Planers comprise a body mounted on a shoe. A rotatable cutting drum is mounted within the body which is rotatingly driven by an electric motor also mounted within the body. An aperture is formed through the shoe through which part of the periphery of the cutting drum extends. Cutting blades are mounted on the drum which, as the drum rotates, periodically pass through the aperture and below the shoe. In use, the shoe is located on a work piece and the drum is rotatingly driven by the motor. When the blades pass through the aperture and move below the shoe, the blades engage with the workpiece and remove a thin slice of the workpiece from the surface of the workpiece, producing shavings or chips. Due to the rotational movement of the drum, the shavings or chips are thrown in a generally forward and upward direction in relation to the planer. One problem is the removal of the shavings or chips from the cutting area of the planer. A second problem is the collection of the shavings or chips for disposal.
In some designs of planer, the chips or shaving are directed using a deflector which directs the shavings or chips side ways from the planer. A fan or impeller mounted on the drive shaft of the motor can be used to generate an airflow which can be used to assist in the removal of the shavings or chips. DE19512262 discloses such a system. However, the problem with existing designs are that they are not efficient at mixing the air flow with the shavings or chips to entrain them for removal.
In order to collect the chips or shavings, a debris collection container is attached to the aperture through which the chips or shavings are ejected from the body of the planer. Existing designs of debris collection containers comprise a metal wire frame which is covered by a cloth bag such as a canvas bag. A tubular connector is attached to the metal wire frame and cloth bag and which can be attached to the ejection aperture so that the chips or shavings can pass through the connector from the planer to the debris collection container. A zipper is sewn into the side of the cloth bag which, when opened forms an aperture through which the shavings or chips can be emptied from the cloth bag. A problem with this design is that the hole formed by the unopened zipper is narrow making emptying the bag difficult. Furthermore, it is difficult for an operator to insert a hand into the bag to assist in the removal of the shavings or chips. The zipper can also scratch the hand of the operator. The shavings or chips can further interfere with the operation of the zipper.