Cutting apparatus

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE

Field of the Disclosure

The disclosure relates to cutting devices and more particularly pertains to a new cutting device for cutting paper articles, small branches, plant material and the like.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising a housing that has a first end wall, a second end wall and a perimeter wail that is attached to and extends between the first and second end walls. The perimeter wall includes a first side wail, a second side wail, a front wall and a rear wall. The first end wall has a blade aperture extending therethrough. A fixed blade is mounted in the housing and extends through the blade aperture. The fixed blade includes a sharp edge facing the second side wall. A pivoting blade is pivotally mounted in the housing and extends through the blade aperture. The pivoting blade lies in a plane that is parallel to a plane of the fixed blade. The pivoting blade includes a sharp edge facing the first side wall and the fixed blade. The pivoting blade is movable from an open position forming an open space between the fixed and pivoting blades adjacent to the first end to a closed position having no open space between the fixed and pivoting blades adjacent to the first end. An actuator is mechanically coupled to the pivoting blade and pulls the pivoting blade toward the fixed blade when actuated.

There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the disclosure in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the disclosure that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.

The objects of the disclosure, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the disclosure, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The disclosure will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of a cutting apparatus according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a side view of an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 2 of an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 3 of an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 5 is a front view of an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 6 is a top in-use view of an embodiment of the disclosure.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to FIGS. 1 through 6 thereof, a new cutting device embodying the principles and concepts of an embodiment of the disclosure and generally designated by the reference numeral 10 will be described.

As best illustrated in FIGS. 1 through 6, the cutting apparatus 10 generally comprises a housing 12 that has a first end wall 14, a second end wall 16 and a perimeter wall 18 that is attached to and extends between the first 14 and second 16 end walls. The perimeter wall 18 includes a first side wall 20, a second side wall 22, a front wall 24 and a rear wall 26. The first end wall 14 has a blade aperture 28 extending therethrough. The first end wall 14 has a greater width than the second end wall 16 measured from the first side wall 20 to the second side wall 22 so that the housing 12 includes a narrow portion 30 adjacent to the second end wall 16 and a wide portion 32 adjacent to the first end wall 14. In particular, the second side wall 22 bows outwardly in an arcuate fashion from a central area between said first 14 and second 16 end walls until it intersects the first end wall 14. This produces a ridge 34 at a juncture of the wide 34 and narrow 32 portions against which a hand may be positioned for stability.

A fixed blade 36 is mounted in the housing 12 and extends through the blade aperture 28. The fixed blade 36 includes a sharp edge 38 facing the second side wall 22. The sharp edge 38 is angled from the second side wall 22 toward the first side wall 20 as the fixed blade extends outwardly of the housing 12. The fixed blade 36 is mounted on a raised member 39 on the rear wail 26 to prevent movement of the fixed blade 36.

A pivoting blade 40 is pivotally mounted in the housing 12 and extends through the blade aperture 28. The pivoting blade 40 lies in a plane that is parallel to a plane of the fixed blade 36 and is mounted to the housing 12 by a pivot pin 42 which extends through each of the fixed 36 and pivoting 40 blades. The pivoting blade 40 includes a sharp edge 44 facing the first side wall 20 and the fixed blade 36. The pivoting blade 40 is movable from an open position forming an open space between the fixed 36 and pivoting 40 blades adjacent to the first end wall 14 to a closed position having no open space between the fixed 36 and pivoting 40 blades adjacent to the second end first end wall 14.

An actuator 46 is mechanically coupled to the pivoting blade 40. The actuator 46 pulls the pivoting blade 40 toward the fixed blade 36 when the actuator 46 is actuated. The actuator 46 includes a pulley 48 that is rotatably mounted in the housing 12 and is positioned between the first side wall 20 and the fixed blade 36. The pulley 48 has an axis of rotation extending through the front 24 and rear 26 walls. A lever 50 is slidably mounted to the housing 12 and extends outward of the housing 12 through the first side wall 20. The lever 50 is positioned between the first 14 and second 16 end walls and more particularly may be positioned at the juncture of the narrow 30 and wide 32 portions of the housing 12. An outer portion 57 of the lever 50 extends outwardly of the housing 12 and has a distal end 52 with respect to the housing 12. The outer portion 57 has an upper side 54 directed toward the first end 14 of the housing 12. The upper side 54 is concavely arcuate from the housing 12 to the distal end 52. More particularly, the outer portion 57 curves downward as it extends outwardly of the housing 12 and then upwardly toward the distal end 52. The lever may be slidably positioned in a track in the rear wall.

The actuator 46 further includes a cable 56 that is positioned within the housing 12 and is coupled to the pivoting blade 40 and the lever 50. The cable 56 extends over the pulley 48 and pulls the pivoting blade 40 toward the fixed blade 36 when the lever 50 is moved toward the second end 16 of the housing 12. The cable 56 may be positioned within a notch 58 in the fixed blade 36 to stabilize the cable 56 and ensure that the pivoting blade 40 pivots correctly toward the fixed blade 36. The cable 56 comprises a resiliently bendable material such as woven metallic wires. A biasing member biases the lever 50 toward the first end 14 of the housing 12. The biasing member includes a sleeve 60 mounted in the housing 12 between the pulley 48 and the lever 50. The cable 56 extends into an upper end 62 of the sleeve 60 and through a bottom end 64 of the sleeve 60. A spring 66 is positioned in the sleeve 60 and a stop 68 is mounted on the cable 56. The stop 68 is positioned in the sleeve 60 adjacent to the upper end 62 and abuts the spring 66. The spring 66 biases the stop 68 away from the bottom end 64 of the sleeve 60 to urge the lever 50 toward the first end 14 of the housing 12. The resilient nature of the cable 56 urges the pivoting blade 40 away from the fixed blade 36.

In use, the apparatus 10 is used in a conventional manner for cutting items such paper, small branches, plant material and the like. The positioning of the lever 50 allows a person to extend their thumb over the lever 50 and move the lever 50 downward toward the second end wall 16 in a straight, rather than pivoting, motion. This motion and positioning of the thumb ensures that the person is using the strongest portion of their thumbs and controlling hand muscles to actuate the lever 50 to reduce fatigue and increase efficiency.

With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of an embodiment enabled by the disclosure, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by an embodiment of the disclosure.

Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the disclosure. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the disclosure to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the disclosure.