CA1144062A

CA1144062A - Hand operated cutting tool

Info

Publication number: CA1144062A
Application number: CA000364312A
Authority: CA
Inventors: George B. Farina
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1980-11-07
Filing date: 1980-11-07
Publication date: 1983-04-05

Abstract

ABSTRACT
A pair of handles for use with a conventional pair of scissors-type tin snips or the like is described. One handle is provided with a transverse foot plate to hold the snips in oper-ative position on the ground by foot pressure or clamped onto a table, while the other handle is a curved extension member to facilitate hand operation.

Description

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This invention relates to a cutting tool and more particularly to handles for a hand-operated scissors-type metal cutting tool such as a pair of tin snips or shears.
Hand operated tin snips and the like are, of course, conventional tools which have been in use for many years. The thickness of the material which can be cut and the cutting speed using such snips is, however, limited by the amount of hand pres-sure which can be exerted on the handles and the individuals ability to keep up the scissors cutting movement. When par-ticularly thick or tough material is encountered it may be necessary to use both hands to manipulate the handles and this makes control of the material being cut difficult.
It is an object of the present invention to provide means for considerably increasing the power available for cutting material with a conventional tin snip and to provide additional material handling control.
By one aspect of this invention there is provided handle means for use with scissors-type shears or the like having a pair of pivotally interconnected arms, comprising:
(a) a substantially straight longitudinal extension member for one said arm of said shears including a transverse plate member adjacent the free end thereof; and (b~ a longitudinal extension member for the second said arm of said shears curved about an axis transverse to the length thereof.
The invention will be described in more detail herein-after with reference to the drawings in which:-Figure ~ is a perspective view of one embodiment of the present invention;

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Figure 2 is a perspective view of an alternative embodiment of the invention; and Figure 3 is a perspective view of yet another embodiment.
In Figures 1 and 2 there is shown a conventional pair of tin snips 1 having cutting blades 2, 3, arms or handles 5 and 6, pivotably interconnected by pivot pin 4, integrally formed with blades 2 and 3 respectively. The method of use of such snips is of course well known and the thickness of mater-ial which can be cut by blades 2, 3 is dependent on the lengthof handles 5, 6 and the amount of Einger pressure which can be applied thereto. If it is desired to cut particularly thick material extra force must be applied either by using longer handles or by increasing the pressure applied to the handles or both. At the same time, the material being cut must be con-trolled. I have found that these objectives can be achieved by providing an upwardl~ curved extension piece 7 (as seen in operative position) for handle 5 and a foot plake extension piece 8 for handle 6. Placing an operator's foot 9 on plate 8 holds the snips 1 rigidly in operative position on the ground and considerable force can be applied to the metal being cut by manipulation of handle 5 with curved extension 7. Prefer-ably extension 7 is curved or bent through an angle of up to about 90, relative to the longitudinal axis of arm 5. Exten-sions 7 and 8 may be secured to handles 5 and 6 by any conveni-ent means such as clamp 10 and bolt 11 in the case of extension 7 and bolt 12 and securing wire 13 in the case of extension 6, or extensions 7, 8 may be integrally formed with handles 5, 6.
In an alternative embodiment, shown in Figure 2, the

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foot plate 8 may be secured to a table 14 or the like by means of clamps 15, 16 so that wor~ can be conducted at table height, ra-ther than holding the snips in position with a foot. A set screw 16 may be provided, as shown in Figure 2 but equally applicable in the embodiment shown in Figure l, to keep the blades 2, 3 partly open so as to facilitate feeding and cutting. Similarly an adjusting scr~w 17 may be provided to adjust the height of the blades above the ground or table 14.
In another embodiment shown in Figure 3, which may either be held with the foot, or with clamps as described hereinabove, the cuttingblades are modified to provide a pair of parallel spaced apart cutting blades 31, 32 on one arm of the snips and a cutting blade 33 having opposed parallel cutting edges on the other arm of the snips, which is centrally located to pass between parallelbladec 31, 32 and so as to provide a double cutting action. By removing a relatively narrow kerf from the material being cut there is less likelihood of jamming of the snips in the material and the speed of cutting may be increased.

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Claims

THE EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION IN WHICH AN EXCLUSIVE
PROPERTY OR PRIVILEGE IS CLAIMED ARE DEFINED AS FOLLOWS:

1. Handle means for use with scissors-type shears or the like having a pair of pivotally interconnected arms, comprising:
(a) a substantially straight longitudinal extension member for one said arm of said shears including a transverse plate member adjacent the free end thereof; and (b) a longitudinal extension member for the second said arm of said shears curved about an axis transverse to the length thereof.

2. In a scissors-type shears or the like having a pair of pivotally interconnected arms the improvement comprising:
(a) a substantially straight longitudinal extension member for one said arm of said shears including a transverse plate member adjacent the free end thereof; and (b) a longitudinal extension member for the second said arm of said shears curved about an axis transverse to the length thereof.

3. Handle means as claimed in claim 1 or 2 wherein said curved and straight extension members are adapted for removable rigid attachment to respective ones of said arms.

4. Handle means as claimed in claim 1 or 2 wherein said curved and straight extension members are integral with respective ones of said arms.

5. Handle means as claimed in claim 1 or 2 wherein said transverse plate member is a foot plate member adapted to hold said shears in upright ground engaging operative position when foot pressure is applied thereto.

6. Handle means as claimed in claim 1 or 2 wherein said transverse plate member is adapted to hold said shears in up-right operative position against a table means when a clamping pressure is applied thereto.

7. A scissors-type shear as claimed in claim 2 including a shear blade on each of said pivotally interconnected arms.

8. A scissors-type shear as claimed in claim 2 including a pair of spaced parallel shear blades on one of said pivotally interconnected arms and a shear blade on the other of said pair of pivotally interconnected arms adapted to pass between said pair of shear blades on said one arms.