Foldable bench for a portable hand-held circular saw

Abstract

A foldable bench for converting a normally hand-held electrically powered circular saw into a table saw, wherein the bench is easily portable when folded and highly stable when in use. In particular, the bench employs four foldable leg members having floor engaging extremities movable from a first position wherein the leg members are contained entirely within the bench housing to a second position wherein the floor engaging extremities are positioned laterally beyond the lateral extremities of the upper surface of the bench to thereby provide a compact, portable unit when the leg members are folded and an extremely stable bench when the leg members are extended. Simplicity in design is achieved by extrusion forming the upper surface from a single unitary member having means for slidingly mounting the portable hand-held circular saw and containing side grooves for receiving auxiliary attachment fasteners. The foldable bench is further characterized by the provision of a unique hinge structure permitting the leg members to be retained in the highly stable laterally extended position and to be foldable into a position wherein the leg members are contained entirely within the bench housing.

We claim: 
     
       1. A foldable bench for converting a normally hand held electrically .[.power.]. .Iadd.powered .Iaddend.circular saw having a base plate into a table saw, comprising a. housing means for supporting a normally hand held electrically powered circular saw, said housing means including an upper surface for supporting material in a position to be cut by a normally hand held, electrically powered circular saw supported by said housing means, said housing means generally defining a parallelopiped having a first and second pair of opposed side walls, said first pair of opposed side walls having a greater horizontal dimension .Iadd.than said second pair of opposed side walls.Iaddend.;   b. retractable support means for supporting said housing means in a position above a floor level such that the said upper surface is easily accessible by an operator, said retractable supporting means including a plurality of foldable leg members having floor engaging extremities movable from a first position wherein said foldable leg members are contained entirely within said housing means to .[.the.]. .Iadd.a .Iaddend.second position wherein said floor engaging extremities are positioned laterally beyond the lateral extremities of said upper surface; and   c. stabilizer means for engaging the upper extremity of each leg member when in said second position in order to resist further outward lateral movement, said stabilizer means including four .[.clips.]. .Iadd.fastening means .Iaddend.rigidly connected adjacent each of the lower lateral edges of said first opposed side walls .Iadd.for releasibly holding said leg members in said second position.Iaddend., whereby said foldable bench may be extremely compact when said foldable leg members are in said first position and extremely stable when said foldable leg members are in said second position.   
     
     
       2. A foldable bench as defined in claim 1, further including a first pair of said leg members adjacent one side wall of said first pair of opposed side walls, and a second pair of said leg members adjacent the other said side wall of said first pair of side walls and first and second hinge means for hingedly connecting one leg member from each of said first and second pairs of said leg members to said housing means to pivot about first and second axes parallel, respectively to said second pair of opposed side walls. 
     
     
       3. A foldable bench as defined in claim 2, wherein said first and second hinge means include first and second plate members, respectively, hingedly connected to the lower edge extremities of said second pair of opposed side walls, each said plate member including movable pivot means for constraining each of the associated pair of said leg members to pivot about an axes perpendicular to the plane defined by said plate member and permitting said respective leg member to be displaced from said first position wherein said associated pivot axis is at a maximum lateral position with respect to said plate member to an intermediate position wherein said pivot axis is displaced inwardly from the lateral edges of said plate member. 
     
     
       4. A foldable bench as defined in claim 3, wherein said pivot means includes first and second slots arranged to intersect, respectively, with first and second slots formed in said leg members associated with each said plate member, and further including a releasable fastener means extending through each intersecting pair of slots, respectively, for selectively retaining said leg members and said plate member in a fixed pre-determined orientation. 
     
     
       5. A foldable bench as defined in claim 3, wherein one leg member from each said pair of leg membes when in said intermediate position is spaced inwardly from the lateral edge of the associated said plate member by a lateral distance which exceeds the sum of the lateral width and the laterally inwardly-spaced intermediate position of the other said leg member of each said pair of leg members, whereby said leg members, when in said intermediate position, may be pivoted about said first and second axes parallel to said second pair of opposed side walls into said first position without intersecting one another. 
     
     
       6. A foldable bench as defined in claim 1, wherein each said leg member is formed of first and second intersecting perpendicular flat sides wherein one said flat side contains said leg member slot and wherein the other said flat side engages one of said clips. 
     
     
       7. A foldable bench as defined in claim 1, further including first and second foldable brace means extending between first and second pair of said leg members adjacent said first pair of opposed side walls, respectively, to prevent lateral movement when said leg members are in said second position. 
     
     
       8. A foldable bench as defined in claim 1, wherein said upper surface contains a longitudinally extending slot and further including a sliding plate to which the base of an electrically powered, circular saw may be removably mounted, and further including support means for mounting said sliding plate immediately beneath said upper surface to permit a circular saw blade to extend upwardly through the longitudinally extending slot as said plate is slidingly moved beneath said upper surface. 
     
     
       9. A foldable bench as defined in claim 8, wherein one side wall of said first pair of said side walls includes a laterally extending opening and wherein said sliding plate includes a pivoted handle which may be displaced from a first position in which said pivoted handle is contained entirely within said housing means to a second position in which said pivoted handle extends outwardly of said housing means through said laterally extending opening. 
     
     
       10. A foldable bench as defined in claim 9, wherein said housing means includes a pair of elongated grooves extending adjacent the upper edge of said first pair of opposed sides, each said groove being inwardly enlarged to receive a fastener head for connecting auxiliary attachments to said housing means. 
     
     
       11. A foldable bench as defined in claim 10, wherein said housing includes an extruded top member formed as a unitary member to include said upper surface, said support means and said grooves. 
     
     
       12. A foldable bench as defined in claim 8 further including a guard assembly mounted to said sliding plate and including a. a guard assembly base mounted to said sliding plate and extending above said sliding plate through said longitudinally extending slot,   b. a circular saw guard movable between a first position fully enclosing that portion of a circular saw blade extending above the support surface to a second position exposing the circular saw blade for cutting, said circular saw guard including a workpiece engaging means for automatically displacing said circular saw guard from said first position toward said second position as the circular saw blade is moved into engagement with a workpiece, and   c. a link member pivotally connected at one end to said guard assembly base and pivotally connected at the other end to said circular saw guard.   
     
     
       13. A foldable bench as defined in claim 12, wherein said guard assembly includes means for directly connecting said guard assembly base to said sliding plate. 
     
     
       14. A foldable bench as defined in claim 13 wherein said means for directly connecting said assembly bar to said sliding plate also includes means for directly connecting said guard base assembly to the electrically powered, circular saw mounted on said sliding plate. 
     
     
       15. A foldable bench as defined in claim 13 adapted for supporting an electrically powered circular saw selectively rotatable about an adjustable pivot axis relative to a standard base plate to place the circular saw at a desired acute angle with respect to the plane defined by the standard base plate, wherein said means for directly connecting said guard base to said sliding plate includes means for pivoting said guard assembly about the adjustable pivot axis of the electrically powered circular saw. 
     
     
       16. A foldable bench as defined in claim 11, further including a top member extension including a flat upper surface and fastener means for removably attaching said top member extension to said extruded top member such that said flat upper surface is in the same plane as said upper surface of said top member. 
     
     
       17. A foldable bench as defined in claim 11, further including a vise attachment having first and second jaw members selectively movable toward and away from one another, said vise attachment being positioned when connected to said top member such that the upper extremities of each said jaw members are in the plane defined by said upper surface of said top member. 
     
     
       18. A foldable bench member as defined by claim 11, further including a rip saw guide having adjustable vise means for selectively connecting said saw guide to said top member such that the longitudinal axis of said saw guide is parallel to said longitudinally extending slot. 
     
     
       19. A foldable bench as defined by claim 18, wherein said top member includes grooves parallel to said longitudinally extending slot for aligning said rip saw guide. 
     
     
       20. A foldable bench as defined in claim 18, wherein said rip saw guide includes a hollow elongated channel having a square cross-section, a U-shaped bracket having leg members shorter than the inside vertical height of said hollow elongated channel and adapted to be fixedly retained in one end of said hollow elongated channel, and an L-shaped bracket including one leg adapted to move rectilinearly between the ends off said legs of said U-shaped bracket and the inside surface of one side of said elongated hollow channel. 
     
     
       21. A foldable bench as defined in claim 18, wherein said rip saw guide includes means for indicating level and length information.