes 315,316,317 defined therein for selectively engaging with the locking pin 221. The locating hole 317 is of elongated arcuate shape. The saw blade 32 comprises a first end face 321, and a second end face 322 opposite to the first end face 321. The driver 33 faces toward the second end face 322, having a length L which is parallel to the saw blade 32 and a height H which is perpendicular to the saw blade 32 (see FIG. 4). The length L is larger than the height H.

As illustrated in FIG. 1 and FIG. 3, the miter saw is shown well assembled and set in a working position. In the working position, the driver 33 is suspended above the working surface 21 of the worktable 20. When the workpiece is placed on the working surface 21 and stopped against the fence 100, the saw blade 32 is vertically moved up and down relative to the rotating member 311 by operating the cantilever member 312 of the cutting unit 30, thereby performing a vertical cutting operation. As illustrated in FIG. 5, the operator biases the operating handle 23 for turning the worktable 20 and the cutting unit 30 relative to the base unit 10 for performing miter cut. As illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, the operator operates the locking member 313 and the locking pin 221 for enabling the support arm 31 to turn the saw blade 32 about the axis LI relative to the worktable 20 within a predetermined angle range for performing bevel cuts. The support arm 31 is driven to turn the saw blade 32 about the axis LI toward a left side or a right side, such that the locking pin 221 is either engaged with the middle locating hole 316 or the right- sided elongated arcuate locating hole 317 for locking the saw blade 32 in a position where a predetermined contained angle (not less than 40°) is formed between the second end face 322 of the saw blade 32 and the working surface 21, and the driver 33 is suspended above the working surface 21 of the worktable 20, thus a bevel cut can be performed. When the miter saw is temporarily not in use and needs to be stored or packed for delivery, the miter saw can be folded into a collapsed condition. The folding method comprises the steps as follows:

Step I: As shown in FIG. 1, prepare a miter saw as described above. Step II: Set the cutting unit 30 in the working position where a contained angle formed between the saw blade 32 and the worktable 20 is between 90°~45°, i.e., selectively engaging the locking pin 221 in the locating hole 316 or 317 to adjust the contained angle between the second end face 322 of the saw blade 32 and the working surface 21.

Step III: Turn the cutting unit 30 relative to the base unit 10, for example, in the present embodiment, the operator can rotate the worktable 20 and the cutting unit 30 to the position shown in FIG. 5, such that the cutting unit 30 is driven by the worktable 20 to rotate 45° toward the left edge 14.

Step IV: Thereafter, as shown in FIGS. 6-9, the operator operates the locking member 313 and the locking pin 221 to disengage the locking pin 221 from the locating hole 316 or 317 and then biases the support arm 31 with the rotating member 311 relative to the axle holder 22 for turning the cutting unit 30 about the axis LI relative to the worktable 20 to the folded position where the second end face 322 of the saw blade 32 is kept in proximity and parallel to the working surface 21. The locking pin 221 is inserted into the locating hole 315 to lock the cutting unit 30 in the folded position. When the cutting unit 30 is locked in the folded position, the driver 33 is kept in proximity to the bottom wall 13 at a back side relative to the worktable 20 to face toward the rear edge 12, the rotating member 311 and the cantilever member 312 are disposed at the back side relative to the worktable 20, and the cutting unit 30 is disposed at a back side relative to the fence 100.

Thus, by performing the successive steps of the miter saw folding method of the present invention, an operator can fold the cutting unit 30 from a working position to the folded position.

It's worth mentioning that except for the definition of the working position and folded position of the cutting unit 30 as described above, it can also be defined as follows. As illustrated in FIG. 3, when the cutting unit 30 is set in the working position, the cantilever member 312 of the cutting unit 30 can be biased relative to the rotating member 311 and the worktable 20 between a lifted condition (refer to the imaginary line in FIG. 3) and a pressed condition (see the solid line in FIG. 3). When the cutting unit 30 is biased to the pressed condition, a working height HI is defined between the bottom wall 13 of the base unit 10 and the opposing topmost edge of the cutting unit 30. As illustrated in FIG. 6 and FIG. 10, when the cutting unit 30 is disposed in the folded position, the support arm 31 can be turned about the axis L relative to the base 10 and the worktable 20 so that a minimum height H2 is defined between the bottom wall 13 of the base unit 10 and the opposing topmost edge of the cutting unit 30. The working height HI is larger than the minimum height H2. Further, the minimum height H2 is about one half of the working height HI.

It's also worth mentioning that the base unit of the foldable miter saw of the invention is not limited to the configuration described above. For example, the base unit can be as described in Taiwan Patent M374926, comprising a worktable, and first and second rotating units rotatable relative to the worktable. This alternate form can also achieve the expected operating and folding purposes (not shown).

Referring to FIG. 10, the protruding portion 142 of the left edge 14 protrudes outwardly from the flat surface portion 141, such that the left edge 14 can be abutted against the floor after the cutting unit 30 has been set in the folded position, thus enabling the bottom wall 13 of the base unit 10 to be supported on the wall. In this way, the bottom wall 13 is upwardly extended and gradually oriented toward the wall, preventing the foldable miter saw from falling down to the floor. Thus, the invention facilitates miter saw storage and space utilization.

Referring to FIG. 11, the foldable miter saw of the invention further comprises a shoulder strap 40. The shoulder strap 40 comprises two buckles 41 respectively detachably fastened to the hanging rings 16 of the base unit 10. By buckling the shoulder strap 40 to the base unit 10 after the foldable miter saw has been locked in the folded position, the foldable miter saw can be conveniently carried by a person for delivery.

In conclusion, the invention provides a foldable miter saw that can be conveniently converted to the working position for performing a cutting operation, and can also be conveniently converted to a folded position. When the foldable miter saw is in the folded position, the arrangement of the driver 33 and the cutting unit 30 can be turned to the back side of the base unit 10, the dimension of the foldable miter saw can be significantly reduced, facilitating storage and delivery and reducing the miter saw delivery cost.

Although particular embodiments of the invention have been described in detail for purposes of illustration, various modifications and enhancements may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the invention is not to be limited except as by the appended claims.